Monday Minute-Dec 20, 2010

Ahhhh the Monday Minute...here it goes:)

1. If you could invent a new animal, what 2 animals would you combine to create a new one? And what would be its name?

This is a toughy but I would go with Sarah Palin with a mule...It would be called the Dumbass

2. What is your least favourite sexual position?

standing...too much work. It's a pain in the ass-oops there is a pun in there somwhere..oops again! :)

3. If you could ask Abraham Lincoln one question, what would it be?

Just one? I have to say I do admire this man. I now sound likea true blond but I would rather get into a great discussion with him. What would you do regarding the state of your country? Health care? Gun control? Foreign affairs?

4. Would you rather be allergic to bacon or not be able to bathe for 6 months?

I am a gal so bathing is much needed-must be clean. I would rather be allergic to bacon. Now since men turn into rampaging, sulky brats if they can't eat what they want and when they want-most men would love to rather stink they give up bacon:)

5. Which would you rather have as a pet? penguin or giraffe? and why

The almighty penguin! They can swim in my tub(see above-I like a bath), they waddle which is amusing and the poop would be easier to clean up. Giraffes well when they eat they have such a black stare...just like Sarah Palin-oops that is the dumbass...sorry:)

Monday Minute

I am so busy decorating and taking care of my mom etc...that i am lacking in cards but i do enjoy the Monday Minute so here are my profound (giggle) answers:)

1. Who is your favourite actor?

Well there is no better actor that Jimmy Stewart! I love the older actors and the young ones could learn from the masters. I watched It's A Wonderful Life" the other day (one of my all time favs) and he should have won the Oscar for that performance. When you think about how he just actually hates his life and can be so gruff in that film it is truly haunting and a brilliant performace. one of my favourite moments...When he no longer exists and he just visits his mom's home and she does not recognize him. he turns and runs up to a closeup of his face. In the back and white(never colourized-that is pure blasphemous(spelling anyone) style he looks around, carzed and half his face is in darkness expressing his dual nature-good vs evil-the Alive George bailey and the Non george Bailey. The eerie music just sets it off. Brilliant scene! Of course he is great in the westerns with Anthony Mann and has anyone seen "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"? Great John Ford western and John Wayne is another fantastic actor who makes me cry in this film. Oh I do go on but film is a passion of mine. Please NEVER watch the colourized version of films-ruins the whole effect. That is my easygoing(ahem) opinion:)

2. Do you collect anything?

Books-Film, art, architecture, occult, travel, well name it. I also have an extensive film collection and am always on the lookout for silent films-yup geek all the way. Oh I also love tea cups...I don't really drink tea but the cups are so pretty. Oh and Christmas stuff but can't be tacky (well by my book anyway) OK Ok I am a bit of a collector

3. What's the biggest turnoff in someone of the opposite sex?

Stupidity! I don't care if they look like george Clooney if they are stupid as a doorknob it just bores me. I also hate when people have to do all the "IN" things -vainity and image-yuck

4. If you HAD to change your first name, what would you change it to and why?

I actually was faced with this back in grade school when i had to go through confirmation (Catholic). I told them I love my name and that there is a swedish nun who is a saint with my name-Birgitta. They would not take that. My mom then threatened that I would not be confirmed. I said "GREAT!" and started taking off the robe so that threat did not work:) I only accpeted when my mom told me my dad would be disappointed so I can't even remember the name-I tried Maria but that was my middle name so they would not accept that either. So I am sticking to my guns cos i really do love my name-it si different and very few people in North America know about it(it is german/Sweidish..I even heard it is celtic by origin). In case anyone is wondering the best way to know how to say my name is thinking of Get beer...Beer-get but say the get with a slang...Git:) Now my clients have called me Brigit, Brigitte(like Bardot), Burdget, deirdre(???) Margeruitte(???), Gretel, Ingrid (german right??) but my favs are Baguette, Bagel and my all time fave-Bruscetta-happy times in the bread shop.

5. What virtue is better:forgiveness or Justice?

You know Initially I was going to say forgiveness because it is such a hard thing to do but then too many people say they forgive and really they are often quite judgemental. the few people who have been able to do this and mean it-I truly applaud especially for someone who forgives a murderer (I could not). I think Forgiveness-although truly admirable is also too politically correct so I am going to say Justice. The knee jerk thinking was the gun toting redneck who believes justice is served when he rams his Dodge Pick Up into a little honda because the Honda cut him off. Truthfully Justice is far more difficult and can be a great debate and often is in the courtrooms. I do not belive Justice is served when someone wins a court case because they dropped their hot coffee on their lap and decided to sue to place who sold them the coffee but when someone murders and gets away with it due to technicalities-that is also not justice. If someone gets their just desserts we often applaud. I am someone who does believe that the serial killers of the world, where there is absolutley no room for doubt becauser the bodies were found in the basement, deserve the firing squad. It is so difficult but justice needs more recognition. OK I went really serious there and maybe opened a can of worms..Oh well

Flowers with Butterfly

Well it is an Open theme for Flutter by Wednesday and I made this card....non Christmassy, for the challenge. I used some brown and blue cardstock and I had pop up image with the flowers which is pretty hard to see on the card but it is 3D I guess:) I ended it with gold border stickers and the outside stickers I coloured in blue. Now off to work I go...

