Witty Repartee

Overheard on the monitor yesterday:

Matilda: “Sissy, please put these clothes on!” (she likes to dress sissy and herself the same and she’s my little fashionista..the latest trend is a dress with a shirt underneath it and tights)

Matty: “No!”

Matilda: “Sissy, PLEASSSEEEE!

Matty: “let me think about it….NO!”

(wonder where she has heard that before?)

Matilda: “PPPPLLLEEEEAAAASSEE!” (At an extremely high decibel)

Matty: “NO! I do what I do when I doooze it!”

Matilda: “SISSY!!! PPPLLEEAAASSSEEEE!” (at an even higher decibel if that is possible)

Matty: “NO!”

Matilda: “If you don’t do it, I am going to toot on your pillow and make it all stinky!”

Matty: MOM!

Me: Cracking up laughing!

Now THAT, is some comic relief for a stay at home Mom I tell you! I keep thinking about it and smiling!

So I have been working on some new things that I can’t wait to show you guys but they need to reach their destinations first….I also found some old pieces of a card that wasn’t finished and put them together to have a few extra for my basket, so I thought I would show you those today:

You can’t see the main image very well here, because it is way sparkly… I used the damask stamp from Friends 24-7 and stamped it in versamark and then daubered green/gold pearl ex on top of it, so it is very shiny gold and green in real life. I used an old background piece that I found that had two background stamps stamped in versamark on choc chip paper and then daubered with pearl ex as well, so everything is really gold and green and sparkly.

I used a leftover main image, added some pearl ex to the center and made this card as well:

The new eyelet border punch on the edge of the matting..it is on the matting in the first card as well..I can’t seem to make a card without it these days! I need to add a sentiment to really finish it off. I think I will do that now! Enjoy your day!

Ciao for now! Deidre

25 things

I get tagged all the time on Facebook and never do the lists, but I thought I would post it here for you all to see….it is supposed to be 25 random things about yourself, so here goes!

1. My biggest pet peeve is using a double negative…example.. “don’t know nothing.” It should be “anything” people, and my hubby is the number one culprit on this. College educated and all...I just grit my teeth.

2. My children are the best and worst things that have ever happened to me….people may wonder about this, but parenting is by FAR the hardest thing I have ever done; and I haven’t truly slept in 4 years which takes a toll on your body! But their smiles and silliness DO make it all worthwhile!

3. I have a love hate relationship with exercise.

4. I do it (#3) so I can drink margaritas, pomegranate and lemon drop martinis and wine, my favorites!

5. I love to travel. Destinations that will be in my future are Tahiti, UK, Ireland, South America and Prague, also the west coast of Italy..Portofino, we didn’t make it there! Stateside, I must visit Sedona and Napa Valley!

6. I am obsessive compulsive on tidiness, cleanliness not so much! I like stuff in its place, but could care less if it is dusty!

7. I am addicted to stamping, like you guys didn’t know this.

8. I love taking pictures and would really like to learn how to be better at this!

9. I have always hated my hair and still do. It’s my cross to bear.

10. I am addicted to the internet and am on it several times a day.

11. I could care less about the vehicle I drive. As long as it runs well, has air conditioning and the dvd player for the kids, I could be driving a Chevette, doesn’t matter to me, although it is fun to drive the hubby’s beemer on the weekends and pretend I am not a van driving mommy! But I would feel the same in a Yugo I am sure, it’s the freedom I like!

12. I am not a beach person. I love to get sun playing golf or hiking, but the beach and sand in every crevice don’t do it for me, I do enjoy watching the kids at the beach though and I tolerate it for them.

13. I play pool really well. I played in tournaments when I was in college.

14. PF Chang’s is my favorite restaurant although my favorite kind of food is Mexican.

15. I love giving gifts especially at Christmas, could care less about receiving them.

16. Green is my favorite color.

17. Daisies are my favorite flower.

18. Peanut butter and my family are the only things I would need if I had to survive on a deserted island.

19. Night Shift is my all time favorite movie…. “ I am an idea man, Chuck!!) Survivors is my second most favorite movie of all time... “Hi Jack, want some pancakes?”

20. My freebie five would be: Andy Garcia, Oliver Martinez, Will Smith, Christian Bale and Daniel Craig..hubba hubba

21. I love music and have very eclectic tastes when it comes to it.

22. I played trumpet and french horn in high school and was a certified band geek…. Joel finds this very humorous. Hey, I couldn’t be a basketball star now could I?

