A Hint of Mint

Good evening, all! How was your day today? I'm happy to report that we are all on the mend. Not quite 100%, but we're getting there. Tomorrow I'll be heading to my nearest Walmart and spending some time in the vitamin aisle. I am just sick way too often. If anybody has any recommendations, please jump in. I tried taking Centrum for a while (like two years ago), but they always gave me an upset stomach. I don't know what other brand I could try that might be different, but at this point I'm willing to give pretty much anything a go.

Well, today I've got a bracelet to share with you. I'm calling it a Hint of Mint, due to the delicious hue of green in the beads. Kinda lame, I know, but I couldn't come up with anything better.


The beads are a cut and polished moss quartz and a lovely, vibrant green aventurine. I used Bali sterling silver spacers and a sterling silver toggle clasp to accent that cool, crisp feel. Like an ice cold glass of mint julep. At least, how I imagine a mint julep would be. I have, in fact, never tasted the drink. I'm pretty sure that it's a Southern thing. And while I like to imagine that I am Southern, or what it must be like to be Southern, I am actually not Southern. At all. Though I have been to Florida twice.


See those great inclusions? Like seaweed forever frozen... Okay, enough with the metaphors. I'm even getting sick of myself, so I can imagine how you poor ladies must feel!

Anyway, I thought it would be a great bracelet for St. Patrick's Day, for the girl that maybe isn't quite as fond of bright, grass stain green (not me, I have three boys, so grass stain green is quite popular in our house) and prefers a more subdued, subtle, springy shade. Sss, Sss, Sss.


Yeah, I'm thinkin' it's time for me to call it a night. I'm getting a little too silly. Must be the meds. (Let's hope!)

I don't know about you, but I haven't been this glad to see the hind end of a hump-day (Wednesday being the middle day of the week -- took me FOREVER to catch on to that one) in a long time. Wishing you all a fab ending to your week! Meet you back here tomorrow!

First Night ~ A Poem

Happy Tuesday, everybody. How's your week been so far? Hopefully you are all doing a little better than we are this week. This stomach virus, whatever it is, seems intent on sticking around a while longer, and let me tell ya, it is really kicking my butt! We go through our fair share of sickness here, but this one is one of the worst I've experienced in a long while. Ugh.

Anyway, I tried to muster up the strength to get crafty today, but the only thing I can do comfortably for any length of time is to sit very still. Having the laptop on my lap (that always sounds redundant, doesn't it?) actually helps because the warmth works like a heating pad on my poor crampy tummy. I discovered this about an hour ago. If I had realized this previously, I could have spent an entire day online guilt-free! Good thing I can't reach my debit card from here. My long-suffering hubby would NOT be pleased. ;o)

So, instead, I worked some more on my poem. I'm still not sure it's quite right, but I'm going to share it with you anyway. What inspired it was this fantastic list of verbs that my friend Belinda posted on her wonderful blog Nordicblogger http://nordicblogger.blogspot.com/2010/02/verbs.html and the famous quote by Anton Chekov, "Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." I started thinking about what kind of person might be in that setting, which got me wondering about homelessness. And not just homelessness, but what it must feel like to be young and female and homeless for the first time. Maybe she fled an abusive relationship. Maybe she's a stranger in a strange town who just lost everything. I don't know her situation, but I know she spoke to me. And this was the result.


First Night

Wide-eyed,
She gapes up at the evening sky
Insidious clouds push their way toward the moon.
Enclosing it.
Jostling it around like some street gang
Bent on teaching it a lesson.

The moon grapples,
To wriggle free of their sticky fingers,
Hold its position
Fill its lungs with one last deep breath
The frenzied vapors nip at it, then swallow it whole.
Tiny stars gasp and shrink into themselves,
Taking cover,
Lest they, too, be consumed.

Blackness now.
No light above to guide her.
The cold metal bench at her back
Bites through the layers that hide her shape
Keep her safe
Ears trained to every inch of the night

The shatter of glass against pavement startles
Another empty bites the dust.
Her heart flutters against her rib cage
The rusty tang of fear upon her tongue
She knows there are others out here like her
Not like her
Shapes in the dark
Shuffling by

She will not become accustomed
To the sounds of the night
To the abandoned heavens
To the park bench
She will not learn their names,
These reticent ghosts
Faceless by night, faceless by day.
This is her temporary home.

