Stamping Science

Yes, I know.

2010-08-17T21:46:00.002-04:00

I haven't been stamping. I've been too busy sciencing at work, and training for a triathlon. Here's a narrative about the triathlon, that I'm putting here because I already put it on my facebook page, but my darling husband won't join facebook and wants to read it:

So everyone wants a full report of my triathlon. Here's what I haven't blocked-out:

On Saturday there was a first-timers meeting... as I was without question a rookie, I went. Unfortunately, I had to take my kids because my husband has poor time management skills. Whatever. I have no idea what was discussed because my kids acted like I never take them anywhere (this is true) and behaved like monkeys. But I did meet a really nice volunteer; she answered my newbie questions and gave me my race packet. I also took the time to drive the bike course, just to be familiar with it. The route went past a cemetery. I hoped that wouldn't prove to be prophetic.

The triathlon was held on Sunday at Lums Pond; the transition area opened at 6 AM, race started @ 7:45. I thought by showing up at 6:30 I wouldn't appear too eager, but would still have plenty of time to get my crap together. By 6:30, they were already parking people on the grass, and just after I parked, they started turning people away, making them park in another area. It was a mad house.

I got my bike out of The Volvo, put the front wheel on, and headed to the transition area. I had to go back and get my all-access red wrist band, because the red wrist band is almighty, and the most important piece of equipment to have. I carefully studied what everyone else was doing with their bike, racked it up appropriately, and went back for my milk crate full of gear. I read online that I should use a milk crate so that I could use it later to sit on when I needed to put my bike shoes on. I was already tired from all this walking.

I got all set up, then got my timing chip and put it on my ankle, hoping that the neoprene wouldn't cause a problem (I'm allergic to neoprene). Lest you think this is foreshadowing, it's not. The neoprene was fine. Then I went to body marking and let the nice people write all my stats on my person with a Sharpie. They had kinda crappy Sharpies. I should have brought some from my collection.

Okay, things started moving faster after that... pre-race meeting, National Anthem, last-minute shuffling of my stuff. The line for the bathroom was ridiculous, and trust that I needed to go. Luckily, Curt & the kids showed up just then to distract me.

The duathlon (run, bike, run) started, and about 1/3 of the people headed out for their first run. I wondered why I hadn't just done the duathlon. Bygones. I finally got to the bathroom, took care of business, and headed out to the beach. By that time, the first wave had taken off already. I was in the third wave [Clydesdales & Athenas (aka "People who are not afraid to eat")], so I still had ten minutes to freak out. I chatted with some of the other people in my wave, and before I knew it, I was in the water, counting down. I had read on the internet that I should put my goggles on before my swimcap, so they wouldn't get knocked off in the melee. People who put their goggles on top of their swim cap were obvious newbies. Goggles stayed on just fine. Thanks, internet!

Lums Pond was 80 degrees, so that was a relief. I was worried that it was going to be cold, and it wasn't (for those in the know, it was not wetsuit legal, which was fine with me, since I don't have a wet suit (see above re:neoprene allergy)). It was, however, green. Very green. No time to worry about that. 10 seconds, 5 seconds, GO!

And so I did. I went. After about 25 yards of the very practiced freestyle I'd spent months learning, I decided that breast stroke was the way to go. I had read on the internet that triathletes hate the a-holes in the water doing the breast stroke. I didn't care. I was under the assumption that there would be buoys lining the course, so if I got into trouble I could hang on and rest. This was not the case. So, I swam. I was slow, and people in the next two waves caught up and passed me. I stayed out of their way. I passed a guy that had been in the wave ahead of me and felt a little better about life. He might have been walking. I kept going. I never took a break, never called for one of the surfboard-riding life guards, just kept swimming. I learned later that it took me 41 minutes to swim half a mile (although there was some argument later about how it was actually longer than 1/2 a mile). I had never swum for 41 minutes in my life.

I was almost to the shore when I heard a crazy amount of splashing next to me... there was a lady running past me. The water was only knee deep, but was still so green that I couldn't see how deep it wasn't. So, I lumbered onto my feet and almost quit right there. Jelly legs. But then I saw my kids cheering, so I ran. Ish. Some kid handed me a cup of water, and I remember thinking, "what the hell am I supposed to do with this? I just swallowed half the pond." I poured it into the little container I had in my transition area to wash my feet off.

I grabbed my bike shoes and socks, but forgot about the milk crate, and sat on the ground. As I stretched toward my feet I got a huge cramp in my diaphragm,and realized that THAT was why you sit on the milk crate... too late. I struggled to get my shoes on, helmet, gloves, and sunglasses on. I grabbed my bike and headed out. There were already people coming back in from the bike portion of the race. I did not let this bother me. Much.

I locked my first shoe in, swung my leg over, and locked my other shoe in, and started pedaling like I knew what I was doing. I wondered how far I had to go to make it look like I had made a valiant effort. I looked for places to hide out. Just then I heard my sister yell, "You got this!" and I nearly wrecked my bike turning around to see what fool was yelling at me. As I now had a witness, I decided to keep going. And eventually, it was pretty good. 19.5 miles went reasonably quickly... I passed some people, some people passed me, I saw a few with blown tires, and only almost fell off once, when I was trying to put my water bottle back in its holder. I never even needed to unlock my shoes from the pedals, which was a relief, because I know I would have effed that up. Turns out that the hardest part of the bike is not where the rubber meets the road, but where the bike seat meets my girl parts. Those seats are not designed for comfort, even with $90 padded bike shorts.

I got back to the transition area, and very nearly fell over as I swung my leg over to get off. I was rescued by a nice passerby, who I'm pretty sure was already done with the race. As I put my running shoes on, I heard the announcement that they were going to start the award ceremony. Clearly, I was not going to be getting an award, major or otherwise.

I started running. Well, that's a lie. I started walking and eating some candy. I half-walked, half-jogged for about two miles. I ran the last mile. Ran it. And when I saw the finish line, and heard people I didn't know cheering for me and tell me I was almost there, I kicked it up a notch, and just for a second, I was the blue-chip runner on my track team again, just like I was when I was 12.

And just like that, I was done. My daughter gave me a jelly bean. My son gave me a tackle hug, and then promptly knocked over a (nearly empty) watercooler. My sister gave me a necklace that she made for me. It has five stones, three for the tri part, two because she liked them. Or five for the 5 Ks I ran. Whatever. It's lovely. My husband held my hand and told me he was proud of me.

I was woefully undertrained. I literally did not train, at all, for the biking portion. I learned how to snap my shoes in and out of the pedals in my living room the night before the race. I had only run about a mile without stopping before the race, and only a few times. I focused on the swimming because I didn't want to drown.

When I was a kid I was allergic to chlorine, so I couldn't really learn to swim. If I put my head in the water, my face would swell up, and my eyes would swell shut. I was reasonably comfortable in a pool, and a pro at treading water. At some point in high school I determined that I was no longer allergic/sensitive to chlorine, but I still never bothered to learn how to swim. That's right... I committed to doing this triathlon before I knew how to swim, and for that, I should probably be committed.

I didn't finish last, but even if I had I would have considered this exercise a success. I'm not a triathlete yet, but I think I will be. Swimming may be my new hobby. Don't worry, bacon is still a close second, then all the other stuff I like to do, then biking, and then running, somewhere after Phil Collins, whom I hate.

And so, my "Go big or go home" motto was proven out once again. Do I recommend doing a triathlon without enough training? Absolutely not. But if I can do it, anyone can. Really. And I'll be better trained for the next one, for sure!

AHA!

2010-01-04T21:52:00.003-05:00

You didn't think I'd be back two days in a row, but here I am! Here's my list of resolutions for 2010:

Craft more. My work-life balance has been totally out of whack since starting my new job, but things are starting to settle down a little.

Write more.

Exercise even a little bit.

Eat better.

Lose 50 pounds. 10 at a time.

Spend more time being WITH my kids, not hiding from them or being annoyed by them. They're awesome, and sometimes I miss out on that.

Reconnect with my siblings. We used to do a family dinner once a week... I'd be happy with twice a month at this point. Even once a month would be better than what we're doing now, which is Christmas and Easter.

All of that stuff that I didn't do last year.

There... what's on YOUR list?

2010... ready, set, GO!

2010-01-03T22:16:00.003-05:00

so, yeah. how are ya? long time, no write. I know.

Welcome to 2010, where it's really, really cold on the east coast, and this blog's writer (uh, me) gets a free pass for not writing hardly at all last year. With a promise to do better...

Hey, here's a fun idea... last year I posted a list of resolutions... wanna see how I did? Here goes:

Resolutions made in 2009 (comments in italics below)

Spend my money locally, in independent shops, whenever possible.

I tried to do this, I really did. Unfortunately, my local stamping shop's owner and her husband moved to Idaho (White Swan Rubber Stamps). And the big box stores have been running great sales on yarn. Clearance yarn is a Siren's song that I can't resist. But I'm going to try again this year, and encourage you to do the same. All 3 of you who still read this.

When it is not possible, support independent web merchants and Etsy shops.

Aha! This I DID do... shops like Ellen Hutson, eclectic Paperie, and All That Scraps got my business this year, as did You Can Make This, a place to buy and download all sorts of patterns from independent pattern designers.

This year I'm looking forward to Lauren Meader's new endeavor: My Time Made Easy and here's a little shout out to my friend Jen's little internet scrapbooking shop: Celestial Creations & Scrapbooking Supplies. Jen is awesome, an old friend from high school, and a fellow geologist. And, she's local to me, so that's like two birds, one stone. Or something less violent. Whatever.

Farmer's Market, Farmer's Market, Farmer's Market.

I determined that the local "Farmer's Market" is less farmers and more crap for sale. BUT, I did find a one that I like: Newark Natural Foods Cooperative and will frequent them again this year.

Play outside with the kids & dog more often. Even when it's cold. Even when I don't feel like it.

I got a new job in August, and while it's awesome, it's also in Philadelphia, requiring a long commute on a slow train. So I'm not home during daylight hours in the winter except on weekends. And even then, I've been lackluster at best. I'll add this to the top of this year's list.

Wii Fit. Everyday. Even just a few minutes is better than nothing.