23. Volleyball and golf, in person, are my favorite sports to watch..can’t stand sports on tv.

24. I am blessed to have a wonderful family, not everyone is so lucky.

25. I talk too much!

So if you made it through all that, then here is some eye candy for you today:

I made this for an internet swap group I am in...the requirements were two layers, and a brand new stamp set from our new catalog. This uses the new Friends 24-7 stamp set and friendly words wheel, and the sentiment comes from the SAB set Botanical blooms. I really love this card! I used the new eyelet border punch, I can’t make a card without it these days and the new Parisian breeze textured decorator paper…it is so heavy and cool! I roughed the edges up of the bird and the main frame..this card came together so easily! Hope you are all well!

Ciao for now! Deidre

Lagniappe-a little something extra

Not sure where I am going with the title of this post but I have always liked this word and thought I would use it! I spent some time in the Lousiana area in my twenties and heard this word a lot! Mainly in conjunction with food, but it crosses all conversation boundaries, and is just a cool word…pronounced LAND-GNAP (like gnat).

So here is my little something something for today, since I am prone to rambling, I have made a few projects this last week and in doing so had an extra background stamped that didn’t make it to the final project but I really liked it. So, I decided to make it into its own card. I didn’t want to loose the pretty background and I wanted it to be clean and simple which is not my normal MO. I am much more of a vintage type gal, but hey you have to change it up sometimes right? Anyways I am so pleased with how it came out...I just want to keep looking at it! And, I finally used one of those filigree designer brads that I have been hoarding…ahhh, may we all live long enough to use up our supplies!

And speaking of that, in case I ever have an untimely demise….all you stamping ladies better high tail it over here as my husband says he would put all the stamping stuff on the curb and that would just be a travesty! He says that, but he supports my “business” ( I can hardly say that with a straight face! Loss so far on my taxes this year is $600 and I am not done) in his own special way and he did let me have a whole room for my “chick shit” as he calls it; so he is on board in his own special Joel way!

So here is the card I am so proud of…hope you like it too!

Isn’t it pretty??? It uses the new set Friends 24-7 and the sentiment is from Baroque Motifs. It uses whisper white craft ink on choc chip paper and choc chip craft ink on white ink for the sentiment. A little white taffeta ribbon and that filigree brad and definitely a little lagniappe for the eyes….don’t you agree?

My four year old is sticking her tongue out at me so time to go deal with that…where do they learn this stuff??? Joel and I don’t sit around the house sticking our tongues out at each other…what do you think would be good punishment….lashes with a wet noodle...time out? Nah, too extreme! Ignoring her works much better….drives her crazy!!! Yes! Parenting at its finest!

Ciao for now…Deidre

Happy Valentines Day!

Hope you guys are enjoying your day with your sweethearts. I am sitting at a Midas station getting my water pump fixed..go figure. So I thought I would share my Valentines Creations with you before they are 364 days early for next year! Here we go:

This is my Valentines Stamp Camp I did at my house last weekend..everyone had fun making these projects:

the card was a case of Michelle Forces just with different color of red..you can see hers here:

http://micheleforce.blogspot.com/2009/01/love-you-much-valentines.html

and here is the link to how to make the test tube holders:

http://www.lisasomerville.com/2008/08/holiday-lineup-candy-test-tube-holders.html

the design shown here was Claudia Perry's design, my friend from Columbus..you can see her blog here at:

http://stampingincolumbusga.blogspot.com/

she has some cute Valentines pages on there today!

and here is the little class I did for my Mom’s night out ladies:

sorry for the dark pic..I am still figuring all that stuff out. The little red box holds 2 ghiradelli chocolate squares and is made from the SU mini scalloped envelope die for the big shot (2 of them)…how cute is that??

Lastly here is a card I did for a monthly swap group I am in..Hello Claudia and friends..wish I could have been there!

It uses all the new stuff from SALEABRATION..the ribbon bundle, the decorator paper pack and the polka dot punches stamp set..cute cute cute..I love how soft looking it is and the eyelet border punch?? Perfection!!! I did one with chocolate chip on the hearts to go with the saying but didn’t care for it as much..you can be the judge:

I preferred the vanilla craft polka dot hearts...

All supplies SU, except for the target $1 spot mailboxes! Email me if you would like more info at deidrelm@hotmail.com

Here’s hoping you are having more fun than I am at the Midas Shop on your Valentines Day….

Ciao for now…Deidre

Sugar High

So we had two Valentines Parties today! My girls have had enough sugar to last them for a week! We had some friends over yesterday to decorate cookies and cupcakes so the fun started then. Today was their preschool party...more cookies to decorate and eat; and then capped it all off with a Valentines party at the neighbors with 20 kids, pink punch with ice hearts and MORE cookies to decorate! Of course, I told the girls they couldn't eat one, that we would bring them home and they complied, but every time I looked over, Matty was licking the frosting off the knife or eating the sprinkles..she definitely has my sweet tooth, and her nana's and her great grandma's (who had dessert first then maybe some food!) so she comes from a long line of sweethearts!

