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Welcome Blog Hoppers!  Hope you made it here safely from Debby's Blog with your hands and arms inside the train and hats and glasses intact (old Disney joke there.)  Hopefully you are here for the September Club Scrap Blog Hop.  You can check out all the great crafts and fun goings on at the Club Scrap Creates Blog

The kit this month featured some wonderful paper and stamps.  I didn't want to cut into that paper quite yet though and I haven't cut or mounted my stamps.  I know, I know.  Where does the time go???  But also this month they sent us a little embossing folder with birds on a wire on it.  I have a couple of these and I have had and I had no idea what to do with them.  Finally after a suggestion on the Community Boards at Club Scrap someone suggested I get one of these...

Michael's with coupon only about $16.  So I read the directions, kind of and used Tricia's idea from the Scrap Rap and I cut a piece of paper to match the size of the folder.

I then inked the folder with Adirondack "Name that Color" (CS needs a light blue ink-just saying...) and ended up with this...on my first try!

Since I already had in mind a bit what I wanted to do, I inked the folder most of the way down to create a "sky."  Next I tore a piece of the green Take Wing HPOP paper to make a grassy bottom to the panel.  Make sure you tear a piece tall enough to go to the blue section (don't be like me and waste paper.)

So next try to find a house stamp (or trees or something that goes with sky and grass right?)  I love these ones from the In The Neighborhood special collection...

Stamp image (this is onto Tribal yellowish paper) and then color away.  Don't you love coloring?  It's a bit like therapy...so color it and then find something else to add to the card but forget to take a picture til you are done with the panel and waaaa laaaa...

Dang isn't that so cute?  It was a moment of pure genius when I changed the little sign from Home Sweet Home to Home "Tweet" Home!  So then I mounted the panel on the Take Wing Red and some Brown from Tribal and stuck it on a card and here ya go!

Here's a little up close of my birdies...

I felt pretty good for trying something new and getting a new little machine for not too much money.  Now to find more of those embossing folders...

Thanks so much for checking out my project this month.  The Take Wing kit is really one of my favorites in a long time, the quotes alone are worth the price of admission!  

So when you are ready--secure your loose items, take small children by the hand and head on over to Tiare's Blog.  Have a crafty day!

Wake Up Little Susie...

Ok I have no clue what my right adrenal gland's name should be but today in honor of her starting to perk up...we will call her Susie.  As in Wake up Little Susie...now the rest of you can sing this all day.  (You're welcome.)

Alrighty, welcome back for a long awaited (or not) health update.  Had a visit with the endocrinologist today after blood work on Tuesday of this week.  The good news is that my Cortisol level is approx. 4.  Normal is around 9-15 with some people topping out at higher (mine used to be 30+).  4 is much better than 0 which is what it was 2 months ago.  This means that my remaining adrenal gland is starting to "wake up". 

In the meantime though I have been actually feeling worse since decreasing my hydrocortisone two and a half weeks ago to 10mg (from 13).  Work, both physical and metal, drain me to the point of dizziness and confusion. She said it was probably a combination of too low of a dose of the hydro plus some pretty cruddy nutrition blood work feedback in other areas.  Low iron, low protein, low blood sugar-it is sort of a bad merry go-round because I feel bad so I don't eat, so I don't have enough good nutrition in my body and then I feel worse.   So...some more vitamins, possibly some supplements (including B12) and try to eat a little better or do some protein shakes (esp if I am trying to exercise.)  She added that some of the other "weird" symptoms I'm currently having, like sore feet and numb hands-could be vitamin deficiencies.  She is also keeping me on the prescription potassium.

So I'm upping my hydrocortisone for the next couple weeks, trying to eat a little more and a little more balanced.  My blood pressure is perfect and I am off of all of my blood pressure medication. 

I'm down 30+ pounds which is great but some areas are still acting stubborn-bra shopping today was like trying to wrangle two toddlers.  Why please are big bras so ugly?