Monday Minute

I have been so busy with Christmas decor, my mother my freaky doggie that I have not made a card...I promise to put one up this eve:) as for the Monday Minute here it goes....

1. Who would play you in a movie?

hmmm-I guess it can't be Goofy? OK well when I was many pounds lighter I was told I looked like Uma Thurman-nice compliment but I don't see Uma in me. Nowadays people see Goldie Hawn in me and she can be goofy so I will pick her...again nice compliment from these people.

2. Are you a good speller?

I dink sa:)

3. Have you/do you smoke cigarettes?

Thank God Nope! Actually when i was little my momwas cleaning and left her cigarettes in the hall. My brother dared me to take a puff. Of course I had to take him up on the challenge so I took a puff and then Baron(my brother) told me I have to inhale it...so I did. I have never been that shade of green ever again. I coughed and coughed all the way up the stairs. My mom asked if I was alreight and I said yes. years later it came out she knew what we did. We thought we fooled her but mothers know. My mom, who has smoked for 60 yars (has dementia now which smoking has not helped) always told me that one loses one's freedom with the cigarette and that she will consider buying her smokes before her food. I thought that was totally stupid, being a teenager when she told me, so I never started the nasty habit.

4. Have you ever won a trophy?

Are you kidding? Maybe if they have one for talking too much:) or giving unwarranted advice:))

5. Have you ever written(or started to write) a book?

I have not started but I have always thought about it especially writing a biography about my mom. She has had an amazing life to me. She grew up in germany under the Hitler regime. The nazi party forced her to the Hitler youth(contrary to many films not every kid or person went gamely to this evil regime). She decided on a hunger strike(at 12) they had to send her home. She lost her 1yr old brother due to the war and her 19 yr old brother. She was in Hamburg when she was 15 yrs old when it was fir bombed and she was also in Dresden. her father was taken by the nazi's and placed in a camp because he was outspoken. After the war the russians marched in and there was rape, lotting and their books and many photos were burned and they bulldozed the gardens so they were starving. My mom escaped to the West but brought food back and then when her father was let out of the Russian camp(first he was put in the german camps stating he was a communist and then after the Russians moved in he was placed in their camps stating he was a fascist). Anywa she got her father out. She had many close calls with the border police and everything else. When her mother came over to the West she helped them out and then she married a jerk(we all know those) and he was nasty but finally she met my dad and she had many happy times. Of course there is so much more... Did I tell you my mom met Hitler? She wished later she had a grenade on her but then i would not be here.

Monday Minute

Ahh the Monday Minute, well here are my astounding answers:)

1. What's your favourite sport to watch on TV?

Is Art history considered a sport? What about archeology or history?? What is sport?? Now that we know I am a total geek and was always pick last (actually it was more like, in high school, " We don't want her, you take her for your team. no we don;'t want her, you are stuck with her..."). Anyway, an actual sport I watch well the Olympics-more the swimming, skating, skiing, bobsledding....not into team sports (Eghad! Is there a person out ther who is not into team sports??) and I also like watching the Tour De France. When I was sick once for 2 weeks I really got into it-Go yellow jersey go!

2. What's your favourite fast food establishment?

Those places are verboten to me (sorry german peeking through:)) I guess the closest would be Swiss Chalet. They are restaurants but I would say in between fast food and a regular restuarant. The quarter chicken dinner is pretty damm good.

3. Do you like mushrooms and onions?

YUM!! What else can I say. And no Muchrooms are not made from tires OK?!:)

4. If you had to get a tatoo done tomorrow, what would you get done?

Hmmm I just can't wait to have needles pricked into my skin and ink spew into my body and have a tatoo that looks great now but when I am 80 it turns into a wrinkly mess. I would love to see some of these lovely lasses who have tattoos everywhere when they are 80. I wonder how it will look then. That being said, I will say the artistry behind tatoos are quite striking and some are real artists. Now what would I get done if I had no choice???? Maybe Claude the cat or that yappy little puppy that drove Claude insane or maybe the vampire from Bugs Bunny. OK a warner Bros cartoon character. I could do a fairy or butterfly but they are so overdone:)...not that there is anything wrong with that.

