Fun times in Georgia

Mama has 2 friends that stamp with her. Pictured here is Beth on the left and Norma on the right. Even though I live far, far away, I am their demonstrator! They take turns being hostess, and I mail their projects to them. I have never demonstrated in person for them, so we scheduled an all-day stampathon. (It was like a Stampin' Up! Regional event except not as much talent on display from the demonstrator!)
For the workshop part of it, they made the Inspired by Nature bleach card, the Lovely as a Tree moonlighting bookmark card and Lauren Meader's tote bags. Then I demonstrated a ton of techniques for them. Here's a partial list: dry embossing, faux dry embossing, rick rack, dazzling diamond dust, folding using punches, watercolor banded brayer, emerging color, wax paper resist, baby wipe, shadow embossing, magic pastels, emboss resist. I think that's most of them; I may have missed one or two. Norma and Beth took notes, although one of Norma's notes said, "Ask Beth!" Mama decided to rely on her great memory as well as Beth and Norma's notes.

Mama didn't want to be in the picture, but Beth tricked her into coming over to look at something. Because I didn't use the flash, she didn't even know that I took the picture until we all started laughing.

Mama and Beth are wearing cute buttons I ordered from Lorien that say "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eyelet." I just love that saying, and I actually did lose an eyelet that afternoon so we all had a good laugh over that!
Here is Daniel playing ship captain at the Georgia Aquarium.

This was a HUGE tank filled with all kinds of fish and a couple of kinds of sharks. In this picture, you can see the shark at the top. Daniel and Jessica are at the bottom to give you some perspective on the shark's size.

I had a great time in Georgia, but I am happy to be back home too. I actually got to stamp yesterday! I'll post that card on Monday. Now I'm getting ready for a 3-week trip to Florida for work. I know, I know, it's a rough job! But I have to get a lot of stamping done so I'll have stuff to post for you while I'm gone!

I also had about 250 blog posts to look at on Google Reader. Yikes! I'm still not quite caught up, so if you're in my blogroll, don't give up on me. I hope to finish getting to everyone's blog today.

Happy stamping!

Daniel's a graduate!

Last night, Daniel graduated from high school. Whoohoo!! There were 315 graduates in his class.
Mark, Daniel and me
Grandma Shirley, Daniel and Grandpa Larry (Mark's parents)
Granny Pat and Daniel (my mom)

Prom!

Daniel went to prom last night with his friend Riley. She was in the group he went to Europe with last summer.

Here they are looking at photos from their European trip. It was fun to listen to them sharing stories. Our cat, Birkie, loved Riley and kept crawling under her dress! (It was a great place for him to hide.)

Daniel's home!!

Daniel made it home safely! He does look taller, and he did get a pink beret! LOL (It's a souvenir for Danielle.) I took a picture of him wearing it at the airport. I'll post it later. I'm uploading his 250 pictures right now. This picture was from Carl, the delegation leader. He said their tour guide said this was one of the nicest groups he'd ever had!

And here's Daniel in the pink beret! He got pictures of lots of people on the trip wearing it, including the bus driver. He also took a picture of his friend, Earl, wearing it after we got home today.

Simple but Pretty

How often do I ever make a no-layer card? Never! But I recently did a trade with Lori Bohler, a demo in Crookston, and she sent me a gorgeous yet simple thank you card. Thanks, Lori! Her card used Delight in Life from the last SAB, and it was Rose Red. I decided to use a current set and some shade of purple. (I went way out on a limb with that color choice! LOL) I'm so happy that Bud Basics and its matching jumbo wheel made the new catty! Using the jumbo wheel and the stamps to fill in makes covering a large area so easy. The next time I make this card, I think I'll stamp the sentiment first and then stamp around it. I might also use a darker color for the outline and sentiment, using a 2 step color combo from the color wheel.

Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Bud Basics, Hugs & Wishes; Paper: Naturals White; Ink: Lavender Lace

Another parent posted that her daughter called today. It hit 100 degrees in Salzburg today, and their hotel has no air conditioning. Ick!

I spent the afternoon getting the stuff ready for Mama's workshop, so I can get it in the mail. (She lives in Georgia. Hi, Mama!) My group here is meeting on Monday, so I have to prepare for that too. Guess that means I should decide what that last project is going to be!

By the way, if you have any questions or suggestions on what you'd like to see here, feel free to e-mail me or comment!

Daniel called!

Daniel finally called this morning a little after 6:00. I had posted on our parents forum that I hadn't heard from him, and he said one of the girls told him to call me! He said he was going to call anyway, but I only have his word for that... He said the castle was the highlight so far; it was as good as explosions. I thought at first he was saying there were explosions, so I'm glad I got that straightened out! They weren't able to do the homestays, so they are at a guesthouse instead. It's apparently like a mansion with a soccer field and game room. One of the other parents posted that there will be a dance tonight. I guess I'm not too surprised that Daniel didn't mention that!
My cable is out since the windstorm on Tuesday, so I should definitely get some stamping done tonight! I started one card, but it needs some tweaking to make it just right. I'll do my best to post something tonight.

Daniel Update

Well, I still haven't heard from that dang son of mine! Several other parents have had a phone call, and one had an e-mail too. Yesterday, they were in Florence and saw Michelangelo's David. Then they drove to Venice and swam in the Adriatic Sea. Today was spent in Venice. I can track him by his debit card use now. He ate at a Chef Express and took out cash at an ATM. There are no secrets in this technological age! LOL!

It's Not Perfect...

I never could get a clear picture of this card, so this will have to do. The ladybug's wings are the dotted petal from Pick A Petal. I tried using craft ink on black cardstock, but it was too dark. So I used craft ink on white cardstock, embossed with clear EP, and sponged black ink over the whole thing. The card seems a little too plain to me. It needs something, but I'm not sure what it is. Your suggestions are welcome!

Supplies (all SU except Sharpie): Stamps: Pick A Petal, Warm Words; Ink: Ruby Red craft, Basic Black, Wild Wasabi; Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Soft Sky, Certainly Celery; Accessories: ultra fine black Sharpie, 3/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches

Still no word from Daniel. They went to the Vatican yesterday, and they were supposed to travel to Pisa today.

The Latest from Europe

The delegation leader for Daniel's trip has called the mom in charge of the phone tree every day so far. I hope that continues! We have a forum set up where we can post when we hear from them. On Monday, they went to the Forum and the Colosseum. Yesterday, they went to the catacombs then had a treasure hunt that took them all over Rome. Doesn't that sound fantastic??? Today, they are going to the Vatican. I'll post whenever I hear more.
I promise I will make some cards today, and I'll do my best to post one before the end of the day.

Daniel's gone... (sob!)

I drove Daniel to Minneapolis today. He is gone to Europe for 20 days as a People to People Student Ambassador. I only teared up twice before he left.
Now, it's just me with Birkie, my devil cat, and Lady, my blind Labrador retriever. That sounds so pitiful, doesn't it?
Whenever I pack a suitcase, Birkie knows something is up, and he doesn't like it! So he decided to get on top of Daniel's suitcase to keep him from leaving. I also took a picture of Daniel in his official PTP shirt. He refused to smile because he said ambassadors don't smile.

Okay, now back to stamping! The centerpiece of this card was inspired by Lisa Somerville. (Her blog link is over on the right.) It's the square from Baroque Motifs. I inked it with Wild Wasabi and then kissed it twice to the swirl from Baroque Motifs (uninked). This pulled some of the ink off, making the stamped image look aged.

Supplies (All SU): Stamps: Baroque Motifs; Paper: Whisper White, River Rock, Wild Wasabi; Ink: Wild Wasabi; Accessories: Ice Circle Rhinestone Brads