Ok...back to topic.  Thanks everyone for the continued thoughts, prayers, messages, phone calls, cards etc.  I'm on my way to being a normal person again.  Well I don't think I was ever normal but I'm enjoying figuring out who I really am again! 

Light the Night-Tribal Style!

Howdy folks and welcome to the Club Scrap "Tribal" Blog Hop!  If you just left Debby's blog then you are in the right place.  If you popped on by from Facebook or my regular blog updates you are also in the right place.  If you just stumbled upon this post then you are late and you better head over to Club Scrap Creates to see a list of all of the bloggers participating today.

Now onto the good stuff.  I've been a member of Club Scrap in one way or another since 1999.  This month's kit is my favorite.  That's saying a lot huh?  I wanted to make something neat-o this month but I sort of ran out of time.  You know how it's one day before a deadline and you want to put ten hours into something and you only have 70 minutes?  Well that's what happened yesterday.

Luckily I had one of these from the March 2007 Rhapsody Club Stamp Kit-

Now I know what you are thinking, you are thinking..."but Janet I don't have one of those!!"  Luckily for you they are available online.  Google them.  Buy them in a 6 pack, make them for teacher's gifts!

So I decided I wanted to "Tribalize" my nightlight.  It was pretty easy.  I took it out of the package (duh) and then peeled off the paper that is on the front of the shade (carefully.)  Then trace the paper onto the piece you would like to use (this is Autumn Splendor Gold Translucent).  I recommend a translucent or text weight paper so the light can shine through more easily.  But "it's your own darn light."  You only need about 1/2 of a sheet of 8 1/2 by 11 paper (unless you trace badly and screw up-then you need the whole piece.)

Cut out your traced paper and then mark it-the directions I had said mark every 3/4" inch around the top and 1 3/8" around the bottom then connect the lines like this...

You might want to start in the middle so yours doesn't look a little wonky like mine does but really in the end it doesn't end up mattering so...next step...grab some stamps (I used the Tribal Unmounteds) and some black ink, if you used translucent paper I would advise something like the CS Black India ink.  Mask each section and start stamping.

I heat set each section before I moved to the next one.

AJ approves of my stamp choice.  When you are done you have something like this.

Now the directions say to cut 1/8" strips of paper to go between each section but I was tired and mis-read that and cut 1/4" strips from Tribal POPs instead.

Stick them on there (I used my tape gun, might have been better with glue but remember, I was in a hurry.)  Cut the ends off that hang past the paper then carefully wrap it back onto the front of the lamp.

Next grab another color of POPs and cut strips to wrap around the sides and top of the lamp.  It says 1/4" but that's not big enough (arg) so just cut them wider than the white part of the lamp.  (This isn't rocket science-you are decorating a pre-made light?)  The top one is a little tight, don't do like me.  You might want to wrap your strip gently around to train it.  I cut mine into pieces and stuck um down.  It's a little jacked up-but it's ok.

Finally grab some fiber of your choice-preferably something that has dangling things on the bottom and stick it to the bottom of the light with some glue lines.  Finally find a small dark bathroom and plug it in...

 

Wa-laaaaaaaaaaaa!  Pretty spiffy huh?  I like all the Tribal stuff so I have a feeling you'll be seeing a lot of Tribal stamps from me soon!

Thanks for stopping in and have fun on the rest of your blog hop today-next up is Tiare at iclassy girl.

Hopping through Wisteria aka Feeling Inadequate

Welcome blog hoppers to the Club Scrap July Wisteria Blog Hop (what a mouthful!)

So it's not a secret to many folks that I'm just not a flowery person.  I'm just not real into girly kinds of things.  So a floral themed kit was going to be a stretch for my creative side.  Give me a monster truck themed kit or maybe a hot dog themed kit and I'd be good to go.  But flowers?

