Hooray For Smarty-Pants Husbands!!

Brien fixed my upload and here are the photos I've been longing to share. :o) Friday is GG's (Great Grandma, Grandma) birthday and Lil made a card for her.


She chose the leave to heat emboss--she had asked to "blow it" and I knew what she meant. She also selected the background colors and ribbon as well as the words she wanted to use.

I helped her apply the Tombow and really, she mostly did the rest herself (with minor asistance).


Stamping can be hard if you haven't done much of it.


She's folding the card here.


Ah, the finished product.


So proud! :o)


And, finally, she wrote GG a note inside saying, "Happy birthday. Love, Lily." Hm, shoulda gotten a picture of the "writing", huh?



The finished product. Not too shabby a card, really. :o)
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I received that phone call at work, you know, the one you really don't want to get--"Rachael, I'm not sure what's wrong with Lily, but something just isn't right." My school, being the entirely wonderful place it is, was already on it and had coverage for me and a sub on her way before I had a chance to say, "I need to go get Lil." Gotta love that! :o)

So, I picked up my girl and I have to say, she just isn't right. You know what I'm saying? She's not feeling well, of that I'm certain. And, yet, she's not feeling awful either. It's just a low-grade blah kind of thing. Her eyes are very dark-circled and she just wants to lay there like a lump. But, there's no fever. On the flip side, she's been complaining of ear pain. Hm. I wonder what is going on. I do know she'll be returning to Shari's tomorrow, though.

We needed to make a stop by Target to pick up more "Berry Medicine" (also known as Dye-Free Children's Motrin) and while there, I found all the books I had been looking for. I now have Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas and Laura Lee Gurhke in my TBR. Ahhhhh. I do so love me a good romance. ;o)

I spent Lil's nap time grading grading grading and it's all done. Thank goodness. I also put grades in the computer and caught up on school work. This in turn leaves me time to play this evening. :o) My friend Julie had suggested studio time, but, I've got three NEW books to read, so I'm thinking reading instead. Hee hee! :o)

I'm feeling pretty good since I had some decent studio time this weekend. The following are the better of the cards I made this weekend. (I cased the first, second and fourth cards from ones I had made previously with Woli. Thanks, Woli, for the wonderful ideas!) For those interested, I'm including the colors, stamp sets and details of any techniques used. For those whose eyes may glaze over, enjoy the images and move on. ;o)


Stamp set: Wow Flowers. Colors: Kiwi Kiss, Regal Rose, Pacific Point


Stamp Set: Wow Flowers. Colors: Riding Hood Red, Pirouette Pink, Chocolate Chip. DSP Bella Rose.


Stamp Set: Window Dressing. Colors: Pirouette Pink, Riding Hood Red, (water color technique used in coloring image) Bashful Blue, Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip, Blush Blossom, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa (can I just tell you this card too FOREVER!!).


Stamp Set: Autumn Harvest. Colors: Always Artichoke, Close to Cocoa, Pumpkin Pie. Also Versamark. I used a masking technique to overlap the pumpkins (I finally got smart and used Super Sticky Post-Its to create my masking item. Duh!)


Ah, my newest favorite stamp set: Inspired By Nature. I've been DYING to ink this set. I'm SO pleased with the results. Colors used: Garden Green, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard. I colored the stamp using my watercolor crayons, sprayed it with a fine mist of water and stamped it on watercolor paper. I LOVE this effect!


Again, Inspired By Nature. Colors: More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green. I inked the stamp with markers, sprayed it with water and stamped the image on watercolor paper. I love this card too. :o)


Ah, one of my newest favorite techniques. I used a brayer to layer on Apricot Appeal then masked an area using a 1 1/8" circle of Super Sticky Post-It. I then brayered a layer of Pumpkin Pie. Then, I used a sponge to sponge on Riding Hood Red and finished off with an area of Bravo Burgundy. I then used Staz-On black to stamp another Inspired By Nature image. It's mounted on Basic Black and then on Riding Hood Red. I'm in LOVE with RHR and this stamp set! :o)


Same sunset technique as before, only I used the Upsy Daisy stamp set instead.

I'm SO glad Autumn has finally arrived. I've been desperate to get out my Earth Elements colors and really played with them this weekend. Stamp set: With Gratitude heat embossed using gold. Colors: Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Summer Sun, More Mustard, and Ruby Red.

Ah, another technique I had been anxious to try, faux dry embossing. Stamp set: Upsy Daisy. Colors: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou. I stamped the image using white craft ink and heat set it. Then, using the Stamp-a-ma-jig, I slightly offset the image and then stamped again using the the Blue Bayou (my background color). I think it looks pretty cool! :o)

Of course, when I like a fairly simple card, I make it in about ten different colors, LOL! Here it is in Perfect Plum and Pale Plum.