~ Christiana

Kitty Cat With Copics

Happy Monday, all! How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun? We were supposed to have Dominic's birthday party on Saturday afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese, but another bout of the stomach flu hit, and we had to postpone it until next week. It's such a fun place to go, but man, is it always packed in there! It's probably a little better on a weekday, but that's always hard to arrange with everyone's schedules. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

Yesterday I just didn't seem to be in the mood to do anything! My high fever and upset tummy had put me in a strange mood. I didn't feel like getting online, I didn't feel like crafting, I didn't even feel like reading, which is VERY unlike me. Then I looked at my little pile of Copics smiling up at me so sweetly, and I thought coloring seemed like a soothing thing to do. So I printed off a few of those digi stamps I've been talking about and spent a quiet couple of hours coloring them in for future use on cards.

I started with that cute little kitty from the Motivet blog.


I colored him in with C3 (cool gray #3) and since I don't have any other grays, I just went back over it again to make parts darker and give contrast. Then I scrubbed lightly over it with my colorless blender to give the fur some texture. I did the same thing with RV11 (pink) on the ears, and did overlapping E57 (light walnut), on the clumps of dirt. Then I used G05 (emerald green) and YG03 (yellow green) on the flower stem and leaves, and R22 (light prawn), R27 (cadmium red), and R59 (cardinal) on the petals.

Today, my fever is down, and despite the loud rumbles eminating from my abdominal region, I felt well enough to use the little kitty on a card.



I chose some chocolate brown cardstock for my base and used two contrasting but complimentary patterned papers from the In Bloom collection from My Mind's Eye (love their papers). I decided to give everything soft rounded edges to emphasize kitty's soft fur, and centered him over top.


I did a little faux stitching in a white Signo Broad gel pen around the edge on the brown so it wouldn't look so plain, and wrote "for you" in the bottom corner in pencil, then went over it with the Signo.

It needed another pop of color, so I got out those felt button flowers I picked up a while ago (and have used on a previous card) and layered those for some added dimention. I glued those on with Tombow Mono Multi Glue.

Then I went back and carefully erased the pencil lines. I had some ribbon I was going to use as well, but I couldn't find a place to put it without it looking too busy, so I decided just to leave it off.


And that's it for today. If you decide to print off the little kitty and make something with him, please post a link in the comments section. I'd love to see it.

Hope you all have a great evening!

Free Digi Stamp ~ Cat With Flower

Okay, so I chickened out about the poem. I just didn't feel like I was quite ready for that. It still needs a little tweaking on one or two lines, and though I worked on it for a couple hours today, the "just right" words eluded me. So maybe next week.

I did find something cool to share with you all though. Since I was talking about digital stamps yesterday, I thought I'd try and locate a freebie for you in case you wanted to try it for yourself before you pay for something and then perhaps decide that you don't like it after all.

I came across a blog called Motivet, and she was offering a free digi stamp to share as long as you linked your readers back to her blog. Pretty generous, no? And it's a really sweet image. See?

http://motivet.com/blog/?p=1724


This version is colored, obviously, so you can see what it would look like, but if you follow the link back to her page you can click on the black and white image to open it, then right click and save it to your computer. Try it and see how you like it. Then post a link to your blog in the comments section here so we can all see how you used it.

You can color it with anything you like, from Copics, to colored pencils, to watercolors, to crayons. Use it in a card, on a scrapbooking page, on a gift tag, anything. Once it's saved to your computer you should be able to resize it to your liking and print it out on your paper of choice.

I did learn a tip today at SplitCoast Stampers about avoiding ink smearage. They recommended that you heat set the image with an embossing tool (a blow dryer would probably work as well) to ensure that it's completely dry before coloring. I'll have to try that myself next time.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! Have a great weekend, everybody!

Heard You Were Under The Weather Card

In my Thursday night writers group, there is a lovely woman named Alice. Alice is, let us say, of a "mature" age, and quite the spitfire. Her eyes sparkle and dance with merriment and her smile twitches as she more often than not brings the comic relief. To say it simply, Alice rocks my world. The group just wouldn't be the same without her.

Unfortunately, Alice also has a number of health problems, and is currently recouperating from one of these at a local hospital. I decided to make her a Get Well card and bring it to the meeting tonight so that we can all sign it and send her our best wishes.