I was feeling slightly inspired by a card I found on Pinterest that had a cut out side-of course now I can't find the card or the link so I can't show you what it's SUPPOSED to look like.  But here is how mine turned out...

It's not exactly a work of art but the process was easy so here we go...

Pick out three pieces of paper, 3 ea. 8 1/2 by 11 sheets are perfect. (Or one 8 1/2 x 11 and two smaller pieces of scraps is fine.)

This is DIY Light Brown and kind of a creamy white and that is the backside of a purple print from Tiny Treasures (oldies but goodies as usual.)

Fold the paper you want as your card base in half and then trim and layer the other two pieces something like this (where they all butt up against the right hand side where the card opens.)

Don't stick the front panel on yet, just make sure it is the size you would like.  Then start stamping.  This is some Wisteria UM stamps along with Colorbox Chalk Wisteria ink (and a brown marker for the stem/branch.)

It is at this stage that you might go through several drafts.  You might be a cruddy stamper and you are lucky you have about 10 sheets of the TT light purple cause you just can't get the stamping done right...but when you are slightly happy with the results then start kicking it up a bit.

I added some CS Mahogany ink with the stencil, what is that anyways, like a fence thing?  Whatever it is, add it on there with the branches sort of going into it?  Then some vines from the UM stamps with the CS Moss ink.  I still wasn't really happy with it so I got out the Vivid Lavender ink and did this...

Ah, getting better.  So next get your card base and stamp the inside right hand side of the card like this...

Then you stick everything down and you cut out along the right hand side through all three sheets of paper with some scissors so the vines show through to the front.

Ta-da!!

You know how sometimes when you make something it just still doesn't quite end up like the picture you saw?  That's how I felt when I was done.  We have some fantastic bloggers and crafters with us today and sometimes my work feels very inadequate.  But then I thought about how happy my grandmother (who is in the process of moving to an independent living apartment from her nice house) would be to get this card-then I felt better.

Sorry no cat helpers today ;)  Thanks again for stopping by.  The next stop on our Hop is with Tiare over at iclassygirl As always if you have started in the middle and want to start from the top feel free to stop by Club Scrap Creates for a list of all the Blog Hoppers today!  http://clubscrapcreates.blogspot.com

A Much Overdue Update

Sorry about the long time between posts.  I don't even really have a very good excuse.  Not too much has changed on the medical front.  I had a little adrenal crisis scare over the 4th and ended up in the ER.  I guess this isn't uncommon for patients like me but it still was very very UNFUN.  BP was about 63/42 when I first arrived down there.  The good news is that at that time I was temporarily taken off all my Blood Pressure medications (3) and then after a visit with the cardiologist about a week and a half ago I was able to come off all of them for good (we hope!)

I've been dropping some weight, both from having no appetite (normal) and the nausea (also normal but not fun.)  I'm pretty stable right now and hope to stay that way for the next few weeks as I am not going to make any adjustments to my medication until after I get back from the Club Scrap Retreat in mid-August.  I don't think I can handle a 15 hours driving trip (each way) if I was feeling cruddy like I was a few weeks ago.

In the meantime...Barry Manilow has been helping me price some jobs for work.

He's not really super helpful.  I think he may need glasses, he has to get right up to the drawings to see them.

I've been doing a little cooking but it's tough.  I cook nice things like this...

and this...

 

But then I don't feel much like eating them.

We had a great time at the annual Pirkle Christmas in July party hosted by Leslie's brother and wonderful sister-in-law.

It's been way too long since Leslie spent quality time with his brothers.

I guess that about wraps it up.  I'm missing my garden but as wet as it has been I think it would have been a complete disaster and I also know deep down that I could not have physically handled it.  I hope everyone is having a great summer and maybe we can get some dry weather down here for a few weeks!!

Saving a "Bundle"

Howdy Blog Hoppers-are you worn out from all your hopping so far?  Can I offer you a margarita? 

