Mini Melinas Twisted Tuesday

The owner of the Twisted Tuesdays Challenge blog (#2TC57)has a little girl who just had a birthday (happened after the challenge posted, but before I posted here). I do not know her name, however, so I will call her Mini Melina. In honor of her birthday, the challenge is to use the color pink (a favorite of Minis); The twist is to show something that is outdoors (Mini loves to play outside).

When I was at the Rubber Stamp Expo this past June, I did a Make -n- Take which involved sponging and spritzing. I really loved the effect, and when SCS published that same technique recently in their weekly tutorial, I wanted to try it again. 

The shades of pink (trust me, there are three) evolve from lightest on the right to darkest on the left. Most of the gallery photos, and even the Make -n- Take that I did, feature silhouettes, but I thought Mini was a bit young for that yet. Many stamps were considered and dismissed, but as soon as I saw this one, I knew it was right.

Happy Birthday Mini!

When I asked Princess A if the first thing that came to mind when she thought of the great outdoors was a unicorn, she hesitated, and in that moment, Main Squeeze pointed out, "well, I have never seen one inside"
















Card Details:

Image: Unknown

Sentiment: N/A

Cardstock: GP, SU

Ink: SU, Memento
Coloring: N/A

Tools: Sponges, Spray bottle

Embellies: Gelly Roll Stardust glitter pen, unknown rhinestones

5K Diary - Week Two

 W2D1: My baby is in the hospital. We spent all day yesterday in the Emergency Room and she was transferred and admitted to a hospital closer to home at 7PM. This morning I did not want to do anything, but then I thought, "what am I going to do, sit home and wallow in my depression? I cannot visit her until this evening, so I may as well get out there." Main Squeeze was on his way to grocery (as no one was able to get there yesterday) so I asked him to bring me to the track. Not ready to start my day alone I guess. Roxy came along for the ride and on the way I said she was wishing she had longer legs. Gemini meanwhile was wishing she had a brain. For some reason everyone this morning chose to go the opposite direction from us, so for every lap I passed them twice. Sometimes I wonder if the running part would go easier if Gemini was not pulling out to the side whenever someone else came along on the track.

W2D2: This week just gets harder and harder to get going. Probably does not help that I forgot to Peas my knee after Curves yesterday. I decided at the last minute to go to the Success Assembly at school, even though Princess A would not be there. One of the teachers asked if I had another kid at the school. She gave me a funny look when I said no, it is just that I have never missed one. Then there is the jogging itself. I cannot imagine next weeks assignment when I feel like I am barely getting through this week. Main Squeeze thinks that it will be fine; each day as I push myself to the end, I am building up strength for the next week when I will have to do more. 

And, yes Tami, your comments did help me to get started and they keep me going every time. April now, too. Thank you both!
BTW, I think the dogs would be very happy if my Knee Peas were to spring a leak  

W2D3: Memories of Day 2 made it even harder to get going this morning; what a lucky surprise that I was not struggling at all! In fact, I missed the first walking cue and ended up jogging for an extra thirty seconds and felt fine! By the time she said to cool down, I was happy to be done, but at the same time I know I could have done another jogging leg (no pun intended). The big question is, was it so easy because I am getting stronger, or because I left Gemini at home? Without the many corrections she requires I was able to focus on an even stride; but then again, how even would that stride have been without days one and two?

Android Blogging

This morning as I was catching up on my swap threads, I came across instructions from April on posting via cell phone. And here I am. I won't say it is the easiest thing to do, but I am sure I will get the hang of it. Thanks April :-*

On New Years Eve, Main Squeeze and I went snowshoeing for the first time. I had given them to him for Christmas 2011, but there was never enough snow. As we were traversing the snow covered field, I told him how I had been thinking of listing '13 Things To Do in 2013' and now I could not use 'try something new' for snowshoeing. He suggested it could be grandfathered in. I am more of a stickler.

Blogging through my phone, however, can officially count as 'learn something new'. Now to decide if that is synonymous with 'try something new' ;-)

Happy New Year!!

My Million Dollar Check is Gone in the Wind

Just about an hour ago, a large black pickup truck took out our mailbox. (I do not know why I mention it was large and black; Perhaps you know him?) I heard a thump and looked out to see the box flying. The truck did not even slow down. Took another glance and realized the pole is now not even a stump.

Princess A said today was probably the day we got that letter stating we had won $1 million. (Did I mention it is terribly windy outside?).

I told her, "Now you know why I insist you wait for the bus halfway down the driveway rather than at the end." "Oh"

But as with many things there is good news:

I got a new mailbox about 6 months ago and have been waiting for Main Squeeze to install it. That is double-sided good news - good that he had not done it yet, good that it will now get done

Good that it was not Roxy out for her afternoon constitutional that got hit. (Gemini is never off leash in the front cuz she is too foolish)

Good that I was not out collecting the mail from the box at the time

Good that I am not hosting a swap right now, as the mailbox was full. I hope I collected everything, but with this wind, who knows? There certainly was not our winning Million Dollar check, so I have no idea what else was lost

RIP Dear Departed Mailbox. You were a hard worker and a good friend.

I have a line from this song stuck in my head; "I guess nothing can last forever"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFjjO_lhf9c&ob=av3n

Valentine's Day Wish List

Dear Main Squeeze,

As you know, Valentine's Day is Monday; so the kitties spent some time this afternoon writing their wish list:


Miss Miri would like to be coddled and cuddled for 16 straight hours. (I expect this will not be a problem, as I will be out all day delivering Singing Valentines anyway.) She says she will allow occasional short breaks, but only if you sing her song.

Iisiy-Baby would like an American Girl Doll bed all her own; preferably without a doll, so there is more room for her to stretch out.


