Stamping with Buffy

Let There Be Light!

buffycooper — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:26:35 +0000

My dearest husband is, among other things, a licensed electrician. We own an electrical contracting company. And, if I do say so myself, he’s the best around. My older son, who works with him, is right behind him in skills. They’re both very neat and make sure everything works perfectly and is the best it can be. They can go into a house and do a job, and no one would know they were there until they tried the new device, or whatever it was that the Quality Electric guys did. This amazes me, because they can walk through any room of my house and leave destruction in their wake. But that’s another story.

There are good things and bad things about being married to an electrician. I know that our house is very safe as far as the wiring goes. And we sometimes have the coolest gadgets around. But, like the shoemaker who has barefoot children, after you’ve been electrifying all day, you just don’t want to do more when you come home. So our house is, um…on the dark side. I want a light over my piano – smack dab over the keyboard. But my electrical advisor says it would look stupid. I don’t really care. I just want to see. Our kitchen had a light over the sink when we moved in. It turned on every time the main light came on and my electrical advisor didn’t like that either. So he disconnected the sink light. Now we’re lucky if the dishes are clean, because it’s very difficult to wash dishes in the dark.

We also put in all new devices (i.e. switches and plugs) when we moved to this house 25 years ago. Previous owners had painted over the old ones, and that drives the man crazy, so he changed them. Unfortunately, he ran out of cover plates, so there are several switches in the house that don’t have plates over them. My mother swears one day she’ll get electrocuted. I told her, “Just turn the light on or off. Don’t stick your finger in the hole.” After 25 years, I’m kind of used to it.

More recently, my dearest had to turn off the kitchen light “5 times in one day.” I don’t think that’s excessive. I’ll often go into the kitchen and start cooking, then work on my laptop at the dining room table while the food is cooking. I’m not in the kitchen, but I’m cooking, so I leave the light on. The mister doesn’t like that. (I refrained from pointing out the number of times I’ve turned off the family room television after he’s left the room for an extended period of time. He’s responsible for the electric bill, so if he wants to pay for unwatched TV, that’s his choice.) So yesterday, he had Jon put a motion sensor light in the kitchen. If you take two steps into the room, the light comes on. Sometimes I don’t need the light on. If I’m just getting something out of the fridge, or grabbing a cup of coffee, there’s enough light from the dining room to see what I’m doing. But now I have a light.

Here’s the down side. It takes 10 minutes for the light to turn off after you leave the room. That’s 10 minutes the light wouldn’t be on if it was on a normal switch. And if you’re in the kitchen and aren’t moving a lot – like if you’re eating breakfast, not dancing around – the light goes out in about 1 minute. I haven’t figured out how it knows when I’ve left the room and it should turn off in 10 minutes, and when I’m just standing there so it turns off in 1. I have to wave my hand like “Stonewall” Jackson or develop some other twitch so I’m not standing in the dark with my toast. It’s very annoying, and so far, the only person who likes the light is Mike. Hopefully when we get the next electric bill, there either won’t be a significant difference so we can go back to normal, or it will be such a huge change that we’ll all love the extra money we saved. And the three of us who are resistant to change will get used to it.

This has nothing to do with light or electricity, except that my stamp room has lots of light and it’s my happy place!

Click on photo to view larger image.

Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral; Ink: Jet Black StazOn; Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo stampin’ write markers; Distressing Essentials kit – blue distressing ink; Paper: Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Delight card stock; Watercolor paper; Patterns designer series paper – brights; Other: Regal Rose 1/4″ taffeta ribbon, Adorning Accents edgelits, Manhattan Flower embossing folder, 2-way glue pen, Galaxy glitter stack, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, brads – Brights, stampin’ dimensionals, paper piercing tool, mat pack, Vanilla Shimmer smooch spritz

This design was a sketch challenge this week, and the technique on the flowers was my take on a technique tutorial on splitcoaststampers.com. I stamped the flowers in stazon, then streaked the petals with markers. Then, I used the blue distressing ink from the Distressing Essentials kit and smeared ink all over the flower. I spritzed it with water (the more water you use, the more your flower shows up), then cut it out when it was dry. Finally, I spritzed it with smooch spritz, but it blotched a little more than I wanted. For the most part, though, I really like it. It’s very shimmery and sparkly!

Thanks for stopping by. In case you were wondering – the mister and I have a wonderful relationship, and I love and respect him very much. But for over 20 years, I was on the receiving end of a lot of his “sermon stories,” so now it’s my turn to get even. And after 30 years, I have to say if I had to choose all over again, I’d choose him – even knowing all I know now. Have a great day!