HA! HAHAHAHAHA! Yeah, not so much. But, I did BUY the Wii Fit Active game at Costco. Not that I opened it. But I might. Soon.

Read more books. And not just popular chick-lit either. I have a house full of classics that need some attention.

I did this... mostly because of the long commute. I can highly recommend anything written by Malcolm Gladwell.

Spend less time on the computer. My laptop with wireless internet connection has become WAY too familiar with my lap. I don't need to be constantly connected.

Uh, didn't do so well with this one. I spent a lot of time editing over at Craft Critique, and oy, Facebook... what an enjoyable time sink THAT is.

Write more. I'm working on a book. There. I said it out loud.

Yeah. Right. I'll get right on that.

Cull the clothes and other usable stuff that we don't use, and give it to those who WILL use it. Really. The house is pushing maximum density, and it makes everyone miserable.

This sort of happened... I got rid of a bunch of baby stuff, but there's A LOT more stuff that needs to go. Goodwill is not going to know what hit them.

Keep the house company-ready to the point where I wouldn't be embarrassed if a friend stopped by and asked to use my bathroom.

Um. Ish? Maybe call ahead by 15 minutes or so if you really need to pee.

Looks like I've got my work cut out for me... check back tomorrow for my list for 2010... probably.

Copic markers are that damn good...

2009-09-15T22:42:00.006-04:00

...so good that they can get me to come back from a blogging hiatus the likes the blogosphere has heretofore never seen. Or something. Anyway, Copic graciously provided me with some of their Ciao markers, and I had a fist-full already, and then I bought some more, and then I wrote this article for Craft Critique.

And in that article, (which you would know if you went there and read it) I said I would post the individual photos I took while doing the coloring for the card I made for my kid, Max.

Here's where I started. Well, not really. But the first couple of photos turned out like crap. Bear with me.

The pictures speak a thousand words, which is good, because I'm tired from all this blogging already ;-)

The Stamping Scientist requires an intervention...

2009-06-22T10:37:00.006-04:00

The sewing bug bit me hard. Worse (better?) it's a clothing altering bug, so I'm a frequent flyer at Goodwill, looking for stuff to turn into other stuff. Seriously. I'm a VIP member at Goodwill. They send me coupons and everything. Coupons at Goodwill. Bygones... I'm not too proud for 20% off!

Here's a shirt I got at Goodwill for $3.50 (minus 20%, so $2.80, no sales tax in Delaware):

Here's what I turned it into:

and the back:

also, how cute is my kid? I know... I'm stunned on a daily basis.

In other sewing news, I found an awesome pattern at youcanmakethis.com that FINALLY allows me to use the trash bags full of decorator samples I got ($5 per BAG) when my local Interior Alternative moved to a new location. I actually bought three of her patterns, and love them all. I also love supporting independent pattern designers like Mary of Sweet Pea Totes.

Anyway, here's the front:

the back:

interior zip pocket:

(by the way, the pattern doesn't include the interior zip pocket, but I added one because I like practicing my zippers)

interior patch divided pocket

interior with Martha Stewart Living mag for scale. It's a roomy tote:

I haven't decided on the handles yet. Well, that's not entirely true. I did one set of handles and then LOST one of them SOMEWHERE in my craft room (actually, I think one of my gremlins snuck over from the playroom and made off with it), which was fine, because I didn't like them all that much anyway. But I'll figure it out.

This one is mine, but I'm planning on making more for my etsy shop. Every time I look at it I get happier!

Oh hey...

2009-06-01T11:47:00.002-04:00

I won a yard of free fabric from Sew, Mama, Sew, the awesomest little fabric shop and blog in the whole wide internet. They have fabulous tutorials and a little forum for chatting and fab info too. And every week they give away fabric and other goodies.

Anyway, I won last week, and decided to place an order (I barely need an excuse at all anymore). It arrived today (totally fast!), and I'm just thrilled with it! Much love to Sew, Mama, Sew!

Sew I'm thinking...

2009-05-27T21:28:00.003-04:00

maybe I ought to change the name of this blog to "Sewing Science" because that's all I seem to do anymore (or maybe I should say "seam to do" ha ha ha, I slay me).

Anyway, my friend Emilie sews (as well as being a scrapbooking goddess), and got me hooked on Presser Foot. They're having a shirt-dress sew-along based on this tutorial right 'chere.

I had an UGLY (but Lucky Brand, honest!) shirt of mine laying around, so I went to town. Actually, I went to my sewing room.

I started with this:

that's a lot of ugly in one place.

I wound up with this:

and a close-up of sorts:

I'll admit that I cheated on the belt... that's actually a stretchy headband I had that never fit my head. I have a weird head. And never throw anything away. The ugly shirt is WAY cuter as a Jenny dress, but then, anything's cuter with a little Jenny in it ;-)

I've been sewing purses. LOTS of purses. Good ones too. Good enough to sell. So I'm gonna. I'll be putting them up in my Etsy shop shortly (or, you know, whenever I get around to it. Or maybe never. Depends on my mood).

My grandmother's birthday is next week, so I'm bound to stamp something absolutely stunning soon. Really.

what's this then?

2009-05-14T14:49:00.002-04:00

I received a package from PaperTrey Ink today with my "free" "gift with purchase" "anniversary" set. Here's the thing: I didn't realize that I had even bought 12 sets last year, as I had to put the kibash on spending hard last year, and PTI was on the cut list. So, I totally wasn't expecting it, and now I'm happy.

I guess I'm lucky, because there's a debate RAGING on SplitCoast about whether or not we earned the set, or if it's free, or if we paid for it, or what not, and WHY IS IT TAKING SO LONG TO GET HERE?! and guess what. I never even participated in the in the drama (or, really, even knew about the drama), because I didn't think I was getting the set, and now I have the set, and I'm happy.

Happy is good. Happy has been hard for me lately. So I'm all for happy.

I'm so happy that I'll probably stamp something with it tonight. Maybe.

Go find something to make you happy.

tap, tap, tap... is this thing on?

2009-05-12T20:10:00.003-04:00

Turns out that when you ignore something on the internet long enough, it still exists. Well, the blog anyway, I don't know if my readers will re-materialize!

So, nothing crafty to show you (although I've been busy, honest), but I wanted to document my family's baby bird rescue, and you all get to watch ;-)

Lexi, our dog, is an Australian Shepherd, and was bred to be a caretaker. She's super gentle with the kids, and has now been responsible for saving two baby animals in our yard. She's six kinds of awesome. Anyway, her latest rescue was this baby robin:

She found it in the yard, gave it a little nudge with her nose, and came to get me immediately (I guess she learned from the time she carried the baby rabbit to me and I was less than thrilled). She's so smart.

I put on my gloves and put it in a bucket before grabbing my camera and the kids.

Adults in the photo are slightly less haggard than they appear:

Thanks to the magic of Google, we determined that the best thing to do was to put it in a basket and hang it on the shady side of the tree. Luckily, I never throw ANYTHING away, and had an old plastic planter just hanging around (pun intended, lol). I added some rocks to the bottom to keep it stable, and put some grass clippings on top, to keep the bird snuggly.

My husband hung it from a reasonably high branch on the north side of the tree that we found the bird under. Hopefully Mama Robin will be back to reclaim our little buddy soon!

Beware the Ides of March!

2009-03-15T16:56:00.006-04:00

Sorry, I couldn't resist... poor Julius Caesar and his salad dressing never had a chance.

I've been a busy craft monkey (which is only slightly different than a crack monkey, I know this because I birthed two crack monkeys), but haven't been photographing much. THE HORROR! I know! Maybe because a couple of my photo lights crapped out on my and now it looks like I've been taking pictures in the basement (which, as it turns out, is true). I can fix only so much in photoshop...

Whatever... here's a project that I whipped up for a little girl who invited Max to her 6th birthday party:

Journal=$.50, frame=$1.00, photo book=$2.00, paper, tape, etc.=$1.00 total cost=$4.50, if that.

One benefit to crappy lighting? The glitter sparkles! Huh. Who knew? All these people complaining about not being able to photograph glitter; it ain't rocket science, just turn off half your lights. There's my public service announcement for the day ;-)

WOWZA!

2009-03-09T08:31:00.002-04:00

Go here immediately and comment on this post. I'm so mad that I work for Craft Critique, because I can't enter, and I REALLY WANT TO ENTER ;-)

Then come back here and tell me how much I rock.

Geniosity...

2009-02-24T10:30:00.002-05:00

I didn't think of this, but I'm totally going to do it. It's like they knew I was totally over-run in jars and pics of my kids! SO CUTE!

I made a card

2009-02-19T22:23:00.003-05:00

for a friend who lost a good friend. I don't like to make sympathy cards, mostly because I don't want to have to use them. But I really like this new Stampin' Up! set.

I'm keeping her in my thoughts.

SHE SCRAPS?!

2009-02-14T12:09:00.003-05:00

Well, no. Not really. I have really good intentions, and a studio full of supplies, but I don't scrapbook. Despite having the world's cutest kids. Until today! I'm in the process of re-doing my (not-so) baby girl's room, and needed something to hang on the wall. So I literally took a page out of my friend Emilie's book (I believe you scrapbookers call it scraplifting), and voila!

Be gentle... it's my first time!

The jounaling reads:
Jenny got a new doll for Christmas, and she hasn't put it down since! She's always carrying "Babies," unless she's pushing her in the stroller, or putting her down for a nap. This doll is loved!

The colors are way brighter in real life, just like Jenny's new room!

Now then, close your laptop and go do something you've been meaning to do but have never gotten around to doing!

The Accidental Meatloaf (RECIPE, sort of)

2009-02-13T12:08:00.002-05:00

Last night, I accidentally made the very best meatloaf I've ever had. It's a variation of Emilie's Awesome Meatloaf, but, of course I didn't have any of the right ingredients, so I winged it:

Dana's Oh. My. Word. Meatloaf.
1 Pound hamburger
1 pound breakfast sausage (yes, really)
1/2 bag of herb-seasoned stuffing (the crumb stuff that I always buy by mistake at Thanksgiving)
1 can of Progresso Hearty Tomato Soup
1 onion
a handful of mushrooms

Put the hamburger in a bowl. Cut the casings off of the sausage links, remove the sausage from the casings, and add them to the bowl (the links, not the casings... that would be nasty).

