Look out Lucy!

So, tomorrow I have a haircut appointment. And, I haven't been taking care of my hair color because it always totally fades out at the shore anyway. But, today I decided I'd better do it- the grey was WAY too obvious.

I don't remember why I bought a different brand than usual a couple weeks ago when I first thought "you'd better think about your hair" while shopping at the drug store. But, I did. Names shall remain anonymous, but I sure won't be taking any haircolor advice from a certain SATC star.

So, have you ever seen any of the publicity photos for "I Love Lucy"? Well, Lucy's hair is dull, dull, DULL compared to mine.

Out to the store I go, to get my usual brand and in a lighter shade than usual, to try to tone down the first effort. Did it work? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

Here's a Lucy pix that is ALMOST as red as mine- and kind of expresses how I am feeling about now.

The good news is that it is only hair, it grows out and fades, and it'll be back to normal in a couple of weeks. Til then.......watch out for that ladydoc who looks like a fire engine!

WOW! Busy, crazy weekend!

I opened this window today and was a little surprised- it didn't seem like I could have been away since last Wednesday! Then I started thinking back over the time interval- and then it was no surprise.

I did very well with my organizing- everything was packed and moved to my brother's by Friday evening, except little necessities like food and my toys, lol! Saturday AM DS and I had breakfast then he moved while I cleaned. We left the little house spotless and shining- except for the one thing I ALWAYS forget- the broiler pan in the stove.

I must have some kind of mental block about broiler pans. I very much like food broiled and cook that way often. And, EVERY time I do, there is suddenly an interesting aroma in the house the NEXT time I turn on the oven.

I discovered THIS time's goof when I went back to the little house about 1:30 because I couldn't find my earrings and remembered I had left them on the dresser. Our landlord let me in and laughingly asked "when did you broil?" As I turned totally red, I told him that I always forget that. His very nice answer was that considering how immaculate the rest of the house was, he didn't care at all. He had had to do nothing (other than clean the broiler pan!) to get ready for his next tenants, so he was perfectly happy. He also reminded me that if I want more weeks for next year to make sure I called the real estate office at the first of the year- so I took that to mean he *really* didn't mind and would welcome us back.

I did get a lot of playing in on the last couple days at the little house. After deciding to make all those images, I realized that I already had a bunch of colored images finished but not turned into cards. So that, along with some Silhouette playing, was done in between packing and organizing Thursday and Friday.

Friday night I attempted to upload some of the finished cards to SCS and I dont know what went wrong so they never got there. A few of them will be the bottom of this post.

DH arrived Saturday evening and our friends came down on Sunday for a day at the beach and a cookout. The weather did NOT cooperate- BIG TIME!! There were violent storms most of the day, which sadly resulted in one death and several serious injuries from lightning strikes along the Jersey coast here, as well a major wind and rain damage throughout the Atlantic Northeast. We had a lovely day anyway but it was inside rather than outside. Oh, and guess *how* I cooked the steaks that were originally destined for the grill?

Today is laundry and sorting and getting everything ready to help my DSIL when she arrives Wednesday evening for the movers coming on Friday. It's going to be another busy week.

Time for some links for you:

One of my favorite stamp companies is Firecracker Designs by Pamela. One of the things I like best is her blog where she combines information about her company with really good tutorials.

Another stamp company I really like is Stamping Bella- her Bella stamps are wonderful and she has a lot of other great stuff as well. Her blog is a riot- no one announces new releases or new products the way she does.

Definitely check these two out!

So, I finished a bunch more cards last week and here are a few samples:

You might be getting tired of this image by now, but I doubt I ever will. This version of Hometown Pride by Thomas Kinkade from Cornish Heritage Farms was done using pebbles chalks. I really like the softness of the image. I did the flag with Marvy-Uchida markers and purposely used an intensely colored mat- I think it makes the image "pop".