5. What are your thoughts on the female proposing marriage to the male in a relationship?

Hey! why not? Right after she then would take him to to a jewelry store and get that ring before he knows what hit him:) What would be better is if he was 95 yrs old with an IV in his arm and he is a millionaire...wait I think that has already been done by blond tootsie rolls everywhere. And we call them dumb:)

Flower Fairy

For Flutter by Wednesdays, I believe it was an anything goes...I have not looked at Flutter for a couple of hours and so i am hoping I am correct otherwise I am losing my brain cells:) For Simon Says it was Glitter. Normally I would use all sorts of glitter but I did not feel like having glitter everywhere so I chose to use cardstock for the glitter background and the sticker border has glitter too. I have the pop up fairy who seems to shine and sparkle on her own and used the pop up dots to make her more 3 dimensional. It is a rainy Monday here in Ontario so it was nice to make a card...or 2:)

Monday Minute

It is that time again for aht e Monday Minute. I took the day off(Yippee!) and will be doing only what I want to do:)....well, we'll see.... Anyway here is my Monday Minute

1. What is your all time Favourite Book?

I have to choose one??? I have actually a library...yup, a Library and it isn't just for looks either. I do actually read, contrary to popular opinion. So ....hmmm....I LOVE Call of The Wild. I Love To Kill a Mockingbird, Any book on film except please no bios on Justin Bieber (AKA the anti Christ) or Paris Hilton (I don't need to read bubblegum) but Greta garbo and Louise Brooks by Barry Paris are excellent. I love Art books and the occult, archeology etc... If I spell anything wrong I will just blame it on too fast typing...um same with my grammar:)

2. What are your pet's names?

Well first is my beautiful Katie. Our Black Lab. I got her 10 yrs ago and she is 11. I would have named her Klutz but she came with her name:) When I met Michael(can he be classified as a pet:)) He had Naddie-he is a male tabby cat. I think of the Johnny Cash Song "A boy named Sue" when i think of Naddie. he is a large cat who is very gentle with the other cats, will rip you to shreds if you try to give him a pill or bring him to the vet, not exactly the most intelligent(he is a cat after all) and he runs like a girl (like me actually). We have Lucy-our middle cat or AKA The Diva! She tells you or rather, demands, when she wants something, loves to be stroked and only eats certain foods. Actually I call her the Naomi Campbell of cats and am very happy Lucy can not pick up cell phones. We have Jade-the 3rd cat. She is adorable. She is very affectionate and is not scared of the dogs and licks them to death and even will bite their ears and they do not budge. She actually seems to imitate the dogs. Of course our last animal is Wallace, nope not Wally, but Wallce. He is our latest addition that we got last year. he is a rescue dog from Louisiana. he didn't come from the actually hurricane but he was abused and is so severely traumatized that he is terrified of the outside. he is now on anxiety medicine since he shakes with fear when he knows to go outside and hence he is still not fully house-trained as he is often too scraed to go outside. I am not taking him to a behaviourist so he gains more confidence in me. Actually I am the one being trained:) We named him after William Wallace. he is a Louisiana state dog/retriever mix. Actually he looks like a dingo:) and he has one blue eye and one brown eye.

3. What kind of undies do you prefer?

I prefer pretty ones but that are also comfortable. I have tried the thong ones and well it is like a rope up one's butt. I feel like I am getting a constant ...what is that called when they yank your panties up?? Anyway I am going to comfort nowadays. I can't believe I just wrote that:)

4. If you could go back in life, what would you now choose to do for a living?

Actually I am not someone to go back in time and think of these things as I believe we choose something for a reason and that is why we stick to it. I love being a Credit Counsellor. I always was good with money(Yup I was a weird kid who would never spend her whole 25 cents I always saved 10 cents of it). Now that being said, if I wanted to change careers, I would probably go into the arts. I love Museums so I would work in a museum giving talks about the meanings of paintings or such. I also LOVE travel. I could be that guide in Europe holding the umbrella having all the people who do look like tourists, follow me while I lead them to very interesting areas or, get them lost make up a story about something they are looking at while i try to find my way back again(It happened to a friend of mine).

5. Do you hit snooze in the morning?

Yup! I DO! I hate having to get up so early. Once I literally threw my clock out the window and I was 5 stories up. I guess I am not a morning person.

MONDAY MINUTE

Well I missed the last couple of weeks so here is my Monday Minute....

1. Would you rather be stuck on a bumpy roller coaster while having to pee extremely loud or be stuck on a crowded elevator with really bad gas with co-workers?

Easy-elevator. I hate hights with a passion so I would never be ona roller coaster. I also have been in a similar predicament but since men are usually on elevators and believe farting is a form of sport I figure I can let one go and the look at the man in disgust and turn away from him-devious is key:)

2. What is the one thing you miss most from your childhood?

the deep snow, with beautiful music playing, watching my mom bake and my dad read while I read a nice book...

3. If aliens exist, what do you think they look like (describe)

Hmmm....They would look like George Clooney or Rick Fox(seen him on DWTS??), the voice of Patrick Stewart, the mind of Einstein and the sensitivity/compassion of Jimmy Stewart...A girl can dream

4. Would you rather discuss your body weight or your salary with people you know?

I am an open book and when i discuss matter likes that people are so rivit..zzzzzzzzzz oh sorry fell asleep

5. If you were stuck in a predicament like a movie "Alive", could you revert to cannibalism? If so, how would you feel about eating your deceased family/friends?