Dump 1/2 bag of stuffing into the bowl (I used Pepperidge Farms because it doesn't have milk or eggs in the ingredient list, but you can use whatever)

Put the mushrooms, onion & tomato soup in your food processor, and puree the daylights out of them. Dump the puree into the meat bowl. Mix everything together with your hands. Just get in there and do it, quit being a baby about it.

Throw the mixture into whatever pan you normally use for meatloaf. I actually packed the mixture into a regular-sized muffin pan, and made meatloaf muffins. I did that because it increases the surface area, and more surface area means more outer crust (<--- see that? that's science), and everybody knows that's the best part. I took the extra meatloaf mix and made meatballs, threw them on a cookie sheet, and put them in the oven at the same time as the meatloaf muffins.

Bake @ 350 F for a while. Like 40 minutes maybe? I took the internal temp of one of the muffins and made sure it was at least 160 F so that nobody would keel over and trace it back to me. I let the meat muffins sit for a while because the side dishes weren't ready yet. Story of my life.

Anyway, had I known how moist, tender and delish this meatloaf would be, I totally would have photographed the process like all those super cool food bloggers do.

You'll notice I didn't use eggs. My kid is allergic to eggs. If you want to use eggs, cut back on the soupy liquid puree stuff a little. I guess. Wing it!

SHE LIVES!

2009-02-06T00:11:00.004-05:00

Dude. What happened to January? We're all rebounding from yet another visit from the dreaded stomach bug, and let me tell you, it wasn't pretty. You know what is pretty? These cards I made. I got my SU! shipment today, and I did something I've never done... I opened a pack of designer paper (Raspberry Tart) AND USED IT. On the very first day it came to live here. AND, even more astonishing, I did not buy two packs of this paper, so I don't have a back up. Granted, I only used a 4" x 12" strip for these three cards, but it's all about the baby steps.

I couldn't decide where I wanted the greeting block, so I moved it around. Oh, and I love this stamp, but I think the flower in the corner is ugly, so I covered it with a bow. Because I can do that.

Here's a close-up:

In continued evidence of my awesomeness, I'm putting all of these in the mail on Friday. They're already addressed and stamped! So there!

I'll be back sooner than later (for real) I have a bunch of stuff up my sleeve!

Another fab Craft Critique give-away

2009-01-13T12:36:00.003-05:00

Emilie Ahern rocks my socks on a regular basis. She just posted an awesome article with a great digi-scrap giveaway right ---> Craft Critique: Glitz Digital & Paper Collections + a GIVE-AWAY!!!

Go check it out and leave a comment... you can't win if you don't play!

Oh, and I can't enter the contest, but for future reference, my butt-shaking song is "Rubberband Man" by the Spinners. You'd recognize it from the Office Max commercials where the dude with the crazy hair is pushing the cart delivering mail.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T11:53:00.002-05:00

I'm calling December 2008 "the lost December" due to illness and typical holiday madness. I will say that the stress/anxiety didn't get to me this year, so the miracle of modern medicine is doing its job (Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is a refill of my Lexapro... THANX!).

My migraines are getting to be under control, and my kids are only making me mildly crazy, so I'd say 2009 is off to a good start.

I don't normally make New Year's resolutions (doesn't everybody start sentences that way?!), but this year, I'm going to publicly state this list... maybe if I see it in print I'll do a better job with it!

Spend my money locally, in independent shops, whenever possible.

When it is not possible, support independent web merchants and Etsy shops.

Farmer's Market, Farmer's Market, Farmer's Market.

Play outside with the kids & dog more often. Even when it's cold. Even when I don't feel like it.

Wii Fit. Everyday. Even just a few minutes is better than nothing.

Read more books. And not just popular chick-lit either. I have a house full of classics that need some attention.

Spend less time on the computer. My laptop with wireless internet connection has become WAY too familiar with my lap. I don't need to be constantly connected.

Write more. I'm working on a book. There. I said it out loud.

Cull the clothes and other usable stuff that we don't use, and give it to those who WILL use it. Really. The house is pushing maximum density, and it makes everyone miserable.

Keep the house company-ready to the point where I wouldn't be embarrassed if a friend stopped by and asked to use my bathroom.

So, that's 10 things I'm going to work on this year. Now I'm going to bundle the kids up, and go out to play!

That wasn't so bad...

2008-12-10T22:52:00.002-05:00

I expected to be tarred & feathered by the Pazzle-lovers out there, but the great majority of commenters were very positive. It's too bad, really... I wanted to like the Pazzle. I'm sure they're a lovely company. It just didn't work out. It's not me, it's you. I just can't accept you for who you really are. I'm sorry.

Now then... I think (pending the ability to return this beast), I'm gonna get the Cricut Expression, and load the Sure Cuts A Lot software on my computer, and have the best of both worlds. And before the Screaming Meanies from Cricut arrive, yes, I know, the SCAL isn't sanctioned and will "void my warranty" - a chance I'm willing to take.

I'll let you know how it works out... thanks for all the positive comments!

It will probably get ugly...

2008-12-09T08:01:00.001-05:00

I'm expecting some fireworks due to the article I wrote over at Craft Critique today... give it a read and let me know what you think!

lol...

2008-12-02T21:29:00.004-05:00

I feel like every time I start a blog entry, I have to apologize for being a sucky blogger. So, here I am again, being a not-as-sucky, but still-pretty-sucky blogger.

I've been keeping really busy over at Craft Critique... those chicks keep me hoppin'

I also got a Pazzle Inspiration, and when I'm not beating my head against a wall over the damn thing, I'm figuring out the software. I paid $500 for the thing, it damn well better be worth it. I know, once I get it right I'll be singing its praises, but for now... ergh.

I'm doing a craft show this Saturday (at the Red Lion United Methodist Church from 9-3), hocking these Christmas balls (scroll down). Well, not those exact ones, because those are hanging in the window of the cutest little bridal boutique in Delaware. But some similar ones. Stop by if you're local, I'd love to meet some of my readers (she says, laughingly, because she probably already knows all of her readers).

So, I'm covered in glitter, and have ink stains on my hands such that it looks like I've injured someone. But, I'm nearly finished with the new batch, and I'm pleased.

I'm about ready to make my CHA flight arrangements, and am mucho excited! I can't wait to breathe the same air as some of my crafting heros, as well as meet some of the women I've only ever talked to online! Plus, Cali in the winter is never a bad thing!

That's all that's new with me... what are YOU up to?

New Craft Critique article

2008-11-13T08:15:00.001-05:00

is up right here ...

I finished all of those wedding invitations, AND the birthday party invitations, and they've all be shipped to their appropriate hosts. My craft room is a heinous mess, and it's going to take me days to dig it out.

I got a tetnus shot today, and two flu shots, because the first time she stuck me, the syringe blew up, and none of the vaccine actually made it where it was supposed to go. It did, however, make it all over my sweater. So, both my arms are sore, and my fingers are inky, and I have a meeting today that I'm totally excited about, but can't talk about yet ;-)

Pictures someday soon, I promise...

I've been neglectful...

2008-11-07T23:13:00.002-05:00

but for a good reason! I'm in the midst of finishing up 100 wedding invitations, complete with response cards, maps, directions, the whole nine yards. AND THEN I got an order for 40 birthday party invitations. So, I'm all inky, but I can't really show anything yet.

In other news, we got a Wii, including the Wii Fit, and I've been WAY busy Wii bowling with my kids, even baby Jenny, who at 2 years old, is quite the competitor. And, according to the Wii Fit, my Wii Fit age (a so-called measure of my BMI, balance and strength) is (dun, dun dun) 54. Well isn't THAT a kick in the teeth. Actually, I suppose if I could get my leg up high enough to kick someone in the teeth, I'd have a more reasonable Wii Fit age. So, I've got some work to do, but at least this is a fun way to do it.

Can anybody recommend good Wii games for kids... must haves? I've heard raving about MarioKart and the Olympics one; any other suggestions?

2008-11-04T11:22:00.001-05:00

I voted today... did you?

Craft Critique Give Away!

2008-10-28T19:48:00.005-04:00

Hey! Want to win the Bo Bunny Craft Knife that Emilie Ahern reviewed on Monday? Click here to read all about it!

Also, my latest article is up --->here

We interupt our regularly scheduled program

2008-10-24T11:32:00.002-04:00

to bring you this message...

I don't tend to talk about my politics unless directly asked. But, this is MY blog, and I'll talk politics if I want to! As it turns out, I can talk politics AND crafting at the same time. I saw this on the Sew, Mama,Sew blog today, and it blew me away... I'm not a quilt kinda person in general, but this one may change my mind.

I donated to the cause, and if I win this quilt, I'll display it with pride! Many thanks to contemporary American quilt artist Denyse Schmidt for the opportunity!

YAY!

2008-10-21T12:52:00.002-04:00

My favorite crochet designer (and yes, I know how dorky it sounds to have a favorite crochet designer... I never thought it would happen either...) Robyn Chachula, is coming to Philly to teach classes in November. I think this is going to be my Christmas present to myself. Or from my design business to me. Educational expenses are tax deductible, right?

New Craft Critique article

2008-10-21T09:25:00.001-04:00

My latest article is up... I hope I don't catch a lot of flak from the pumpkin purists out there ;-)

Back by popular demand...

2008-10-20T12:13:00.002-04:00

I did my very first Stamp Camp as a demo on Saturday (I've been a demo for several years, but only ever spent my own money, I had no customers), and by the time I got home (it was only 1 pm) I was completely whooped. Tired, tired, tired & sore. And my feet hurt. But it was fun, and I enjoyed helping people with their projects. I forced my sister to come, and she seemed to like it, and my friend Emilie came, and she REALLY liked it (of course, she REALLY likes a lot of things, she's very enthusiastic, lol!)

Part of doing a stamp camp as a demo is the opportunity to ~~dump~~ sell retired stuff to ~~unsuspecting~~ delighted customers looking for a good deal. Frankly, I was pleased as punch to dump some of the sets that have been sitting around doing NOTHING. In fact, a lot of them weren't even mounted. Tsk, tsk.