Triple Treat Flower

buffycooper — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:38:40 +0000

Ever since I got this card from my friend Linda Wicks, I’ve been wanting to do something similar with the Triple Treat Flower stamp. I love the layering that she did. So – I was playing around with my stamp and punches tonight, and here’s what I came up with.

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Stamps: Thank You Kindly, Triple Treat Flower*; Ink: Lucky Limeade, Always Artichoke, Soft Suede, Pool Party classic; Paper: Everyday Enchantment designer series paper*; Confetti Cream, Always Artichoke, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party card stock; Other: Big Shot, Designer Frames embossing folders*, Pool Party seam binding ribbon, Eyelet border punch, 5-petal Flower Punch, Fancy Flower Punch, Modern Label Punch, basic Jewels – pearls, 1/2″ circle punch, corner rounder punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals; permanent marker (*you can get these products FREE during Sale-a-bration!)

I had stamped and punched several flowers, and somehow, the frame with the 5-petal flower punched out ended up on top of the Always Artichoke one – and I loved it! The peach pearls were colored with a permanent marker. The best part about this card? All the stamps were FREE! I got Thank You Kindly last year (or the year before; I can’t remember), and Triple Treat Flower is one of the catalog stamps you can get free with a $50 order. You can also get the Designer Frames, if you’d like. Or the designer paper. Or…I love Sale-a-bration!

I’m off to pack for tomorrow’s workshop. Have a wonderful day, and thanks for stopping by!

Another Swap Card!

buffycooper — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:14:43 +0000

I was getting that last 10 minutes of sleep this morning – you know, the 9 minutes after you hit the snooze for the “last time.” It was so warm and nice in bed, the house was quiet, and it was a lovely way to start a Monday. And then – the door burst open and Mike said, “Did you have my keys when we got home the other day? Where are they?” He was supposed to meet someone at 8:30 and was running a little late because his truck keys were missing.

I am not and have never been a morning person. I don’t just wake up, happy and cheerful and ready to start the day. If I get to bed at 1 a.m., it’s an “early night,” so when I wake up at 7:30 or so, it takes a few minutes to get my head “unfuzzy.” I need coffee. Copious amounts of coffee, actually. And I need a peaceful, calm atmosphere – not heavy metal music, not people rushing around, not a bunch of questions – until after the coffee. After the 3rd or 4th cup of coffee, I can handle just about anything.

So when Mike came in the room, all I could think was, “Who is this man and what’s he doing in my bedroom? Keys? What keys?” As my mind de-clouded, I remembered. We had gone to Costco Saturday night and I was helping him carry in some of our supplies. He came in through the garage…I checked my coat pockets to make sure I hadn’t slipped them in there. Nope.

The longer I thought about it, though, the more I started remembering (Saturday night was about 36 hours ago!) – we were in separate cars and I got home about 20 minutes before Mike. I used my keys to unlock the door and never even saw his. By the time I got this far in the thought process, though, Mike had borrowed Jon’s set of keys and had left, still probably thinking I had stuck his keys somewhere. I did, however, remind him when he came back. “Remember…you went back to your truck to get your stuff from the office. Did you check your briefcase?” (At the same time I said this, he was already reaching his hand in the case and pulling out his keys.) I felt very vindicated. And tired.

I said all that to say I didn’t stamp much today. My stamping time was spent looking for lost keys, and the rest of the day was spent practicing and playing for lessons. So here’s a swap from my friend Marsha Reed in Iowa.

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Stamps: My Friend; Ink: Basic Black; Paper: Calypso Coral card stock; Everyday Enchantment designer series paper; Other: mini brads, Big Shot, Adorning Accents edgelits, blossom punch, Boho blossom punch

My sincerest apologies to Marsha if these aren’t the right supplies. She sent a list, but I cleaned off the table so we could have dinner yesterday, and, well, the list is missing. I love the monochromatic look of the card and flower – with the splash of designer paper. This will be a great card for the fundraiser I’m doing! It’s nice and simple, but very pretty and elegant. And it’s not too bulky, so it won’t cost extra to mail (always a plus!).

Have a wonderful day, and thanks for stopping by!

