Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #36 and Willie Update

This is the last challenge for the year!  My three months as a Design team member is up BUT I was asked to stay on for another three.  I said yes......it has been so much fun.  We will be missing three of our designers and I will miss them so.  It has been fun designing with them and getting to know them!  Here is this week's card.  The design is one of the digital designs from Sweet N Sassy stamps.  My husband like this one so much that I think I'll make it for my Christmas card for next year.  I could even start early and get them done early.....THAT would be different!!  The candle is color with a Krylon gold leaf pen and doesn't show well in the picture at all.  After taking a picture of my card it became VERY obvious that I could really use a photography light box.  So, with the help of Bev Gerard (one of the designers that is leaving...;-( )  I think I'll be hunting down a good one for the future DT term!

We had a wonderful Christmas time.  All the clan was here opening presents after Church Thursday night.  The families do their own thing that their own homes on Christmas morning.  Ray and I, Jim and his wife, Ahtia, Angie and her daughter, Breauna, and Leah all sang together for the prelude of the Christmas Eve service.  We sang "I heard the bells on Christmas day/Dona Nobis Pacem"  We had piano accompanying and Leah and Ahtia used some of the bells from our bell choir.....thank you Cindy for letting us use them!  I really love singing together with my family.  It is such a special time.  I wish we would do it more often!!  Ray and Jim sang the solo parts for the song.  It happened to be a song that the Singing Christmas Tree did in last year's performance.  I know we weren't as good as the singing Christmas Tree but I hope that we did justice to the song!  I felt that we did......

I pray that all of you had a blessed Christmas.......a time of year to remember the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  May all of you realize the blessing that his birth brings.

Willie update:  He is on Prednizone (sp?), and pain meds and also some for loose stool.  He actually is acting a little better.  He didn't act like he wanted to run away today.  Yeah!!   Ray said that he didn't yelp as much today too.  I hope the meds are helping and getting him back on the road to recovery.  He is such a sweet dog, I really hated to see him sick......I also hated having him shut up in the garage to keep him from running away.........three times he peed in the garage even though is was only 4 hours of waiting.  He has been drinking soo much water that he pees gallons......   I hope that the meds help in that area too.  Thanks guys for your prayers even though he is only a dog and not a human!  ;-)

Doggie Jail

It was a real game of Monopoly today.  Our Dog, Willie, landed on the first corner and had to go directly to Jail and could not pass Go.  Something has been wrong with him for about a week.  Yelping in pain at strange unpredictable times and running away when he yelps like we jabbed him with a cattle prod.  We had to retrieve him from neighbors three different times this past week.  He's never done this before and we are baffled.  Nothing has changed around here......no new dogs or cats.  Same food, bed, household humans.  One big thing that changed was his appetite.  It diminished and the past month or so he has been drinking a lot of water.  We only really started to notice that it was too much water recently.  THEN......today......when I had soooo much to do, he is gone again.  I spent lots of time calling neighbors seeing if they have seen him.  Look on the dog pound site as a last resort and lo and behold there he was...in doggie jail.  I went to get him right away.  It was quite a ways away too.......about 15 miles one way.  Used to be only 4 miles away but they moved a year ago.  A nice family WAY down the road had found him and couldn't find us so off to doggie jail.  Since he was a first offender and they had only had him in the pound for 1/2 day there was no charge.....thank goodness!! A Get Out of Jail Free card!!

A trip to the vet on the way home.....blood tests to see what is going on with the kidneys.  Nothing seems to be broken so it must just be his hips.  He got pain meds and some pepsin to see if that will help his appetite.  As you can see he is a big dog......120 - 130 pounds.  Vet went to take his temp and he pooped all over the floor with the thermometer's urging.  How embarrasimg but I guess they get that all the time.  Still.......

So, Willie is on house arrest.  Instead of being able to run around like he wants on our unfenced 5 acres, he is held in the garage and let out with a lease to potty until we can figure out what is going on.  Blood results come back tomorrow.  Still need to get a urine sample..........the gravey ladle sounded like a good option.  "ewwwwwww'.........