ANYWAY, these are the ones I have left... I linked to the SCS gallery of each stamp set, which I'm sure violates some rule or the other, but I'm at work (shhh) and can't take my own photo right now. If the SCS police are reading this, I'm sorry, I didn't know any better, I'll fix it asap. Please don't sue me.

RULES:

I accept paypal, either credit or bank account transfers, I don't care.
I ship priority because I'm lazy and don't want to trek to the post office with my kids in tow, but I will ship first class if you ask nicely.
I will unmount the sets if you want me to.
I will include blocks & cases if you want me to, whatever you want is fine with me.

If you want to purchase any sets, EMAIL me first with the following information:
Name of the set, whether or not you want Priority or First Class shipping, and whether you want the plastic SU box, blocks, no block, just the rubber, whatever.

Here's my email:
danavee@stampingscience.com

PLEASE NOTE: that is not the address I use for paypal; I will send you an invoice once I figure out your shipping cost.

Whew... that's exhausting... here's the list:
Greetings Galore $ 24
Wonderful Woodcuts $12
Polka Dots & Paisley $ 10
Friendship Blooms $10
Very Punny $10
Peace on Earth $18
Lots of Thoughts $12
A Little Bit of Happiness $12
The World Over $12
Def. Decorative Flutterbys $15
Sweet Dreams $18
Heart Art $ 8

Okay, Lisa, are you happy now?!

2008-10-14T23:19:00.003-04:00

Nichole Heady is KILLING me. Hello?! Spending freeze?! Oy. It's bad news... for my wallet!

Here's to hoping I win the "I want it all" package, because, um, I definitely want it all.

Contrary to popular belief...

2008-10-10T09:57:00.002-04:00

I am not dead. But I am super busy, and haven't had any crafting time in weeks. And the crafting I'm about to do is for a Craft Critique article, so you can't even see that. Speaking of Craft Critique, I scored myself a promotion to Copy Editor, which is super cool, and I'm very excited. And they tripled my pay, lol!

Okay, I've got work to do... I promise I'll post something fun soon... I'm expecting my new Stampin' Up! order today!

Epic WIN!

2008-09-30T20:10:00.002-04:00

Okay, no crafting, but cooking (sort of). We're all coming off having the flu. I said yesterday I was feeling much better. I was wrong; last night was heinous... the last time I was that miserable, I was 12 months pregnant with my son (what? it felt like 12 months). Anyway, today, I AM feeling somewhat better. I knew I was going to have to do some magic to entice my family to eat though... no one has had any appetite at all since Friday. (hey, flu, my butt flab thanks you...)
So, because I have a boat ton of tomatoes to get rid from my garden (after MONTHS of no action, all of a sudden they're all, "PICK ME!" I decided to make homemade sauce using "The Best Tomato Sauce Ever. Yep" a recipe from Finny, of Finny Knits. I love her blog (note, she uses swear words. I use swear words in my real life, so it doesn't bother me in the least... just wanted to warn you if you're a sensitive type). We have the same sense of humor, and I love chuckling my way through her posts. I did make a couple of changes to her recipe:

I used parchment paper under my tomatoes during the roasting because the first time I used just foil and burned the begeezus out of them, and I was very sad.
I didn't have any red wine in the house, and I wasn't breaking into a bottle of Riesling that no one would drink because the thought of alcohol right now is just ick, so I hit it with a splash of balsamic vinegar.
I used a food mill, the real kind, not the kind she thinks is a food mill. It was the first time I had ever used it, and it was AWESOME. It was Curt's grandmother's, and holy moly, I'm mad that I waited until now to discover the awesomeness.

The verdict: ridiculously good. Better than I could have imagined. Seriously, it was awesome. Even a family full of sickies ate it up, yum. I might actually buy tomatoes to make this again, it was so good. And with all of the food allergies in this house, I love knowing exactly what's in it, 'cause I put it there.

Things are looking up...

2008-09-29T16:33:00.002-04:00

Baby Jenny & I are feeling MUCH better, Max & Curt are going to need at least another day off from school/work. I just took Curt's temperature: 104! Eeek! No wonder he's crotchety! Max is too, but mostly because I kept him home from school. "Mommy. I want to go to Kindergarten!" ha ha ha, I'll remind him of this moment when he decides in 7th grade that he's never going to school again.

I'm slowly feeling the mojo ebb back in... we'll see if I can get anything done tonight!

the plague?

2008-09-28T11:34:00.004-04:00

Oh my word, we're ALL sick in these parts. High fever (like 103+), terrible headache, feeling like a truck hit you. I hope it passes soon... mama is tired.

Crocheter?

2008-09-26T15:30:00.000-04:00

I have a new article up at Craft Critique: Clover Soft Touch Crochet Hooks">Craft Critique about my favorite crochet hooks...

Blog candy for a good cause (and ATHLETA Challenge too)

2008-09-23T23:03:00.003-04:00

I'm sure you've seen Carolyn King's blog candy in honor of her grandmother. While personally I've not had any loved ones affected by Alzheimer’s, I have seen the toll full-time caretaking can have on a person and a family. I made six cards inspired by page 6 in the Athleta catalog:

here's one of the cards:

I'll be sending one to:
To the Staff at the Artman Home 250 N. Bethlehem Pike Ambler, PA 19002

in honor of Cammie's grandmother, one to my grandmother (who cared for my grandfather, before his passing), one to my friend Joan, and three to Hospice Delaware, which was a great support to our family.

Back in the saddle...

2008-09-22T22:36:00.006-04:00

I told you I'd be back... Athleta challenge day 5...

Look how cute these shirts are...

and the cards they inspired...

I liked the design so much that I made a whole set of 12 with coordinating envies... not crafty & can't live without them? They're in my etsy shop.

Are crafty and want the details? Here ya go:

Stamp credits: Stampin' Up! Baroque Motifs, My Favorite Things Boho Blossoms
Card upper left: Close to Cocoa CS, PTI Stamper's Select White CS (base), Choc. Chip ink, VersaMagic Turquoise Gem, Ranger Superfine detail powder, clear.
Card center: Pale Plum CS, PTI Stamper's Select White CS (base), Basic Gray ink, Brilliance Rocket Red Gold, Ranger Superfine detail powder, clear.
Card upper right: PTI Stamper's Select White CS, Brilliance Pearlescent Olive, Lightening Black, Ranger Superfine detail powder, clear.

COMPOST!

2008-09-21T19:16:00.004-04:00

I'm sure you're all wondering why you bothered to add this blog to your reader, since I hardly ever talk about stamping, and lately I've been blathering on and on about dirt. Warning: it will get worse before it gets better.

Now that my horrendous ragweed allergy is in hibernation for the year, I was SO ready to get back out there and close my garden up for the year... although the tomato and pepper plants are still producing, so they can stay, and the watermelons are only the size of grapefruits, so they can stay too. But the raised bed with the (former) corn, yellow squash & cukes... your time is up.

Task 1: Finish sorting compost from bins, re-layer the stuff that needs to continue to cook, segregate the stuff that is good to go (or nearly good to go), and add it to the corn bed to let it finish cooking in situ.

By the numbers:
Compost bins: 3

Kiddie pools filled with finished compost: 1

Approximate volume of finished compost: 35 cubic feet. Really. No, Jane, I didn't use calculus, that's why it says "approximate"

Times I told Lexi (the dog) to get out of the compost: 53

Spiders, millipedes, centipedes, prehistoric-looking crickets: eleventy-hundred

Moles requiring dispatch by vegetarian husband: 2

Gold stars earned by husband: 2

Instrument of mole dispatch, the first:

Instrument of mole dispatch, the second:

well, actually, it probably looked more like this:

Number of tired, sore, dirty, and slightly skeeved out mamas: 1

ugh...

2008-09-20T23:43:00.002-04:00

I spent close to 4 hours today emptying, sorting, separating, and reloading compost. I suppose this is the part where I tell you how wonderful and fulfilling it is to be as one with Mother Nature, and to give back to the earth. Yeah. Mostly it was dirty, and gross, and I'm more than a little freaked out by the fauna living in my compost bins. But, there is a bit of that self-satisfaction, so I guess I'll continue the mess tomorrow. That's right... there are two more bins to do! Ergh.

I did manage to have a dinner (with drinks! and adult conversation! well, not THAT kind of adult conversation!) with my husband, AND a movie. I wanted to see "Burn After Reading" because I have a thing for Brad Pitt, but compromised and saw "Dark Knight" instead. Meh. I lovey me some Brad Pitt...

My sister and her boyfriend of 8 and a half years got engaged today! YAY! I love planning weddings, and long as it's not my own, ever, ever again.

I just can't stop sewing...

2008-09-15T22:08:00.007-04:00

Okay, I think I have my pattern tweaked enough to make me happy... this bag is about half the size of the ones from yesterday, but I wanted to make sure the change I made to the bottom would work. It does. Yeehaw!

Alrighty then... back to stamping!

11:30?!

2008-09-14T23:26:00.006-04:00

How did that happen? Anyway, it's been a long, snot-filled weekend, with lots of nose wiping and cuddles for my kids... first cold of the season!

I didn't stamp, but I was crafty... I worked on two bags, and I'm pretty happy with them... I'm still working out the kinks and trying new things, but I would carry both of these without being embarrassed... (um... not at the same time).

These bags were both made with home decorating samples that I bought by the trash bag full when a local fabric outlet was moving... $5 for a full bag of samples. Now, not all of them are big enough to make full-sized bags (these totes are pretty roomy), but I have LOTS of fabric to play with without freaking out about how much it cost, and when you're a crappy sewer like I am, that's a relief!

I'm headed to bed... back to the Altheta Challenge on Monday night (I FINALLY found the perfect stamp, and, as luck would have it, I already own it!).

No stamping, but...

2008-09-12T12:37:00.004-04:00

I did clean off my stamping counter top. But just so I could get my sewing machine out. I took a page from Erin K, and made a cute little bag. I used Nichole Heady's method, and I'm so pleased with how this turned out.

By the way, these remnants aren't from JoAnn's... I have an entire room full of fabric that in my head are glorious purses. The pattern was super easy, and now that I know how to get all my unfinished edges on the inside, between the lining and the outer material, I'll be adapting the pattern to the one in my head.