 Welcome to my post for the "Hopes" Blog Hop--

Hopefully most of you made it here from Debby's Blog or from the Club Scrap Creates Blog.  If you just happened upon my post I encourage you to go back and check out some of the highly creative work posted on the other blogs (that is so way better than my stuff-really!)

So I have a bit of a hard time with these blog hops because I have a secret...I'm a bundle-er.  I'm not even sure of the correct spelling of that word but in detail-I bundle my Club Scrap kits each month to save on shipping so I don't get the bulk of my items until AFTER the Blog Hop date has passed.  This is a wonderful option for people who might be cheapskates a little on the thrifty side.  It just means that to keep from cutting up my Senior kit papers I have to improvise a little for the Hop.  With that in mind here's what I came up with...

I have been LOVING the card cutting formulas in some of the Raps lately and this month's was a great use of 12 ea 8 1/2 x 11 papers to make 12 cards.  You can find the directions here (on pages 16 and 17.)  

So without my Hopes Stamp kit papers I decided to go back through my enormous stash of stuff and find a similar pack of paper to work with.  The Written Word Stamp paper seemed to fit the bill perfectly.  I find it easier if you pick paper with a similar composition as the paper in the directions.  For example this pack had one very dark color, one thin or text weight type paper etc.  

Since the directions mentioned that the text weight paper was a print I went ahead and made my own "prints" with the Written Word Vellum and the Hopes UM stamps.

The next step is to follow the directions and cut out all your papers.  I find it easiest to make a quick note listing which papers I used to substitute for the papers listed on the directions.  This just keeps me from getting confused and accidentally cutting the wrong paper the wrong way (because this has never happened to you right?)  So after cutting, scoring and folding you end up with all your pieces.

Next I like to lay out my pieces in the "cards" they are going to create.  This helps me visualize my finished product, make sure I use all my pieces and make sure I'm not left with a card and a matte that happen to be the same color as each other.  It helps to have someone look over your work...like AJ.

Once you have everything lined up you can get to stamping.  I think total time spent on all 12 cards was around 2 hours from paper selection to finished product.  Speaking of the finished product...

Notice how the carpet (freshly vacuumed by dbf) matches the cards so well!  Here is a close-up of a couple of the cards!

Written Word is one of my mom's favorite all time kits and she has already hinted at how much she LOVES the cards ;)  I love them too!  So grab some paper out of that stash and make up 12 cards of your own!

Thanks for stopping by-to see an entire list of bloggers participating this month please stop back by Club Scrap Creates.  Until next time...when we might discuss metal chickens, drug induced dreams or fresh vegetables...See ya!

Knock Knock-Barry Manilow calling

So I promised a great post about my new chicken rooster-and the week almost slipped away from me!  I'd like you all to meet...Barry Manilow the Rooster.

See it all started when someone forwarded me a link to this post in a blog.   (I'll warn you this blog contains some pretty ripe language.)  So for the last over year and a half I have been on the lookout for a giant metal chicken of my own.  Surprisingly they are expensive.  The larger ones are around $250+.  While my dream of chicken ownership was huge I just felt like that was too much money for a lawn/garden ornament.
Fast Forward to last Friday evening when my buddy Liz sent me this picture from HomeGoods...

2 feet of metal chicken goodness for only $39.99!!  I couldn't resist.  In fact I have since called 7 HomeGoods locations looking for one to give as a gift and they are all out.  It was chicken fate.  Luckily Liz was able to purchase this last remaining one and bring it by last weekend.

Knock Knock...

Since I'm not a huge Beyonce fan and I decided this was a boy chicken I decided to name him Barry Manilow.  Also since I don't have a garden for him to watch over this year I decided he belonged in my office, on my work table.  Everyone needs a metal chicken named Barry Manilow on their work table right?  I thought so.  You are all just jealous!

P.S. If the blog link above doesn't work you can check out my chicken inspiration here... http://thebloggess.com/2011/06/and-thats-why-you-should-learn-to-pick-your-battles/