Hello Friends!

It’s time to start the tease of new products from the new catalog!  There’s so much to love between the front and back covers!  One of the perks of being a demonstrator is that we get to pre-order some of the products to start playing with them before customers are able to!  I got my big box of new toys the day we left for Nevada to see Adam.  I opened the box, sorted through a few items, but then had to leave it all behind!  Thankfully, it was all still waiting for me when we got home and is now properly organized and ready for use!

But oh…. where to begin!?!

I closed my eyes and grabbed… Forever Greenery was the lucky winner!

Continue reading “In With The New – Let The Preview Begin!” →

Hello Friends,

Sorry for the long absence!  We just got back from Nevada where we’ve been hanging out with my son, Adam.  We generally meet up at the Jordan Valley Big Loop Rodeo (Jordan Valley, OR) this time of year, but due to “the virus” of course, the rodeo was canceled.  So, we made the trip to his place in Battle Mountain, Nevada, to celebrate his 30th birthday with him.  It’s always an amazing time and such a treat to visit him on “his” ranch.  Adam is “cow boss” on a 600,000 acre ranch over there and the last couple times we’ve gone over, we’ve been able to take part in a good old-fashioned calf branding.  I love watching the cowboys (and girls) do their jobs!  It takes one back to the old west for sure, and puts rodeo events into true perspective!

As you may know from my previous posts, I love, love, love horses.  They’re such beautiful animals, and they smell sooooo good!!  Adam’s ranch has a herd of about 60 horses which they run into a corral every evening.  The horses know the routine.  Inside the corral, there’s a rope “corral” – just a rope in a circle.  The horses all know to run into the rope circle and line up where then Adam ropes the horses that he and the other cowboys will use the next day for work.  They’re in the saddle 8+ hours per day riding the range, herding cattle, doctoring cattle, etc.

It’s absolutely one of those visceral experiences to see, and hear, the herd of horses galloping across the desert, heading for the corral.  The thunder of hoofbeats is unmistakable!  You can hear them long before you can see them, though you can generally spot the huge cloud of dust from that many hooves.  And when you finally do see them, oh the magnificence of that many beautiful horses in full gallop… AMAZING!  It’s right up there in my book with military jet flyovers which also leave me breathless and emotional.

My pictures don’t do it justice by any means, but perhaps give a little insight into the experience.

All the horses lining up.  I wonder if they’re thinking, “Pick me, pick me!”?  Or “No, please not me, please not me!”

Adam roping the horses for he and his cowboys for the next day’s work.

(2 of my favorite guys in the whole wide world!)

The gray horse below, and I became fast friends.  His name is Dent due to an injury when he was a colt; he has a permanent little divot in his forehead.

Just a few branding pictures.  I was unofficially the branding photographer and gave vaccines for a while; Dean, who is well practiced at working calves, placed ear tags and otherwise helped where needed.  All together, 267 calves were branded, vaccinated, ear tagged and bull calves made into steers that day.  A busy day for my birthday (cow)boy and the rest of the team!

A happy momma cow and calf trotting off into the sunset after the calf was worked…

With all the horses and rodeo-style ranch life over the past several days, I just had to make a horse-themed card.  I apologize that it’s made with retired stamp sets… I so wish Stampin’ Up would bring back some of the old sets (or something similar), such as the one featured on the front of my card, “Equestrian Dream”.   The front sentiment is also from a retired horse set called “Horse Frontier”.

The inside sentiment is from the one and only current horse set, “Let It Ride”, which will be retiring as of June 2.  If you want it, you best order it SOON!!!

Continue reading “Out Horsin’ Around” →

I need a card and I need it NOW!  Have you been in that situation?

Well, I have the perfect solution for you!