And, again in Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa.


I've already figured out how I want to fix this card. I'm going to punch a row of "stitching" along the edge between the image and the ribbon. Stamp set: Inspired By Nature (I told you I was in LOVE with this set!). Colors: More Mustard, Garden Green, Chocolate Chip.


This is Mom's design and she made about 10 of these cards. No joke. Stamp set: Upsy Daisy. Colors: More Mustard, Really Rust, Tangerine Tango, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip.

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These last two images are NOT SU!, but Riley is SO stinkin' cute I had to have him (thanks, Cate!).


The paper is SU! DSP Ghostly Greetings. The ribbon is Pumpkin Pie striped grosgrain. The markers were SU! assorted colors.


Same as before with this image as well. Isn't he too funny?

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So, as you can see, I had a BLAST this weekend and can't wait to get back in there this weekend!! :o)

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Today's Sparklies:

1. Blogger's uploading photos again. Woo hoo!
2. New novels. Yay!
3. Lil doesn't seem too ill this evening. Back to Shari's tomorrow.
4. Grading is ALL done! YESYESYESYESYES!
5. Candles. Ah, I LOVE me some candles and they've been burning all afternoon.
6. I got all bills paid. Is there anything more satisfying than having that off your shoulders for the month?
7. Leftovers for lunch. I LOVE good comfort food. :o)

No milestones.

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I'm off to enjoy my new books. Have a wonderful evening, everyone! :o)

Still No Photos

Well, the folks at Google said it might take up to 24 hours for my new storage space to be available and it's been more than 24 hours. Color me grumpy grumpy grumpy. Grrrrr.

So, no photos tonight either. Grrrrrr. I'm getting a smidge frustrated here. Therefore, I'm going to embrace the grumpiness and let rip.

Things I'm grumpy about:
1. The economy.
2. I'm sick and tired of the politics and political ads.
3. No more campaigning--I'm desperate for November to come and go. I loathe the political nonsense that precedes elections. Ugh.
4. The fall weather has disappeared. Poop.
5. Lily is once again in "fighting sleep" mode. :sigh:
6. I've got a quiz and one grammar test to grade.
7. I don't know when I'm going to get more studio time.
8. I'm tired.
9. There's no ice cream in the house.


Okay, grumpy rant over. Let's see if I can out-do that list with a happy one.
Things to be happy about:
1. I'm alive.
2. I have a gorgeous family.
3. My husband is delightful.
4. I live in a beautiful home.
5. Williamsburg is a beautiful town in which to live.
6. I love my job (tests, quizzes and all).
7. Running water and indoor plumbing.
8. Nice clothing.
9. I can go to the "Gymber" outlet to get Lil fall clothes.
10. Pandora radio (which I hear may be going away soon).
11. No ice cream in the house (who needs the extra calories?)
12. Salad club has started once again. Yay!
13. WONDERFUL friends!
14. Fantastic bloggy friends
15. A wonderful support network for when I'm down.
16. My Hokies actually looked somewhat decent this weekend. :whew:
17. I have so many people to whom I can mail my cards.
18. My eyesight and hearing.
19. Cooking. Love it--not so much the cleaning.
20. A comfy bed in which to sleep. Hooray!

Okay, I'll stop there. Definitely more than the previous list, which is most definitely a good thing, LOL!

I'm afraid I have nothing of real substance to say tonight. I'm feeling rather blah and well, figure it would be best if I just ended this here...

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Today's Sparklies:

1. The movie "I.Q." with Meg Ryan and Tim Robbins. I hadn't seen it in years and found it On-Demand HBO. Fun. :o)
2. Brien. Thank you so much for everything, Sweetie!
3. Tuna casserole for dinner. Such a yummy comfort food. :o)
4. The new LK and JQ novels come out tomorrow. WOO HOO!
5. The giant beetle in the parking lot next to my van this afternoon.
6. I'm excited for people to get the cards I've sent them. :o)

No milestones.

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In trying to determine what was going on with my uploading of photos, I came across the ones I posted of Lil and Han from December 2006. Once again, I'm left longing so much for my sweet sweet Monkey. Maybe that explains the funky mood...

Well CRUD!

How many of you knew we had limited storage space with which to upload photos, etc. to? I had NO idea we were allotted only one gig of storage and as such, have been ruthlessly uploading photo after photo (often, full-sized images!) for almost three years now. Now, I'm out of space. Well, CRAP! I had planned to show you all the wonderful cards Lissie, Paul and I made this weekend. I had planned to show you Lil making her first card, and the intense concentration she had on her sweet little face when she was trying to cut with scissors. Instead, all you get is this lousy text. Boo hiss.