Donnelly-Party of Five:) Survival is survival. I would hope I would not but let's hope that will never happen. As for family/friends? Depends who? Oops i hear my knife and fork are calling

6. People that are born blind, what do they dream about? Sounds?

Aside from feeling people's faces in dreams-the usual-being chased, being naked, trying to use the toilet iin front of everyone, sex

Christmas is a Comin'

Well We are into November already! I can not believe we are so close to Christmas although, being Canadian, I am thinking of Remembrance day and proudly wearing my poppy. OK so For Christmas Cards All Year Round, November Challenge was to have a Tree and ribbon on the Card. This first Card actually also goes under the challenges for Crafty Creations (Fables and Fairy Tales), Simon Says (All White), Flutter By Wednesday(Anything goes)and any of these cards can got for the Stampman Challenge:). I thought of the Snow Queen. I decided to try to imagine what happened to the Snow Queen (OK Fairy) after the boy she liked and took for herself, left her for his best friend...who happens to be a girl. She almost made him forget his past life and iced his heart but his little girlfriend warmed his heart once more and he left with her. All that the Snow queen has are his tears that became ice droplets. So I placed her in the forest (all white of course) that I embossed with Sno Sparkle. I stamped her in silver and coloured her in with tombow markers and then I used ribbon aroundthe edges and finished it off with Svoroski crystals (how does one spell that name). That little boy was a true heartbreaker:)

This is Michael's Favourite. I used Alcohol inks for the background and then is used a bow for the centre(I HATE trying to tie a ^*%$ bow. I can never get it perfect like so many can-this was after a half hour-do not look at the centre and I kind of glued it in place. No those contraptions to help make a bow do not work with me either..I still screw it up..I just wish I could buy an instant bow. I lack the gift). I had christmas tree stickers and embossed the saying in gold and finished it off with crystals.

This Christmas funky tree also works for Christmas Stamper (Purple and silver). I used my cuddle bug for the background on silver paper. I had purple cardstock and a sticker for the tree. I coloured the tree with twinkling H2O's. The small ribbon is in purple that I glued around the purple cardstock

The 4 th tree in the series is a sticker that I coloured red and used stickles (yellow and green). I had some cardstock with trees on them ( won that actually last year from Christmas Card all Year Round-thank you again!) and I used ribbon to highlight everything.

My last card, I used a dark red, light green and a sparkly white cardstock. I had this pop up image for the bottom part to make it look like the tree and ornament bounced right out of it. They are also stickers that I stuck on a basic white cardstock that I coloured with tombow markers. I (YUP I did )made 2 small bows that I placed on top of the tree and ornament and then I used gold sticker for borders. Take care everyone.

remember Hanzel and Gretel?

Well remember the old Bugs Bunny Cartoons? I still love them and when I can, I watch them proudly:) One of my favourite characters is good old Witch Hazel. She would find herself funny, cackle, click her heels and take off with hairpins flying around her. Well I had no stamp of her so I found this image on the internet and I drew her from the screen I saw(nope no tracing-free hand but from an image). I coloured her in tombow markers and then I added the Cat in black sparkle, the pumpkin, The saying(in purple sparkle) and the butterfly punchouts. I thought even a witch deserves some butterflies and hopefully she does not put them in her pot for toil and trouble. I believe this should work for Flutterby Wednesdays (use purple, orange and black), Simon Says (punch them), and Crafty Creations (Autumn or Halloween see below too:)). Oh I LOVE Halloween! Oh and good Old Witch hazel was introduced in the Bugs cartoon where she is trying to catch Hanzel and Gretel in her cute cottage....

...So here is the cute cottage. I used glossy white paper and then I sponged reds, oranges, a light green (in the centre) and browns for the image. I stamped and embossed the leaves, coloured them with tombow markers and then cut them out and placed them around the card. This was supposed to be for a previous challenge using red, green, yellow, brown(I think I got the colours right) for one of the challenges but I have been so busy that this card was just set aside but it still fits for the Crafty Creations (Autumn or Halloween) and the Stampman Challenge (for Men). I have a friend's birthday today and this will be perfect for him. I love the brown leather looking cardstock too and had to showcase it a bit.

Monday Minute

Hi Everyone. I have been answering these questions on marlene's site as I just did not know how to copy and paste them over to my area. I decided to just write them down and then write them here and answer them. There must be an easier way but I am not a computer person. I am the old school book person:) OK so here it goes:

1. Have you ever been hospitalized?

Yes in the mid 80's I had a nasty Kidney stone. I can still feel the pain. in '87 I had my appendix taken out and then 5 years ago i was never admitted but I was in the hospital emergwency 7 times (yup 7) and they kept saying i had a bladder infection. Finally when my dr returned from vacation he checked me out and got the test results-I had a burst cyst on my ovaries and the poisons spread throughout my body. If I could have turned into the incredible Hulk and ram a very large needle up that emergency dr's butt I would!