For many of the Stampin’ Up! Suites that come out, there’s a “Memories & More” card pack.  I’m one of those gotta-have-it-all crafters, so I generally buy the whole suite of products for the featured sets when new catalogs come out.  These Memories & More card packs are always included, though can be bought separately.   When I get my big box of goodness from UPS, I quickly open it to oooo and ahhhh over all the fun and pretty new “stuff” within!  I look through the card packs and note how pretty they are, how versatile they could be, but then they generally get set aside and forgotten in my craft closet.  Well, in light of the new catalog coming out, I sat down today with all of my “old” things and picked up a pack of the Tropical Oasis Memories & More cards.  I started to flip through the cards and suddenly a LIGHTSWITCH clicked on in my brain!  Why, oh why, oh why haven’t I been using these things!!!???

Maybe it was the “Tropical State Of Mind” card that pushed me over the narrow ledge I’ve been on for the last week or so, as that describes me to a “T” lately!  As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I’ve been lamenting our lack of tropical vacation this year.  But worse, I’ve been very forgetful, distracted, unable to sit still and stay on task.  It’s gotta be that Tropical State of Mind!!!  (and I thought it was just due to getting older and menopause brain!)  Problem solved… I just need some good ol’ tropical vibe!!!!

Back to 5-minute cards though…

Continue reading “5-Minute Cards – No Joke” →

Hello Friends,

I don’t know about all of you, but I’m ready to get on with life.  We were getting ready to book a cruise to the Western Caribbean when all the Covid-19 stuff broke out and so held off on booking that trip.  Right now, I’m longing for the tropics.  Beautiful beaches and turquoise water, palm trees… toes in the sand, some scuba diving, and getting my tan on!  Heavy sigh… there’s always next year, right?!

With the tropics in mind, I thought this would make a good card for some of our “essential workers” after society starts opening up and they get to start thinking about a vacation!

I love the big pineapple die from “In The Tropics Dies”, part of the Tropical Oasis suite from the January – June 2020 Mini Catalog.  This is a bright, colorful and fun suite, by the way.  The papers are very vibrant and just speak “sun and sand”!  All of the coordinating “accessories” are so fun also.  Unfortunately, some of them will retire on June 2 – including the Coastal Weave 3D Embossing Folder; Tropical Oasis Designer Series Paper (DSP); Tropical Oasis Trinkets; Braided Burlap Trim.  All of these I used on today’s card.  The Timeless Tropical stamps and In The Tropics Dies will continue in the catalog, but bundling for the 10% discount will no longer be available.  So, again, if you want any of it, now’s the time to get it before it’s GONE!

Today’s card is fun and bright, it just screams VACATION!  It contains lots of die cuts and paper piecing, which I like.  I like the dimension and layers that die cuts give.

So, let’s get INKY!

Continue reading “Ready For A Tropical Oasis” →

Hello Friends,

Back once again with my final Mother’s Day card of this season (I think)!  I’ve been doing a lot of outdoor yard work the last couple of weeks, prepping flowerbeds and planting flowers.  The last couple of summers, I’ve not planted anything new in our yard because the deer just eat up everything I plant!  However, I love caring for my yard and find it somehow therapeutic after a long day, to unwind while watering my flowers in the evening.

So, I did my research thoroughly (again), and went to town for the purpose of buying plants that deer WILL NOT eat!!!  I checked my deer-resistant plant list once, and checked it again.  I made my selections and then checked my list again.  I even asked the gal at the nursery to check my cart to ensure I had only the hardiest of deer-resistant plants.  She told me I had done well… there was nothing on my cart the deer should ravage too badly.

Of course, if you live with deer about, you know as well as I do, they will sample ANYTHING… just to find out if they like it or not!

So with fingers crossed, some hope, and a little prayer, I set about planting my new plants:  clematis, hardy geraniums (perennial), cape fuschias, lavender, salvia, coreopsis, daylilies and a butterfly bush.

All the while I’m planting, I had an audience.

They were just waiting for me to disappear so they could come check out the new salad bar offerings.

Such beautiful but tender little morsels…

The next morning I was eager to get outside and make sure my plants were still there.  So, boots on and coffee in hand, out I went only to find that the deer are NOT playing by the rules!!!  They apparently didn’t read the same “deer-resistant list” that I did!!

