Not much happening today….I meant to scrap something to show. But as usual, I got distracted and accomplished nothing. Darn it!

Anyway, I have another card from my last class to share. This was completely CASE’d from Debbie Olson. Cause she’s my stamping idol, lol! Really, she is. I love the soft, clean lines of {this card}. It’s just pretty to me!

supplies: Garden of Life by PTI; sweet blush, white and berry sorbet cardstock; sweet blush satin ribbon; sweet blush, berry sorbet, spring moss and noir palette ink pads; corner rounder for scallops; and dimensionals. 

And that’s my version!  We’re off to spend the day at my grandparents farm tomorrow - and I’ll try to pick up some more mint while I’m there……so I can kill it.  Yes, I know.  That is sad, right?  Mint is very hardy.  But yet I kill mine every year.  It’s pathetic, really.

The Niji Waterbrush.  I love it.  First the Disclaimer:

**These are not products that I was asked to endorse in any way. While they might be things that are carried by companies I do design work for - they are just things that I love and want to share the benefits of with all of you. So please rest assured that I am absolutely honestly in love with these products. I do not rave about anything I do not use every day myself, ok?**

Ok - so I know I have shared this before.  But seriously, it’s the best waterbrush out there.  And I used to really love the one SU sells.  But these are fabulous!  I only use the small one, but there are other sizes.  Anyway, they have great  “water release mechanisms” or whatever that would be called.  In other words, they are really fabulous.

I use mine with reinkers.  I purchased mine on ebay, but I have found them at several other stores.  Some local stores might carry them, but I have not seen them at any of the chains here (Hobby Lobby, Michaels, or JoAnn’s).

Where to get it:

Like I said, I got mine on ebay.  Here are two other stores I found them at:

The Cat’s Pajamas 

 Ellen Hutson, LLC

Well - the boys sort of enjoyed the 4th.  Andy hated the noise of the big fireworks.  Alex loved it all.  Adam was so tired by the time they started (they got delayed an hour due to technical difficulties) he was pretty cranky.  But they liked the sparklers!  (And yes, we did use a bucket of water to drop them in and the ‘hiss’ it made hitting the water was pretty cool!)

And my attempt at photographing fireworks…

Considering I had no idea what I was doing - I like them!

And now for something crafty!  And I do have a “Stuff I like” post - but it might be up later tomorrow instead of first thing.  This card is one we made at class last month.  I can’t get enough of this set!

supplies: Everyday Blessings by PTI; sage shadow, basic black and white cardstock; white taffeta ribbon; palette noir ink; sage shadow reinker; niji waterbrush; and self-adhesive pearls. 

That’s all for now!   I hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend!

We arrived safe and sound in Missouri.  Made a trip to the fireworks stand last night and the boys each spent their money.  We let them choose one thing to set off last night - they LOVED it!  I can’t wait to see what they think of the big stuff tonight!

No crafty stuff today - just a picture. (not mine)

Happy 4th of July!  Don’t light anyone on fire!

It’s that time of year, right?

I am really looking forward to spending the next week + in Missouri with my family. For one - I miss them! For another - I am very excited about the boys getting to experience fireworks! I grew up loving the 4th of July. We would sometimes to watch a big display…sometimes not. But we’d always get some stuff of our own and shoot it off at home. I mean….really, what is the 4th without a little explosion in your hand?!?! (I am TOTALLY kidding - I never blew up my hand...although other family members might have…..) Seriously though - BE SAFE!! I am very much looking forward to the boys being able to see a good show. The ones we go to around here are always far away from us to watch. They’ve never done sparklers. Watched a fountain spark at the end of your driveway. Honestly, isn’t that all part of being a kid? So I am glad we won’t be spending it in freaky deaky hot/dry TX where fire of any sort is a big no-no.

Not that I”ll be spending it at the beach (what beach would be in MO?) but I know a lot of people vacation at beaches. I will be relaxing with family, so this works!!

supplies: You Are My Sunshine by Gina K Designs; white cardstock; Vibrant Pink and Baby Blue Dark prismatic papers; dimensionals; palette noir ink; Koh-i-noor pencils, OMS and blending stumps; satin and grosgrain ribbons from my shares; and classic rectangle nestabilities.

While I’m away, I will post a bit. I saved a few projects to share, but I probably won’t post every day. Alright - we’re off on a nice long car drive - bless the person who invented the portable DVD player!!!!

