Thoughts of a Grasshopper

I'm so amazed by everyone participating in Operation Write Home's Memorial Day Weekend Bloghop. It is fabulous to have so many in the paper crafting community sharing their creativity and acknowledging those that have served and are serving our country. I used to love Memorial Day as a kid because it meant just a few more weeks of school, a parade, a BBQ with family and friends, a visit to the cemetery to place flowers on the grave. Things have changes so much for me partly because I grew up and took an interest in the world around me and the history that has brought us to where we are today. I have gained a greater appreciation for those that have served and are serving our country and am grateful for the sacrifices they and their families have made to defend the many freedoms that we enjoy in this great country, the United States of America. You probably arrived here from Little Bit of Life . If you didn't you can start at the beginning of the hop at the OWH page ...

I need to do something special for an upcoming birthday. I made this basket tonight and I'm thinking I'm going to put in a gift card for a book and to a favorite restaurant, a couple of little things I picked up that are a joke between us and some chocolate treats. I've been wanting to make a basket just for the fun of it and with Memorial Day coming and BBQs and picnics, it seemed like a great time to make one. The basket measures 4 x 6 x 3. There isn't any stamping on this. I used confetti tan cardstock and sponged with creamy caramel ink. The brads are vintage. I'm not much of a glue person so I used the red tape. The top uses the top note die from Stampin' Up! My next post will be for the Operation Write Home blog hop that is happening on Saturday. There are 148 bloggers participating.

I hear this is popular to do again. I was trying to think when it was that it was "in" and I'm guessing it was 6 years ago. Like fashion, techniques come full circle with slight changes. The change this round is using the white pen to add dots. Super easy to do with a different look that pops. Stamps: Kind and Caring Thoughts CS: Lovely Lilac, Orchid Opulence, Black, WW Ink: Craft White Misc,.: Delphinium grosgrain (discontinued), white gel pen, eyelet border punch, Dimensionals

This is the last of my swap cards (for now). This swap was for get well, sympathy and thinking of you cards. This card could be used for sympathy or thinking of you. I used VersaMark on the Baja Breeze CS wanting it to be subtle. For the image behind the bird, I used Baja Breeze but I stamped off once on scrap paper . I always like these colors together, there is something calming about them. I felt bad for the postal clerk that had me yesterday. I was her last customer for the day and it took a while because she was weighing and putting stamps on my return envelopes for the packages and then she had to mail them off. I definitely wasn't quick like the others she had been getting. I know I've said it before but the line at our post office is always to the door. If you have to go there, plan on a 30 min. wait. Yesterday I was amused by the patrons that bought just one stamp. Why not buy a book or just 5 so you don't have to wait 30 minutes next time, heck they ...

Just a quick post today. My kids are getting on their swimsuits and will be pestering me to get out the door fast. I made this card for a birthday card swap. Hope everyone has a great day. Stamps: Sincere Salutations, Crazy for Cupcakes CS: Melon Mambo, WW, Black, Kraft, Melon Mambo DP Ink: Melon Mambo, Black Misc.: Dimensionals, CE, Pink Glass Beads

I made 2 different pages for my daughter's 6th grade ceremony. I like this one because of the colors. It just seems happier and more youthful than the first page I did. So, our first official day of summer and one of my girls is out delivering fliers that we made last night for a dog walking business she hopes to have this summer. She is charging $5 for 30 min., which is a walk and some play time or $20 if you sign up for 5 days. Such a deal! My son is out with her right now because I'm still working on my swaps that I planned to have mailed off today. I guess tomorrow is it or I'm going to be paying lots of money to get them there on time.

A month or so ago Jami told me how to make these fool-proof flowers and assured me they were easy to make. I made one and it sat on my desk. I decided to just go with the same paper I made the flower from and make a simple card. Do you see that I used my Two Tags die again? I was actually going to do it differently on the card but I had this bow left on my desk from a Valentine's card. I have several little piles of "extras" on my desk from various projects. I don't really want to throw them away but I think I need to give myself a cut-off date to use them so I can clear some clutter. I'll be back Monday. My son is camping tonight with the scouts on an island. They are actually canoeing to the island with their gear. Hope no one tips it. The girls and I are celebrating school being over and plotting our summer plans. My husband and I are celebrating our 15 year anniversary this weekend too. Lots of happy things. Have a great weekend.

but not from this. I'm off to my daughters graduation from elementary school . . . again. She graduated last year and then we moved across the country and elementary school goes through 6th grade here so she gets to do it all over. A while ago I tried double embossing. I suppose I need to read someone's tutorial on it because I always end up with the embossing powder on the embossed part. I brush some off, but I'm not able to get it all. I used some scrap DP I had and did one in white and one in red. I think you really have to go with black when doing this because the paper shows through the white. Of course, SU no longer sells red and my jar I bought from them years ago is very full. I had purchased it for a July 4th project. I'm off to graduation. I'll post a card tonight.

