And so it ends

Just like that. And 9:58 PM last night, the final out was made and the Philadelphia Phillies are the World Series champs. Our Tampa Bay Rays fought the good fight, and we are already looking forward to next year. Only 107 days til the pitchers and catchers report to camp!

OCC challenge week 18

Lynda at Our Creative Corner had an interesting challenge for us this week. She challenged us to make something for a Christmas gift. So I made two! First is a pine cone using the Evensong paper pack from CTMH. I covered an egg shaped styrofoam base, then poked a hole thru the middle and attached a piece of ribbon to hang it on the tree. Then, since I had the Evensong paper out, I grabbed a few coasters and covered them, distressed the edges a bit with my sanding block and attached some holiday doo-dads and ribbon from my stash. Filled with Peppermint Pillows, I think it will make a nice last minute gift for someone!

Crap!

Happy Blogiversary to me!
Happy Blogiversary to me!
Happy Blogiversary to meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Yesterday was my one year anniversary of blogging. And Liane said it couldn't be done!

Fungi

We got a much needed 1 3/4" of rain yesterday. As I went out to get the paper this morning, I noticed some 'shrooms that had popped their heads up overnight in our front flower bed. So of course I had to take some pics!

OCC challenge week 17

This week at Our Creative Corner, Lynda gave us a sketch to work with. Since I have not made the first Halloween card this year, I figured I'd best get at it! This uses various papers from my stash, unknown ribbon, button brads and 3-D stickers that I won in a drawing a couple of years ago. The only thing I do know what it is and where it came from is the CTMH stamp set, Happy Haunting!

Amazing!

I can breathe normally and my heart rate will be normal too for the next three days. Then the anticipation starts anew.

The AMAZING Tampa Bay Rays have made their first ever post season trip to the World Series. Game one will be at St Pete's Tropicana Field on Wed night Oct 22 at 8 PM.

For the mummy's

This week we decided to do mummy nails! I think the googlie eyes and the green eyes will drive me slap outta my mind for the next two weeks. Why I agreed to let Elvira put them on is beyond me!

Pumpkin nails

I love doing different things with my nails. Having them polished to match the season, or if we're doing something special. I generally only get to have a Halloween theme done for two weeks because of the way my appointments fall, but this year, I will have Halloween nails for the whole month of October! For the first two weeks, it's been Pumpkin nails. Don't know what I'll do when I go the end of this week for my appt!

OCC challenge week 16

Lynda's challenge this week at Our Creative Corner was anything but a square or rectangle card. I thought about using my Nestabilies, but I needed a bigger challenge than that! So I did an Iris Folded Kimono card! I've got a boatload of Origami papers that John's cousin Akiko-san has sent me from Japan and I never really get a chance to use them. So I dug them out, along with some Mizuhiki paper cords that Akiko-san sent and used that as a belt on the Kimono. My friend Debbie sent me some sushi Bella Baubles (click on the image to see it in more detail!)and I'd never used them either, so this card used a lot of things that either hadn't been used in a long time or at all. Great challenge, Lynda!

And another........

Christmas gift complete. This is the CTMH Memory Showcase, a 9x9 accordian-style "album." I used CTMH Notebook paper pack. CTMH Hollyhock ribbon and mini-medley My Accents were also used.

Two more...

Christmas gifts in the bag! I used the new Memory Keeper boxes from CTMH for these. Painted the boxes using Ranger Gold Paint Daubber, then used a baby wipe to get rid of the paint marks as soon as I finished painting it. I left some areas more covered than others because I wanted it to look old and distressed. Then I used my CTMH Desert Sand ink pad and distressed the edges and seams even more. Using the Coffee Stain stamp set, I stamped coffee cup rings and splashes randomly around the box. I used the new CTMH Notebook paper pack and used three different B&T papers. I used my Playful Flourishes stamp set to stamp random flourishes on the "opposite" side of the B&T so both sides matched. The "Family" stamp is a 7Gypsies that I won years ago at a crop and had never used! I used my Nestabilities to cut the scallop and regular circle to frame the sentiment.

Fall in Florida...

Isn't a whole lot different than summer in Florida! Our grey squirrels know that the weather is supposed to change, so they have been devouring all of the pine cones. There are sharp little tips all over the yard under the slash pine trees. The two oak trees in the front yard have started dropping acorns, so the squirrels will soon be munching on them and burying them, never to be found again! And in the spring, I'll be pulling up baby oak trees that are growing everywhere but where they should be! We've had a couple of "cool-ish" mornings...if you consider a low of 68 instead of 72 low! I'll just be happy when it stays cool enough during the day that I can turn the a/c off and throw open the doors and windows.