I didn't have a stamp that seemed quite right though, so I decided to take the plunge and try out one of those digital stamps, or digi stamps as they're often called. Have you ever tried them? Basically, it's just an image that you purchase for a one time low fee, download it to your computer, and you can print it out on cardstock as often as you like. The one I bought cost $3 from AllThatScraps.com, called Sugarplum's Rainy Day Emma. You can find it here: http://www.allthatscraps.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=899_1130&products_id=11459&zenid=d904f640f93a43c3c62c4267f55082a5 The image comes in a zip file, which you can open just by clicking on the image, then clicking "open". Pretty self explanitory. I do recommend saving two copies -- an original and one to play around with sizes on. All in all, I was very pleased with how easy it was to use. And it came out pretty nice. See for yourself.


Not bad, huh? I printed it out on Georgia Pacific (Walmart brand) cardstock and colored it with my Copic markers. I was concerned about the printer ink bleeding, and it did a little. You can see it on her forhead between the part in her bangs, and also on the lapel of her jacket. That was the only two places though, so I'm not sure if it was just because the ink wasn't quite dry or because the paper was too saturated from the markers or what. If anyone has any tips on not smearing, I'd love to hear them. Maybe next time I'll let the ink dry for a half hour or so before coloring and see how that goes.

Okay, so for supplies, I used: notecard and envelope from Craft Essentials, patterned paper by My Mind's Eye, which I punched with my Fiskars threading water border punch. Digi stamp from All That Scraps, Copic makers, and ribbon by American Crafts. The sentiment, I actually just typed and printed out on the scrap cardstock using Microsoft Works... I can't remember the font I used, but I can find out if anyone wants to know. It's not straight intentionally. For some reason I thought that cutting it sort of squiggly would add dimention, but I'm not really sure that it worked all that well.


Notice the flowers in her pocket? I actually just drew those free hand. I wanted to add a pop of color on her raincoat and thought about paper piecing the pocket, but decided to do this instead. Knowing that the Copics would smear with my ink pen, I drew the flower petals with the edge of the brush tip first, then outlined them with my Pilot Precise pen. Smart thinking, eh? I was quite proud of myself. Then I just cut them out and attached with a mini glue dot.

Copics used are as follows:
skin - E00 (skin white) and R02 (flesh)
hair - E33 (sand) and E57 (light walnut)
jacket - Y11 (light yellow) and Y15 (cadmium yellow
pants - B21 (baby blue) and B06 (peacock blue)
boots - RV11 (pink), R22 (light prawn), R27 (cadmium red)
umbrella - BV00 (mauve shadow) and BV08 (blue violet)
grass - YG03 (yellow green), G24 (willow), and G05 (emerald green)
sky - BG10 (cool shadow)


So right now I'd rate the digi stamp performance at a 9. I love that I can use it over and over with just the click of a button, there's no cleanup, and no storage space taken up. The only negative was that little bit of smearing, but hopefully I can figure out why that was and find a way to avoid that next time.

Thinking of sharing a poem tomorrow. Not sure that I'm ready to expose myself like that, but we'll see. Hope you all have a fantastic evening!

Kitty Cat Cupcakes

Ah, such a bittersweet day. My beautiful little baby turned FIVE today. I guess I can't really call him my little baby any more, can I? *sniffle* It's just unbelievable to me that so much time has passed. It seems like just yesterday I was wearing him tied against my chest, where I could sniff his downy head and smell his sweet newborn smell all day long. Can any of you mommies out there relate? Tell me, how do you get through it? While part of me applauds his every success, the other part of me wants to whip out my superwoman suit and fly backwards around the earth until time is reversed. My other two boys are already so independant, I can't imagine what I'm going to do the first time he tells me that he doesn't need my help anymore. *Sigh* Like I said, it was a bittersweet day.

But sniffles and tears aside, we had a fun time together. Dominic needed to bring in a birthday snack for Preschool, so I decided to make cupcakes and decorate them like his favorite animal. Take a look.


Meow, meow! I just baked a classic yellow cake recipe, and frosted them with a cream cheese frosting, since that's his favorite flavor. I used gummi grapefruit slices for the ears, bubblegum flavored jelly bellies for the nose, mini marshmellows cut in half for the upper lips, m&ms for the eyes, and black licorice laces for the whiskers.


And here's my beautiful birthday boy! Gah, his smile just kills me. That's my little lovey. Like his birthday hat? He got that at school today and didn't want to take it off. Too cute.