An exhausting day and a late challenge (SSS35)

It is 3:30 am and I am bushed.  It was a hectic LONG day!  Our car club provided food baskets to the families of deployed soldiers.  I worked in the morning calling some of the families and making shopping lists.  Started shopping at 2:30 pm and finished shopping at 10:30 pm.  Two different trips to two different stores with unloading and some planning between runs.  Packing the boxes with the right stuff for the right family and we were finally done at 1:30 am.   THEN.......freak......my sketch challenge card was not done.  Korin (the design team owner) is going to disown me any day now.  I decided that I just couldn't flake out and went down to the stamp hole to create this week's card.  The darling mouse in the Christmas cup is one of Korin's digital designs.  It is sooooo stinkin' cute.....  I love this one even more than the mittens one.  Colored with copics.  This challenge (SSS35) was to include a pocket and the candy cane was the perfect match for the image, don't you think?    Below is the inside of the card.

Make sure you chick on the badge to the right to see what the other design team ladies did this week!

I'm off to bed for a few hours sleep before the men come to pick up the boxes to deliver the food baskets.  Nighty, night.

Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #34

It is the wonderful season of Christmas where there are always so many things to do that it makes my mind swim at times.  We had our car club here for the annual Christmas party last Sunday.  38 people crammed into the house.  We all had a place to sit down to eat wonderful BBQ meat prepared by our master BBQ chef of the club, Tim.  That meat comes out soooooo tender.  He has homemade drum grills and makes his own homemade BBQ sauce.  Award winning in my opinion!  Well.......on to this week's challenge.  The image for this card is sooooo darling.  It is one of the digital images from Sweet N Sassy Stamps.  It is colored with copic markers.  To make the mittens look a little more woven type, I used a rag with a little bit of blending solution on it to texture that area.  I really didn't want to dig out the sewing machine so I just punched the border of the bottom layer and drew in stitch lines.

You'll want to head over to the Sweet Stop Challenge Blog to see what the other design team members created.  They are all splended!!

This week I've been working like mad to try to finish up my Christmas cards!  I'm close but still not done.  Today will be my push to finish! 

We watched Julie and Julia last night.......cute movie.

Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #33!

Hard to believe that it is December, don't you agree?!!  Being December, I felt that I just had to do a Christmas card for the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge this week.  The angel stamp is from Stampendous and is colored with copics.  The 'joy' is from PSX.  I sure miss that company.  Their stamps were always such wonderful quality.  The striped background is a Technique Junkie technique called Herringbone.  Herringbone is quite similar to a technique I had submitted called Corded Pieces.  The lightest paper actually has some metallic gold on it and is beautiful in person.  Make sure you click on the link to the right to see the other cards that the Sweet Stop Design Team came up with!!

AND Our Winner is............

We have a winner!!!  #42 which is:

November 25, 2009 6:27 AM

jackielwatson said...

Ann,

What a wonderful card and I would love to win the CD7. Thanks for giving us a chance.

Jackie Watson

Congratulations, Jackie!!  I'll be in touch with you via your e-mail. 

Now on to a little Black Friday saga!  Our family usually goes to Bend where my Brother-in-law lives.  We all invade his house (which fortunately is large).......all 19 of us.  This year only a few of us went for the Black Friday sales.  We were up at 4:20 and out the door by 4:45am.  YAWN!!!!  I am not a morning person, so it killed me to get up at this hour.  First store to hit.....Shopko.  They had great deals and this year there were NO lines.  Can you believe that?  Last year we put a designated person in line when we got in the store because the lines were so long.  This year we walked right up.  They either managed the crowd better this year with more checkers or they just didn't have the crowd.  We did notice that there were lots of people LEAVING the store with carts of purchases about 2 minutes after the 5am open.  They must have opened early but only started to check at 5am.  That's the only reasoning we could come up with. 

Since we exchange names with extended and immediate family we all knew who to shop for and got some wonderful deals.  I made $30 really stretch for two of our big and tall guys.  I happened to draw both of them!!  Hit Fred Meyer (Kroger) and they had wonderful sales and my daughter had a 30% off of 2 apparel items as well so I got a thick quilted flannel and a nice quarter zip pull over for less than $29 and a quarter zip pull over and two T-shirts for only $26. 