Tea and Books

buffycooper — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 03:37:12 +0000

Ah – two of my favorite things. And right now I could use a good book and a cup of tea! It’s been a very rewarding day, but it’s been jam packed! Our Winchester Stamp Club met this morning; what a wonderful group of stampers I have! Nancy is the hostess this month, and she brought these amazing pecan cookie thingies. Oh, my! I’m going to have to stay away from the office until Wednesday, or the other half of the group won’t get to see how yummy they are. Seriously – they’re right up there with Wendy’s yule logs.

After club, I visited with my parents for a little while. Mike & Jon were target shooting, Dad was studying for a lesson he’s teaching tomorrow, and Mom left soon after we got to her house to “do” my great aunt’s hair. Mom visits my aunt in the assisted living facility each week, and while she’s there she cuts and sets her hair for her. This is just another of Mom’s many talents. There’s really nothing she can’t do if she puts her mind to it and decides she’s going to learn.

While everyone was busy, I straightened up Mom’s stamping corner. Now, my stamp room is a disaster, but it was really fun organizing Mom’s. It’s kind of like cleaning someone else’s kitchen.

When we got home, I started cooking. Jon’s birthday was Wednesday, but we’re celebrating with family tomorrow, so I wanted to get the basics started. I always let the boys choose what they want for their “birthday dinners” and the kind of cake they want. Jon chose to have taco salads, which is easy for me! It’s mostly just assembling everything and letting everyone fix their own salads. And, of course, they can choose beef, chicken or vegetarian.

For Jonny’s cake, he wanted lemon with lemon icing. His exact words were, “a really big cake.” I realized it’s kind of sad to have your favorite cake, but after sharing it with 10 other people, you only get one piece. So, soft-hearted Mom baked two cakes. One for dinner and one just for Jon and whoever he wants to share it with.

In the middle of all this, I realized the dog was almost out of food, so he has a big pot of beans, rice and chicken on the stove. Whew! I’m ready for bed, I think. But first, maybe a cup of tea…

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Stamp set: Tea Shoppe; Ink: Calypso Coral, Soft Suede, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade classic; Paper: Whisper White, Calypso Coral card stock; Other: circle punch, itty bitty shapes punch pack – flower, basic jewels – rhinestones, Calypso Coral ruffled ribbon, Everyday Enchantment ribbon & brad pack (Calypso Coral ribbon), White baker’s twine

Here’s the “teacup bookmark” we made today. This idea is from demonstrator Sharon Armstrong. Sharon keeps the supplies for these cuties in a large stamp box. When she’s sitting “waiting” – at the doctor, in a coffee shop, at the mechanic, wherever – she pulls them out and has something to work on. Smart! It’s much better than the year-old magazines.

Here’s the inside -

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It’s very simple to make. The pocket is a 4-3/4″ x 4-1/4″ rectangle from Whisper White. Score at 2-1/4″ and 4-1/2″ along the longer side. I used one of the Adorning Accents edgelit dies for my first pocket, but for this one, is used the 2-1/2″ circle punch. Punch the front, then fold the pocket, line up the punch with the previously punched semi-circle and punch again. (You can’t punch two layers at the same time. I can’t, anyway. If you want, you can just punch the front and leave the back square.) Fold the pocket in half, then fold the 1/4″ flap back. Squeeze a thin line of multipurpose liquid adhesive along the flap and the bottom. Press closed and hold for about 5 seconds.

I cut my teacups apart, because I doubt I’ll ever want three in a horizontal row. If you don’t want to do that, just use markers to ink the stamp. Be sure the stamp is clean and dry before you stamp the next cup so you don’t get any shadows on your pocket.

When I stamped the middle and top cups, I masked the cup below so they could be “stacked.” And that’s really all there is to it. Punch a few flowers, add some rhinestones and ribbon and stamp the bookmark and you’re finished.

Thanks for stopping by (and listening to me blabber!). Have a great day!

Apothecary Gratitude

buffycooper — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:58:51 +0000

This isn’t the bookmark I promised, but everything is packed for tomorrow’s workshop and the bookmark is on the bottom of the bag. So here’s another card we’ll be making this week.

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Stamps: Apothecary Art; Ink: Jet Black StazOn; Watercolor Wonder crayons (brights, regals, subtles), Elegant Eggplant classic; Daffodil Delight classic ink refill; Paper: Confetti Cream, Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Pink Pirouette card stock; Other: Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack (flower), Dazzling Details, aqua painter, Paper Doily sizzlit, labels framelits, stripes embossing folder, Very Vanilla seam binding ribbon, Big Shot, dimensionals, sponge

This is fairly straightforward. I used the watercolor wonder crayons to color the flowers and edge of the label, and then I went back and sponged the edge with Elegant Eggplant classic ink. This was inspired by these amazing Little Debbie blueberry roll-ups I bought the other day. I’m still going to create a project using the original idea – white eyelet border with Wisteria Wonder background. I had everything ready for white, then the Confetti Cream card stock slipped in. I do like the look, and the Confetti card stocks hold up a little better to watercoloring than the Whisper White and Very Vanilla.