I joined a Big Shot Swap to get more ideas. I don't feel I utilize my Big Shot as much as I could and I'm hoping to change that. I thought I would use the Two Tagz die because I rarely use it. I went searching from some inspiration on SCS. I ended up CASEing a card by Jen Mitchell changing the papers and the stamp set. I didn't realize until I went on my search that the scallop punch fits so perfectly on the scallop tag die. Stamps: Great Friend CS: WW, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Cottage Wall DP Ink: Orchid Opulence Misc.: Two Tags, Texture Plate, Rich Razzleberry Ribbon, Scallop Punch, Dimensional

This card just kept evolving. I started off using the Big Shot and the Bigz Two Tags. Then I reached for the Crazy for Cupcakes set (that was still out from a card I made for a birthday party Saturday). The cupcake stand fit perfectly. I ended up putting the card together from various scraps that are in a pile on my desk. These aren't colors I would normally but together, but they seem to work well together. Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes CS: WW, Kiwi Kiss, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Sending Love Specialty Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Black Misc.: Button Bouquet, bling, glue dots, Bigz Two Tags, Piercing tool and mat, texture plate.

The colors are slightly off in the picture and I can't seem to adjust them to be close to the true colors. I was going through some sets, looking to see what I wanted to use for a swap, and I came across this set. It seems like it has been a long time since I used it. So . . . instead of working on my swaps, I made this card instead. Stamps: A Beautiful Think CS: Cottage Wall DP, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Orchid Opulence, Pink Pirouette Ink: VersaMark, Rich Razzleberry Misc: Scallop Edge punch, silver brads, Dimensionals, Rich Razzleberry ribbon, Detail White EP

One of the swaps I'm signed up for is an exact copy swap. You need to pick something from the catalog and create a copy of it. I spent several hours thumbing through looking at what sets I had and what I wanted to re-create. There were a lot of cards I would have liked to make but I don't have the textured cardstock that most of the cards use. I never noticed that so many of the samples in the catalog use the textured cardstock. I ended up narrowing it down to two cards. I thought this one would get the most use by those in the swap. This card is on page 96 of the 2009-2010 Idea Book and Catalog. Stamps: Inspired by Nature CS: Old Olive, Really Rust, So Saffron, VV Ink: Really Rust Misc.: Markers: Old Olive, So Saffron, Really Rust; 3/8" vanilla taffeta; linen thread; mini library clips; Dimensionals; spritzer tool; eyelet border punch

Welcome to the 5th stop on VC Rocks' first Blog Hop. I've been a part of VC Rocks since 2006 and come back every year to enjoy the friendships, talent, swaps and challenges. You probably arrived here from The Love of Stamping . If you didn't, you can go to the VC Rocks blog to start at the beginning. I made a card using colors that are retiring. Supplies: Stamps: Inspired by Nature, All Holidays CS: Naturals Ivory, Kraft, Green Galore, Close to Cocoa, Ruby Red Ink: Chocolate Chip, Green Galore Markers: Ruby Red, Close to Cocoa, Green Galore Misc.: Scallop Edge punch, Photo Corners punch, Ice Squares Rhinestone brads, mat pack, paper piercing tool, Very Vanilla 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, Dimensionals, adhesive of choice Directions: Use the scallop edge punch on Close to Cocoa CS (measures 2-1/8 x 4 after punched) Mount Green Galore (1-3/4 x 4) onto Cocoa CS; tie on Very Vanilla ribbon with the knot to the left. Punch the photo corner from a scrap piece of Close to ...

I had another card in mind but I found a scrap of paper on my desk from the tin last week and it was the perfect size for the front of a card so I used it up. A quick photo before cooking dinner. My daughter, in a very nice way, reminded me of the time to get me thinking about dinner. She commented that it seemed later than it was because her dad and brother were home when she got home from school. I asked her what time it was and was told 6:30. That beats "What's for dinner?" Stamps: A Rose is a Rose CS: Certainly Celery, Riding Hood Red, Barely Banana, WW, Bella Rose DP Ink: Barely Banana, Certainly Celery, Riding Hood Red Misc.: Celery grosgrain, dimensionals, banana brads, punches

