February Made Me Shiver....

ok...It is a few days late to be the anniversary of the Day the Music died. BUT, come on...there are not too many people that have sung about the cold, nasty little month of February. I can't think of a child's rhyme about February...so, that's what you all are left with...a song running thru your heads.

In all honesty, as far as 2008 goes...February is looking up for us here. January sucked. Blew Monkey chunks. Me no likey!!

It was January, 2008 that was greeting with Oldest Son, 13yrs, who shall be known as Mr. Snarky Pants (where did he find that sarcasm?) was treated to not only ONE trip to the hospital for surgery -- but TWO trips to the hospital for surgery. Yes, Mr. Snarky Pants had a malignant tumor in his digestive system and got the joy of having 1/3 of his colon removed. Talk about your good times....I got to spend many, many January nights sleeping in the empty bed in his hospital room.

And...I had to do it without the benefit of the morphine button to push every 10 minutes to help me sleep!! Not fair!!

We have a lot of follow up to do, and while we think that it has all been removed, we will not know for several weeks. Until then, we like to think that life is almost back to normal around here. As normal as we can pretend to be...I have been slow to jump back into my stamping, as I know that you all can understand. Like posting in my blog, those stamps are another reminder of how thin I spread my time. Wait...maybe they are reminding me of how much I procrastinate. Or, how sometimes...I just can't make up my mind.


Another bit of news, this time on the crafting front. Many of you have heard about Ebay hiking it's fees, and really sticking it to the small seller. Well, as a small seller...me no likey. (hey, I quoted the fabulous Emperor Kuzko twice today!! LOVE HIM!) So, more and more of us are going to be leaving Feebay altogether, and hanging out more at Etsy. Are you an Etsy fan? Do me a favor? Click on my Etsy link and Heart me...please...

In return, I will share one of my favorite sceens from The Emperor...the waterfall.




Hey! Who clicked on that without hearting me?? Naughty naughty naughty!!


oh, and to keep this on track -- here is the only card that I have made since Mr. Snarky Pants has come home...

Happy New Year!!

Well, our New Year's Eve was not as uneventful as we had hoped. I spent it with Oldest son (13 yrs) having his appendix out. He had lived with the pain for almost 3 weeks, even the doctor was shocked that it did not rupture. It was all sorts of infected. ugh.

So, I did manage to get one card done since he came home.



This was from Splitcoast Stampers Scetch Challenge #157. Love the sketch. The cat stamp and sentiment are from The Cat's Pajamas. Adorable aren't they?

I will always be a cat person.

When I grew up, my dad brought us two cats. Not as wonderful as it sounded, since my parents were divorced, and these two cats belonged to his girlfriend, until she had to get rid of them for soem reason...that I never did figure out. Well, he brought the cats in and gave them to us, without even asking my mother. At 7 years old, I thought that this was a miracle for me. Ummm, mom felt differently.

They were two tabbies, a black striped, named Guy and a light grey striped cat named Parfait. (Hey, they came with these names.) Parfait was not nice. She scratched...and had attitude. When Mom took her to be declawed, she discovered that the vet's office had her file listed as "PARFART" instead of Parfait. Heeheee, is it wrong that this still makes me giggle 30+ years later???

I don't really even remeber "Parfart" leaving the house. I think my dad took her. Guy stayed around a few years, then "went away" one weekend while I was at a church trip. While we were allowed to have fish, lizards, mice, dogs, and guinnea pigs -- we all knew never to bring home a cat.

Even thought I do not have any cats now, I have had 5 as an adult. Sister and Brother are also cat people. But, they have all had better names than Parfart. ;o)

Hope your Holiday was Very Merry!

Can you all believe that another Christmas was here and gone? I don't know about you, but once Christmas is over -- it really feels like winter should be over, too! But, nope, here, north of Chicago - winter will be hanging on for many more months. In fact, it has barely even started yet!!

I did get my new TAC catalog in the mail!! Yipppeeee!!! My own personal Wish List (I like to call it my NEED list...) gets bigger each time I flip through the book. I will have some catalogs available for purchase, by the weekend...so let me know if you are interested.

Meanwhile, we have been super busy here with my Christmas gift from hubby. May I introduce to you...Blitzen!!!! Here he is with The Fabulous Miss Roxie. He is a 4 month West Highland Terrier. And, I luv him :)




Soon, I will have more stamping creations to share. In the meantime, I have a puppy that needs to go outside.

Well, the holiday cards are almost all mailed. I am down to just addressing them, as I have gotten them all made. Can you believe it? I finished my goal of making over 60 Christmas cards? Yowsers!!

I have only received 6 Christmas cards. Remind me again why I sent out so many cards??

Life has been out of control busy. I have been in full panic mode getting my house cleaned for my sister's holiday visit. Honestly, I don't know why I am stressing sooo bad, it is not like her house is perfect...but yet, worry and obsession are two of my favorite hobbies. Wait -- don't think that I am saying that my sister is a slob, she just has 5 kids, 2 dogs, 3 cats, and she is a working mom. So, while her house is clean, like mine, it is not Martha Stewart clean, again, like mine.