We finally made it home at 3pm!!  It was a long day.  We had ended the day at Michaels.  They had a 25% off coupon that expired at 11am.  We got there at 10:45am and thought we would have 15 minutes to shop.  NO!!  If you had the greeter initial your coupon when you came in, they let you spend all the time you wanted.  Woo Hoo!!  I got some beautiful Christmas garlands to replace some of mine that were broken and weary.  Originally $10 a garland.........$3.75!!!!  Cool, huh?!!

The only bad part of the day was with my knee that I had fallen on the Friday before.  The day before Thanksgiving, when I was changing the bandage, the adhesive ripped off skin.  O U C H!!  So I had to resort to cutting the gauze pad off the bandage, putting in place, and keeping it there with an ace bandage.  It worked pretty good.  The big reason I was trying to keep it moist was that I still had a few small pieces of gravel in the wound that I was slowly getting out.  Well......on black Friday I wore the bandage and really didn't pay too much attention to it until we went to bed.  I guess I had wrapped it too tight.  I had a red rash on the front of my shin and the whole area was swollen.  Sheesh!  I knew it would swell up but hadn't even thought that the bandage was that tight.  It looks ugly right now but I'm finally without bandages.  Isn't the healing of the human body a marvelous thing?

BLOG CANDY - Technique Junkie CD #7!!!!

Here is a card made with a Bonus Technique from the newest Technique Junkie CD #7 called Starry Night.  I got the moon as an unmounted in a grab bag at Peddler's Pack in Beaverton so I have no idea who made it.   I was so happy to get it too as I didn't have any before!  The technique's name did inspire the card.  I hope you enjoy! 

NOW......on to the particulars of the blog candy.  The winner of this candy will receive the Technique Junkie CD #7 with all the techniques from this past year's newsletters PLUS 10 bonus techniques!  This candy will be awarded the Monday AFTER Thanksgiving.  I wanted enough time for lots of people to enter.  Just leave a comment on THIS post to be entered.  If you want to share the info about this blog candy on your own blog, that is great but this time everyone will only get one chance.  (It was just easier that way this time).  Mister Computer Generator will pick the winner on November 30th around noon.  You have until MIDNIGHT (Pacific Time) ON THE 29TH to enter. 

P.S..........If you don't know what a Technique Junkie Newsletter is......visit http://www.patstamps.com/ to see samples!  Now for my personal plug......I've been a Junkie since Feb 2005 and I just can't tell you how much I've learned in that time.  If you like to learn new ways to use your stamps and new techniques for making backgrounds then you NEED this newsletter.  It's subscription price is less than any magazine subscription for crafters and you get soooooo much!!

BLOG CANDY Reminder

Here is a reminder for you......don't forget to sign up on the top blog post for my blog Candy.  This card uses the Angelina Fiber technique from the CD.  Very fun!!  The horse stamp is from Peddler's Pack. 

Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #31 and a big owie!

DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE POST BEFORE THIS ONE FOR MY BLOG CANDY. 

I'm having to post my challenge a little early because I'll be gone in the morning AND because of my owie (see last paragraph)  My granddaughter turns three tomorrow.  I've had this sweet little Princess image colored up for her card for months.  Since I needed a card for the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge I decided to use it for her card.  This sketch was a sketch with a spin.  This month the spin was "Sew Happy"  I thought about using my sewing machine on the card but I really wanted gold.  Since I didn't have gold thread for my sewing machine, I decided to use the SU gold cording and actually hand sew on the card.  I'm happy with the outcome although I wish I had adhered the vertical panel BEFORE I did the outer edge.  Oh, Well.  she is only three and won't give a hoot, right?!  The Happy Birthday text looked a little bare when I was done so I stitched some curls and french knots above it to make it look like a package.  My granddaughter is absolutely in love with horses......I really should have done a horse card but since she likes princesses too, I knew this card would be okay.  Speaking of horses.  She is going to really flip when she sees her present.   All her aunts, uncles and Ray and I went together to get her an awesome gift.  We found a FurReal Horse named Butterscotch on Craigslist.  A $300 toy for only $100!!  Gotta love Craigslist!!  It works great and only needs a new halter.  When her cousin turned three last weekend and opened his present of some horses, she said (with a little bit of mean in her voice) "I want THAT for MY birthday!"  Gotta love three year olds!!  I can't wait to see the expression on her face when she sees a horse that is as big as her!!  Hee hee!!  Almost makes me giddy thinking about it........or should I say giddy-up!  ;-) 