Ok, that was your warning!!

Alana is doing another bling share!  I asked her to let me know because I missed it last time.  These are the same pearls I buy at Hobby Lobby and use on all my stuff.  I love them!  And now I can have more colors!!!  She’s got rhinestones too!  Here’s the pic from her blog:

You can find her blog and all the info {here}. Enjoy!

Seriously - I am so excited about this!  Debbie Olson just showed a sneak peek of what is coming at CHA for Spellbinders.  You *know* how much I love those dies!!

They are coming out with BRACKET dies!  I am LOVING brackets right now - I cannot wait for these to hit the shelves!!!! WHEN will I be able to buy them?!?!

Check them out {here}!

I just realized the last like 5 cards I posted are all relatively the same layout.  I need to go do the sketch challenge and break out of my *box* here!  Yikes!

I’ve had this set of cards that I am making for Matthew’s grandmother……and I just can’t seem to finish them!  So I am going to start posting them in hopes that it’ll spur me to finish them up, ASAP!  We’ll see how that works out.  And I have a Color Challenge to share as well.   First the Color Challenge.

You can view the thread on SCS {here} for more information.  And here’s my sample:

supplies: Image from My Favorite Things; stazon; koh-i-noor woodless pencils, OMS, and blending stumps; dimensionals; cold stone prismacolor marker; may arts ribbon; classic rectangle nestabilities; white, purely pomegranate, wild wasabi, basic black and certainly celery cardstock; Sultry BasicGrey patterned papers; and corner rounder to make scallops. 

And now for the first of the cards in that set I just-can’t-finish…..

supplies: old paper I don’t remember where I got it; JustRite Small Letter Set; block from DIY Manual kit; classic circle nestabilities; pink velvet ribbon; paper piercer and template; dimensionals; mellow moss  and shimmer cardstock; and mellow moss ink. 

And I got an email with a special from Scrapbookpal.com - thought I’d share since I was going there to pick up my next set of the long rectangle nestabilities…..

FREE with any purchase - you can get a Tiny Tabz adhesive dispenser.  Just purchase *anything* and use the code FOURTH in the coupon line.  That’s it!  I’ve not used that adhesive - but I’m always up for trying new ones! (offer expires 7/15/08)

I forgot I had one last card that I sneak peeked during Gina’s release this month and I never posted it here! Also - I realize I didn’t do a “stuff I like” post yesterday. I’m just going to skip this week and work on next Sunday’s. Sorry about that - I just got busy! I’ve also got a monogram set I made for my sister-in-law.

This card was made using Asela’s first set for Gina K. I used a cool sticky dot center from Jody’s “sticky stuff” share on her {blog}. She’s always finding cool products!

And this patterned paper I found from Sassafrass Lass - it has the coolest scallops along the bottom! One side has a pattern and then the info about the paper line on the scallops. The reverse has a different pattern and the scallops are coordinated with it. Pretty cool! Paper and an embellishment in one!

supplies: Botanical Dreams by Asela Hopkins for Gina K Designs; pixie pink and white cardstock; palette noir ink; koh-i-noor woodless pencils, OMS, and blending stumps; sticky dot; dimensionals; various beads; glitter; paper piercer and template; paper snips; Sassafrass Lass SunShine Lollipop patterned paper.

When I put the patterned paper on the card base, I trimmed just outside the line of the scallop - so now the card is scalloped too!

And my sister-in-law liked the monogram cards I’ve had on here so she asked for a set of her own. I used the rest of the paper I had out from a previous Chatterbox set I made. And since some of it was smaller than a regular card front - I made 4 A2 sized cards and 4 4-bar sized cards. A cute set!

Regular A2 card: Made with the JustRite DIY C-45 Monogram Stamper and a 2-color ink pad.

4-Bar notecard: Made with the JustRite Miniature C-30 DIY Monogram Stamper.

All 8 cards together:

supplies: Chatterbox patterned paper; JustRite Monograms; paper piercer and template (SU); dimensionals; classic circle nestabilities; vanilla and certainly celery cardstock; regal rose and chocolate chip reinkers to ink dry ink pads.

I totally messed up first too and made them with a G - then I realized that isn’t her last name anymore, lol!  It was easily fixed though.  That’s all I’ve got for now!