Annie's stare down.

German Shepherds are very active dogs and Annie is true to her breed.  She gets a morning workout before I leave for work and some play time when I get home. At night, we go for a walk before bedtime. Annie also gets to spend a lot of time outside when I'm home. I feel so bad she has to be in the house all day. She gets to hang out in the zen garden (filled with sand), even if that means she will be tracking in a ton of sand. Last night we came across a pack of coyotes at the end of our driveway. Normally I only see one but this time it was at least five and they weren't afraid at all by me or Annie's barking. So Annie didn't get to spend anytime out in the garden after our walk. She was not happy and gave me the stare down asking why she couldn't go outside for her nightly cool down. 

Busy Holiday Weekend 2018

Tomato cage tree

For the past few weeks I've had one computer issue after another. My IT guy finally figured out my monitor (which is my flat screen TV) was at fault and replace some burn out parts. Right when that was happening my cell phone locked up and the only way to unlock it was to upload from my PC, which I couldn't do since my monitor was in the shop. My only hope was someone at my aunt's house on Thanksgiving would bring their laptop and fix my phone. 
Now that everything is back to normal, include the weather (finally have clean air after all the fires here in CA) I worked outside all day. Got my Christmas decorations up and lite, vegetable garden cleaned up and compost ready for winter. Annie had a great time being outside all day, she was one tired pup. 

Christmas card 2018

Christmas Card 2018

I was inspired by Jennifer Mcguire's blog post using a die that made this tree shape. I made my own template and had a great time whipping up these cards. I have a ton of DMC thread, so it was nice to finally dig into my stash. The photo of Annie was taken down in Carmel right before Thanksgiving. The best part was I was able to get the pelicans and waves in the background. The pelicans are not always at the beach, let alone get them in the picture with Annie sitting still! The photo goes inside the card. Have to say a big thank you to the Costco photo department. I made a mistake when I ordered my photos online, it was cropped to close. The photo tech made the correction and reprinted everything for me while I shopped. I send my cards out early because I hate to forget  or because they are handmade and a little thick (but still legal) sometimes they get sent back. 

Carmel City Beach 2018

Thannksgiving Card 2018

Very Old Amuse  Thanksgiving Stamp

I was a  little late in getting my Halloween cards out this year, so I'm working extra hard on getting my Thanksgiving cards out on time. I wanted to do something other than a turkey or pumpkin pie, which I've done in the past. Plus I didn't want to buy anything specific of just Thanksgiving. 

When I'm in a creative slum, I randomly slap color (twinkling H2Os) on water color paper. I have stacks of it laying around waiting for me to find something to do with it. For 2018, I decided to break on my mini leaf punch (does anyone use those anymore?) and make a wreath. Yes, this is a very old school design but it works for me. 

I'm really getting into stamping on the envelopes, to the point where I have to think of a card to go with the envelope so I can mail it!

Coloring done with chalk on the front

FabMo - Paper Crafters Workshop 11-11-18

I finally got my samples done for the November Paper Crafters Workshop. Took me awhile to find the Snow Tex for the window card. I had a jar that was 20 years old and didn't check to see if it was still good. Yep, I have some very old craft supplies. :)
Anyways, went to Michael's to get a fresh bottle and it took the store manager to find it for me. I went up and down aisle #19 several times and couldn't find it. The manager of course walked right up to it! 
I still use cut up car sponges I've had for years. Still haven't gotten use to using all the blending tools. 
The window card has a lot of parts but I think the ladies in the class will enjoy making it.  Thinking of giving them the option to put a cat silhouette in the window instead of a Christmas tree. Always risky offering choices in a class. :)

Stitched Christmas Tree - 2018

Part of my morning routine is watching (really more listening to) my favorite crafters (Jennifer McGuire, Sandy Allnock and AmyR) while I'm making breakfast and getting ready for work. 
Jennifer (crafting guru master) posted a Simon Says Stamps release. I loved her stitched card and I really wanted to order the die from SSS but it wasn't cost effective to order since the shipping was more than the die. I decided to make my own template for the holes and it turned out great!  The plus side was I could make the card this morning and not have to wait. 
The other great thing was going through my stash to use some mini red brads (from my scrapbooking days) and mini rhinestones. Finding some vellum was a challenge since it's not something I use. I think this will be my Christmas card for 2018!

Caring Hearts Card Drive 2018

Old Hero Arts Stamp I got at the last used stamp sale

Each year I participate in the Caring Hearts Card Drive. Cards are made for people who are in nursing homes and have no family that visits them during the holidays. This year instead of doing 1,000 as I had planned, the organizers have asked that card makers only donate 100 per person. The logistics of handling over 63,000 cards, as well as some personal family health issue, one can understand the reason to limit the amount. So I'm working on my samples and will start mass producing my cards. I have a local ladies church group that will add a personal note in each card as well. 

Memory Box stamp from the used rubber stamp sale. 

Hi there kitty cat card - 2018

I'm really trying to use all the stamps I picked up at the last 2 used rubber stamp sale. So I pulled out this set and gave it a go. It looked a little plain without a sentiment but everything I tried just didn't look right. So after putting it aside, I decide to find the smallest sentiment stamp I had randomly stamp without using my Misti. It's a little scary to free hand it because little stamps can be tricky. 

FabMo Paper Crafters Workshop October 14, 2018

FabMo Paper Crafters Workshop October 2018

Since most of the people attending the Paper Crafters group at FabMo aren't hard core card makers, I like to do different techniques. I stay away from the over the top cards which would frustrated most people if you don't know how to use all the products and tools. 
One of the biggest plus side to doing the workshops, is the elderly ladies that attend. When I asked someone (when she was just sitting there) if she needed help, she said no, I just like being around all this happy chatter. She comes every month but I think making the cards is just a bonus for her.

FabMo Paper Crafters Workshop - Perfect Pearls and Backgrounds - 2018

Perfect Pearls

The people that are attending my workshops at FabMo really like learning and practicing different stamping techniques.  The challenge is finding something I can teach, not knowing the skill level of the people attending and having enough supplies for everyone. It's not like a scrapbook/stamping store where the students usually have the basic knowledge of crafting. 
Being inspired by the stamping guru Jennifer McGuire, I broke out my Perfect Pearls powers and over sized back ground stamps. The theme for next month workshop will be backgrounds. The cards won't be flashy with all the bells and whistles, but I will be able to teach several techniques. 

October 21, 2018 at FabMo from 10:00-1:00

Mama Elephant Woof stamps and HB Card

Mama Elephant "Woof" stamps and Copic Markers

 I was asked to make a HB card with a doggie theme. I've wanted to get one of the Mama Elephant critter stamps sets (really I want the cat one) so now I had an excuse to picked up the Woof set. Took a couple test runs to get the right color combo to make the dogs look different. Not as easy as it sounds. This card is a little more fussy than my normal style, but I still think it turned out cute. 
My dog Annie is a major bed hog. The other night I called her that and she rolled on her back and stuck her tongue out at me. Really I think she was hoping for a belly rub because I was talking to her. When she does spread out, she can cover the whole length of the bed and pin me to a very narrow edge of the bed. I'm luck Annie moves around a lot during the night, so I just have to wait for her to over heat and she heads down to the floor. 

Spat Backgrounds 2018

I borrowed a friend's MFT Distressed Patterns stamp set to make the bird poop for my "Oops My Bad" card.  As I was cleaning up my work space I thought I would make some backgrounds. I was very carefully not to over lap the colors when I accidentally drop the stamping block I was using. It looked pretty cool, so 3 hours later (my space didn't get cleaned up) I played with stamping spats all over everything. Now the task of thinking what to put over the spats!