This was a fun image to do. I ran a brass stencil through the cuttlebug, then colored the whole thing using chalks. Both the chalks and the stencil are from The Stencil Collection- a company that you will often see at shows and which now both sells direct and through HSN. I'm not affiliated, just a customer who always enjoys their demos at shows and really likes the products. I'm entering this card in the "masculine card" challenge at SCS for the special FanClub event going on this week.








This is a card I really like how it turned out- bad English, but you know what I mean. The stamp is from a Stampin' Up set, and I colored it with Pebbles chalks. I thought all the different shades of purple fit the sentiment perfectly. The other result of doing this one is that I've been walking around for about 4 days now with the old Shirelles' song in my head.

I found a cute video of the song on Youtube, so if you also love those doo-wop oldies like I do, go check it out.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy all the links!

One last post for today

Come Saturday I have to move out of my wonderful little house- our rental time is up. This year, for the last time, I will be moving to my brother's to help get it ready for settlement.

There will be a lot of work to do and there is NO sense in keeping a lot of stuff around while we are cleaning OUT the house. But I really wanted to be able to do *some* playing. So, I got one of my ideas. If I stamp a lot of images, I will only need to keep coloring materials. And, since I stamped on cardstock, that limits even more.

So, I stamped a whole bunch of images that are good for watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons and pastels. Now I can send everything home with DS and DH when they return to the city on Monday and only keep my pencils, crayons, pastels and a couple water brushes. I won't be making any cards, but I'll have dozens of images when I get home.

So, here's the mess- papers all over the bed, plus stamps waiting to be cleaned.

I'll also keep the quilt top that I have not touched yet this summer- having too much fun with my stamping and my Silhouette so far. The quilt top is easy- it's a mini quilt and fits in a cosmetics bag.

OK- off to read and then bed.

This is SUCH fun!

I haven't finished anymore cards and I'm too tired to write lucidly about the Stamp-a-ma-jig tonight, but here are some more blogs that you can check out.

Aloha and Mabuhay!

Big Ideas from a Little Girl

No Time to Stamp


Happy blog browsing!

Getting back in the swing

In case you couldn't tell, I was a zombie on Monday. Yesterday I got energetic and used a lot of the time to run errands- Post Office, library, groceries. Then I worked a bit on the class I'm doing for my Silhouette. It comes from Scrap Savvy, a site for many of the different electronic cutters out there. I am definitely becoming more comfortable using my Silhouette through the various assignments, but I am also being reminded why I would not want to be a "real" student again. Homework=YUCK!

Part of today was spent on the phone making some of the arrangements necessary before settlement on my DB's house down here at the shore. I also FINALLY finished the first Monday challenge card for the FanClub Anniversary at SplitCoastStampers. There are either two or three challenges each day and I am DETERMINED to do all of them before the deadline. (We'll see about that, lol!)

The challenge was to use vellum- and for me that was a BIG challenge. I'd never used it before and I had limited supplies down here. How to hide the adhesive was the biggest issue from the start- so I came up with the frame idea. I made the frame with the Silhouette, combining a scalloped rectangle with a rounded corner rectangle and adjusting their sizes. It worked out terrific, I think. Then I color dusted the frame, and color dusted a plain piece of paper with the same colors but a lot more intensity, using stamp pads in color similar to those in the image. The flower image is from Stamps in Motion and the sentiment is Hero Arts. Assembly consisted of layering the darkly dusted paper, the vellum, the stamped image and the frame, then putting the whole thing on a card. It doesn't show well in the picture but the colors are soft and very pretty. Oh, and one of these days, SOON, I will be posting a thread on why I LOVE the Stamp-a-ma-jig; I could not have finished this card without it.

More later, I hope! :)

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole ~ Somewhere over the Rainbow HQ

Late night blog cruising

Still no pictures to post, but I found a wonderful blog. It is called Kiyomi Krafts and I really enjoyed it. I actually spent about an hour scrolling back through a couple months worth of posts. She has a real special style and her work is beautiful.