On the bright side, you can purchase extra storage space (10 gigs) which I have done. Down side? It won't be available until tomorrow. Grrrrr. I suppose I could go in and delete photos from previous posts, but I don't wanna! Instead I'm just going to gripe and moan about the storage issue. I'm so disappointed. Poop.

:o(

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Being the eternal Pollyanna I am, I can't hang on to the grumpies much longer than that. I'll post photos tomorrow and all will be well. :o)

We had a glorious weekend visiting with Lissie and Paul. :o) As you saw in yesterday's photos, the FM was delightful, as always. (Yes, indeed, that was Paul pulling the wagon.) I found all sorts of yummy goodies--fresh mozzarella, basil, tomatoes, sungolds, green peppers, lettuce, apples (that look like they came from a front yard apple tree--the tastiest kind around!), bread, blueberry butter, sweet potato biscuits, a dozen eggs, and farm-raised grass-fed ground beef and steak. I can tell you the ground beef was wonderful as we had it in meatloaf last night. YUM!

Lissie, Paul and I made cards yesterday afternoon until time to prepare dinner, and then again after supper. Mom went to bed around 10:30, I finished the card I was working on, and then went downstairs to watch the second half of the Hokies/Huskers game. I stoked we won, but sorry my friends in Nebraska had to have their team lose. :o(

Some time in the middle of the night, Lily managed to fall out of bed for the first time ever. Brien said he's never seen me leave the room so quickly. For some reason I was sleeping fairly lightly so I heard a "thump" partially awoke and then heard Lil's crying. She was definitely more scared than hurt, but was crying nonetheless. I scooped her up and held her while she cried and cried. I began to get worried when she started saying, "I can't see anyfing." I was still sleepy enough that I had that momentary, "Oh, god, what if she's really hurt herself??" moment. Lil finished out the night and into the morning in bed with us. She actually slept which was a HUGE relief. :whew:

This morning, after a divine brekky of homemade waffles with blackberry butter (so SO yummy!), Lissie, Paul and I once again trooped into the studio to make a few more cards before they had to get on the road. I'm pretty excited with the designs I came up with and really want to make more of them.

I've promised my cousin Karey I would make her birth announcements, I've got to get a correct wedding invite put together for Angie, I've got to get a stack of cards together for my friend, Julie, and I've told Jen (B's sister) I would donate a stack of cards for Miles' school's silent auction. It looks like I'm going to be busy for a little while, LOL! ;o)

I was in the studio again during Lil's nap, with B keeping me company. I made Dana's birthday card and Grandma's birthday card and have them addressed and in the mail. Hooray! :o)

Unfortunately, the weekend is just about over and the real world will intrude again tomorrow. :sigh: :oP

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Weekend Sparklies:

1. Hooray for cards!
2. I'm really enjoying my new stamp sets ("Inspired By Nature" in particular) and the new "In Colors", especially the Riding Hood Red, Tangerine Tango and Pirouette Pink. Just wait until you see the cards I put together. I just LOVE them!
3. Lily was so delightful whilst making her card for GG this afternoon. So so cute!
4. You should have seen Lil's tongue poking out of her mouth as she tried to manipulate the scissors this morning. Her hands are SO tiny she has a very difficult time opening and closing the scissors. Her face was priceless!
5. Seeing Lissie and Paul!
6. The FM--fun as always!
7. The Hokies won! Woo hoo!
8. The spider web B found outside yesterday afternoon.


I'm one week past Han's birthday and feeling so much better. As is typical, the yo didn't stay down for long, and those moments of intense awareness of Hannah's absence were not prolonged. I don't know how else to describe it. For those of you who haven't read it, Sheye really captured it well in this post.

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My stomach is feeling a little off and I'm still a bit grumpy about the whole photos-not-uploading-you've-used-too-much-storage-space thingy, so I'm off for the evening. I'll be back tomorrow with photos--I hope...

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On a final note, the world lost a legend yesterday with the passing of Paul Newman. I'm usually not affected by celebrity deaths, yet I'm deeply saddened by this one. I think, as the public, we feel we "know" celebs because so much is written of them in the media. Yet, really, how much do we truly know? We know what is put out there for our consumption. In the case of Mr. Newman, we knew quite a bit about the man's love of family, his beautiful marriage of more than fifty years and his philanthropic work (Newman's Own and The Hole in the Wall Gang). If this is what the public "saw", can you imagine how wonderful he must have been in private?

May there be peace in the Newman/Woodward family.

As for me, I feel compelled to pull out my copy of "The Long Hot Summer" and pay a tribute to Mr. Newman.

Saturday at the Farmers' Market