Laurie Notaro Strikes again!!!

Well, I don't have a card today however I wanted to share with you something I purchased from Kim Hughes who sells her Paper Smooches acrylic stamps.  I can't wait to use them.  I wanted to show you how big they were and... AREN'T THEY CUTE?  What I really wanted to tell you guys is that she is fast.  She shipped them out the day after I ordered them AND they arrived the next postal day.  What phenomenal service!!!!

If you want to see her stamps used, go see Britta Swiderski.
Britta always is making new videos and introducing new products. 

Amuse-bouche:

One of my favorite authors came out with a new book and it was 50% off at Amazon so I HAD to get it. I LOVE Laurie Notaro.   She is hilarious (like Marlooney) and writes about things that MOST women can relate to.  Note:  Marlene  reminds me of Laurie.   Here's an excerpt from one of her older books.   She was trying to find boots to wear that would accommodate her HUGE calves ( I can soooo relate ).  The only boots that could be found and FIT were pirate boots.  HAHA.  [You can actually scroll and read some of the chapters before and after the excerpt.] Enjoy.

I have work to do tonight but I'm hoping I can squeeze out a chapter or two of Laurie's new book before I hit the sack.

Have a great week y'all. It's super hot here in So Cal but I am NOT complaining. Keep it coming.  :)

A retirement card...

I created this retirement card for a co-worker who celebrated his recent retirement.  I created this with Penny Black clear acrylic stamps (available at Simonsaysstamp.com).

I highlighted parts with Liquid Pearls and Stickles.  The coloring was done with Copics and Distress Ink.

The sentiment was hand-written with a black Memento marker.

A wedding gift card package....

I went to a fabulous wedding last night in Huntington Beach. There were so many cool things at this wedding, starting with the bridesmaid who had her Pomeranians in a carriage to the awesome reception. 

Look at this:  I loved it! The little doggies were SOOOOO cute.

The bride and groom looked positively lovely and I was so happy to be able to meet their family and share in their special day.

The reception was so much fun. There was dancing, a free candy store filled with assorted purple candies that we could fill our acrylic canisters with to take home, a taco-bar, a photo booth (with hats and masks to use), and a fry-girl.  What's that, I asked?  It's a girl who fries little donuts with sugar and cinnamon (kinda like a popcorn stand).  HOLY COW.  Then, about 10:30pm, we all got little sparklers (that you have at the Fourth of July) and lined the walkway (on both sides)  and they walked down the walkway.  Apparently, that's a new thing that people do at weddings...  

Here is my wrapped gift... 

This is after it was wrapped. I used the big glass pendant that was on the wedding invitation.  The sentiment came from an Inkadinkadoo clear acrylic stamp set.

 ... inside was my gift box.

once you lifted the lid...

A newborn is coming...

One of my co-workers is having a baby so I made this little scrapbook for her...

Here is the front cover.  The album is 4"x6" on chipboard.  I put various papers on it and then put distress ink on the edges

This is a 3x3 meandering scrapbook.  To get details on how to make one, go to Mary's tutorial here on Cardztv

Amuse-bouche:
I am getting free Showtime.... If you get Showtime, check out Web Therapy with Lisa Kudrow.  Love it.  Remind me of Frasier but in a tech-y way.

Thanks for the Thai....

A neighborhood friend made a dish of homemade thai noodle salad for me.  Thai is my favorite kind of food and this one had great flavor.  I was really impressed.  I have been working really hard on my scrapbook gift (that I'll show you tomorrow) but I put this card together quickly for her.  I believe I got this image at Digi'swith Attitude.  The sentiment came from Scrappy  Mom's.

 Amuse-bouche:
Tom Kha Gai

This is the best soup ever. I've made it several times and I'm never disappointed. It is very labor intensive (for me) but SOOOO worth it.  I get a lot of the ingredients at asian markets ("99 Ranch" in California).  I have printed the recipe below because I'm afraid one day the link will be gone but as of now... here it is:    Yes, it is an Emeril recipe but don't be discouraged.  I sure was but I just took my time and it came out wonderfully.  I actually changed up a few of the ingredients (took out the mushrooms).  The broth is just the best because of the coconut milk. Sweet and spicy.