My flamingo that I bought in the spring didn't fare too well! It lost it's pinwheel "belly" a loooong time ago! I have no idea where it blew off to. It's all moldy and nasty and has lost it's vibrant pink to a rather washed-out pink, so it went in the trash can this morning.

We had a much needed 2.5 inches of rain late yesterday afternoon. I was beginning to think we weren't going to get anything because looking a the radar, everyone around us was getting rain. Then it finally decided to open up over us. It rained almost 1.5 hrs.

I changed my front entry table last week. Put out my Halloween decorations. Also put a few things outside at the front door. I don't go too crazy since our subdivision is only about 20 homes and we are so isolated. We get the neighborhood kids and that's it for Trick or Treat.

Still working on Christmas projects. I'll share bits and pieces as I get them finished!

OCC challenge week 15

A new month brings a new hostess and Lynda is this month's hostess on Our Creative Corner. For her first challenge, Lynda chose bling. Whatever type of bling we had. Glitter, rhinestones, shiny paper, flowers, whatever! I really was wanting to do a fall-ish card since I've got a pot of chili cooking on the stove for dinner tomorrow. I can't eat it the same day I make it after smelling it cook all day, so I figured it would be great to re-heat tomorrow while we watch the Bucs and Rays play. Anyway...back to the card!

I used a retired CTMH paper pack, Abundance and Autumn Splendor stamp set. I rolled the leaves in Barn Red, Sunflower, Pansy Purple and Autumn Terracotta inks, then Prisma Glittered the edges of them. I stamped the sentiment on a tag cut with my Coluzzle and after inking the edges in Cocoa, I added Cinnamon Stickles. I found a couple of fall-ish looking ribbons in my stash, one even had "Autumn Splendor" stamped on it!

Sheetload Shortcuts

In my blog travels last month, I came across a great new (for me!) website. SheetLoad ShortCuts. Alicia was offering a brand new product last month. CLEAR and Frosted card blanks! Nice and heavy, unlike the acetate sheets so many have been trying to use to achieve a clear card. So I ordered a combo pack from her. Five of each style with S&H come to just shy of $7.00. Can't beat that with a stick! And great cs too! She uses Paypal for her orders and since I don't "do" PayPal, I emailed and Alicia told me I could pay by Money Order. She graciously told me my total, emailed me when she recieved the MO, emailed me again to let me know my order had shipped and because I was in the middle of working on the Acrylic albums, I brain-farted and didn't let her know I had recieved them. SHE emailed me to make sure they had arrived and that I was happy with them. It just don't get much better than that, folks! Now that the Acrylic albums are complete, I turned my attention to getting a couple of birthday cards I need for this month knocked out. I used CTMH Floral Tapestry paper pack for the cards, along with my Fiskars Threading Water punch. The new CTMH Color Ready alphabets for the H and B that I sponged with Twilight ink and pop-dotted for dimension. I used Chocolate lowercase stamp set for the rest of Happy Birthday, also stamped with Twilight ink.

And now that I've worked with them, the cards are very nice. Nice weight. Not too flimsy like acetate sheets. They stand very nicely when done in either direction. Only thing you need to know is, the clear ones are pretty static-y and you may have to wipe them off to get rid of any dust that may be on them. And, to make a nice crease, I used my Scor-It and where the "bulge" is, folded that to the INSIDE of the card. People generally fold that to the outside of the card, but it really should be folded to the inside. Best of all...unlike acetate sheets, the clear card blanks DO NOT show fingerprints! Woo Hoo on that!

Now for the cool news. For the month of October, Alicia is offering 10% off your order when referred by a friend. And thats where I come in! Place an order which includes either/or the new clear or frosted card blanks or sheets, mention MY first name, first inital of my last name and city where I live when you check out using PayPal in the "Special Instructions" field and you will get 10% off your total order. And I could get my Sept order that I placed for FREE!! No PayPal? No Problem! Send Alicia an email at SheetLoad ShortCuts and she will take care of the rest! Just don't forget my name and city to get your discount!

Another Christmas gift done!

Actually, truth be told, it's another TWO Christmas gifts done. Not saying who they are for, you'll just have to be surprised. I used the new CTMH Acrylic Albums and the Serendipity paper pack that was a promotion late last year. I stocked up on it, and am I glad I did! It applies itself very well to either feminine or masculine projects. Also used was MM Acrylic paint and CTMH Create A Shade pearl paint, CTMH inks in Chocolate, Outdoor Denim, Bamboo and Dutch Blue. CTMH rub-on's and other unknown rub-on's from my stash, along with CTMH Sparkles and CTMH ribbon Rounds in Outdoor Denim and Chocolate and Ivory grosgrain ribbon from my stash. Serendipity stamp set and Playful Flourishes stamp set were also used.