One of the reasons I was interested is that she is posting from Hawaii. Several years ago my brother was living there and I got to spend a month visiting. I fell in love with all things Hawaiian- the beauty, the culture, the music, the language. One of these days I'll post about Hawaiian quilts. Until then you can enjoy the music from "Iz", Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.

It's been a busy couple of days

I've been kept busy since my last post. My friend came and stayed for 2 days and we talked until the wee hours both nights. DH and DS arrived on Saturday shortly after she left. Sunday was rainy and nasty so the three of us did a West Wing marathon. Had a great time!

However, I woke up very late today and realized I was days behind on my reading, my friends' blogs and all the crafty sites I usually check daily.

SplitCoastStampers is hosting special challenges for members of their FanClub this week. The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to get the EXACT right thing I wanted for the card from my Silhouette. The card is still not done, so I don't have anything to show.

I can share a pretty neat blog, though! If you like crafting videos, Scrap Time is a great site. Christine does a couple videos a week, about new products and techniques. I've really learned a lot there. AND.....she has more than 500 pictures from CHA!!!!

So, definitely check out her blog!

Just a quick check in

I made 10 envelopes this afternoon in a short period of time. The hardest, and longest, part was picking out patterned paper to sort of go with the cards- I only have one stack of paper down here. Then I worked on housecleaning, then I finished a book.

Well, the house is all clean and straightened up, my friend should be on her way by now, and I'm off to take a quick shower.

Then it'll be time to relax, have a drink, nibble on snacks, play with all my toys and ENJOY!!

Oh, well

Just got a call from my friend- she cannot come down now until this evening.

So, while this means I have lots of time to finish the few little things I wanted to do here before she arrives, it means we miss a day at the beach and lots of time. It also means I have a whole lot of un-planned time today.

I have been getting a BUNCH of hits here in the last few days and I finally figured it out- DUH! There's a blogger out there who lists her "newly discovered" blogs every few days and Tuesday I was on her list. How exciting!!!! Her blog is called Scrappin' When I Can and I've added her to my sidebar- make sure to check it out!

So that brought out the teacher in me. I don't do any tutorials or anything here as I'm just not confident that I have anything to share that others cannot already do as well or better. But, I could start sharing WHY I like certain things and maybe that would be helpful to someone. I also can share all the wonderful sites I find. So, as time permits, I hope to do more information sharing from now on.

For starters, how about that Enveloper? I know the folks over at SCS are mostly Scor-pal fans and that's a good tool. But the directions for making envelopes with it would make me tear my hair out! AND, it's BIG! Meanwhile, a British company has come up with an envelope making tool that is sooooo fast and soooo easy- well, it's got my name all over it!

All you need is your paper cutter, the tool, the chart that comes with it and some tape. You cut your paper into a square- the chart tells you the size based on the card. Then you put the paper into the corner of the tool, make 4 scores on the lines indicated on the chart, fold and tape. Voila! Beautiful envelope.

It actually took me a LOT longer to type this than it would to make the envelope!

This gizmo also makes what is called an "envelobox"- an envelope that has enough depth to carry those heavily embellished cards we all love. That takes about 10 seconds longer to make because you have to score twice on each side.

There is a really neat blog out there called ScrapTime. She does video lessons for all kinds of things that crafters are interested in. If you want to see the video about the Enveloper, it's back on January 17 and here's the link.

Oh- for the bargain hunters out there, Ritz Camera online has it this week for a really good price! NOT endorsing, just some info.

That's enough "teacher" time- now it's back to student time and the dreaded assignment #3.

A few things

I had a busy day. Laundry finally reared its ugly head. Last night I worked late on an online course I am taking to learn more about my Silhouette. Assignments #1 and #2 were no problem, but #3 had me frustrated- so that is deferred until tomorrow.

