FINALLY feeling better

Hopefully, I'll get some time to update this blog soon!!! I'm still working at the kids' school, at least for another week. Then, it's SPRING BREAK!!! I hope to update this BEFORE then but definitely BY then!!! Of course, my parents are coming into town that week so, we'll see.......

Too sick to post

Eventually, I'll get over this crud & get caught up.

I have stuff to share

But I've been so busy. I'm volunteering at the kids school while the lunch lady is recuperating from shoulder surgery. I could be here another 3 weeks! Hoping they decide to keep me in some capacity when she comes back. Or at least keep me in mind if something opens next year!!!

Bling it on!

I think this might be my favorite swap of all time!! Not a HUGE fan of stickles but, Angie's hosting a bling ATC swap. I've had this stamp FOREVER & it's never seen ink. I think it turned out fabulous!!!

Sorry about the out of focus pics. I don't know what I did to my camera 'cause it usually takes good pics of my "art". Hopefully, the next set will look a little bit better!

Stampin' Sistahs

For Angie's All Things Stamping Swap. I love these stamps. And I love them paper pieced. Trying to use more stash paper....

Sweet Little Bunny

For Angie's Flopsey Bunny Swap. I didn't have flopsey so Angie opened it to ANY bunny. I thought this little one looked soooo sweet. Plus, I was able to use up more of my Chatterbox PP stash! Tying the ribbons was alot of work!!

Manly ATCs

For Christie's Manly ATC swap. This swap was a pain in my patoot! I knew I wanted to use these TH stamps but I had a hard time getting everything where I wanted it & how I wanted it. I embossed the "flourish" thing w/distressed embossing powder. I've had this stuff for a while & never use it as I'm not sure how it's supposed to look. I hope when people get their ATCs they won't say "hey! Suzi embossing skills suck!" Maybe I should have added a note that the powder is supposed to be rough & flaky??? The truck was another disaster. I embossed it w/versamark & clear powder & liked the way it looked on SU's close to cocoa paper. So, I stamped 10-12 images & cut them all out. Then, I realized I stamped them on Creamy Carmel. It didn't look right. I tried everything to make them work but, in the end, restamped & recut w/the Close to Cocoa. Who wants 10 truck images in creamy carmel????

Alcohol Pumpkin

Remember the Alcohol ink disaster from a couple days ago? Well, I added some more color to the pumpkin & decided that he as ok to use. I made my ATCs but now the pumpkins (cut from soda cans) won't uncurl. I've done EVERYTHING to them to keep them flat. I'm hoping & praying everyone who gets these ATCs will keep them in baseball sleeves so the pumpkin stays a little flatter....

January Christmas Cards

This card is a direct case of this card from Mish Mash's Blog. I have discovered that, unless the Christmas card has pink, I don't like it. I love her's, don't think mine turned out as good. I need more sentiment stamps. I've always avoided them 'cause I can type anything I want & print it on the card. But, times like these, I realize I NEED those stamps!

I'll never be an alcoholic....

Alcohol INKS that is. I just can't seem to get the hang of them. I've have spent so much $$$ on the inks, the tools, the accessories and just can't get the look I think it should have. The background is what I tried at Christmas. It wasn't working & I chalked it up to the wrong paper. But, then I tried on metal (where AI are SUPPOSED to work) and still couldn't get the look I wanted. I'm not giving up. Yet......

A Tree Grows HERE!

I think this may be my favorites ATC of the last several months. And, I joined on a whim 'cause Margo was having problems filling this swap. It's an Old/New Swap. We're supposed to combine something new w/something we've had a while. This is VERY OLD paper I bought during my Chatterbox Obsession! I have sheets & sheets of CB paper & never seem to use it on anything. The stamp set is a brand new one that Scott ordered for me for Christmas. Love how it turned out!

Queen for a day?

For Kristy's Kings & Queens and Prince & Princess swap. I knew I didn't have any stamps of anything wearing a crown but I knew I had a crown stamp. I love the way this ATC turned out. But, I did find I did have a frog wearing a crown stamp. I still like this image!!!

Paris Anyone?

For Kristy's Places ATC Swap. I SWEAR I will never stamp on transparencies again! This was such a pain but I loved how it turned out. I think it was the combination of new Stazon pad, clear stamps and the detail of the stamp that made this such a problem. I had to make something like 30 tries to get 10 decent images.

Are Owls Really "Out"?

Another Shuggy Swap.

Button Tree

Button, button, who's got the button. Well, Angie/Shuggy decided that we ALL had too many buttons and hosted a button ATC swap. I have TONS of buttons but only 2 packs of what I think are "cute" buttons. These are old Chatterbox Buttons so I used them with old Chatterbox Paper (I have TONS of that stuff--still love it but don't get much opportunity to use it!). I stole the idea from a random blogger (don't remember who) but didn't have a tree stamp. So, I thought how hard can it be to DRAW a tree. Pretty hard. Hope everyone can stand my bad drawing. LOL