Mr. Handsome wants food. He does not care what kind, just long as there is lots of it. While he eats, he would like to be serenaded with his song, but you must remember to substitute his name for each "Maria" and the last line should be "the most handsomest man in the whole house"


Roxy would like the same status in the house as the kittens enjoy, but she knows that is not likely, so she asks instead for a poochie-sized set of snowshoes.

My Craft Room Needs a Name

It has been a while since I blogged, and here with the New Year (again), it seems time to get back into it.

My stamp room needs a name. Every other room has a name. Not Susie or Joe, but exciting names like Living Room and Princess A's Bedroom. We do have an itty room with a(n unwatched) TV in it that has come to be referred to as the Den. I tried recently to rechristen it the Office, because Main Squeeze does have a desk and computer in there, but that just does not seem to be going anywhere. Since I stamp everything I make with a red wolf, Den seems appropriate, but we cannot have two Dens. How about Wolf's Den, you ask. Well, not too far away there is a casino, two of 'em actually, but this one in particular has ads for the Wolf Den. I cannot have a craft room with the same name as a smoking, drinking, gambling joint, although I did tell my doctor the other day that in my next life I was going to do all those things as well as drugs and hooking cuz refraining does not seem to have mattered health-wise, but that is another story. You can see how having that same name does not appeal... in this life at least.

I bring this plea to you, my faithful followers, as it has been more than a year now and I am stuck. What shall I name my stamping room?

Thank Ewe

Many moons ago, Main Squeeze, Princess A and I hosted an Open House. At that point we had owned our new home for 10 months, so it was time. Here we are two months later and I still owe some thank you notes. All I can say is we never expected gifts, and the stamp room was in complete disarray (Hence the sporadic blog posts for such a long time) Fortunately Scrappy came to the rescue!

My one goal for this week was to complete a card for the Crafty Hos. After all, I am supposed to be a member of the DT. Now that Princess A is back in school,  and I have had some time, I was able to finally organize the stamp room with my new storage units (I ♥ The Container Store!). It is not quite done, but I can walk across the floor without injuring myself or breaking anything, and I can easily access all of my supplies! As Princess A mentioned the other day upon glancing in, "wow, this room is cleaner than it has been since we moved in!"

This weeks Crafty Ho Challenge is a Sketch Challenge:

Immediately, I thought of the farm as the main image. The rest followed from there. Princess A looked at the card for several moments and stated, "I don't get it".

I really need to find a "Thank Ewe" stamp.











Card Details:
Image: SU
Sentiment: Stamps by Judith
Cardstock: GP, SU
Ink: Memento, SU
Tools: Crop-a-Dile II Big Bite
Coloring: Prismacolor markers
Embellies: Unknown eyelets, SU dimensionals

Missed the Game

Have you ever checked your calendar only to discover that the event you were planning to attend had already happened? Well, that happened to me this week. Not so much checked my calendar, but the Catch the Bug Challenge Blog to find out that although challenges are posted once per month, they are only open for a week. I am clear on that now. In fact I already have my card ready for the new challenge, but you will have to wait til tomorrow to see that...

Main Squeeze has told me of times in his childhood when his parents forgot to pick him up after practice. It was a long walk home. Even so I think this little guy would have preferred that to what he did. He showed up late and missed the game entirely! See? There are flowers growing on the soccer field already.

Even though the game is over, I enjoyed making this card. Besides I needed more practice using digi stamps...

Now if only there was a little boy in my life. I have one daughter. My brother has two daughters. Main Squeeze's brother has two daughters. My two closest stamping friends have five daughters between them. Perhaps Princess A has a little boy in her class she would like to send this to. (I am just kidding, I know you don't believe in the existence of boys)... (yet)






Card Details:
Image: Bugaboo Stamps
Sentiment: N/A
Cardstock: SU, GP
Ink: HP Printer
Tools: Fiskars Border punch
Coloring: Prismacolor markers
Embellies: unknown flowers

Parrots (and Bunnies) are Pets, too!

Most of the people, it seems to me anyway, on Lisa's Pet Lovers swap have requested to receive only cats or only dogs. Much as I love cats and dogs, the pets I most wish to fill my home are parrots. In fact, when looking at houses the other day, I pointed one out to Main Squeeze that had a porch that could easily be tiled and screened for Darwin to enjoy his summers; he just rolled his eyes. Another house had so many bedrooms, I mentioned Darwin having his own room, and Main Squeeze exclaimed, "You want to give the bird his own room?!" Well, yeah, why not?


One of the most beautiful birds, in my opinion (obviously as this IS my blog), is the cockatoo. Umbrella Cockatoo to be exact. It is in their honor that I made this card. His beak could be a bit darker, I know, but I only had the one shade of gray in my Prisma collection. This will be remedied as soon as possible.

The designer paper is from a stack by DCWV called Pocket Full of Posies. I bought it cuz it is not my usual style and, what can I say, it was on sale. Coordinates pretty well with the SU card stock don't you think? And I like the vine-y look to it. Makes the little guy feel more at home. I am not sure how he feels about the Magic Mesh, though.


Princess A joined in on the fun for this swap as well. For her entry, she chose bunnies. I am pretty sure it was to honor her most beloved stuffed friend, Mel. (You may remember him from an earlier post around her birthday.)

Great Impressions made this stamp as three blocks in a row, but because her swap was for 3 x 3's, she had to separate the bunnies. The card stock is SU and the dp was from a brand new package (thanks to one of my secret sisters), an 8 x8 slab from Provocraft. The bunnies are colored with SU markers and the card is finished off with some baubles I had received in a long ago swap.

Be sure to leave her some love!