I posted this over a year ago but by the time I get to stamp today, the time for sharing will be gone. I'm sure it will be new to someone that comes through. I sketched out a couple of ideas last night and I'm looking forward to making them happen. Today I have 4 kids going to the orthodontist ($265/per kid - OUCH!). I expect two will be getting braces and I don't know about the twins, perhaps spacers and a tooth or two being pulled. One of them is getting to be a shark with teeth coming in behind others. Stamps: Always Paper: Apricot Appeal, WW, Regal Rose, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Sweet Always DP Ink: Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie, Pink Pirouette Misc.: Pumpkin Pie and Rose Ribbon, circle and scallop punches, dimensionals, gems

I spent this morning making a graduation card for my friend's daughter. I still can't believe she is graduating next week. Their school colors are navy and gold. I got the Label Ten die last week and was itching to use it and it was perfect for the image. Then I decided to pop it. I played around with the Labels Ten and Ovals making frames and various designs for the card and settled on making a gold frame with two of the ovals and trimming away the outer layer so it wouldn't be quite as thick. It is a fairly simple card for such a big occasion.

We used the last of our 4-day pass on Saturday and went to Magic Kingdom. Of the 4 theme parks, Epcot came in tops for most in our family. My husband chuckles that I like Epcot the best because after we went, I wasn't too enthused about the place. However, both Epcot and Hollywood Studios have quite a few street shows that I would like stop and watch and my family just keeps on to where they going and miss out on some entertainment. After going to Animal Kingdom, I had read in my journal from when we went 6 years ago and laughed that I still had the same impression - "a glorified zoo". My favorite ride was the Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom. The park with the most rides was Magic Kingdom. It was pretty warm on Saturday and I have to admit that I'm glad to be done before it is too hot & humid here. I have 5 swaps going right now and I'm working on a couple of challenges too. I've been seeing some cool looking picnic baskets and I want to try to ...

I can't find this card but I'm thinking I saw it on Silke Ledlow's blog. I have a lot of the little pearls to use and this stamp is a great way to use them. The final of the birthday cards that I made, I liked this one for the colors and simplicity. Stamps: Thoughts and Prayers, Well Scripted CS: WW, Old Olive, Baja Breeze, Cameo Coral Ink: Cameo Coral Misc.: Old Olive & Cameo Coral Markers, button, pearls, punch

This isn't all of the cards, but a lot of what went into the tin for my Mother-in-Law. There were 20 cards altogether. I still need to make some sympathy cards for her. It came down to making them and having it arrive late or get her package in the mail and mail the other cards later. Have I ever mentioned here that our post office is crazy busy here? Every time I go, it doesn't seem to matter what time of day, the line is to the door. The line was out the door at Christmas. You can count on a trip to the post office taking 45 minutes. When I mailed some boxes Tuesday, I found it to be the same, although I expected there to be a longer line thinking others would be mailing off Mother's Day packages too. Even though the wait is long, I usually end up talking with several people while waiting. I'm not usually that way, but I think I do this because it passes the time a lot faster. While I dread the line, I'm always entertained there. I love this paper and ha...

I want to say I saw this through SU but it may have been on SCS. It looked like a fairly quick card to put together. I underestimated the time it would take to color the stamp. My area looks like incredibly messing. Once I finish these orders, I'm going to have to spend some time cleaning up and re-organizing my space. Stamps: Messages for Mom CS: Chocolate Chip, Rose Red, Regal Rose, WW Ink: Chocolate Chip Misc.: Markers - Rose Red, Certainly Celery, Regal Rose; Mat & Piercing Tool; Crimper; Punches; Dimensionals; Hardware; Celery Grosgrain; Pearl

I'm still working on birthday cards. I need at least 5 more and some of them need to be for kids. Normally when I use this particular image, the color is deep and bold. It seems wrong to me that the chocolate syrup isn't a deeper brown and made even more yummy looking with Crystal Effects. Yet, I do like the look of the ice cream with a softer color. Stamps: Sweet Treats, It's Your Birthday CS: Regal Rose, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, WW Ink: So Saffron, Black, Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Going Gray Misc.: Hardware, Brads, Dimensionals, Celery Grosgrain

I really need to focus on birthdays now. I have two orders for birthday cards. The funny thing about this card is I saw it in Stampin' Success that demos get. It used a color that is coming in July and kept searching through all my In Color pads wondering why I couldn't find the color. It took 10 minutes before I made the connection. Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes CS: Pretty in Pink, Pacific Point, Rose Red, Watercolor Ink: Black, Pacific Point, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, So Saffron Misc.: Dazzling diamonds, 3/8" pink taffeta, Sherbet buttons, dimensionals

This is a super quick card to make. I really like this size card because it seems to go both ways. If you have a lot to say it will fit and if not, it's easy enough to take up the space and say what you need to with a few words. Stamps: Medallion, Great Friend CS: Bashful Blue, Old Olive, WW Ink: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive Misc.: Dimensionals, button, old olive grosgrain, linen thread