Man, I don't know about you, but I'm beat! I think I'm going to go catch the rest of American Idol and then hit the hay. I'm totally rooting for Casey, Alex, and Andrew of the boys, and Didi and Crystal of the girls this season. Are you guys watching? Who are your favorites?

Altered Mini Composition Notebook

Hello, everybody! I promised you girlies a brand-new (to me) craft today, and I have to say, I'm so pleased with how it turned out! In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I decided to make this a how-to post, rather than my typical show-and-tell.

I don't know about your little ones, but my kids love to have their own little notebooks. After trying a few of the different styles out there, I came to the conclusion that I like the mini composition notebooks best, for several reasons.
1. They're pocket sized, perfect for little hands to hold.
2. They're lined, and the lines aren't too close together so they're ideal for practicing letters, names, or short words.
3. The pages are bound nice and tight so they aren't always coming loose.
4. They're light and take up a minimal amount of space in my purse (and this is key, since God knows I carry WAY too much stuff in that thing!)

The problem with mini composition notebooks is that they pretty much only come in black and white, or if you're lucky, a colored print. Because of this, it can be hard to keep track of whose is whose (or is it who's is who's? I can never remember). In the past, I've given my kids stickers to decorate them, but stickers can sometimes peel off and they still don't look all that great.

Well, we're going to change all that today. Are you ready? Here we go. Start off by cutting down two sheets of designer paper to the size of your mini composition notebook. This should be the thicker stuff, not the thin, copier paper weight patterned paper. In this case, I used one of those 4X6 stacks of patterned cardstock, and it was the perfect size. I cut it right down the middle and it was pretty much an exact fit for both sides. Adhere with your favorite permanant adhesive (I used tape runner glue), and don't be bashful about it. You want this thing to really stick. Line it up as best you can, sticking over the corners just a wee bit.


Yes, I did say wee. I'm apparently channeling my Irish ancestors today. Must have been that Shamrock shake my lovely hubby bought me yesterday after I not-so-subtly hinted.

Notice that I lined up the paper to the outside edge. The paper does not have to cover the black binding. We'll cover that up later. For now, open the cover of your notebook and use the inside edge as a guide to trim down any excess paper. Then lightly sand the edges in a downward motion using a fine grit sandpaper. Make sure you are going down toward the notebook. If you sand upward toward yourself, you will peel the paper back up. As to where to get the sandpaper, just raid your hubby's tool box if he's got some, or you can pick up one of these sanding sponges at Walmart for around $2.50.


Next, attach your ribbon. I picked up this bright orange polkadot ribbon at JoAnn's yesterday for $1. And the best part? It's self adhesive! Isn't that cool? The things people come up with these days... Anyway, if you don't have any self-adhesive ribbon, not to worry. You can use any double-sided tape or tacky tape. Just get your tape down in a straight line, then smooth your ribbon over it.

I forgot to take a photo for the next stage, but you want to cut another piece of coordinating cardstock down to the height of your notebook, and then about two inches or so wide. You can see mine laying over to the side there. Train the cardstock over the binding so that it's even on the front and back, then apply lots more adhesive and attach. Once again, I lined the front up first, then just folded the rest back. That way, even if you didn't cut your cardstock perfectly straight, that part will be on the back and won't show anyhow. Trim if needed, and lightly sand top and bottom.


And now, the best part! Embellish to your little heart's desire! Since this particular notebook is going to be a birthday present for my son Dominic, who turns five tomorrow, I stamped this cute little chihuahua (He loves chihuahuas. And Siamese cats. It's unbelieveable that he's my child. I kid!) and colored it with my sweets (i.e. Copic markers), added a snippet of patterned paper behind for a more finished look, and viola! I seem to love saying viola! (it's impossible to type without the exclamation point), don't I? I guess it reminds me of my great-grandmother Vera, which isn't really like Viola, but they both start with v...


For a final touch, I broke out those alphabet stickers I picked up last week or so from K&Company and added a capital D for Dominic. And then I sat back on my heels (I currently use my floor for a workspace, it's great on the back, lemme tell ya) and clapped my hands with glee because I was so proud of myself for figuring out how to do this. It turned out pretty darn cute, if you ask me!


So there's my craft for today. I hope I've got you all feeling inspired and ready to race away to your craft supplies! Before you go, I just want to give fair warning that I'm baking cupcakes for tomorrow. So come back with a full tummy, or bring some napkins along. Drool isn't good for keyboards, you know. ;o)