Can I cry now?

I returned to my computer after an afternoon of clearing out part of the bottom of the driveway and playing down in the Dungeon. My Weatherbug icon is flashing - meaning there's severe weather of some kind in the area. A Winter Storm Watch is in effect for tomorrow evening through Tuesday evening.

I want to throw a tantrum like a little kid because: 1) I'm sick of snow and ice. 2) There's supposed to be about 6 inches of snow overnight. 3) The temp's actually supposed to break freezing - and then we get snow on top of that. 4) There is 3 inches of SOLID ICE at the bottom of my driveway that is going to melt and refreeze tomorrow. 5) My road NEVER gets plowed - it's an ice rink already.

Okay... I'm over the snow and the cold. And done whining.

On the upside, I have 2 cards and an altered clipboard that I finished today.

Card #1: Featured Stamper - Mary Jo Albright. I love her gallery! The card I chose to CASE: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/801112 (The first card I wanted to CASE was a Sketch Challenge - which I try not to copy.)

Stamps: MFT - Say Charge. Paper: white, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa (cardstock and dp), Real Red (cs and dp), Soft Sky (cs and dp). Ink: Versafine black, Real Red. Accessories: Prismacolor pencils, 1 1/4" 1 3/8" and scallop circle punches, Chocolate Chip taffeta and Soft Sky double stitched ribbons, mat pack, glitter dots, ticket corner punch, dimensionals.

Card #2: Stalker's Thread Color Challenge 19. It's my last time to hostess the color challenge - it's the end of the month. I pulled the colors for this challenge from the East Coast Prep SU DP: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Wild Wasabi and More Mustard. I like my Flourishes Cake Decorating 101 set - it's so easy to use and fun to play with.

Stamps: Flourishes LLC - Cake Decorating 101. Paper: Real Red, Wild Wasabi, More Mustard, white, East Coast Prep dp. Ink: More Mustard, Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise. Accessories: Bazzill and Provocraft chipboard shapes, glitter dot, ribbon, Martha Stewart Glittering Glue, aquapainter, dimensionals.

And finally, the clipboard. I got some ideas from cards using Fabulous Flowers and clear embossing powder. I took some dp from We R Memory Keepers and embossed the flowers onto it, then brayered Vintage Violet over the top. It didn't completely cover the way I hoped it would, but I think it looks really good. The top of the clipboard is Vintage Violet cardstock that is cut to size and sponged with Vintage Violet ink and one of the smaller flowers form Fabulous Flowers is stamped on top. The back of the clipboard is painted white and the front papers are mod podged in place. Silver dots by Colorbok and white grosgrain finish it out.

Stamps: Fabulous Flowers. Paper: Vintage Violet and We R Memory Keepers dp. Ink: Versamark, Vintage Violet, Brilliance Moonlight White. Accessories: clear ep, clipboard, white paint, mod podge, ribbon, silver dots, brayer.

1 month left on my no buying anything for Lent. I'm already starting a list of things I want/need to buy once Lent's over. I thought I'd be okay with my cardstock levels and there are colors that are running out. This hasn't been too bad. I miss going to the LSS when I get the urge, but my credit card bill is A LOT smaller than it's been in months.

View of the Dungeon

Every time I take pictures of my workspace - commonly called "the Dungeon" because it's down in the basement - I swear that it's not normally that messy. Then I surpass the last picture in messiness.

So... here are the most recent pictures of my area: The first one is standing from the end of the table looking down towards my inkpad holder and the other is from right behind my work chair.

The main problem is that I was in a hurry after I did the WT challenge this day and didn't clean up.

I also have my card for the STCC done and ready to be uploaded. I needed help figuring out the colors, so I used the SU color combos website at www.scraptitude.com/colorcombo Colors for today are: Purely Pomegranate, Old Olive, River Rock, and Close to Cocoa.

Stamps: Papertrey - Out on a Limb. Paper: Purely Pomegranate, Old Olive, River Rock, Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa dp. Ink: Purely Pomegranate, River Rock, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa, Versamark. Accessories: Ultra Thick Embossing Powder, heat tool, sponge, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, ticket corner punch, brads, ribbon, dimensionals.

Brrrrrrrrrr

Oh, it's cold here. I live in Western Michigan - we have a wonderful buffer from all the bitterly cold and scorchingly hot weather called Lake Michigan. We get into the single digits sometimes during the winter and rarely go below zero.