The bag turned out way cuter than the gingerbread cookies that I made with my son last night.

He's been obsessed with "The Gingerbread Man" story for weeks, so I finally found a vegan gingerbread recipe (I'm not a vegan, and neither is he, but he is allergic to dairy & eggs, so I use vegan recipes a lot) by one of my favorite vegan cookbook authors, Isa Moskowitz. This batch was the other half of the dough from a few days ago. Martha Stewart, I am not. But, as ugly as they were, they were delicious. I'm trying to keep myself from eating the rest of them, so there's enough (read: one) for Max's after school snack.

Craft Critique is running my Mother of All Black Ink Tests today... be sure to check it out!

about that spending freeze....

2008-09-10T20:20:00.001-04:00

clearly I cannot be held responsible when JoAnn's has the remnants marked an extra 70% off. Ergh.

yeah, so...

2008-09-09T20:36:00.002-04:00

okay, I know what I said yesterday. But, today I'm caring for a couple of extra kids due to a friend's medical emergency, and oh my word, I'm beat. I'll get back to it, honest...

Epic fail...

2008-09-08T23:34:00.002-04:00

but not for lack of trying... The picture in my head looks so much cooler than what I'm turning out that I can't bear to post just anything and call it a day. I need clean surfaces! I'll clean up and try again tomorrow... and I'll do two, just to prove I'm worthy!

feeling a bit supermom-ish today...

2008-09-07T21:35:00.009-04:00

I've gotten a lot done! I banged out 60 "save the date cards" for a client (I say client, but she's really a friend, and this is part of her gift), took my mom to a bead show (and didn't spend any money!), went to the pet store, Costco, took a two hour nap, and then baked gingerbread cookies with my son. And then I made this card, AND posted it to my blog. So, yeah... I'm a little full of myself right now!

Anyway... here's today's inspiration:

and my card:

Stamp credits: PaperTrey Ink-"Remember" by Lisa Johnson
Card stock: PTI Kraft (leftover from yesterday's card) SU! Pale Plum, Night of Navy
Ink: SU! Baja Breeze (under flock on flowers), Brilliance Med. Blue, VersaMagic Tea Leaves, Spanish Moss, and Night Sky.
Accessories: Colonial Blue flock that I've had for at least 9 years because I used it on my wedding party gifts, Offray ribbon.

So, you probably can't tell, but the flowers are flocked (inspired by the fuzziness of the blue coat), and then overstamped (poorly) with Brilliance ink, which I attempted three times with three different inks before that one took. Ergh. I wish I could say it looks better in person, but it really doesn't. Oh well, I need a thank you note for my inlaws, and they won't know the difference.

HA!

2008-09-06T23:57:00.008-04:00

You didn't think I'd make it, did you? Well, I DID make it. And I made this card. But I'll do the blah blah blah bit tomorrow, I'm sleepy...

Inspiration:

My card:

Stamp credits: Stampin' Up! "One of a Kind"
Card stock: PaperTrey Ink Kraft, SU! Riding Hood Red, Pacific Point, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Ink: SU! More Mustard, Pacific Point, Riding Hood Red
Accessories: SU! Boho punch, some cheapo swirl punch I've had for a billion years.

Altheta challenge, day 2

2008-09-05T20:56:00.009-04:00

Or page 2, I guess...

Here's the inspiration (in the real photo, you can see more of her cranberry suede-ish pants):

and the card it inspired:

Stamp credits: Ginko branch - Beeswax Stamps, Stripes - Hero Arts, Mulberry Texture and Faux Ribbon - Cornish Heritage Farms, Sentiment - Prickly Pear Designs.
Card stock: Stampin' Up! Cranberry Crisp, True Thyme & Marigold Morning (all retired)
Ink: Stampin' Up! Cranberry Crisp, Marigold Morning & Old Olive.
Accessories: Prismacolor Marker - French Gray 20%, SU! markers Old Olive & Barely Banana

I have a story about ginko trees, if anyone cares, lol...
When I was in college at the University of Delaware, there were three gorgeous Ginko trees on campus, all in a row. Unfortunately, two of the three were female ginkos, and produced the most foul smelling fruit imaginable. Have you ever smelled ginko berries? We referred to them as "vomit balls" because that's what they smelled like. Try to imagine thousands of ground up pieces of stench fruit stuck to students' shoes, tracked all over campus. Horrible. But, later in the fall, the leaves turned the most beautiful color yellow, and all was forgiven. Until the next year. I went back to visit, and the trees had been cut down. I was sad, but totally understood.

Turning over a new leaf...

2008-09-04T20:15:00.009-04:00

So, the annual onslaught of catalogs has already begun... my first one of the season:
Athleta, a company specializing in active/exercise/yoga gear for women. I have no idea how I wound up on this list. I wonder if there's a catalog for formerly fit women who ran track in high school and now only run to catch the ice cream truck. Whatever.

Anyway, I like the catalog. I think it has great colors & layouts. They say inspiration can strike anywhere... and here I am, inspired. I've decided to do one card/project a day (didja hear that? ONE A DAY), based on each page of the catalog, and, here's the kicker, ACTUALLY POST IT ON THIS BLOG. Ha! We'll see how long this lasts. There are 64 pages in this catalog, maybe I can get a flying start on holiday cards & gifts.

So, for your viewing pleasure, here's the photo from the cover of the catalog:

and the card it inspired:

Stamp credits:Technique Tuesday Boho Buzz and Handful of Henna, Stampin' Up! Love Matters
Card stock: SU! Bordering Blue and Going Gray
Ink: SU! Basic Gray, VersaMagic Aspen Mist
Accessories: Signo white gel pen, Copic Spica clear glitter pen (oh my word I love this thing).

So, why don't you take the challenge... find yourself some inspiration, and get cracking! Be sure to link back here if you do, so I can check you out and cheer you on!

Thanks for not thinking I'm a crappy mom...

2008-09-02T23:17:00.004-04:00

There's no Hallmark card for that occasion, is there? That's why I make 'em myself! This card & little boxy bag (again, full of basil, or will be in the morning), is for the other mom at my son's bus stop who helped corral my run-away circus of a family today, including my barefoot 2-year-old, my unleashed dog who snuck out of the house while I was running down the street (also barefoot. Me, not the dog. Well, actually, the dog was barefoot too, now that I think about it.), and a five-year-old little boy who was very sad that I didn't get to the bus stop to get him off the bus in time (the bus driver makes a loop around the neighborhood and swings back around when this happens. Ask me how I know.) I felt like a giant ass. Still do, actually.

BAH! Oh well... at least I sat down and made something!

Stamps: Wow Flowers by Stampin' Up, Beautiful Blooms and Borders & Corners, Circle by PaperTrey Ink; Cardstock: Stamper's Select White by PTI, Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze by SU!; Ink: Going Gray, Kiwi Kiss & Baja Breeze Classic dye ink by SU! Ribbon: It's a sheer greenish gray that looks awesome in person. Probably Offray, but I'm not sure; Punches: Threading Water by Fiskars, Tag Punch (small & large) by SU!.

Those taskmasters over at Craft Critique

2008-08-25T17:21:00.002-04:00

are keeping me busy!

Here's my latest article...

I stamped something...

2008-08-19T19:46:00.003-04:00

It had to happen eventually!

My oldest child starts kindergarten tomorrow. I'm a little freaked out. He's determined that he's not riding the bus, but the police helicopter will be picking him up instead. Oh really? Where does he get this stuff?

We had the opportunity to meet his teacher tonight, so of course I busted out my "best mom of the year" goodies to spoil her before she got to meet my kid. As I was doing the background check on her (you think I'm kidding...), I discovered she has a blog, wherein she stated that she loves cooking Italian food, and has been to Italy several times. AHA! As it happens, my garden is completely overrun with purple & green basil. So, I whipped up this boxy bag, inspired by TexasJodyLynn (mine has different measurements, but it was definitely her idea...), cut a bunch of basil, stuck it in a baggie, and voila, my kid gets straight A's right out of the box. Bag. Boxy bag.

And here's the matching card

both of them together

never let it be said that I can't stamp....

Hey kids...

2008-08-14T10:39:00.001-04:00

New post up at Craft Critique...

Ergh. It's the 14th. I was SO going to enter PaperTrey's guest star stamper thingy with the 3 sets I bought last month, but I just didn't get to it. Oh well... maybe next month!

The MOTHER of all black ink tests...

2008-08-09T18:14:00.014-04:00

Well, I finally did it... a no-holds-barred look at 14 different black inks, 3 different markers and three different card stocks.

I did a similar study back in early 2007, and posted my results on SplitCoastStampers; holy moly, was I ever a rock star then! The biggest names of stamping commented on that post, and the queen herself, Julie Ebersole, mentioned little ole me on her blog. Then I passed out.

But, I knew my work was not finished... there were MORE black inks out there, and clearly I needed them. So, now I've got them. I'm up to 14 black inks, some I've had for years, a few I just opened today (don't tell my husband!).

Here are the players, in alphabetical order by manufacturer:

Papers:
Georgia Pacific White
PaperTrey Ink Stamper's Select in White
Stampin' Up! Whisper White

Markers:
Copic Lemon Yellow
Prismacolor Deco Yellow
Stampin' Up! Barely Banana (yes, I know, this is not an alcohol-based marker).

Weather conditions:
79 degrees F, 44% humidity, a perfect August day in Delaware (just above sea level), and why am I inside again?

The process:

Created a grid and printed it on the three different card stocks with my laser printer.
Stamped each ink into its appropriate box.
Carefully cleaned the stamp between inks with a three-step process:

Ultraclean, then dry
Stampin' Mist, then dry
Swipe with a baby wipe

Allowed grids to dry for 30 minutes while starting this post
Colored over the lines (on purpose) with the appropriate marker
Cleaned each marker nib, each time, by coloring on a sheet of printer paper
Swiped a line of the matching colorless blender pen through each colored area
Checked for bleeding, feathering & smearing
Ranked the inks 1, 2, or 3 on each grid
Entered the results into a spreadsheet, tallied and averaged the results

**Please note: I did not heat-set any of the inks, because I wanted to see the results of the average (lazy like me) stamper. Heat-setting the pigment inks would probably improve their performance**

Results:

A ranking of 1 indicated no black ink movement with the yellow marker or associated clear blender.
A ranking of 2 indicated no to minimal movement with the yellow, some movement with the clear blender.
A ranking of 3 was a hot mess. Movement with both marker and blender.
I threw the SU! marker results out of the averaging, because they were the true definition of hot mess. So, the averaging only took alcohol-based markers into account.