When I was growing up, my mom worked. For many years, until her passing, my Nana would come to stay with us over the summer and again in the winter. She was Dad's mom, and she was there for us after the divorce. My dad is an alcoholic. Many years after the divorce, he stopped drinking, and got remarried....but that is a story for a different day.

Nana was a dynamo of a woman. She always made you feel as if you were her favorite. She would send you out to the icecream truck with a $5 bill, and pretend like she did not know what you were talking about when you tried to give her back her change. She made monster meatballs, overly tart apple pies, and told stories about her life in Providence. As the youngest in my family, she spent a lot of time with me, while sister and brother were out doing their thing, and Mom was working. It was only recently, that I found out that my sister (who we all think of as the family historian) never heard many of these stories. Her best story, was when her family came over from Lithuania. They came over in the lower level of a ship in the early 1900's. They, like supposedly many other immegrants, scraped together their life savings to come to the US, seaking a better way of life. To save money, her infant sister was packed inside a barrel. HUH??? Yep, packed inside a barrel. There were airholes, and they brought her out all of the time, just hid her, enough to make her their little stow away.

I lost my grandmother when I was in highschool. I think about that story from time-to-time. I realize that despite any hard times, I have never had to hide my baby in a barrel. I have never had to pack up a few meager possessions, and my family to go across the globe in search of a new life. I am grateful for her parents that took the chance, and my Nana who was a very strong woman.

I know that Thanksgiving is long since over, but Christmas break is almost here. Twenty years ago, that would have meant that Nana was coming soon. I looked forward to that, almost as much as I did Christmas Day.

So, while you are all taking time with your families this Christmas -- take the time to remember the ones that are no longer with you. Enjoy those happy memories, and eat some extra pie, just for them!!

In the meantime, I better post a card for you. This is one of my favorite designs of my Christmas cards...this was a limited edition (only 5 made). I had forgotten that I purchased this stamp for my cards....once I remembered, I had almost 60 cards made. Not wanting this stamp to sit unused for another year, I whipped up a few additional cards....Isn't it adorable??

November? Already?

Can someone please explain to me how it is November already? And...not just the first -- but today is the 9th? Hmmm. I just do not understand how the time is just getting away from me so fast. I need to borrow Mr. Peabody's Way-Back Machine and back up enough to feel like I am getting things done.

That big box of TAC goodies came in, and that is partly why I have not been here. I was rushing to get the Thanksgiving cards made. I have already received a card in the mail from my sweetest auntie...so there is, of course, that added pressure of having to actually mail the cards that I have been making.

I have been playing a lot with the TAC set Count Your Blessings & would love to share:



and a few close ups



please leave a comment and let me know what you think!!

Hey Faithful Readers! (or, is that "Reader"??)

I am really trying to ink up some of these delightful stamps that I have here, before my big box of TAC goodies gets here! You know, to minimize some of the guilt :)

This card features 3 stamps from Eat Cake Graphics. This & A Muse are two of my favorite companies...Honestly, if money were no object, I would truly own everything from both of these companies. The stamps used are Lilly Puddlesworth, Ryan Relaxes and Little Phillip's Ready for the Water. Hubby was trying to help me come up with a good quote for the inside...We could go with something sweet like, "We Miss you when you are not here...".

But, we are really thinking that Little Phillip is waiting to talk about Ryan, as soon as he floats away. Perhaps he is suffering from Floaty-Envy...as his Momma stuck him with the plain innertube...when everyone knows that the Spotted-Floaty-Critter is da bomb!!



Lemme know what you think...What does this card say to you?

I'm Back.

Sorry to all of my faithful readers {and, Karen, you know who you are :oP } I just was so overwhelmed between Logan hitting the big 3, potty training, working, and having Zach in 8th grade...that I really just have been horrible about posting.

I will really be better about it. I promise. I will try. I hope.

I have even been bad with my stamping....I have soooo much untouched "rubba" that I got from joining The Angel Company. They are such gorgeous stamps, that I really should be ashamed. Soooo, I have finally challenged myself to get using the pretties!!!!

Here are two cards that I have made this weekend. They both have used bleach to get the white color. Both the Tiger Face & Gerbera Daisy were stamped and embossed in black. Then I broke out the bleach pen. I have done it before with straigh bleach, and a paint brush -- and got the results much faster...but, I am out of plain bleach -- so I am working with what I have.



I used my SU! watercolor crayons and an aquapainter to color the green of the leaves and stem. The blue paper look a little wonky in the picture, with the added dimention of the brads, the paper is scanning a little goofy.



by the way -- the new TAC catty is coming soon!!! Drop me an email at Sarcasm.is.an.Artform@gmail.com, if you would like to order one for you!! Thanks!!