2. What is the last bit of good news you received?

We got our new bed. Now we dream of sunshine and fairy tales rather than needles and springs up the butt(I have an issue today with butts don't I)

3. Who was your favourite teacher?

My favourite teacher is Mr. Allison. he was my grade 10 math teacher. he was so patient and took the time with me and made the bullies shut up when I could not understand the questions. I actually got a B in that class. It went down hill after that but just prooves what a good teacher can do. Nope I have no interest in math even though I am a credirt Counsellor and am a great budgeter(If I do say so myself:))

4. Do You sing in the shower?

Nope I don;t want all the dogs from the neighbourhhod and beyond howling at my door begging me to stop. The neighbours would come next with pitchforks

5. Describe the Happiest day of your life?

Hmm I can not limit it to just one. My wedding day(We are divorced now although good friends). It was a beautiful day and everyone enjoyed themselves. When my present spouse, Michael, and met for the 3rd time(no comment but my devil horns are out). Seeing Michael's face when we traveled to Europe. He had never been and his beaming face Iwill never forget.

Snowflakes

At Christmas Cards All Year Round, the September challenge was to not use the typical card format but make a card, round or square or whatever. In August their challenge was to use snowflakes. Since I missed August, I decided to combine the 2:). In all of them, I used snowflake stickers and the border are with stickers often too. I just love them and I either left them in gold, white or silver or I used the identipen to colour them in black or blue. The first one I also use stickles(another of my favs) and layered it in pastel cardstock with some shimmer and glimmer. The black and white one I embossed the winter scene in silver and used my sno sparkle and added the snowflake stickers. The middle one-I used a great gold colour card stock and I used alcohol inks in stream and pearl and then I finished it with brads and added white crystals. The 4 th one, well, I used tissue I got from a store one Christmas as the background and then just added the stickers. The final one, again are stickers that sparkle...gotta have sparkle, and on blue and grey and white cardstock I layered everything. I just love the paper of the last one because they all shimmer. Well i hope everyone is having a fab day. I have been busy with my mom mainly. Her dementia is becoming worse and at times, it is difficult. I am on pins and needles right now because I cleaned just a small portion of her workroom(was her craftroom) since my brother took her out for a few hrs. I did not want to clear everything out but it is a fire hazard and I need to get this done for her. My guilt in cleaning out a small part of her room is getting the better of me-it is hard to not think that she will feel like I am trying to get rid of her. I hope she does not get angry...time will tell. That is why I thought a little card making and putting this on my blog would help. That's all for now folks:) Everyone have a beautiful day.

Dancing In The Stars

For the Stampman Challenge, they wanted something musical. I could not help but think of one of my favourite TV Shows...Dancing With The Stars (Egad...David Hasselhoff?!). I decided to do a thoroughly fun card with some funky animals ( I have bears dancing the waltz and Cows doing the jive but my friend borrowed them..I can't wait to see what she will do with them). These are my cats doing the Jive as well and my piggies all enraptured with each other. Now All I did was stamp and emboss the images and coloured them with tombow markers. I placed them on different coloured papers and used sticker borders and stars that I coloured with the identipens. The words are also stamped and embossed with clear embossing powder. Now who would be the dancer Derek Hough, Maxim or Edyta and who would be David Hasselhoff or Jennifer Grey. Can you imagine if Betty White did this show...:) Have a great day

Pixie Gal

Ok so here is my take for Flutter By Wednesdays and Simon Says. Flutter By Wednesday wanted a birthday card and set to a sketch and Simon Says wanted pearls and lace. I decided to combine the 2. I have seen some amazing ladies combine 8 or 9 but I am struggling often with just 2:). I used alcohol inks for the background( pearl, stream, pesto and Wild plum). I stamped the image in black and embossed her with black sparkle. I used my tombow markers and coloured her in and then used a water brush to do some painting and melding( ok my word and you know what I mean:)) I also used perfect pearls for the little extra cardstock you see on either side of the image. I had some lace and decided to try the alcohol inks on that as well. I didn't like the white background of the fairy so I used chalk in blue and pink and a hint of purple. I finished it off with the flower, pearls and stickles which I just rubbed on with my fingers on the background paper. I finally did a card with no negative vibes (noone I know died...thank heavens). Now I can't wait to do my musical card:)) Have a fab day everyone!

For Shadow-White plus One

Our neighbours just had to put their lab down. Her name was Shadow and she was 12 and truly loved so I made this card for them because Shadow and my Katie(my beautiful lab) always played well together. I decided to try the Crafty Creations Challenge-White plus one. I decided to go with black. I know it is technically a "non" colour but I thought it would work. I took glossy paper and stamped the dog image in black ink. I have the beautiful white paper with a linen look to it and laid it over top and then I took my silver stickers-borders and edges and, using my identipen-black, coloured them. I then placed it all around and finished it with the "thinking of You" stamp. Inside I just took a doggie footprint and stamped it in black on the edge. Animals are often our children and always gives us love especially when we need it. Are they not the most wonderful....:)

365 day cards-6 pieces

I have not done one here for a while but I have been looking:) I decided to do a fall type of card since we have plunged from 28 C down to 19 C in a day...typical Canada, well Southern Ontario anyway. I used alcohol inks-terra cotta, pearl and copper for the background on white glossy paper. I cut out 6 pieces of paper in 3 colours and I stamped and embossed them with pearl gold ( used Silver, gold and purple dye pads). I then trimmed them in brass stickers and finished them off with dark gold crystals (el cheapo kind not sveroski...how does one spell that anyway:)). Happy upcoming Fall/Autumn.