I was VERY impressed with Ranger's Nick Bantock Ink and Tsukineko's Memento... that stuff didn't budge with either of the alcohol-based markers or their clear blenders. Ranger's Adirondack and Distress inks also fared very well. As for the rest of them, well, you can be the judge (click for a larger view):

As for the papers, the PTI smeared the least, followed by the Georgia Pacific, and then the Stampin' Up! Whisper White.

Between the alcohol-based markers themselves, the Prismacolor smeared less than the Copic by 0.05 of a point (averaged), so I'd call that even.

Recommendations:
Ranger Nick Bantock or Memento on PaperTrey Ink. Anything else, you'll need to heat set or stay within the lines.

So what do you think?

Get ready...

2008-08-08T11:30:00.002-04:00

That's it. Enough procrastinating. I'm doing it. THE GREAT BLACK INK CELEBRITY DEATH MATCH is ON!

Check in later today for the results!

*Edited to add*
By the way, I own 13 different black inks. Thirteen. Insanity.

Does she even stamp anymore?

2008-07-26T22:28:00.003-04:00

Girl, I stamp so often, it's frightening. To my bank account.

Now then... here's a montage of the diaper cake: Not pictured= the bottle of wine in the center, for those new mommy emergencies

And the flowers... there were 22 of these bad boys, and, as usual, I was finishing them up on site. Ugh! Oh well... the only one who can see the picture in my head is me!

And then I came home and took a nap. Because oy, I'm beat.

Can you stand it?!

2008-07-24T22:23:00.003-04:00

Look how frequently I'm updating this week... I'm gonna be one of those "must read" blogs in no time!

My Stampin' Up order arrived today. It was just enough to get me out of pending, and hang on for another quarter. I'm looking forward to the new catalog, and have seen a few sneak peaks of some must-have punches. I love punches!

I've been rolling diapers for days (not really... more like 30 minutes, tops), and the cake is nearly ready for prime time. For the flowers, I found the cutest little white buckets in the wedding section of the Dollar Tree (3/$1), so I'm doing 20 tiny arrangements, so each guest can take one. They're gonna be adorable. I'll do them tomorrow.

Fun news... my new friend Emilie and I are going to the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen event that's held here in Delaware (yeah, I know, we're not in PA... I don't get it either). Emilie is a famous scrapbooker, and I love hanging out with her and her kids (and her hubby too, but I see her & the kids more often!)

Okay, I've got 40 thank-you notes to finish for the mom-to-be... and it's not even Saturday yet... I'm WAY ahead of the game!

I'll post pics tomorrow...

Baby shower goodies...

2008-07-22T10:03:00.005-04:00

I co-hosted a baby shower on Saturday, an untraditional baby shower for a VERY untraditional mom-to-be.

Here are a few pics of the favors. I used the Spellbinders Seed Packet die to cut the pieces of kraft paper (I just used a roll of 3M mailing paper) that I printed with the favor info on the front, and seed growing directions on the back. (I thought I took a picture of this, but I guess I didn't ;-(

I cut a bunch of unbleached coffee filters into 6" circles, covered them with water-soluble glue (Elmer's School Gel) and sprinkled wildflower seeds over them.

The next day, I folded up the coffee filters while my husband folded the seed packets. People loved them, and the earth-mothery-mom-to-be was thrilled.

I also handled the flower arrangements: again, I went with non-traditional flowers and colors, and the room looked stunning when everything was in place.

Before:

After:

In situ:

(please note, I was not in charge of the cake. ;-)

I have another baby shower THIS weekend... I'll be making the diaper cake!

More CHA goodies

2008-07-20T11:39:00.002-04:00

via Craft Critique:

New Spelbinders

You want PRIMA? You Got It! :)

A Sampling of CHA

I gotta tell you... those new nesties have my name all over them! And the Hello Kitty dies from Sizzix?! We have much Hello Kitty love in this house... can't wait to get my mitts on them!

Live from the floor...

2008-07-19T12:41:00.002-04:00

Check out these pics of CHA goodies:

Craft Critique: Pendants for Jewelry and More at CHA

Craft Critique: A CHA Challenge! Prizes!

Craft Critique: I'm Gonna Pass Out!

Craft Critique: Favorites from Day 1

MAN... I wish I could have gone this year... maybe this winter!

The first step...

2008-07-18T13:14:00.002-04:00

... is admitting that you have a problem. I have a problem that I never in a million years thought I would have. I'm addicted. To yarn. YARN! Not just any yarn, though... it's much more insidious than that. I'm addicted to yarn ON CLEARANCE.

Maybe it's not the yarn. It's the CLEARANCE thing that gets me every. single. time. Clearance means that it's all gone... no more... I can't change my mind and come back for it later, because, THERE IS NO LATER. And I don't like that. So, I buy it. All of it. It's really an issue. Thus far there's been significant eye-rolling, but no stern talking-to out of the husband. Probably because he's given up before he even starts. He's a pretty smart guy.

Eh. Bygones. I have a billion things to do (two baby showers in the next week), and waning motivation. I have a kitchen full of flowers to deal with. And it's hot. Hella hot. My garden seems to like it though, so I can't complain. Also, my house is 72 degrees and has been since March, so I can't complain about that either.

What was I going to post about? Oh right... just in case you've missed it, Craft Critique has a series of sneak peeks of upcoming summer CHA releases. AND, we'll have reporters on the floor starting today, all the way through the show. I'll keep the links updated.

CHA sneak peek 1
CHA sneak peek 2
CHA sneak peek 3

Now this is just embarrassing...

2008-07-11T09:24:00.002-04:00

It's not like I've not been creating anything... just last night I finished off 42 baby shower invites (my second set in as many weeks, two friends are due within a month of each other!), but I just can't manage to get this blog updated!

My basement craft studio/kids' playroom is THISCLOSE to being done. The walls are drywalled, mudded, sanded, primed, & painted; the flooring is in; the ikea furniture is nearly put together... just waiting for my husband to get off his duff and finish the ceiling (just kidding, dear).

My latest Craft Critique article is up... I had fun with this one!

Okay, starting today, I'm going to do better updating this blog. Really. I mean it this time!

New Craft Critique article

2008-06-25T07:50:00.001-04:00

is up -----> clicky here... let me know what you think!

FREE to a good home!

2008-06-20T20:52:00.004-04:00

or a mediocre one even... I'll even spring for postage!

Today, I received my latest PaperTrey Ink acquisitions, including the labels from all of last year's sets. If you're a PaperTrey buyer, you know what I'm talking about. Contrary to my husband's belief, I DID NOT buy everything PaperTrey put out last year. Therefore, I have in my possession, the labels for the stamp sets that I DID NOT buy available, first come, first served...

Here's what I have (again, let me make it clear that these are for the LABELS for your cd cases, NOT the stamp sets themselves. Because I don't have them. That's kinda the point...)

~~Text Boxed~~ (Joan B.)
~~Borders & Corners- RECTANGLES~~ (Joan B.)
~~Borders & Corners- HEARTS~~ (Joan B.)
~~Spooky Sweets~~ (Joan B.)
Holiday Wishes
~~Piece of Cake~~ (Alex)
Trajan: Monogram Edition
Ambassador: Monogram Edition
Borders & Corners: Monogram Edition
My Punny Valentine
Year-round Puns
Limitless Labels (why didn't I get this one? it's cute!)
Borders & Corners: Monogram Mini

PLEASE NOTE: if you don't already have these sets but are thinking of buying them, YOU DON'T NEED these labels, because now they come with them. This is only for folks who already have the sets, but don't have the newfangled newness.

Leave me a comment on this post if you want any of the above LABELS.
Thanks!

But where's the stamping?!

2008-06-11T19:57:00.003-04:00

Simmer down... I'll get to it!

This is what I've been working on for a while. I finished it up last night so I could give it to my dear friend Christine for her birthday. Of course, she was out sick (and really was sick), so she hasn't gotten it yet, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't read this blog, so I'm just going to post pics before I forget about them:

And here's her card.

She's the gardener I aspire to be... I knew VeggieBella was just the girl for the job. The background stamp on the top of the blue piece is from Unity Stamps, and I'm just IN LOVE with that company. I had a small issue with one of the stamps I ordered, and Angela fixed it immediately with no work required on my end. LOVE THAT!

I've been practicing with my Prismacolor markers that I've had for, uh, probably 7 years now (I used them in interior design school... poorly). I've been taking advantage of the proliferation of Copic coloring tutorials and applying them to the product I already have (look honey, I'm saving money!!). Be on the look-out for an upcoming Craft Critique article covering this topic (end of July, I think). Anyway, here's a close-up of VeggieBella:

"Good effort, B-" <---- I say this a lot... it's a quote from my thesis adviser in grad school. I was his teaching assistant for a freshman level geology class for non-majors ("Rocks for Jocks", if you will), and we used to read our favorite essay answers aloud while we were grading papers. "Good effort, B-" was his fall back line... this was before the days of "WTF?!" So there... now you know a little bit more about me.

Tee hee!

2008-06-07T15:05:00.003-04:00

I feel like a rockstar! I stopped in my local stamp shop (White Swan Rubber Stamps) to see what was new (the new memento inks, and the long rectangle nestabilites, thank you very much...) and the owner, Marylynn, kept asking customers if they read Craft Critique, because I was a reporter, should any of them want to meet me. And, as it turns out, several of them do read Craft Critique, and I was recognized from my blog picture! I heard at least one, "Ohhh! I love the way you write! So engaging!" and I tried not to crawl into a hole and just said thank you.

By the way, I found my missing mojo, and was up late last night creating goodness. Pics later!

Hey kids....

