This is what's known as...

I cut too many circles!

Marjorie's color challenge 25 is in honor of Independence Day. This week, the colors are Cranberry, Moonstruck, Lilac Mist and White Daisy. I dug deep into my stamps for a couple from last summer, Summertime and Free Spirit. I grabbed my Coluzzle and the circles template and commenced to cut circles out of Moonstruck, Cranberry and Sunny Yellow cardstock. And I cut too many! So there's two cards for this challenge. The "Summertime" is stamped in Lilac Mist. I ran a piece of Cranberry cardstock thru my SwissDots Cuttlebug embossing folder, then just added the circles, in no particular pattern. The other, I stamped the image in Cranberry, then used my Prismacolor pencils and blending pencil to color the image. Just circles on White Daisy cardstock makes this a pretty simple card.

A new challenge

Like I don't have enough blogs that I read! I found a new one the other day. It's called Our Creative Corner. It's a relatively new blog and every week they do a new challenge. This weeks challenge was to use any Basic Grey cardstock for a card. I have the BG Blush collection and as soon as I saw the example Christmas card, I knew I had to make a Christmas card! I used two different CTMH stamp sets, Snow Friends for the snowman and Warm Memories for the sentiment. CTMH Blush and Chocolate inks were used, as well as Prismacolor pencils and blending pencil for coloring in the snowman. I used Liquid Applique and CTMH Prisma Glitter for the snow. Hit the Liquid Applique with my heat gun to puff it up. The falling snowflakes are done with Diamond Stickles. The pink concho and lace are both unknown from my stash.

Finally! Our turn...

To get some much needed rain. The weather guys started breaking into local programming about 4:00 yesterday afternoon. There were severe thurndestorm warnings for the 2 counties just north of us and the 2 counties just south of us. Yet again, we were gonna get squat. There was marble size hail and 60 MPH wind gusts in some of the storms. Then about 4:30, the skies over the house started getting darker. And darker. And darker. I figured I'd best get dinner going in case we had a power outage. We had one Sunday night. Transformer blew somewhere and we had no power for over 2 hours. That's not fun in the hot FL summer. So just as I got dinner finished, the bottom fell out. It rained. Sideways. The trees were swaying and the rain was blowing all the way across the back porch. And it rained. And rained. It was still raining when I went to bed at 10:00! I just came back in from my morning routine of chicken duty...I've got a hen that is wanting to set. Same one wants to set about this same time every year. So I am now having to go out twice a day to check for eggs because if she sets on them for 24 hrs, we can't eat them. Her body heat makes the eggs unuseable. And since they all don't lay at the same time, I have to now check a couple of times a day. Two had laid after I checked yesterday afternoon, so I gathered them up and gave them their salad treat. Then went and took care of the pond. We've got frogs that have laid their eggs in the pond and there must be at least a gozillion tadpoles of various sizes. Gave the fish their food treat. The fish can live off the algae in the pond, but we give them Koi sticks as a treat a couple of times a week. And much to my surprise, there was just over 2" of rain in the rain guage! Yippee! We can use it, and so much more. They say we are in the same pattern as yesterday, so we can expect another round of the same type of weather this afternoon. And while I was out in the yard, I noticed a couple of new flowers blooming. First is rain lilies. I just love their delicate pink color. Then is Ornamental Ginger. It is right by the pond waterfall, so that's what's in the background. Last is the Crepe Myrtle. It is in front of the garage and blooms prolifically all summer long. The bees just love it!

Bella goodness!

It's Em's birthday at Stamping Bella, but the customers are the one's getting the presents! Starting today and running thru July 1, any order over $45 will recieve free shipping when the code 3b8d33 is used. And it IS case sensitive. Em says if the code does not work, add a comment in the comment box and they will refund your shipping. This is a great deal for those of us in the USofA since Bellas come from the frozen tundra of Canada! So if you've been putting off placing an order for Bellas, now is the time! And they are addiction, so go ahead and order one or twelve more than you think you want!

Heidi's blog challenge

My CTMH sister Heidi W. Luckybug Creations has a new challenge going on her blog. This one has a Fourth of July theme. You must use one of the two sketches on her blog and use red white and blue as your colors.

I chose to make the square card. I used a now retired CTMH paper pack, Independence. Three different stamp sets, Spirit of '76 (retired), Vintage USA and Legendary Moments. Blue organdy CTMH ribbon (retired) and red and white ric rac. Black bitty brads. Prisma glitter on the stars.

I've got a few days, so I may end up doing the other card as well! But for now, this is my contribution.

Color challenge 24

This week Marjorie chose Ocean, Citrus Leaf, Orange, Breeze and Sunny Yellow as her colors. I had taken pics of the kids at Kyle's graduation partay and knew what the layout was gonna look like, but had not decided on my colors. This challenge sealed the deal for me!