Flutter Challenge

I have not been doing cards lately. I actually made an inventory of all my stamping items and placed it in a book for reference. I also have had, well, alot of crap going on lately. In one week alone, my dog was ill (better now thank god), I got sued at work(thank God I keep detailed notes and have other proof- our insurance man took my statement last week and it looks like he will recommend this client of mine not get her way-can we say she has been caught in many lies), and my mom almost burnt my house down. I own a duplex and she lives upstairs. Thank God we turned her stove off but she placed one of those bean bags (to ease her backache) in the microwave and, instead of turning it on for 2min, she must have hit 20. I was not at home but my hubby, Michael, was. My mom came down and told him she thought she made a mistake. He went upstairs and when he opened up her door all this blue smoke came bellowing out. he knew it was the microwave and it was so hot that it actually scorched the side of her fridge and burnt a part of the wooden table it was laying on. Since then she has been quite upset that her stove does not work (we said it is the wiring) and she has pulled that stove away from the wall, I have no idea how many times. She thinks now there were 2 cords for the stove. It is not fun. This, though, does not compare to an acquaintance of ours. She was very close to her mom and we found out that her mom was murdered. We feel so bad for this lady because she is such a nice person and to have your mom murdered is unthinkable. We heard about it in the paper but did not realize it was her mom so this card is for our friend Naomi. I promise the next card I make will have sunshine and happy talk. I am glad that I can escape into making this card at least for her.

Christmas in July

I am at the end of my vacation and boy did I need it! I have to say I did something off my bucket list....Last Saturday my friend and I went on the Jetboat tours through the rapids in the Niagara River. We went through class 5 rapids-can one say wall of water!!! It was a blast and i highly recommend it...completely safe too. Now on to the challenges. I belive i conquered Chstmas Card All Year round-Open, Charistmas Stamping-Button and bows (Bob Hope comes to mind-remember the song?), Simon Says-Sketch Challenge and Flutter By Wednesday, Christmas in July (use butterfly, fairy or angel). The first is my Angel. I used dark blue tectured cardstock with light blue glitter paper and I stamped the angle in black and then coloured her in with tombow markers-I tried the Chartres effect. I finished it off with some stickles on her wings. The next is Simon Says Challenge-the sketch. I stamped the tree in silver and embossed with white glitter and then I used a textured gold paper with green and the glitter white and the black glittery paper(I love that paper). I used a ribbon in red as an effect. Christmas Stamping had the buttons and bows-Actually I got this paper from Christmas Cards All Year roundas a gift and it is so pretty I wanted to highlight it so I just used a nice white pearlized cardstock and a blue and stamped the sentiment. I stckled it all around and made the bow which took me forever-why can't one buy instant bows??? I just placed the button in the centre and stickled the tree parts too. The last 2, well, I used my glitter white paper and I stamped, in green, the evergreen branch and waited for it to dry. I randomly sponged colours in blues and then I used stickers (glittery of course) and laid it over top and then cut them out and placed them as if they are hanging from the branches and then i finished it off with stickers. The last one is my manly Christmas card. I used a burnt orange as a base and then a lighter card stock along with a remnant of my brown leather and green. I had a St. Nick that I had stamped before and was ready to toss since the bottom portion didn't turn out and then a lightbulb hit(yeah I couldn't believe it!) and I cut it out with my oval shape plastic,...um....thingy and I mounted it on top. If I knew how to make it look like glass I would do it but I don't know since my diamond glaze, when i put it on as a try out, it turned out all streaky. Anyway there we go. Have a fab week ahead everyone!