They ate one of my new clematis to the ground but did leave the other one alone.  The hardy geraniums are missing all of their flower buds and a few leaves; same for the coreopsis.  The salvia they’ve left alone (so far), as have they the cape fuschias and daylilies.  My butterfly bush, they’ve eaten the tips off each branch but I’m hopeful it will make a strong comeback!

My husband just smiled that knowing little smile (or maybe it’s an “I told you so” smile), gave me a hug and started a fire in our firepit.  We pulled a couple chairs around and simply sat and admired our beautiful surroundings.  It was a gorgeous morning and a reminder to be thankful for what landscaping they HAVE left alone over the years!  We are surely blessed to live with deer as our neighbors… at least they’re quiet!

Today, after looking around on Pinterest for “recipes” for homemade deer repellent, things are about to get stinky!!!

By most accounts, 3 eggs, a couple tablespoons of milk, garlic, cayenne pepper, and a little vegetable oil all thoroughly mixed into a gallon of water and left to sit for at least 24 hours to allow the eggs to rot, and then sprayed on your plants will do the trick.   The deer don’t like the smell and therefore leave the plants alone.  If they do get past the smell, the cayenne pepper turns them off.  Supposedly, once the mixture dries on the plants, it’s undetectable to human noses.  I sure hope so!!!  I’ll keep y’all posted as to whether it works or not!!!

But, on to today’s card.  I sorted through my container of “extra” die-cuts for inspiration today.  I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time throwing those extras away, so I put them all in a rectangular plastic container… just in case I need them for some other card!

What I came up with was the branch/leaves from an old retired die set, “Petals and More”. (It coordinated with Petal Palette stamp set, also retired).

As mentioned, I planted a couple new clematis, and I thought that the “branch” could look like a flowering-type vine, and as I don’t have a trellis stamp or die, a Pearlized Doily cut down could simulate the top of a trellis.  I love climbing roses, but again… the deer; therefore I don’t have any!  Herein was my inspiration!

Continue reading “They Don’t Play By The Rules” →

With Mother’s Day just one week away, it’s time to get your Mom’s Day cards made (if you haven’t already) and in the mail (if needed)!  I posted a couple of Mother’s Day cards a few weeks ago, click here  and here to see those, but with it right around the corner now, thought I would return my attention to making more!

Today’s card is soft and feminine, highlighting the Parisian Blossoms Designer Series Paper (retiring June 2).  The papers are double-sided and each one features one side with metallic highlights.  It’s difficult to capture the pretty metallic accents in the pictures, but it’s really very striking “in-person”.

I used the scalloped edge die from “Seasonal Layers” to create the separation between the two sides of the DSP.

The “Seasonal Layers” die set is on the retiring list, along with it’s coordinating stamp set “Colorful Seasons” and will be gone for good as of June 2.   This set is so useful for all four seasons, and the sentiments are fantastic.  I think the “Just Breathe” stamp is one of my favorites of all time!  And oh, the dies – the leaves, the snowflakes, and by far my favorite, the “Adirondack” style lawn chair is so cute!  Check it out!  If you don’t have this set, it’s truly one you might consider!

But, back to the card…  The cherry blossom “branch” is from “Forever Blossoms” and thankfully, it is NOT on the retiring list.  This is a beautiful set for wedding cards, anniversary cards, etc.   Both the front and inside sentiments are from “Strong and Beautiful” (and thankfully is not retiring either!)  I love this set, so great for Mother’s Day cards and cards of encouragement for females!

Let’s Get INKY!

Continue reading “Countdown to Mother’s Day” →

Have you ever had one of those occasions that you needed a card, but you knew there was NO WAY you’d be able to buy a card with just the right sentiment?  I have moments like that frequently; one of the reasons why I took up card making so many years ago!  I like the cards I give to feel personal and for some occasions, a generic card just won’t do.  I had one of those occasions very recently.

The Build-up…

Continue reading “Sometimes Hallmark Just Doesn’t Have A Card For That” →