It's been below zero today - about 4 below with a windchill of 20 below. *shiver* And for some reason, my room is FREEZING compared to the rest of the house - which is 74. My room is 68 or 66, which doesn't sound like a lot, but there's a distinct temperature drop when you walk into my room.

Quick news: I got a voicemail from my demo on Saturday that she going to order One of a Kind for me. YAY! So excited!

It's time for the STCC #17. Yes, I know it's close to Valentine's Day and all, but I'm not in the mood for Valentine-y colors. I'm thinking warmth - tropical warmth.

Colors for today are:

Groovy Guava

Soft Sky

Barely Banana

Certainly Celery

I love making pocket cards, they're so easy and fun to make. For some reason, the colors came up funky in the photo.

Stamps: True Friend. Paper: Soft Sky, Barely Banana, Groovy Guava, Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla. Ink: Groovy Guava, Soft Sky, Barely Banana, Certainly Celery. Accessories: Tacky Tape, cropadile, dimensionals, brads, distresser tool, Groovy Guava ds ribbon, silver cording.

First Gina K card

Well, not actually my first Gina K card, but the first with one of my new sets: How Sweet it is. It's one of her Stamps for a Cause series - each set dedicated to a specific cause and part of the $$ raised with the sale goes there.

Which I think is fabulous.

My card was created for the Stalkers Color Challenge 13: Regal Rose, Rose Red, Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky. The stalkers color challenges are strict - you're not supposed to use colors not given in the list on your card (except for neutrals.) *holds hand out to be slapped* My flame is So Saffron - I'm in trouble.

Stamps: Gina K Designs - How Sweet it is, SU: Be Happy. Paper: Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Whisper White, Rose Red dp. Ink: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Rose Red, SU Markers: Regal Rose, Rose Red. Accessories: corner rounder punch, spiral punch, brads, dimensionals.

Stalker Color Challenge 7 - tutorial to follow

This is my card for the Stalker Color Challenge 7 - Purely Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand and Certainly Celery. I wasn't too sure about the colors until I pulled the cardstock out and went "oh, okay." Why do I always seem to doubt?

This is also my second attempt at making a Matchbook card. I'm tired of making "traditional" cards, so I wanted to do something different. I'll post a tutorial on how to make a Matchbook card soon.

• Card base is Purely Pomegranate - unfolded and unstapled, it's 4 1/2"x11"
• All images are from True Friend.
• Sentiment block is Whisper White with the sentiment stamped in Certainly Celery. This is layered on Chocolate Chip. I used dimensionals so I didn't have to lay this directly on top of the staples. Ticket Corner punch and rhinestones embellish it.
• I used the spiral punch to add detail to my piece of Sahara Sand cardstock. I also stamped it with Purely Pomegranate and marked the middle of the fowers with mini black brads.
• The main image is inked in Sahara Sand and rolled in Chocolate Chip ink. I paper pierced some of the dots around the flower so the Certainly Celery underneath shows through. A black brad marks the middle.
• The upper design is held in place with Tacky Tape - otherwise it keeps popping off when you bend it slightly to close the card.

Monday - double challenge post

It's been a busy day with some fun challenges.



First challenge was Faith's last time hostessing the Stalker's Thread Color Challenge. She chose Real Red, Handsome Hunter, Mellow Moss and Old Olive. Hello green!

• I chose to use Papertrey's Snowflake Serenade as my background stamped in all the colors of the challenge.
• The main image is from SU! The World Over. It's stamped in Basic Gray and colored in with my Prismacolor pencils.
• I wanted to add a little punch (and some ribbon) so I tied some Real Red grosgrain around my background 3 times and pulled the knots to the bottom.

The other challenge was the Technique Lover's Challenge: Clear sleeved Nugget boxes. Now, I'd heard about Nugget tins - I have a bunch, courtesy of a buy with a friend on SCS - but I'd never heard of Nugget boxes. I followed the links to the different sized boxes - I'd like to thank that person - they did a great job.

• Bottom of my box is a piece of Scenic Route paper - it's vanilla with an olive pattern on it. There's no tape holding it together - it's just folded.
• The slide is a piece of acetate (like a transparency) that's leftover from when I made an acetate card. It's held together with 3 brads.
• The nuggets are wrapped with an address label stamped with a snowflake from Snowflake Serenade in Old Olive.
• The slide is tied with a piece of olive velvet ribbon.