Now for the Not so cool news.........I picked up the mail tonight on the way home from setting up my craft table.  Our church's first ever craft fair to benefit the school.  I don't normally do craft fairs.....too much work and set up.....easier to do in my home instead.  BUT it was a benefit for the school so I decided to do it.  In my mail was a piece for my neighbor, so I dropped it off at their house.  As I was walking back to my car, I walked around their little car that they tow behind their motorhome.  There was a small utility trailer in front of it and I expertly avoided the hitch on it.  Unfortunately, I didn't know that the little car had a hitch on the FRONT of it.  I whacked it with my shin hard enough that I fell down on the same knee scrapping it badly on an old scar from a bad knee accident when I was a kid.  Fell on both knees, scrapped my hand a little as I rolled onto my back.  Reached down to feel my knee (in the dark) and felt that I had torn my brand new pants......DRAT!  The worst part is that there wasn't anyone to see me nor hear my pathetic whimpering because it hurt sooooooo bad.  Got back in the car and drove the 1/4 mile to the house, went in a promptly got compassion from my husband.  After treating the deep scrap with hydrogen oxide and bandaging he even rubbed my feet as they were trying to cramp after the trama to the shins.  It was quite strange.  When he rubbed the ball of my foot and the toes, the sensation of pain of the scrap subsidded but when he rubbed the arch or the heel, the pain increased.  Strange indeed.  So........after this long story, I'll be hurting all day tomorrow while I man my church bazaar table.  I think I'll be seeing the chiropractor on Monday as well..........

Happy Birthday Little Jim!

Yesterday was my oldest grandson's 3rd birthday.  Today is his party!  Yeah!!!  It will be so fun because at age 3 they finally REALLY 'get' the birthday thing!  We got him Flo's diner for his Geo Trax set.   He love his Geo Trax and the Cars movie.  Perfect match.  Here is the card that I made for him.  The image is from Dustin Pike and is colored with copics.  I just barely got my diamond plate cuttlebug folder which is below it.  I also used a EK Success border punch.  The 3 is punched out of a cuttlebug alphabet set from a paper covered coaster so it is fairly thick.  It looked a little lonesome without something behind it so I added the black background.  I hope Little Jim loves it!!

Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #30!

This week sure seemed to fly by!  My card sale is done and I'll be taking the cards left to the church bazaar next Saturday.  I even have a few snowglobes left over! 

Here is the card for the SSS#30.  I was quite pleased with this card when it was done.  I was originally going to use a darker base and layers and it just didn't have the pop.  When I changed the base to white it just really seemed to work much better.  I used the Technique Junkie technique called Drywall Stitching for the edges.  Try as I may, I am not a straight 'sewer' even without my machine!  The image is from Sweet N Sassy stamps digital line.  Such a sweet little shepherd.   He is colored with copics.  I dug through some of my really old patterned papers and came up with the star and muted dot paper.  Nice to use some of it up.  I even used a little Flower Soft on the sheep.  It was dicey getting some on without covering up their faces!   Hope you enjoy. 

Today my first grandson turns three.  Seems like only yesterday that he was born!  Happy Birthday, Sweet Jim!  We'll celebrate his big day tomorrow with family.  Today we'll be with our car club at the bowling alley.  Practicing up for the big rematch with the GTO club.  Don't want them to win!!

Sweet Stop Sketch #29 & the last day of my sale!!

It has been a super busy last couple of weeks.  I might even have a moment to breathe now that my card sale is almost done.  After my sale was done yesterday, I had to quickly work up the card for the Sweet Stop Challenge of the week.  Make sure you click on the Sweet Stop badge to the right so you can see all the wonderful cards from the Sweet Stop designers!  It is so fun to see what the designers have done because we all have such different techniques, styles and tastes!  I think you will find something for all stamping preferences!  Here is the card that I made this week.  I used the Kitchen Sink Rose stamp for my images, plus a little bitty background stamp from Stampin Up (THAT get used more than any stamp I own!).  The Kitchen Sink stamps are fun.....no coloring with copics or pencils....just stamp and your done!The background stamp is from Impression Obsession.  I really love it because it adds so much but is still a light design.  The edge below the ribbon is a Martha Stewart border punch and the little tiny, etsy bitsy pearls are from Queen & co.  I hope that you enjoy!! 