You know how when we think back to school or college there are always a few people who stand out? They are the ones who are part of our bond to a school. This week a very special professor from my college days died. I'm at an age when this should be expected, but somehow I cannot imagine my college campus without him. I made a card to send to his widow. I don't have any sympathy stamps down here, so I just tried to pick an appropriate image. I used watercolor crayons for this one and really like how it came out. The stamp is Stampscapes' Country Chapel.

I also made a card today to send to my niece. She had surgery today and I wanted to cheer her up. Nothing like Mickey for that! I used my Prismacolor markers and I'm very happy with the results.

Then I played with my Enveloper- one part of a set from Crafter's Companion that I really like. I got my set at HSN and you can see it there. It makes envelopes in less than a minute!! TOO EASY!!! I love that I can match the envelope to the patterned paper I used for the card!

So, the laundry is done, I played quite a bit today, I made homemade baked macaroni and cheese for dinner (my VERY favorite comfort food) with enough left over for several more meals (and, I really prefer it the second time). I talked on the phone for a long time to a special friend who always understands me, and then for another long time to my very special Auntie.

Now, I have the extra bed made, the towels laid out nicely and I am all ready for the arrival tomorrow of a good friend who is going to stay, and play, and laugh with me for the next couple days. All ready, that is, except RE-cleaning up the crafty mess all over the table, lol! (I cleaned up before dinner but decided later that I just *had* to make those envelopes NOW.)

It was a LONG day!

Another good day

The weather was cloudy and it rained a little. Not a good day for the beach or reading outside. So, I got a lot done.

I read about half my latest book. I played on the Internet and got caught up with all the SCS Flybabies blogs. I got some laundry done. And I played with my newest acquisition- watercolor crayons. I colored five images and got these four mounted onto cards.

I got the crayons last week. There were only 12 in the set but the box said you could blend for different colors. So, I had a good time. The set came with a small piece of tranparency that I used as a palette and played and mixed. Then I played for the first time with the Diamond Glaze from Judikins. It doesn't show in the pictures, but I used it for the light from the lighthouse, the windows in the house and the angel's wings, and IRL it looks good. I'm pretty satisfied with the results.

The first card is made with "Palms with Huts" from Stampscapes, the second stamp is Thomas Kinkade's "Hometown Pride" from Cornish Heritage Farms . The angel is "Walking Angel" by Adriana Cirstea from American Art Stamps and the lighthouse is our local Old Barney, "Barnegat Light", from Stampendous.

I really enjoyed using the crayons- it's a technique that I will definitely use again. Then I had a GRAND time assembling the cards. I have NO embellishments down here, so the only thing I could do was mat and mount. I did that while watching one of my favorite "chick flicks", Fried Green Tomatoes.

So, who cares if it was cloudy? It was a good day!

Another "Sisters"

As promised, I made another image of the "Sisters" stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms. This time I used Derwent watercolor pencils then a waterbrush. I am pleased with the results. IRL I am not sure whether I like the chalks or the watercolor better, but the watercolor seems to show up better in the online pictures. Since I don't have my cuttlebug down here, I used the Silhouette to cut out the mat.

The end result of this experiment (Sisters plus the Hometown Pride from Thomas Kinkade/CHF) is that I will dig out the rest of my TK stamps after I get home and try them all with watercolors and chalks. I also want to try the Hometown Pride in watercolors now, so that is on the list of things to do next week.

I colored a bunch of images the other day, so more cards are coming.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Another day in Paradise

Yes, for me, it really is. I am at the shore, within walking distance of my beloved river, the weather is magnificent and all is right with the world!

I took a few pictures this morning so I can share with you why my DH calls this little house "living on the porch". I can sit in the living room but might as well be outside except I don't need sunscreen. Later today I *will* need sunscreen when I wander down to the beach and go swimming.