Grape Time

Well, maybe ......maybe I did 3 posts. I am jumping the gun but we shall see. First off, for Flutter by Wednesday we had to use a minimum of 3 layers and at Simon Says, one had to be fruity. Well I made a manly card as it is my Michael's uncle's birthday. I have my grape stamp (which I love using and i got it on sale...I love that even more). I stamped and embossed in black. I used chalks for the background and the grapes. I stamped the image twice and then cut out the grapes and, using pop ups, I have the grapes, well,....um...pop up:) I created a little butterfly from a punch and coloured it quickly with tombow markers. I then hammered those eyelets in(what are they called again??) the 4 corners and then i layered it on leathered brown cardstock followed by dark purple, green and then a shimmering brown. I used stickers that I coloured purple to finish off the look. Now i shall see what 365 day cards has today. I am a busy gal this day. I have to clean(yuck), do the laundry(yuck, yuck), get banking done (blah blah), take care of my Wallace my freak boy dog who hates walks and rather pees in the house than go outside because he has been so traumatized(we got him as a rescue dog last Aug and he is still shaking like a leaf to go outside...any suggestions would be mighty helpful). We love him so though and he deserves love more than anything. My other dog, my Katie girl has been throwing up so I fear I need to take her to the vet today too. She is 11 and she is my peaches and cream! My mom seems to be forgetting time more and repeates quite a bit and that is hard seeing her disappear before my eyes. My friend Vancouver Jeff (as opposed to my ex-Jeff) is coming down this weekend. He is MY brother in all cents of the word and he even said he would come down for a weekend (yup from Vancouver-he is on his ex-partners' plane pass still.....maybe I should give the fruity card to him...ok I am sorry I can't help myself, please do not hate my political incorrectness as I can actually say that to him quite freely since VJ loves tossing me into fountains and generally getting my goat:))to stay with my mom so Michael and I can get away...amazing isn't it. We are picking him up at the airport today. I plan on doing something I have not done yet with him---bucket list time....Maybe we will go on the rapids(there is a boat) on the Niagara River. Now i don't mean above the falls and I don't me the Maid of The Mist (I laugh now as Mist in German means Manure) but they have a boat in the gorge to tackle the rapids and it holds about 50 people or so so it is safe. Anyway Look at me just talk..I can do that naturally.,... Have a fab day to all fo you. Happy Card making

Fairy Dream

OK I made this a while ago but I thought it would be a good choice when Flutter By Wednesday challenge comes back and so here is my entry. I was inspired by one of my mom's eggs that she made and decided to make a little story that anyone can interpret. I used my main fairy stamp and then I masked her and surrounded her with several other stamps....the cottage, little flowers, little butterfly, the birds, the dragon($ only- yahoo), my unicorn and the cherubs. I coloured them in with my tombow markers. I added extra clouds and the sun using chalks to finish off the backgorund. I then used 2 different purple cardstock and of course stickles because wherever fairies are so is fairy dust ( there could be so many humerous anecdotes here but I just let you ponder and have a smile). I will add my mom's egg which will be above this card...she made the fairy and the harp and everything and she is sitting in a real chicken egg. Didn't my mom have talent! I can't believe I got this in the actual Wednesday!

3 Shades of Orange

Well at 365 Day Cards, today's colour challenge was 3 different oranges so I stayed with my flower motif (see rest of blog...if you dare:)...ok just kidding). I stamped and embossed a rose(hard to see since I decided to stickle it. I coloured it with my tombow markers in 3 different oranges. The backing is a pearlized paper and I used my $1 punch again and my chalks in different oranges. I used my tombow markers on paper and then placed the glitter stickers over top, cut them out and used pop ups to secure them on the edges. I coloured in the butterfly and cut her out and used my pop ups again for Ms. Butterfly and placed it on dark orange colour stock paper. Today it is hot, hot, hot! Tomorrow hotter still so, well,....that's all folks! Have a great day!

365 Day Cards-flowers and Colours

WellI am finally caught up with 365 Day cards and since most are made with flowers it works as well with Fortnight Challenge (sorry if i got the name wrong). I went on a splurge and decided to do all studys on flowers and use the colours given for the day challenge at 365 Days Cards. Today is a Study in Purple. The background is actually purple tissue that I crinkled up for some texture. I used a lavendar card stock backing and then I used my perfect pearls powders for the main backgound with the flowers(English Lavender, Sweet Thistle, Forever Violet and Sparkly White). I bought a punch on sale for $1 (yup $1) and then I have these pop out flowers as the centre and you can't see it but they are 3D.

Yesterday's card had to be yellow so I used the pop out flowers in 3D(I love them) and used 3 different Yellows(oh yes the colours had to be in 3 different shades). I finished it off with stickers for borders and I used chalk for the final background in different yellows and some oranges.

Ah, The blue one-I turned out neat (OK Nerd alert) but I used glimmer sprays for the main background and I think more blue got on my fingers as the squirt bottle was working correctly right away...it was a mess. I used Sparkly silver. Light blue backgound and the pop up flowers have a different blue as well. I finished it off with waterfall stickles as I thought this was a night look:)

O Canada! I made most of these cards yesterday as I am off work(Yahoo). This is the sole one without Flowers but I had to use that backgound paper as I just love it! It has a myriad of different reds on it. I used a wine red backing and cut it out with the heartbeat scissors and then I used a pin to finish the edging. I cut out the stamped leaves(stamped in black & embossed in black sparkle) and I coloured it with twinkling H20's in 3 different reds.

Monday at 365 Day Cards was a study in green and to use 3 different shades of the same colour. The main card is in forest green with a light pearlized green cardstock and then I stamped and embossed the Hummingbird. I painted the hummingbird with my twinkling H20's in a variety of green and some red and then I used my chalks to colour the backing also using different greens. I finished it off with green flowers and crystal stickles!