Here’s a final thought for you today. This was on the Stamping Is My Business facebook page. Cute, right?

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Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by.

A Butterfly Hello

buffycooper — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 04:55:26 +0000

I love the little treat container I made yesterday, but I realized that a lot of my stampers aren’t as thrilled about treat containers as I am. Since so many people are watching their sugar and fat intake and a lot of my stampers don’t have children, they don’t really eat or hand out sweets. So…Back to the drawing board. I decided to create a card that kind of mimicked the container. Meanwhile, the other people in this house are thrilled, because now there’s a bag of candy up for grabs.

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Stamps: Fresh Vintage, Elementary Elegance; Ink: Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait, Baja Breeze classic; Peach Parfait, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz stampin’ write markers; Paper: Baja Breeze, Whisper White card stock; Everyday Enchantment designer series paper; Other: Everyday Enchantment ribbon and brad pack, Fancy Flower punch, Labels framelits, Adorning Accents edgelit dies, sponge, stampin’ dimensionals, Big Shot

This uses basically the same materials as the treat container, and it coordinates well enough that I can send the card and the container as a gift to someone special.

So here’s a random thought. I was doing laundry the other day, and the static electricity was causing everything to stick together. I kept thinking, “I know I put a dryer sheet in here; I wonder where it is…” Finally, I saw it. I had hung one of Mike’s shirts up to keep it from getting wrinkled and the sheet was stuck to the side of the shirt. I’m thinking they’re not the best I could have bought.

Tomorrow I’ll have another workshop project. I think it will be a really cute little bookmark card (another idea from Stampin’ Success). My stampers may not be “into” treat containers, but most can always use a bookmark. Even though several have e-readers, I think they still have enough “real” books around their houses!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday, Jon!

buffycooper — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:42:06 +0000

Twenty-two years ago today one of the best things ever changed my life irrevocably. My Jonathan was born. Even at birth, he was 7 pounds, 15 ounces of passion, energy, and curiosity. I remember the look on his face; it was almost puzzled…like, “how did I get here? What is this place?” He was an amazing child, a terrific teenager and now, an incredible young man. He’s embodies everything I prayed over him before he was born – kind, courageous, passionate, intelligent, loyal…the list goes on and on. And I don’t think I’m that biased, just because I’m his mom.

Tonight, he and his friends went to dinner at a local Thai restaurant (best food ever, by the way), and Mike & I went along. What an amazing time. There were about 16 guys there, and it was relatively quiet. I don’t think they disturbed any other guests like some “big parties” do. I have no doubts that they were probably on their best behavior because “the rents” were there, but I think they still had fun. Sunday, we’re celebrating with the family, and then we’ll start planning for Wesley’s 20th. Can it be possible? It seems like only yesterday they were both small.

Our monthly stamping magazine, Stampin’ Success, had instructions for this cute treat container this month. I changed the design to use Sale-a-bration products, but it’s so easy to make.

Click on photo to view larger image.

Stamps: Fresh Vintage, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Ink: Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede classic; Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait, Pool Party stampin’ write markers; Paper: Lucky Limeade, Poppy Parade, Very Vanilla card stock; Everyday Enchantment designer series paper; Other: Simply Scored scoring tool, Fancy Flower punch, Everyday Enchantment ribbon and brad pack, Crop-a-dile, 1/16″ handheld circle punch, multipurpose liquid adhesive

These would have been great for Valentine’s or for favors for Jon’s birthday. But Jon doesn’t eat candy any more. I guess I could have stuffed his with dollar bills, right? Ha!

I think we’ll be making these at the February workshops. The Fresh Vintage stamp set, designer series paper, brads and ribbon are all available free through Sale-a-bration! And there’s even a stamp you can earn (“Triple Treat Flower”) that works very well with the Fancy Flower punch. So book your workshop with me today and see how much free product you can earn!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful day.

Flower Street

buffycooper — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:26:48 +0000

Happy Valentine’s Day! This isn’t a valentine, though. I had a really cute one that I made for Jon to give to Rachel, but it’s already sealed in the envelope. So…This one started out as a CASE of the card on page 26 of the Occasions mini catalog, but I kind of deviated a little.