2008-06-06T09:30:00.005-04:00

My new article is up at Craft Critique. We did a topic switcheroo, so this isn't the article I hinted at last week; that will be published later this month.

Still mojo-less in the papercrafting realm, but I did do this for a co-workers retirement party today... not too shabby, if I do say so myself!

I need to find my mojo quick, I have 50 baby shower invitations to make this weekend (NOT for me, ugh...)

no stamping, just venting...

2008-06-01T19:54:00.003-04:00

I got these awesome stamps from Unity yesterday, and it turns out that they're looking for a new design team member... applications due today of course. I figure since I work best under pressure, I should go for it. And then life got in the way. Not life so much as the fact that even though I had a couple of awesome ideas, and have spent several hours on a couple of projects, I just can't get it together. It's just not working out the way that I want it to. So now I have bits and pieces of my great ideas just sitting around ticking me off. Meh.

The dumb thing is, I really already have plenty on my plate, thank you very much. I need a design team gig like I need another kid. I can't even update this blog more than every couple of weeks. So why am I so bummed?

Oh well... the kids need showers, and I need a drink. Maybe not in that order.

May your mojo be more flowy than mine was today!

Whoops!

2008-05-27T21:32:00.003-04:00

Time has really gotten away from me! I forgot to post a link to my latest Craft Critique article... I had much fun with this one, and every word is true.

Oh, and this is the photo they wouldn't let me use... lol, WAY too much information!
I even grew in my toenails special for the occasion!

You can click on the photo for a closer look, but WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU DO THAT?!

All right, I can take the hint... this Stamping Scientist could really use a pedicure!

Speaking of science, I've been hard at work on my next article, which will run on Monday. I've been experimenting! Like, for real experimenting, changing one variable at a time, just like a good scientist should. My professors would be so proud, oh if they could only see me now!

Gotta go check to see how my projects are drying (there's a hint for ya... a crappy hint, but a hint nonetheless!)

Winner!

2008-05-02T14:51:00.003-04:00

To my surprise, seven of you actually wanted this bracelet enough to comment! YAY!

Now then, I don't have a fancy random number generator, but I do have Jenny and she's pretty random:

This is Jenny picking the winner:

This is the winner after I pried it out of Jenny's left hand:

So kim3timemom, you get a fancy bracelet. I'll send you an email!

Thank you all for playing, and thanks so much for your wonderful comments!

Welcome Craft Critique Readers!

2008-04-30T12:20:00.002-04:00

Hi Folks!

Want a chance to win the crocheted bracelet I made for my very first Craft Critique article? Leave me a comment on this post, and I'll pick a random comment on Friday at noon.

2008-04-29T23:02:00.002-04:00

It occurs to me that my ~~readers~~ reader probably think I've dropped off the face of the earth... NOT SO! I've been crazy busy at work, and haven't had much time for blogging. I do have my very first article at Craft Critique going live on Wednesday, so I'm excited (and a bit nervous) about that!

In honor of my first article, I'll be offering up some blog candy... one of my projects will be up for grabs, so get your commenting fingers ready!

Look Ma, no stamping...

2008-03-31T22:37:00.007-04:00

Well, to be fair, if I had a stamp with this quote on it, I would have used it, but I don't, so I made my own. Sort of. I really just printed it out on Papertrey White. Also, I just realized that I did use a stamp. So yeah, nevermind all that "Look Ma" nonsense.

(card details: All cardstock, designer paper, ink and circle stamp by PaperTrey Ink, flower punch by E.K. Success, bling by Swarovski, Cuttlebug "Swiss Dots" embossing folder, circle & scalloped circle by Nestabilities... geez, for such a simple card, there sure is a lot of blah, blah, blah to write).

I could fit 12 on a page, so I made 12 cards, exactly alike. Mostly. Except, of course, I ran out of the right color bling about halfway through, and wound up coloring my second-string bling with my prismacolor markers. (sorry, I have to pause here because "second-string bling" is making me giggle). Let me tell you... I've been hoarding those rhinestones for at least a year, and I swear I heard them cheer when I tore open the package!

My husband never gives me a hard time about the money I spend (although he really should) or the craft crap I accumulate, but he did say to me once, "If you don't use what you buy, you're wasting money AND space." He's RIGHT! So, I'm using more (and buying more) and feeling better about it!

So, does your significant other come up with random statements that help validate your crafting purchases? Or do you find yourself doing the Michael's bag shuffle? I find that if I can assimilate my craft purchases right away, he never notices that there's something new... the benefit of having entirely too much stuff... it's confusing to the eye, which works to my benefit. I'd continue, but I know he reads this, and I can't go giving away all my secrets, now can I?

More exciting news...

2008-03-17T20:01:00.002-04:00

Well, it's all over the interwebs now... the new reporter list is up at Craft Critique, and I'm on it! YAY! I'm really excited to be a part of this awesome group. I know I'm going to learn a lot, and hopefully their (our?!) readers will learn a little bit from all my mistakes. I just visited all of the other new reporter's blogs, and wow. WOW! I think I need to kick it up a notch, just to keep up!

I'm looking forward to my assignments; I'll probably cross-post them here, in case you don't read Craft Critique, but really, who doesn't read Craft Critique?! SQUEE! I'm trying to stay cool here, but I'm just thrilled!

PaperTrey - Honorable Mention!

2008-03-16T23:26:00.000-04:00

Thanks Nichole!

PaperTrey!

2008-03-14T10:04:00.004-04:00

Hi girls,
These are this month's entries to PaperTrey's Guest Star stamper contest. I try to enter every month... we'll see how these go over:

These little charms are made from shrink plastic. I stamped them with Pearl-Ex ink in copper, punched them out with the yellow circle scalloped punch, flipped them over and used five different colors of VersaMagic chalk ink on the back. Then I stuck them in the oven for a while. Usually I'll give shrunk plastic a smack with an acrylic block when they're just out of the oven to flatten them out, but there were too many of these to get to while they were still hot, so I reheated them with Old Milwaukee, and then gave each one a smack. Then I coated the fronts with Ranger Glossy Accents and went to take a nap with Jenny. The end.

This is the same piece as a necklace. In real life, these charms look like beach glass, and I'm really happy with how they turned out.

This is a pendant made from translucent polymer clay (I use Sculpey III). I was struck by inspiration in the baking aisle at Michael's... the form for this pendant was a silicone muffin tray! It made the perfect size to use with the round stamps in the "Shapes By Design" set by Alli Miles. Anyway, after I baked the clay blank, I colored it with prismacolor markers. The alcohol inks react with each other to leave a really cool mottled pattern that looks like polished stone (kinda like azurite, to be exact... I'm a geologist after all...). Then I stamped it with Brilliance Cosmic Copper and let it dry over night.

And a card! I'm irked because I took 763 photos of this card, and the charms that are so cool in real life don't show up as anything special in the picture. Oh well... my mother-in-law will love it, and that's where it's headed!

Where did February go?

2008-02-28T19:12:00.014-05:00

I don't know how people manage to get their blogs updated daily... I'm so far behind just reading blogs that I'll never get caught up!

Anyway... I've been meaning to get this post together for a while. These are puzzles that I altered for my son's 5th birthday party in his preschool classroom. I'm definitely pleased with the way they came out, and Max was THRILLED!

These were pretty simple to do; inks direct to paper for background, clear stamps all the way for ease in positioning. I LOVE Technique Tuesday and Sassafras Lass alphabets because they are closely trimmed enough to be able to line up a whole word at a time (provided you have enough of the letters you need!). They would have been even easier if I hadn't waited until the night before... by the time I got to poor Joseph B., my mojo was LONG gone! Oh well... they're five, and generally easy to please! Luckily, there are only 14 of them!

If you click on the photos, you can get a closer look.

Abby
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Beautiful Blooms, Technique Tuesday Wayfarer (large)
Inks: VersaMagic Thatched Straw, Pink Petunia, Purple Hyacinth, Mango Madness, Malted Mauve

La'Mara
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Butterfly Kisses, Technique Tuesday Catalina (large)
Inks: Versamagic Sea Breeze, Purple Hydrangea, Aquatic Splash, Brilliance Pearlescent Lavender

Lyla
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Little Lady, Technique Tuesday Catalina (large)
Inks: Versamagic Aquatic Splash, Turquoise, Purple Hydrangea, Night Sky, Spring Pansy

Savannah
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Little Lady, Technique Tuesday Catalina (large)
Inks: Versamagic Pink Petunia, Malted Mauve,
Brilliance Pearlescent Poppy

Madison
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Beautiful Blooms, Technique Tuesday Wayfarer (large)
Inks: Versamagic Purple Hydrangea, Tea Leaves, Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid, Pearlecent Purple

Janice
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Beautiful Blooms, Technique Tuesday Wayfarer (large)
Inks: Versamagic Pink Grapefruit, Brilliance Rocket Red Gold, Pearlescent Poppy

Max (the birthday boy himself!)
Stamps: Sassafras Lass Gas Hogs, Mama Mocking Bird
Ink: Versamagic Mango Madness, Midnight Black,
Brilliance Rocket Red

Hayden
Stamps: Skipping Stones Explorer, Sassafras Lass Mama Mocking Bird
Inks: Versamagic Aegean Blue, Night Sky, Midnight Black

Nicholas
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Beautiful Blooms, Rubber Soul A Day At The Zoo, Technique Tuesday Wayfarer (large)
Inks: Versamagic Key Lime, Aloe Vera, Tea Leaves

Richard
Stamps: Rubber Soul-A Day at the Zoo, Technique Tuesday- Dog & Pony Show, Wayfarer (large)
Inks: Versamagic Tea Leaves, Spanish Olive, Midnight Black

Cameren
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Butterfly Kisses
Inks: Versamagic Midnight Black, Brilliance Starlight Silver, Starlight Black

Joseph C.
Stamps: Fontwerks Seeing Stars (yes, that is the correct spelling)
Inks: Versamagic Midnight Black, Brilliance Rocket Red Gold, Pearlescent Poppy

Ethan
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Beautiful Blooms, Sassafras Lass Mama Mocking Bird
Inks: Colorbox Eggplant, Red, Maroon

Joseph B.
Stamps: Sassafras Lass Oliver & Friends, PaperTrey Ink Beautiful Blooms, Technique Tuesday Wayfarer (large)
Inks: Versamagic Mediterranean Blue, Ocean Depth, Java Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue, Coffee Bean

Headline: The Stamping Scientist Involved in Industrial Accident...