I used my wavy cutter and cut strips of Sunny Yellow, Citrus Leaf and Ocean for "waves", then mounted everything on Orange cardstock. Used my E size Boutique Alphabet for my title. Funky Fish stamp set, then put them thru my Zyron "X" backwards and put Prisma Glitter on the front of them. Their "bubbles" are Dew Drops. And a few buttons from my stash tied with Colonial White Waxy Flax.

Rain...or lack thereof!

So if you read the paper or listen to the news, you would think that the rain from this past weekend has brought the Tampa area out of it's 4 year drought. And you would be wrong. While there were some isolated places that got between 5 and 7 inches of rain, we here at Casa Waters got less than 1 inch of rain. And while I am not complaining about that one inch, it certainly does not mean that we are out of the drought by any way shape or form. I was actually YELLING at the TV weather lady the other night because she was saying how the weekend was going to be ruined by "all the rain." Summer is when we traditionally get our bulk of the rain. We need the rain to refill the aquafir so that we will have water to drink when we aren't getting rain. And while we are in a recession and the building boom has pretty much gone bust, they are still building, taking away the open land where the rain has a chance to percolate down into the aquafir. It certainly can't do that thru asphalt and concrete. We still need rain. And we need lots of it.

A few more things...

for Convention! See, you thought you were in the clear with swap stuff and Convention! Wrong, wrong, wrong! I'm done with cards! I did not do a bunch of these, but wanted to have a few things to swap in case someone had something other than a card. I used coasters for my base, then covered them in different bits and pieces of paper packs I had. Got some Post-It notes and some clips (which I also covered in paper) and, voila`, a little note pad thingy. That's a technical term of course! Note Pad Thingy! I'm also working on a couple of other things but will reveal them later. Then of course is my roomie gifts, but those won't be revealed til after Convention because my roomie reads my blog! Only 37 days til Convention!

Meet Freida...

This is Freida. Freida the Flamingo. She arrived in the mail yesterday from my friends Debbie and her son Evan. Evan is my friend who has eyesight problems. When I posted about the flamingo I had in the front flower bed and how bleached by the sun it got in one summer, Debbie said Evan had a hard time grasping that concept. He doesn't see things like those of us with "normal" sight do, so it was difficult for him to understand. She said she kept showing him different ones until they found this one and he knew he had to get it and send it to me! Freida is now perched on my shelves in my scraproom watching me as I craft. Thank you for thinking of me Evan!

Evolution of Dance

If you've never seen this video on YouTube, it is well worth the 6 minutes running time. Jud is very talented. He is currently working on the Evolution of Dance Part 2. He's having some trouble getting permission to use the various songs, so it's taking a bit longer than he originally anticipated. He is only about 10,000 hits away from being the first YouTube video to be viewed one million times. Take 6 minutes out of your day and go watch. Help Jud get to one million hits. You won't be sorry!

YouTube - Evolution of Dance

Kyle's graduation party

This past Sat was our oldest nephew Kyle's graduation partay. I don't know where the last 18 years have gone!

We had a great time. Bil Bruce grilled hot dogs, hamburgers and corn on the cob. Kathy had pasta salad, chicken tenders, mini cuban sandwiches, potato salad, melon salad, a relish tray, chips and dip. Plus her famous homemade sangria! The kids were in the pool until it was time to eat, then went right back in until it was time to go.

TwoFer Tuesday/Marjorie's color challenge

Marjorie's color challenge for week 23 was inspired by one of her daughter Caitie's outfits. Colors are Chocolate, Goldrush, Holiday Red, Crystal Blue and Sunflower.

I had one House Mouse stamp and yesterday recieved my second one in the mail, so I knew I had to get some ink on that new stamp! Coinkadinkally, my first House Mouse stamp is of a sunflower! So I decided to do a TwoFer! I used CTMH markers and my Prismacolor markers and blending pen to color the images. Used Caprice paper pack, CTMH Sunflower waxy flax and some MM button brads from my stash.

A simple click...

For Breast Cancer. All you have to do is follow the links and click and another woman will recieve a free mamogram. I've already lost one friend to breast cancer and have a couple of others who are breast cancer survivors. Dont' let this happen to yourself or a woman you love.

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/viewecard.faces?siteId=2&ecardId=1043736&recipient=swaters057@aol.com&link=ctg_bcs_viewecard_from_ecardemail

Kyle's graduation card

Today's post is red, to acknowledge the DHS Falcons and the school colors of Red and White! Kyle is now the third generation in our family to graduate from DHS! Uncle George was in the first graduating class and Kathy, Jan and I all graduated from DHS as well. Unless something drastic happens and Jan and John move their family away, Jake and Joy will be DHS grads as well. Thankfully that's a few years off yet!

I saw these cards in a magazine and knew I had to have them to make Kyle's graduation card with. They are from Urban Lily and are called Secret Keeper cards and you can find them here:Urban Lily Secret Keeper Cards - Vanilla [US462] - $6.50 : Crop Addict, The Sc

The center pocket is where his Gift Card will be. The sentiment, is Eleanor Roosevelt, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

Tomorrow is his big graduation partay! Can't wait to see my side of the family. I just realized today, the last time we saw any of them was at Christmas!