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This is an Occasions Mini Catalog Extravaganza. It uses the Rue des Fleurs and Apothecary Art stamp sets, the Attic Boutique designer series paper, the framelits (hearts and labels), and the paper doily sizzlit. I should have used the opposite side of the designer paper; it’s a little less busy. But I really like this side.

I stamped the umbrella two times – once on Whisper White with Versamark and once on Whisper White with markers. I embossed the Versamark one with pewter powder, then cut out the colored part from the “marker one” and layered it over the embossed umbrella. Other supplies are the basic jewels (rhinestones and pearls), vintage trinkets, baker’s twine and the flower punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack.

I don’t have the card here, so I’m not sure about the colors I used. I’m fairly sure they’re the colors in the Attic Boutique designer series paper – Poppy Parade, Pool Party, Soft Suede, Daffodil Delight and Whisper White. The silver heart is a soda can that I cut with the small heart framelit.

Hope you had a wonderful Valentine’s Day! Thanks for stopping by.

Leadership “CASE”

buffycooper — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:21:35 +0000

There are lots of reasons why you should hostess a Stampin’ Up!® workshop during Sale-a-bration, and this card has at least three of them. It’s a card that was on a display board at the recent Stampin’ Up!® Leadership conference, and uses several SAB products. Take a look.

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Stamps: Petite Pairs, Fresh Vintage*; Ink: Soft Suede classic; VersaMark; Paper: Everyday Enchantment designer series paper*; Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral, Soft Suede card stock; Other: Big Shot, Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die, Soft Suede taffeta ribbon, crochet trim – Victoria, Everyday Enchantment ribbon & brad pack*, sponge, basic jewels – pearls, vanilla embossing powder (retired) stampin’ dimensionals (*free Sale-a-bration products; also available in the hostess bundle for qualifying workshops)

This card could be for any occasion, but I wanted to use it for a birthday card for one of my best friends from college. She’s such a good friend, in fact, that I made sure my first child was born on her birthday. I have no excuse now for ever forgetting her birthday!

I die cut the butterflies, then embossed them with the flower from Fresh Vintage. I used versamark and vanilla powder, but you can get the same (or, at least, similar) results using Very Vanilla craft ink and clear powder. I added a little sponging to the butterflies and to the Very Vanilla layer after I embossed it with the Elegant Bouquet folder.

The ribbon on the butterflies and the Calypso Coral ribbon in the ribbon assortment on the lower right, the designer series paper and the Fresh Vintage stamp set are all exclusive Sale-a-bration items. Hostesses with a $400 minimum workshop can also get these products in a free bundle, plus the exclusive Sale-a-bration tote, $65 in merchandise and a half price item. Sweet!! Contact me to schedule your workshop before SAB is over!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful day.

Swaps and SAB

buffycooper — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:53:21 +0000

I have more swaps to show you! These are from my friends Linda Wicks in New York and Margaret Brunier in Illinois. Both use Sale-a-bration products, and Margaret’s uses the Rue des Fleurs from the Occasions mini catalog.

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This is Linda’s swap. I love the way she used the Framed Tulips embossing folder to make a frame for the designer paper. Isn’t that clever? She also used the Sale-a-bration Elementary Elegance stamp set and the Everyday Enchantment designer series paper. I can’t wait to make the tulip border. This is a great card, because it’s fairly simple but very elegant. And it’s suitable for any occasion.

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This is Margaret’s card. I love the way it looks like a picture on the wall with the Everyday Enchantment designer series “wallpaper” and the wainscot paneling. She used the Stripes embossing folder for the wainscot, and the designer frames for the portrait – and all these folders (Stripes, Designer Frames set of 3) are available as free Sale-a-bration items – as well as the designer series paper. For every $50 you spend, you can select a free SAB product, so with a $150 order, you could get the paper and all 4 folders – as well as a super cute tote bag!

The corset and sentiment on Margaret’s card are from the Rue des Fleurs set in the Occasions mini catalog. It works so well with the rest of the card, don’t you think?

I’ll show you the last of the swaps in a few days. I can’t wait until we do another one. My friends always send the best cards!

Don’t forget to place your Sale-a-bration orders! I just got the free tote, and it’s adorable. And, of course, I have more paper and ribbon and…well, I’ll show you over the next few weeks.

Have a great day – and thanks for dropping in.