2008-02-06T10:45:00.000-05:00

Eh, it sounds worse than it is... I managed to burn the begeezus out of my finger while using my hot knife (guess I won't be reviewing THAT product any time soon, lol!)

Anyway, here's a product review that I had 'in the can' as they say...

Product Review: Cutterbee Curvy Cutter (Circle) by E.K. Success

I have a drawer full of circle cutters. I’ve tried them all, and I always wind up moving to a new one because they’re either too hard to use, too hard to read, or just plain don’t cut well. Until I bought the Cutterbee Curvy Cutter, by E.K. Success. This cutter is a snap to use, glides along its track easily, and cuts a perfect circle (nearly) every time.

This cutter consists of two different size guides with three tracks each. The cutter handle itself contains a beefy-looking blade (extras store right on-board), and a set of ball-bearing rollers which fit into each of the tracks on the guides. The ball-bearings are key, because they make cutting smooth sailing, not like the push, grab and slip you may have encountered with other cutters (raises hand).

Another feature of the cutter handle is the part you hold onto actually rotates as you’re cutting – no more bent up wrists and carpal tunnel flare-ups! I could push this thing along with one finger if I wanted to.

There are two circle templates that allow you to line up where you want your circle to be cut, and tell you which track and which blade setting to use. They’re marked in ¼” increments from 2 ¼” up through 7”. I have found, though, if you need a bigger circle than that, you can put the cutter handle onto the tracks facing outward, and you can cut circles from 12 ½” to 15” (again in ¼” increments), which would be very handy for large signs or poster board.

Cutterbee suggests using (their) glass cutting mat. I use the backside of a 16” x 20” glass cutting board that I got at a large discount chain store for less than half the price. Works like a charm.

I bought the Curvy Cutter at A.C. Moore using a 40% off coupon, so I paid about $12 (it retails for around $20). Depending on the packaging, you may need to buy the cutter handle separately; mine came with the oval set (which I also love). According to the A.C. Moore website, there’s an add-on set that cuts waves, more circles, and more ovals. I’ll be heading over there tomorrow!

Pros: Accurate, easy to use, glides, cuts well. Extra blades store in the handle.

Cons: Storage – the guides are large. I actually keep mine in its original packaging so that the guides and templates stay together. Also, I tend to stand up to use it, so I can hold down the guides pretty heavily, to make sure it won’t slide. It’s still way better than anything else I’ve used.

238 clothespins...

2008-01-31T23:57:00.000-05:00

That's just wrong. From now on, everything, and everyone leaving this house will be adorned with ribbon in some manner.

It sure is pretty though... I have it in 5 large glass compotes that I bought on clearance for a wedding (I do freelance floral design) that I never used, and couldn't return. HA! Mine now!

And to answer Alex's question, I bought a couple of skeins of yarn (I learned to crochet over the weekend, like I needed another hobby), and a couple of the new clear Inkadinkado sets (this one and this one), and I'll be going back for this one and this one. Now, these aren't the super high quality photopolymer like PaperTrey or My Favorite Things, but I've found that with some chalk ink and a steady hand, they do okay. And with a 40% off coupon in hand, well, you know how it goes... but no more ribbon!

I'm so embarrassed ...

2008-01-30T23:32:00.000-05:00

I decided to spend several hours tonight making my ribbon look all pretty like Nichole Heady. I bought 60 clothespins, thinking surely that was enough, and then added 40 more, just in case. I'm sure you know how this story ends...

100 clothespins later, I'm not even halfway done. My husband suggested that this undertaking was a lot like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. He may not be wrong! Looks like I'm headed back to the dollar store tomorrow! You know, the one that just happens to be next door to AC Moore, lol!

(Not) As Seen On T.V.!

2008-01-27T21:48:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for those late-night infomercials. I usually keep myself in check until the goodies show up in the store, but more often than not, I've been sucked in by the gimmick, and the product was awful (Pasta Pronta, I'm looking at you...)

But today, I found a new use for an As Seen On T.V. product that I already thought was awesome. Now it's way awesomer. Way.

The Ove Glove has been in my kitchen since a got a couple of them for Christmas a couple of years ago. Just as advertised (on T.V.!) it does great things with hot trays, etc. But now I'm going to get one just for my craft room. Why?

Polyshrink. See, I've been working on this comparative post between real Shrinky Dinks and recycled #6 plastic take-out containers, and I'd tried all of the "get the damned plastic to hold still already" tricks that I know: pining it to cork board, crumpled up aluminum, etc. Bah! As it turns out, I was also making cupcakes at the same time, and I walked out of the kitchen wearing an Ove Glove and, EUREKA! Inspiration struck.

So, I cradled a piece of polyshink in my Ove Gloved hand, and it was like angels started singing. Aimed my good old Milwaukee heat gun at my protected hand, and the shrink plastic curled up neatly, just like it's supposed to... no chasing it around the table, no distortion due to pining it down, just happy, happy day. My hand got a little warm, which was actually nice, since I'm pretty cold-blooded anyway. I LOVE IT!

Now then... I'll get back to working on that comparison post...

Thrifty Thursday...

2008-01-22T23:08:00.000-05:00

I'm cheap. Well, frugal. Actually, I just want to know that I'm getting the biggest bang for my buck. I've got no trouble spending money (just ask American Express, lol), if what I'm buying is worth it. This post was going to be about making my own Teflon bone folder, but I stumbled onto a couple of products at my local kitchen store that I wanted to share. I'll do the DIY bone folder next week, promise.

A few weeks ago, I bought a Ranger Non-Stick craft sheet (retail 18.99, I used my 40% coupon, and paid 11.99, not a bad deal, so I thought).

It does everything is promises to do, be non-stick, protect my work surface from heat, the whole shebang. It annoys me that it doesn't lie flat, but whatever.

<---- see, not flat.

At my local kitchen store (Kitchen & Company, for those keeping track) I found this:

<------ here's the important part. Six bucks?!

Let's see what this bad boy looks like:

<----- Hmm... looks familiar. Also not flat.

Here's the two of them side by side, Super Parchment on the left, Ranger Craft Sheet on the right:

The Ranger craft sheet is a little heaver, and feels a little slicker than the Super Parchment, but according to their respective websites, they're both Teflon coated.

While still at the kitchen store, I stumbled onto this beauty:

Ohhhh, a Silpat. French. Heavy.
<--- very, very flat.

So, I figured, let's make this a ball game... into the cart it went.

Now, silpats are silicon-coated fiberglass, heat & stick resistant, but definitely denser than the Teflon-coated variety. It made a nice sounding *THWAK* when it hit my table. This baby cost $20, no coupon. Ergh. We're getting a little out of my comfort zone, this better have been worth it.

Okay, based on appearence alone, the rankings are:
1. Silpat (FLAT! HEAVY! NOT MOVING!)
2. Ranger Craft Sheet (Slick, but irritatingly not flat. Or heavy)
3. Super Parchment (yeah, same with this one... almost a tie with the Ranger).

Next, I did some polyshrink, uh, shrinking on each of the surfaces. I busted out my old-school Milwaukee heat gun (this thing is 10 years old, and still has it, baby) and went to town. All of them performed admirably, no marring or burn marks on my dining room table. The polyshrink blew around a lot on the Ranger craft sheet and the Super Parchment, not as much on the Silpat, since it's surface is slightly tacky, and more friction=less movement (<----that's science, see...).

Current standings: 1. Silpat holds firm in the lead, I liked the extra friction Ranger Craft Sheet & Super Parchment are neck & neck at this point.

Then I got them dirty... Stazon-kinda dirty:

They all three cleaned up with a baby wipe, Ranger Craft sheet and Silpat tied for awesome, Super Parchment needed a wee bit more scrubbing, but nothing too taxing:

I also threw some green acrylic paint down on them, heat set it, and wiped with a baby wipe, and no problems, clean as a whistle.

So, it may all come down to price & personal preference on this one. Personally, I'm keeping the Silpat on my craft table. I love the heaviness of it, and did I mention that it's flat? As far as I'm concerned, the Ranger craft sheet and the Super Parchment were so close that it irked me quite a bit that the Ranger craft sheet retails for three times what the Super Parchment does. It's definitely not three times better.

I just checked Amazon, and they have the Silpat for $11.99. That figures. Oh well, I don't need another one, because I think this one will last me quite a while.

Since you've read this far, you might as well WIN A PRIZE! One lucky reader (and since there's only like 3 of you, and one of them is my husband, you've got a pretty good shot), will win a Super Parchment sheet, barely used. First comment wins! Go!

But first, some PaperTrey...

2008-01-14T00:23:00.001-05:00

I swear, if it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done! Here are my entries for this month's Guest Star Stamper at PaperTrey Ink. I emailed them minutes after midnight... I hope Nichole looks at them!

I felt the jewelry-making bug biting, so I whipped up a few pair of earrings. These are made out of shrink plastic, stamped in Stazon (Jet Black & Blaze Red) on the front, colored with pink Prismacolor marker on the back.

Here are some close-ups... I may give these as gifts to my son's pre-school teachers.

I made about one billion of these Christmas tree ornaments for a craft fair in December (and sold quite a few of them, lol), and these are some of the ones that are leftover... I'll be marketing them for Valentine's Day:

and in red...

Finally, here's a card. You can barely see the swirly heart as a background on the Real Red cardstock. It's cooler in real life, lol!

Okay, I'm off to bed... I'll deal with the photo formatting in the morning!

Testing, testing...

2008-01-05T14:55:00.000-05:00

Is this thing on? Yes? Good.

Oh, girl, I know... everyone and their sister has a stamping blog now, but I've not seen one like this. I'm going to apply some good old-fashioned scientific method to solve some of stampers biggest dilemmas (you know, stuff like "What ink should I use with these blasted markers?" or "I can't get my glitter to stick... WHY?!").

Got a question you want answered? Drop me a line in the comments section.

Stay tuned! I'll be facing the ink challenge soon!