PrettyPink(Preoccupied)Puck

For those of you who don't know, my screenname is PrettyPinkPuck - I love pink, and i LOOOOOVE hockey. Well, now that I've had to explain myself, it doesn't seem like such a cutesie title...

Ok, here's the deal - I am SO ridiculously preoccupied with my upcoming vaca to Jamaica ~shopping, making lists, hair and nails, and relieving myself of my too-big derriere~ I haven't taken a pic of anything! I've done a few cute last minute things for my son's graduation tomorrow. I can't believe my baby is going to be a first-grader! (OMG! That is for bethy's boo-hoo blog on MySpace, though!) I even bought a true color, HD light - think Ott-lite - for said photos. Sheesh. So this is my solemn promise to get somethin' decent up this weekend!

AMENDMENT: I lost my flippin' camera! I think I left it at a birthday party my kiddo went to on Saturday... odds on it being there when I call in the am? Any takers? Geez Louise.

Busy Little Bethy... and her Marker Mayhem.

Wow, have I been on a bender... Despite my vehement refusal to do so, I have dabbled in the art markers waters... I am still not entirely convinced they are worth the extra $$$, and I do so enjoy the vibrance of my SU markers... I'll let you know when I get down to my final conclusion!! In the meantime, I have been practicing - and I DO mean practicing (these are not easy peasy coloring media, that's for ding-darn sure!) with the Prismacolors. I settled on those 'cuz I can get them at Mike's with those weekly 40% coupons! Y'all down south could probably get Copics at Hobby Lobby - I saw that they are a retailer for them. I plan on buying a few pink shades of Copics to play with. My own version of Stampin' Consumer Reports. I will say that for the record - I love my SU markers, and for bright colors and eclectic projects - that's what I will always go back to. Those are great markers!

Anyhoo... here are a couple of the images I have played with, and finally sat down and put onto cards... For a beginner, I'm pretty happy.

I like these two - they are from the Sketches sets by Stampin' Up. Even uncolored, the images are so nice. I use these all the time. The soft shading works well on these - I usually watercolor them. Honestly, that is easier! JMHO!

I'll post a few more tomorrow. Time for beddy-bye. I am off to dream of Montego Bay... 22 days to Jamaica... Ya, MON!

Update: I think it is a tie with the Copics and Prismas... But 1st place is SU's Many Marvelous Markers... Love the vibrancy, and versatility!

Quick Hit Tutorial... for when it is OK to scratch

For the Scratch 'n Sniff card, I cannot take credit. There was an article in Stampin' Success a while back, and this thread has also been posted on SCS. For the record - I like the KoolAid ones the best! Don't forget to use Sugar Free drink mixes, or you'll have a mess on your hands! Oh, yeahhhh ~ remember those commercials? The good old days!

This month's stamp club projects...

These are the projects that I came up with for Stamp Club this month...  But before we move along, this disclaimer...  these cards will have the Linen background, and look oh-so-much-hotter.  I decided that just now...  indulge me.    :)

First up... the "Slice of Citrus Sunshine" card...   All art needs a name, no?  Et voila~

I am totally into the scratch-n-sniff cards, but I didn't want to have too many steps for the Club ladies.  SOOO, when I make this card for my own use, it smells like - are you ready? - oranges.   So cool.       Anyhoo, I used Tart & Tangy  and the Summer Picnic DSP  from the Occasions mini! (extended until May 31st!!) and Enjoy Every Moment from the Spring/Summer '08 catalog.  Additionally, I used Real Red & Pumpkin Pie CS and classic inks, and the So Saffron marker on the orange slice, the slot punch and wide red grosgrain ribbon.  The word window punch shows the sentiment, if you look reaaaaally closely.   (NO, Vamp, I have not gotten an Ott yet! lol)

 

Project #2 is the "One of a Western Kind Sky Star" card... yes, Western Sky DSP, One of a Kind stamp set, and a chipboard star.   You are impressed with the original titling tonight, aren't you?  :)   I used Bayou Blue for the base and ink impressions, and the Boho Blossoms punch to make the flowers that are layered onto the star.  I also used the Designer Tag punch and layered a 1 3/8" circle I punched from the same paper I covered the star with.   The ribbon is River Rock double-stitched, and the white gel pen dotted around the edges.  Again - remember this has a background stamp on it! :)  Maybe I'd even used Sanded - I love that one!!

 

You must know by now that I love simple.  I am learning (sloooowly) to NOT be the Queen of TooMuch.  I was the Monarch there for-evah!!  I do, however, constantly find myself wondering what Vamp's take on it would be.  She is so good at dressing cards up.  She's  just SOGOOD!