Thursday is THE day!! Hey, Facebook friends and family!!

Thursday will mark the first day of Ann & Charlotte Annual Card Sale.  YOU don't want to miss it.  Come bright and early for the best choices as there are many one-of-a-kind cards this year!  AND don't forget the snowglobes.  You can visit http://www.createdbyann.com/ for details or times and directions as well as pictures of only some of our cards.  Charlotte makes BEE-U-tiful pressed flower cards and bookmarks. 

Take a look at this deal!!

Have you ever thought of becoming a Junkie?  A Technique Junkie, that is!  You've seen a ton of techniques that I have used on cards here on my blog.  You may have wanted to know HOW to do them?  WELL.......here is some exciting news.  The owner, Pat Huntoon, just posted this awesome deal!!  You can't even get a stamping magazine subscription for this price!!  If you have been waiting on the fence, NOW is the time.  Make sure you tell her Ann sent you.  (I won't get anything out of it, just so ya know!)

Here is her message*********************************

For NEW Subscribers.....

Subscribe today to the Technique Junkie Newsletter and receive 7 issues for only $19.95*!
You will receive the issues from December 2009 through December 2010 – with a whopping 105 Technique Tutorials in step-by-step format delivered right to your door! In addition, our website features step-by-step pictorial tutorials for each of those 105 techniques – exclusively for subscribers.
As special incentive, I will send one additional issue to the first 20 people who sign up for this offer! That is 120 techniques for $19.95! Order yours today!
To order, send me an email for an invoice through PayPal, or send a check to me to the address below. Hurry, though – and you will get that extra issue for free!

AND for RENEWALS.....For a limited time only...

All renewals to the TJ Newsletter to US addresses will receive 2002 pricing!
That is only $16.50 for renewals!! (Sorry, US addresses only) Hurry, though, this offer ends soon!
Want the CD, too? Renew and order CD7 for only $28.95 (US addresses only) -- prices have NEVER been that low!!
One year renewals only at this price...(ie: no two year renewals.
To renew, send me an email and I will get an invoice to you right away!
Pat Huntoon, phuntoon@optonline.net
*************************************
There you have it!  Don't delay!!!!

The countdown begins!

Every year the last few days before my card sale, I seem to go into panic mode.  Do I have enough made?  Shouldn't I make just a few more?  What types of cards have I forgotten?  Oh Why didn't my grandson sleep just a little longer so I could get this card ready to assemble!!!!

I find that my creative juices kind of hit a flat spot this time as well and I revert back to basic designs without any special techniques (unless those BG's are already made!).  So.......after all that complaining, here is the card that I came up with today.  And below it is the card I designed yesterday.  I also provide some prestamped sentiments that my customers can pick out to go into a blank card.  That way they can make it into any kind of card they want.  The sentiments from SU work great for this as they cut down to 1 x 2".  I then cut a bunch of 1 1/4 x 2 1/4" colored pieces that they can pick to go behind the sentiment to match the color of the card.  It also gives the sentiment a little bit of weight visually.   So......today I got all the sentiments stamped and cut.  All the colored backing pieces were cut as well.  It is a great way to use up some of those smaller pieces of scrap paper that I've saved!  I have this WONDERFUL double sided tape that I get from the man that does the trophies for our car club.  It is clear, on a 72 yard roll and is only $10.  I can usually get 75 to 100 cards out of a roll.  AND the best part is that since there is a backing on the tape, I can place pieces of it on the backs of my sentiments and colored pieces and you just peel off the backing when ready to use.  AND......another part that I just LOVE about this tape is that is it REALLY sticky.  It almost takes an act of God to get the cardstock apart when this tape is used.   I NEVER have cards that fall apart!!  A very important factor when you are selling your cards!  Okay....enough of my rambling today.