I got a little overly ambitious yesterday. I actually forgot to put on my leg braces after my shower and went to the store without them. Last night I paid for it with some discomfort and I had to cancel my plans to go to a party in South Jersey today- I didn't think the long drive a smart idea under the circumstances. I'm disappointed at not getting to see everyone at the party, but getting these legs back in shape is more important. AND, you can be sure I won't forget the braces again!

So, I am engaged with a good book, loving the breeze and the sunshine, and just generally loving my living on the porch!

Maybe I'll do a little playing later.

Support the Relay for Life and win blog candy!

Wendi Kaput is a designer for Clear Artistic Stamps, one of my favorite stamp companies. She is having a blog candy contest on her site to raise money for the Chicago Relay for Life, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Donations have been made by a number of stamping companies, including Tim Holtz, Gina K, Unity Stamps and Clear Artistic Stamps among others. There is a direct link from her site to the ACS. This is always a good cause, and why not contribute and maybe win?

http://kaputkrafts.typepad.com/kaput_krafts/2008/07/how-you-can-win-fabulous-blog-candy-from-your-favorite-companies.html

More coloring results

Well, I did get to the beach chair, but not to the cross-stitch.

I also got to the Post Office- needed to mail a package. I have NO paper down here except patterned paper so I had to make a card. Here's what my first time attempt with Prismacolor alcohol markers looks like. I'm not thrilled with the final result, but I am satisfied, and definitely want to explore these markers more.

When I got to the PO, there waiting for me were the Pebbles chalks I had ordered on Friday night the 4th! I was amazed- and could not wait to try them out.

So I stamped out several images and played.

This stamp is called "Sisters" and is the first one from a new line at Cornish Heritage Farms using images from a painter named Sandra Kuck. Like the Thomas Kinkade stamps, they do not stamp the same image as what you see on the top of the stamp (they use the artist's rendering for the stamp top) but they are still quite complex. After playing with the Kinkades for almost a year I came to the conclusion last week that chalks done softly might be the only way I would ever use a TK stamp again. So, naturally this was one of the first images I tried my new chalks on. I used the Pebbles shimmer chalks on this, and both the color and the shimmer show up much better IRL, but I think the picture gives you an idea that the chalks make a soft effect that goes perfectly with the image.

And, it turns out that my playing today made me reconsider- so tomorrow, if I get it mounted on a card, I have another image from this same stamp, and it was NOT done with chalks!

Off to bed with that good book!

Another Sketch Challenge

One of my favorite Yahoo groups is the one from Clear Artistic Stamps. Belinda, the owner of CAS, is a wonderful artist and her stamps are really unique. She is also a super nice person and that carries over into the group. It is a really great bunch of ladies.

One of the members, Kim, currently has a sketch challenge going on her blog. While I am playing with my Silhouette and learning more about coloring techniques this summer, I also want to try to start doing some challenges- another new thing for me.

So, here's my entry for Kim's challenge.

Now, after the miserable weather yesterday, it is absolutely GLORIOUS here today- so I am off to sit outside in my beach chair with a good book and some cross-stitch!

Crafting on a cloudy afternoon

It's been cloudy all day here. I slept late (I read til about 3AM!), then played on the computer checking out blogs and websites and my groups, talking on the phone, talking to my neighbor, just taking it easy.

When it became clear (sorry, no pun intended) that the sun was NOT going to come out, I decided to approach the problem of Kim's blog challenge. Kim is one of the members of the Yahoo group for those of us who LOVE Belinda Landtroop's Clear Artistic Stamps.

The problem is that the central motif in the card sketch challenge was an oval and I did not bring my Cuttlebug and my nesties down here.

Hmmmm.....can I duplicate the nesties on the Silhouette?

The answer is YES!!!!

So, here are the results of some time spent figuring it all out, downloading some new scalloped shapes from Quickutz, and cutting enough ovals in various colors to do 10 cards for Kim's challenge (which I won't do, but I COULD!)

Since my main summer papercrafting goals were learning rather than producing, I think I am on the right track.

Now, tonight, unless a book, my cross-stitch or the TV capture my attention more, I can work on Kim's challenge.