Gotta run for now - Spawn needs to retire for the evening.  And it is te night of nights: Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy and LOST.  OMG - my head might explode from giddiness... :)

It worked!

I actually scheduled that post - how lovely!  *sigh*  Yes, I was having a frustration moment...  What is really crazy is that my drawers are all labeled, and everything has it's place...  "everything" just doesn't always get there! Oh, yeah, did I mention that said 'hard-rockin' 6-year old has been "making (me) Mother's Day cards" for about 3 weeks now...  That never helps, but it is so sweet, I can overlook!

 

Onward and upward!  I whipped up these little cuties for my boy's wonderful teachers for Teachers' Week last week.  (Now, if I could just get him to pull them out of his backpack and give them to the teachers...)  My love for little cards is well documented...  I like these ones a lot:  

Just pretend my photo doesn't stink!  :)  I love playing with the Elementary Essentials set - I've done a lot of cute things with it!  Unfortunately, I tend to send them out without taking pictures first! The card base is Kraft CS, and the rest is pretty basic and self explanatory, as norm.     If you can't tell, I cut out a portion of the scissor blade to make it look like the sentiment was being cut.  I had a wild hair, what can I say.  And the lines are colored like elementary school, learning-to-write paper (remember that stuff?) with the red baseline, light blue center and darker blue top line.  Like I said - wild hair.                   (Gee whiz, I really need to start taking these pictures in better light.  So much for being a past student of Photography... )  Being impatient and tired, I wrote out Happy Teacher's Week, which would be infinitely cuter in Peyton's handwriting or stamped, but it was pushing midnight and that just wasn't happenin'! 

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Top Secret update... I am almost done!  I like to live on the edge...  I'll share soon! 

Project #2 ..... *insert drum roll here*

Yup. You know what they say about creative geniuses... I am no exception. I don't mean to toot my own horn here, gals, but I am the premiere, A #1, Top Dawg of Disorganization. No one does it better than I do. I know what some of you are thinking, 'But, Beth, you haven't seen MY stampin' space'... mayhabs not, but I challenge any one of you to have a harder time finding a Dimensional or glue dot than I do. And that wretched Basic Black ink pad! Nope. I stand by my assertation - I am the high priestess of crafting mess. And let's talk about stamps... Surely you cannot top that debacle ------>


By the time I find the set I had in mind... my project idea has left my mind behind. (Did I mention I am a classically trained poet? Good - cuz I'm not!) Those beauties are stacked two deep - with some falling down behind for added spice. Yes, it truly is a work of creative genius - by the HPOCM. Moving right along - how about this jaw-dropping display of my royalty:















Yes, somewhere in there, I actually sit and stamp. Truly - this picture (taken last week) looks pretty disappointing. I have gussied this workspace up marvelously since then. Trust me, you would be awed. I tell no tales.


In closing, NO, I will not "float my own boat" about my awesome-ness, nor brag about my achievements. Just bow down to me...

Didja Miss Me?

Wow, I have been a very baaaad little blogger lately.  I have been working on a huge project, which I began planning LAST YEAR, and just started last month...  *sigh*    But, since it is still Top Secret, I'll have to make you wait for deets.  Sorry!  Can't risk it, kids, waaaay too much work went into it!       That said, I really need to figure out this plan-ahead posting I keep hearing about...

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ANYhoo... I have managed to squeeze in a couple of small projects, and have just now sat down with the pics to post, so let's stroll down Memory Lane for the last few weeks of Beth's StampInsanity...

 

Project #1: Peyton's marble jar.    I got tired of the 'stickers as rewards' thing for my hard-rockin' baby boy.  (OK, he's 6, but I digress.)  So, I made a jar - he earns marbles in lieu of stickers and then he can exchange them for rewards when he saves up enough.  It works smashingly, but what is really important here is the JAR!  I picked it up at the craft store and dressed it up (very quickly, I might add) with SU's chipboard star and heart (ON SALE in May, kids!).  I used the Cherise DSP, and the Wide and Gingham grosgrain ribbons.  On the lid, I used the Large and Small Star punches to create the 'cutout' star, and the remnants of the two ribbons I had leftover.  I glued a thumbtack through the ribbon to use as a handle.   Simple, cute, and so much more attractive in my kitchen than a sticker chart!

Now, I DO have more to share, but I'll have to make you wait for it... I have a "starving" spawn to feed, and DumDum here staring at me like she is also starving:

 

Happy Stampin', Friends!  It feels great to be bloggin' again!

 

See you soon...

 

~Beth