Stampin' Mama: A mama that stamps

What happens when your hubby gets into the stamp trimmings?

THIS is what happens.

5 1/2 years ago, I became a Stampin' UP Demonstrator. For those of you that are familiar with SU stamps, you know they come unmounted and you have trim them and put them together. Well, you also know that if you have a bunch of stamps to put together, you end up with a TON of little rubber pieces.....which also happen to be self-adhesive.

After I put together all the sets that came in my starter kit all those years ago, Davy picked up the little pieces and started playing with them. He was making letters out of them and other non-sensical things. Then he got a brilliant idea. Okay, okay, it was brilliant to him.

Yes, it was on a hot day when I opened that starter kit, so he had his shirt off. He started sticking them to himself and this was the result. By the way, his belly button is supposed to be a dimple on the chin.....ala Michael Douglas. ;) Or me, depending on which way you want to think of it. ;)

I threatened him that I was one day going to send this picture in to the company. I did just that earlier this spring. It got passed around by the Service Account Managers in the main office and they got quite the kick out of it. That novelty wore off, though, so I threatened once again.

This time, you're all the recipients of a good laugh. Enjoy! :)

That was 5 1/2 years ago........here's a picture from Labor Day weekend. As you can see, not much has changed except for the length of his hair. That silliness is still there.

"Humor is the great thing, the saving thing.  The minute it crops up, all our irritation and resentments slip away, and a sunny spirit takes their place. " ~Mark Twain

I have a whole slew of new pictures to put up for this coming week, so be on the lookout tomorrow and throughout the week.....new tutorials, new card designs, new scrapbook pages......etc.

Happy Saturday evening!
 

Stampin' Away the Weekend....

A week and a half ago, I was at Fletcher Farm School for the Arts & Crafts to teach the Stamping 101 course. It was a weekend long course and I had a blast! Two of the students, Bev and Avis, came to my Altered Books 101 course last summer. It was so much fun to have them back again this year in the stamping course.

One of the techniques that I shared during the course is the Double Resist Technique, which was shared with me by one of my favorite girlfriends, Nicole. She posted a sample and the directions on her blog: Inkblots. I've had such fun with this technique and used it at my downline meeting the day after she posted it. Here's the card that I created to show the technique at Fletcher Farm:

Bud Basics and Small Script sets, Barely Banana, Regal Rose and Glossy white cardstocks, Summer Sun, Barely Banana, Regal Rose, Basic Black inks, Versamark ink, clear embossing powder, stamping sponges, heat tool.

Here's a picture of Bev, Avis and Linda (a new student this year) holding up some of their stamped projects:

What a mess we made that weekend, but oh, what fun we had creating!

Oh, Happy Mail Day!

I found a yellow card in my PO box yesterday and wondered what it could be. I wasn't expecting any packages. When Carol, the "mail lady" picked up a Priority mail package to scan it, I saw the name of the sender. I can't believe I could actually read those little letters from so far away without glasses! I got SO excited and actually shouted "Woohoo!" I opened the package up right there! Carol is a stamp-a-holic, just like I am, so she wanted to see all the lovelies that came in my package. I didn't completely open up the page protector with the collage sheets until I got home and OOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Patty ROCKS! She put some extra goodies in there!!! She put the OTHER butterfly collage sheets that I was drooling over on her website, along with 3 other collage sheet clippings. SHE'S THE BEST!!!

I'm so excited to start creating today! I cleaned off my desk last night (I just cleaned it LAST week- yeesh!) in preparation to get started today. Well, I also cleaned it off so that I could take a picture of my workspace (as I've had people asking to see it) and I wanted people to actually SEE that I have a desk.....and that it's not just a myth. I organized a lot of my supplies over the weekend and cleaned a bunch of stuff out to sell at my Open House last Friday night. I'm putting some of the stuff on Ebay to clean it all out for good. You can check out my Ebay auctions by CLICKING HERE.

So......here's THE PRECIOUSSSSSSSSSSS that arrived yesterday!

Stamps, stamps and MORE stamps!

My lovely collage sheets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, the ideas I have for these!!! I just ordered some microscope slides off of Ebay, for ONLY $1.04!! (thanks Patty!) Can't WAIT to start playing!

Happy creating, everyone!

I couldn't help myself......

I insisted that I was going to win more more auction on Ebay for Patty's  stamps. This one was for a WHOLE POUND of rubber stamp images. There's a whopping 43 stamps in this lot!!! I can't WAIT to get my hands on these babies and start playing with them!

If you're looking for some really COOL stuff to add to your altered projects, or ANY project, for that matter, you HAVE to check out Patty's Ebay auctions.

This is a picture of the 43 stamps that are already on their way to my house.....this is gonna be a GLORIOUS mail week! (the stamps are not shown at actual size)

Be on the lookout in the next few weeks for pictures of my newest creations using Patty's stamps . And make sure you check out the blog post underneath this one to see the other stamps that are on their way. :)

I think I'm in love.......

Tuesday night, I was looking for an Eiffel Tower rubber stamp to use on my altered projects (specifically for pictures from our trip to Paris last October) and after about an hour of surfing the web, I found the Ebay site for Tuscan Rose. After I did some searching around, I also found Patty's Blog (Patty Van Dorin is the owner of Tuscan Rose). THEN I found Patty's Etsy Shop ........and yes, I think I'm in love with Patty's products! Okay, I admit it. I AM in love with Patty's products!

Being that I'm enamored with Altered Books and art, it wasn't hard to fall in love with her Rubber Stamps. You simply HAVE to check them out! They're amazing! She designs them herself! I am completely and utterly impressed and IN LOVE with these designs!

Patty also has a GAGILLION Vintage Collage Sheets with the most beautiful images you've ever seen on them. Yes, I got myself the set of butterflies.....gorgeous, bright, vivid, lifelike designs.....and then realized that she has a SECOND set of butterflies. Oh, my wallet could be in SO much trouble if I didn't have any self-control.

So......what did I purchase? Well, I told myself that I was ONLY looking for an Eiffel Tower themed stamp, but yah, you know how THAT is. It's like going into the store ONLY for milk and coming out with 5 other items! I couldn't help myself.......they are just so beautiful and I tell myself that they're also practical because they're for my art. Hey, it works for me! :) (wow.....that sounds like it kind of overrides the whole self-control thing, doesn't it?)

(Click on the images for a larger view)

Oh, yes, I'm in love. :)

http://www.tuscanrose.com/

http://www.ramblingrose.typepad.com/

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=53768