And, tomorrow, I can make nested squares, or circles, or rectangles.....

I *DO* love my techno-toys!!!!

And another day at the shore

It was a really gorgeous day here. One of those days where you wake up to brilliant sunshine streaming through the window and the curtains slapping from a nice breeze.

I did a little card playing, assembling another SCS Sketch challenge card using a Silhoueete cutout.

I did a lot of reading, a little research for my Mom for a planned trip, went to the beach for a while, and did some shopping and errands.

This is the LIFE!!!!

How I Spent my Summer Afternoon

Learned some things about my Silhouette, played with using Stampscapes and the Stamp-a-ma-jig, and all while doing my first ever SCS Sketch Challenge.

Finally REALLY settled in

It's been a crazy few days!

The 4th was interesting- very different from usual for me. First off, I overslept- too much late caffeine the day before meant being up really late!- and I MISSED the parade!!!!. And, it was raining!! That led to second off- we did not have our usual crowd. Only one of my DS's friends came and our friends all begged off.

Then, when my mother called my brother (a different brother from the one whose house we were staying at- this one has a shore house about 10 miles away) and said she didn't want to drive to his party, and I was going to drop her off, he said "well, she's invited also then". We will NOT go into the details about all this. Since I've known many of his neighbors all my life, I did stop in at the party for about an hour, which was much longer than I planned.

Then it was off to ACMoore- they had the 4 packs of paper for $5 (which is basically buy 1, get 3 free!!!!) so I had to go there. Obviously, bought more than just paper- can you EVER get out of ACMoore or Michaels with only the one thing you went for? I also stopped to buy new bed linens as the ones for the second bedroom in the little house were not in the linens crate when I washed everything earlier in the week. Shopping on the 4th was new to me!

Let's just say it was quite late in the afternoon before I got home. The "boys" were having a grand time with Xbox and had managed to avail themselves on their own of the homemade bruchetta I had slaved over the night before. That made the interest in dinner come very late in the evening- and just as I was about to put everything out, Mom called that my brother would not/could not leave his guests to drive her home, as originally planned.
So, off I go, again, to pick her up- just as the massive crowds were clogging the only main road to my brother's in preparation for the fireworks. Let's just say it was a LONG trip. The good news is that the trip home during the fireworks, went quickly- AND we could see them as we drove!- and we got home before they were over so we beat the "after" traffic.

Saturday was all packing in the AM- to move to the little house- and unpacking in the PM- at the little house. I achieved my goal of being completely moved in before DH arrived in the evening and we just had pizza for dinner then watched baseball on TV. LONG day.

Sunday was truly a day of rest. As in I napped most of the afternoon. I did make a real Sunday dinner after my nap- roast pork loin, mashed potatoes, veggies, dessert- the whole gig!

Notice there is NO stamping/crafting/whatever in there. I just have not yet felt like getting everything out- it looks so nice and neat all organized on the shelves in the 2nd bedroom. How's that for neurotic?

Today I hope to get to the beach if it doesn't rain. I already went over and double checked everything at my brother's house- he has a contract to sell it, but it has to pass the county inspection first and the inspectors are coming this afternoon. Did a little sprucing up- no biggie.

I also spent hours perusing SCS today, and I even set up a poll- first time for that. It is on the topic of using/getting coupons for Michaels and ACMoore and you can find it here.

So, DH and DS are in the city to work all week, Mom went home for a bunch of doctor's appointments, all my jobs at DB's house are taken care of (except for putting out the recycleables for the trashmen Wednesday morning, no big deal), and I am FINALLY on my REAL vacation.

I LOVE being alone at the shore. I LOVE reading whenever I feel like, all night if it's a good book and I want to finish it NOW. I love eating whenever and whatever I feel like. I LOVE that a few of my girlfriends will come down for a couple days and we will sit and talk and laugh and stay up late, and craft, and go to the beach and have REAL girlfriend time.