Needless to say their heads were spinning by the time we made it home, so I had to stash all the goodies away and focus back on protein, veggies and fruit..not the easiest task after a day of sweets! You don't know how many times I had to threaten them with throwing all the junk in the trash to get them to eat real food, but the sugar high finally started to subside after some regular food...you have got to love Valentines day with 4 year olds!!!

So here's a pic of some of the valentines we gave out today...these were for their school friends and I totally got the idea from this wonderful stamper:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1192084

Now how perfect are these for San Diego???

And here are the valentines we gave out at party number 2, these hold one ghiradelli chocolate square and took me less than an hour to make them all:

I will have some more Valentines stuff to show you over the next few days...until then enjoy the sugar high! And just to let you know the actual existence of my willpower; I did NOT get the Reese's double peanut butter filled heart today at the store.....HA! Take that sweet tooth!

Ciao for now! Deidre

Not just for paper

Hey guys! Sorry... I have just not had much time to post lately. I will try and do better I promise! I had two stamp camps over the past week and lots of Valentines to make so I have been very busy. Hopefully I will get some new folks stamping from the workshops. I will show pictures of everything we made after I get them edited....

Last week I noticed that Matilda's favorite shoes were starting to get a little worn on the toes. Of course, since she wears them everyday what can you expect right? So here's a picture of them before; can you see the worn toes?

So I thought to myself....man I have some chunky silver glitter...I bet I could fix them....so I added some crystal effects glue, and some chunky glitter and voi'la (sp??).... just like new!!!

Here's the after:

So since this post is about other ways to use things..how about some decor elements?? I really wanted a red laptop, but they were a couple of hundred dollars more and of course I wasn't going to pay more just to have a cool red one....(think of all the stamps I could get for a couple hundred bucks, right???) So I was thinking, how can I make my computer my own... maybe bling it out a little bit, right??? Well, I had this bird sitting around that I am planning on using on an old window, but just haven't quite gotten around to that project yet, so I thought I would put it on my computer..so here's my laptop tricked out....isn't that cool?

Now I think I will get a "D" and put it in the top left corner..what do you think???? I might even get it in red!

Hope your day is a happy one..I am not folding laundry so you know I am happy!!!

Ciao for now....Deidre

Not the best housewife

Is it just me or does everyone hate housework?  It just seems like there are not enough hours in the day.  I spent an hour and a half just folding laundry yesterday!  Time I easily could have used elsewhere and will never get back!  SO my most hated chores are as follows:

1) Unloading the dishwasher, once or twice a day minimum!  I have no problems filling that sucker up but unloading it..uugghh!

2)Folding clothes!  An hour and a half people.  I could have easily made a couple of cards in that amount of time and guess what... I have two more loads to do today!!  Once again I have no problem washing and drying....just the folding!

3) Mopping the floor.  Give me a toilet to clean any day, but mopping just plain stinks and what makes it even worse?  Five minutes later the dogs come in from outside and it is dirty again.  I mean this is really pointless when you have two dogs and twin four year olds right??  I can spot clean and vacuum the heck out of them but mopping?  Bleh Bleh Bleh.  Luckily I have a hubby who doesn't mind doing them. 

I guess I am just a frustrated housewife because doing the folding took so much time last night, but unfortunately somebody has to do it right?  I wonder when those girls will be old enough to put them to work?  Whoops..did I say that out loud??  Well, they sure are good at messing it up so someday they will have to do their part too!

Updates:  Matty is doing much better this week and I lost the two pounds I had gained back last week...so that makes things a wee bit nicer!  Me and those two pounds are really tight... I have gained and lost them probably 50 times!

So for all my club ladies, here is our technique for the month!  I call it a surprise card.  We saw this at convention and when the new heart punch came out I thought they would make a perfect fit!

Here's the front of the card:

and SURPRISE!  Here's the inside:

 

Here's the how to: 

1)Use your 1 3/4 inch circle punch and punch out two circles. 

2)Start at the edge and start cutting into the circle turning it as you go so that you wind up with a springed coil. 

3)Roll your mini glue dots so that you won't have any hanging out the sides and attach one end to the top of your card and one to the bottom of your card

4) Cover the glue dot with a heart if some excess glue dot is sticking out to prevent the card from sticking together.

5) add more hearts to the coil and voila a surprise! 

Imagine it with party hats for a birthday or butterflies! A fun card that is way more interesting than housework I'd have to say!

Ciao for now!  Deidre