Color Challenge week 22

In honor of Father's Day, Marjorie's color challenge this week is her husband's favorite colors; New England Ivy, Twilight, Cranberry and Outdoor Denim. This was a good excuse for me to get some of the pictures on the back of my scrap table on a layout! Kathy had sent pictures of Kyle in a tux for his Senior Portrait and one of him at the school, so I decided to use those two. I used some of my rub-ons flourishes and rub on letters from my stash. The small ones are MM and the large ones are Gen-X. Also used red, white, and blue magic Mesh to highlight the journaling. CTMH Cranberry conchos on the journaling.

Raindrops are falling...

on my head. Quick, what movie is this song from, and who sang it, and what is the scene in which it's being sung? Respond to the blog with your answer. First one to get it correct gets a RAK!

We finally got some rain yesterday afternoon. Only 1/2 inch, but it's a start. I was so excited I grabbed the camera and had to go take some pictures! It's been at least a month since we've seen rain. And I can't believe how much greener the lawn is this morning with just that little bit of rain. First pic is looking across the street. Second is the stream of water running down the street. It doesn't take much to amuse me!

RAK from Marjorie

Marjorie is just the sweetest thing. I opened the mailbox of Fri to find an envelope stuffed with Bella and fairy images, along with the cutest owl card. I will be putting all of the images to good use very soon!

Flowers...

Pretty flowers! I am amazed at what-all is blooming in the yard since we've had no rain in soooo long. Tampa broke a record yesterday with a high of 98 degrees. I've started taking care of the chickens, pond, bird baths and feeders in the mornings because it is like walking into a blast furnace if I wait til the afternoon. The chickens have even noticed the heat as egg production has gone to almost nothing! Can't really say as I blame them. Weatherman keeps saying the summer rains are coming. Sure do need them sooner rather than later!

Anyway, the flowers! First one is a wandering orchid that mil gave me a few years ago. Flowers are very small but beautiful. Next is Aunt Eloise lily. I have no idea what the "real" name of it is, but it's some that we got from Aunt Eloise's yard when she passed away, so they will now and forevermore be Aunt Eloise lilies! Next is the water hibiscus. It's one of the pond plants, the only one that positively thrives being right underneath the waterfall. And finally, black-eye Susan. They pop up as volunteers all over the yard, so there's spots in the yard that aren't mowed because of them! Once they are done blooming...off with their heads!

Color Cahllenge week 21

Marjorie's in Summer mode this week. Her color choices were Star Spangled Blue, Topiary, Sunflower and Cranberry. I needed to make a card for a little girl who is undergoing chemo for leukemia. Her adult friends are asking everyone to send a card to Mackenzie this coming Fri, the 6th. I was waiting for Marjorie to post her color challenge so I could use that to make my card for Mackenzie. Once again, I dug into my stash for inspiration. I stamped the solid flower from Rustic Flowers stamp set, then mixed some Aztec Gold Pearl Ex in Mod Podge and "painted" my flower. Let it dry, then using my black marker, went around the entire outside edge of the flower with dashes. The clear button is CTMH and has a piece of red Magic Mesh and Sunflower waxy flax tied on. The entire flower is pop-dotted. The stripe and circle cardstock is unknown from my stash . I drew different designs on the circles for some added interest. I used Say It In Style stamp set for the sentiment.

If anyone is interested in sending a card to Mackenzie on Friday, email me or leave a comment and I'll send you the address. I'm not gonna post it here! And the card does not have to be handmade! So you non-crafters can send one too! Help make a sick little girl smile! ;)

Oh...Hi!

Yeah, I know. Bad blogger. I think I've decided I'm done boring you with Convention swap cards. I'm done making them, I think. I have close to 500 ready to go. What I'll do with them once they are swapped I have no idea. WHAT was I thinking? I had just been putting them in gallon Ziploc bags and decided I really needed to get them in the clear envelopes. So I used all that I had, and had to order more clear envies from California. And they were here in an amazingly blistering fast 2 days! Sometimes I don't get the USPS!! So they are all now safely ensconsed in their clear envies, then inside gallon Ziplocs, then 3 gallon Ziplocs inside a 2.5 gallon Ziploc and in a box under the table in my scraproom.

My next order of business is to get 3 or 4 years worth of Stamping/Carding magazines out and transfer images that I like into my altered journal then donate the magazines to the library. They are taking up wayyyy too much space under my scrap table and because of the way I have them stacked, I can't get to most of them.

Once I get that done, I am going. to. scrap. the. pictures. on the back of my scrap table. Jan sent me pictures of the kids first day of school. It's now time for school to be out for summer. I have the pictures of Kyle's Eagle Scout project still ON the computer...never even printed them. That's from last Sept. So I've got lots to do.

I'll be around. So look for more exciting things besides Convention swap cards!