June so Bright

Well I did the challenge for 365 cards, Christmas cards all year round and Christmas stampin all year round. Please forgive me if I forgot the correct blog way it is written:) 365 cards has a design challenge so i incorporated it in to the 5 cards to make for Christmas all year round and Stamping Christams. Stampin Christams stated to have stitching on the card and, thankfully, it could be faux, since I suck at anything regardign stitching. For the Christmas cards all Year round, June Challenge was to make it bright and, I think, your favourite embellishment (forgive me as I haven't checked in on my mom for a while and I am writing this quickly:))Well I LOVE crystals so I used them on all my cards. I just bought some nifty paper with glitter already on it in all bright colours so I used it on the Merry Christmas card. My glittery card is the snowflake and I used the fine glitter in white, yellow, light blue and light green...yup it is everywhere. My Santa, which I love is a hark back to Christams stampin 2 weeks ago to make a card look vintage so I used that as inspiration as I have been having a difficult time as of late to make cards. Well I hope I met the guidelines, Oh and quickly, the one Santa, I did not colour him in at all and if I did I would make it soft. Would you leave himas he is or colour him in slightly??? Responses please to my question. I am a gemini at heart so I go back and forth:)

For baby Nathan

Well rarely I make a baby card but my 2nd cousin had a baby boy-Nathan, born June 11th-a Gemini(he will be a schizo like me) and so here is the card for him. I kept it blue and I stamped with blue dye ink the hands and feet, the stork, star and little bear on a moon. I used basic white cardstock and grey metalic as well. I coloured in the bear and outlined the bear with my tombow markers and used stickles. Since I can not sew anything I did the outline with a tombow marker and even that looks crooked. I am a terrible sewer...I once tried to sew the hem back in place on my skirt, 2 hrs later I was so happy that I stuck with and when i looked at the skirt it was all bunched up in places plus I sewed to my pants! It was just following the previous hem line where the stitching came undone! Ahh one of many priceless sewing disasters. Anyway this is my creation for Crafty Creations. I have been a bit pre-occupied with my mom who has vascular dementia so this has taken a bit of time but love means to be there in good and bad times and she has always been there for me. Now comes some bad times but this is part of life. I better stop before I go on in a droll....:)

Christmas for May-A Little Late

Well I am late with May's challenge for Christmas Cards All Year Round! I had to face some challenges of my own-I had 7 birthdays in 3 weeks and they are all close so that was difficult to get through. I also found out that my mom has vascular dementia. It has been an ordeal and her mood swings and fears have saddened me and I am quite tired. I have been told it is rapid. I am now giving her her meds. I have an unknown territory to deal with. She was an amazing lady-she lived through the bombings of Hamburg and Dresden, she survived being taken by the Russians, she escaped from them and from East Germany and actually suffered a major head injury and was in the hospital for 9 months having to relearn how to walk and talk! This happened all before she was 28! She was the great love of my father's and vice-versa. With all these memories going through my head it has been diificult to just sit and do some cards. I dont mind the first 3 but the last 2 I, think, are yucky. I am not a button girl but I tried my best. So not much on talking about the cards but, this time, my heart was not totally in it.

Happy Mother's day

OK the card is for the challenge at 365 day cards and I made it for my mom. She is not for pink and soft daffidils. She often likes the "manly" colours although she loves black and white which i have made for her in the past. I used the cuddlebug and added cryatls and stickers (stars). Now the main thing below...I did NOT do. This is what my mom created when she had her eyesight. They are made with real eggs! Today is mother's day. I realize that, at times, I can be impatient with my mom, who is 82. I can get frustrated because I can see she seems to be having trouble with her memory and I am concerned. She got her mRI done but we now have to wait to see the Dr. I hope it is nothing like Alzheimers. I own a duplex and she lives in the upstairs area so I try my best to be with her because, she has always been there for me. She started creating these "faberge-style eggs when I was little. She told me that they used to make creations with eggs when she was little in Germany. I didn't understand and asked her to make one and that is how it began for her. Over the years she could not find the right "stuff" to place inside the eggs so she decided to make them all. Yup the fairy and the lady and the little bird are all handmade by her. The Midieval Lady is in a goose egg which she did cut out as you see here. She made the lady out of bread dough. The fairy egg is from an emu egg. The egg is a dark green and if one slowly chisles into it it goes lighter and lighter til it is white. She decided to create the door in the image of a kingfisher. When you open the door(she hinged it) you see a midnight dream. She painted the background and created the fairy including the wings and her little dress. I think she may be about an inch, maybe an inch and a half long. She always said the smaller the better! I wish i had this artistry and patience but, I do not. Now she has macular degeneration and for a few years now she can not do her work. At least I have some to look at and I want to share with you. I will show a few more this week since i will honour my mom for the week in this way. She deserves it. My friends, when I speak of her life, state she could write a book and i do believe she could. I will write about her a bit tomorrow but I can say she survived the war (she is german), she survived a very bad accident and so much more but that is for tomorrow. I apologise if i bore you but I just wish her work could still be seen. To all mother's out there-happy Mother's week!