Don't misunderstand- I LOVE DH and DS and really enjoy when they come down on weekends. It's a great time!

But, that alone time, ME time, is really special. And, it's finally HERE!

Oh dear- it's starting to rain. Guess it's a sign- time to dig out the Silhouette and all the crafty stuff and play!

Crazy day today but I got something done

Plans for today were to get some laundry done, do some grocery shopping and then PLAY!!!

Unfortunately, I am still at my brother's house and a real estate agent called wanting to show it- in 22 minutes!!!! The laundry was already sorted- all over the floor; I had not had a shower yet; the whole day's plan was shot!

I did get to the store and the laundry is going on as I write but I only got one image done today.

This is a Thomas Kinkade stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms called "Hometown Pride". I stamped with brown Stazon and then colored with Pebbles Pastel chalks. (My first time using them.) For the flag I used LePlume markers. The picture is crooked (sorry, again, oh how I miss my scanner!) but I think the image itself looks good.

Off to read, watch some TV and relax to get ready for the town parade tomorrow morning.

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!!

And a little more practice

I did two more using some watercolor techniques. These were done mixing direct markers and using the markers as watercolors. The lighthouse is special- it is Barnegat Lighthouse which is near where I have spent all my summers. It was also a VERY hard stamp to find.

I haven't decided yet who to send the "meeting" one to- how mean do I want to be, lol?

These will eventually get mounted on cards but for now I'm just working on my water techniques.

How I spent my afternoon

I can NEVER get my pictures centered right when I take a close-up; oh, how I miss my scanner!

This is done in the Art Impressions technique, using markers to color the stamps then filling in with a waterbrush. Only my second attempt; I'm not happy but satisfied considering. It WILL get better.

ETA: new, I think better picture now.

Learning a lot today

Well, it's just about time for lunch and already it's been an interesting day.

I was awakened by my cell phone ringing, and ringing, and RINGING! It was my son- his car had, quite literally, exploded on the way to work. HE IS FINE! That's the important thing. But the car "threw a rod" whatever that means. He tells me there were smoke and flames, and that when the tow truck came you could see underneath that it was all "shredded metal".

This is not good news. DS is back in school, and while his job pays for his classes, they do that only after he successfully completes them. He just paid tuition for a new semester that started last week for two classes. We just got back from Disney World, which was TERRFIC fun but an expensive trip. When we got back said car was waiting at the mechanic's from the yearly inspection, which cost him about $500 to pass. This, at the time, was ok news as the car was physically in great shape and looked to be good for several more years at least. But now he is basically broke and must have a car ASAP as his work is not in an area served by public transit.

Now for the real surprise! I called DH after I talked to DS and they had already chatted. DH was AMAZINGLY sanguine. "So, he needs a car, and we'll have to loan him the money. Oh, well, things happen." I am shocked, but THRILLED that he is being so calm. This made everything so much less stressful- if having to find a new car, by Monday, over 4th of July weekend, can be said to be less stressful, lol! But, that's DS's problem.


Now for my crafting learning. Being a little OCD, I set up a binder for lots of stamping/scrapping/crafting information. I printed out all the color charts from all the different kinds of coloring media I own. Then I make color swatches using the pens, paints, etc since the swatches that print out rarely match what the color really looks like. Today I sat down to update my binder- I recently bought a big batch of Prismacolor markers on ebay and also had two new sets of twinks to swatch. Here's a picture of one page in my binder.

I made swatches on the Prismacolor marker printout and was amazed a little later. These are my first alcohol based markers and I have only tried them out once. I will definitely have to go back and re-look at the image. The alcohol markers were a NOTICABLY different color after they dried than when I put the swatches on- and I mean a WHILE later. I really, REALLY like the way they look after a while.

So, I learned that I need to do some reading and studying- these markers may be more interesting than I originally thought!

Time for lunch, then some reading, then some more playing.