 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh lemongrass, tough outer leaves removed
• 2 tablespoons peeled and thinly sliced fresh ginger
• 5 small Thai chiles, stemmed and lightly crushed
• 4 Kaffir lime leaves, crushed
• 3 cups shrimp stock or fish stock
• 1 cup fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons Thai nam pla, or Vietnamese nuoc nam (fish sauce), or more to taste
• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
• Salt
• Steamed jasmine rice, accompaniment, recipe follows

Directions

In the center of a 6-inch square piece of cheesecloth, place the lemongrass, ginger, chilies and lime leaves. Draw up the sides to form a pouch and tie with kitchen twine.

In a large pot, combine the stock, mushrooms, fish sauce, and sachet in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp, coconut milk, and cilantro, and simmer until the shrimp are cooked, 3 to 4 minutes.
Remove from the heat and discard the sachet. Season, to taste, with salt or additional fish sauce. Serve with jasmine rice.

• Steamed Jasmine Rice: Khao Suoy
• 2 cups jasmine rice, other long-grain white rice can be substituted
• 3 cups water

In a 2-quart saucepan, combine the rice and water and bring to a boil. Cover tightly, reduce the heat to low, and cook undisturbed until the water is absorbed, 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit undisturbed for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.

I also make a great Green Papaya Salad.  That one is super easy to make (just labor intensive shredding the green papaya, even with a cuisinart).

Chuck's Angels...

I HAD to make a card tonight!  I got my Simon Says Stamps today. Let me just first say that I ordered these on Thursday night. They shipped them out Friday morning, I got them today!! HOLY COW! So fast. I am in LOVE with their stamps and their service!!! LOVE!!!!!!!  (.... although it's a close tie with Scrappy Mom's who shipped my order in 2 hours).   I used Copic, Distress Ink, and Liquid Pearls.  The twine is Rustic Twine from Paper Trey Ink.  The background stamp came from a Penny Black clear stamp set that I also got from Simon Says Stamp (that I'll show you later-- hint hint).

I digress.  Look at this CUTE stamp.  I can't wait to use some of the other stamps I got with these characters.  The stamp maker is Penny Black.

That's me on the left  :)

This sentiment came from a Michaels' clear stamp set from Inkadinkadoo-- "Thoughts for a Day."

Just a note: the stamp itself is pretty big.  I didn't know how big it would be when I saw it on the internet photo.   

Sweet card.... with Copics

Here's a card I whipped up because I wanted to play with my Hero Arts stamps.  I used Copics and Distress ink (for the sky and grass), as well as Stickles and Liquid Pearls.
As you notice, there is a Cuttlebug embossed background.  The pink ink on the sentiment is from Stampin' Up (Melon Mambo).

I've been working on a mini album.  It's looking super cute.  What does that mean?  It means I haven't had time to work on cards  :(  which means not a lot of posts this week.  I did place an order on some stamps from Simon Say Stamps and Scrappy Mom's.  I wanted to let you know, Simon Says Stamps shipped my order in LESS THAN 24 HOURS!!!  Scrappy Mom's sent my order out to be shipped in 2 hours-- ON A SUNDAY!!!!  [They have a cute new set about dogs and cats that was just released!! I couldn't resist!]   Super Awesome.  I like Paper Trey Ink but they take a while to send orders out (especially after a release).... Speaking of which, tonight is their August release! Yay!

Congratulations from Pooh!

I made this congratulations card for a friend who loves Pooh. I used the Pooh cartridge, action wobble, and Elegant Edges (love that cartridge!).  You can also see that I used Distress Ink along the edges.  The blue paper is from DCWV (Poises).  The purple background is simply Distress Ink on white cardstock that was applied via a blending stamp.  The sentiments came from Scrappy Mom's.

A cool wallet

I love making things out of paper that aren't normally made out of paper... like this faux leather wallet.

To see it in person, is incredible. You'd all say "OMG, THAT LOOKS REAL."

Naturally, like everything else, I can't say I created it.  I found it on a tutorial at Split Coast Stampers.  I was surprised how quick it was to make. The outer skin is used with the Mosiac Embossing folder and UTEE!! How cool is THAT!!!

Here's the link   http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/fauxleatherwallet/

Amuse-bouche:

My friend and I went to a local pizza joint for pizza last weekend. Yes, I'm going to show you MORE food.

This place has great deep dish pizza. It is the closest to Chicago Deep Dish as we can get (per a Chicago native that I know).   It's called Tony's Pizza.     

It's super yummy. My friend got the specialty pizza and my 1/2 had pineapple and mushrooms.  There's tons of cheesy goodness in there with a super yummy crust. 

Happy Birthday to my Uncle...

Today, August 10, is my Uncle's birthday.  Here is a card I made him.  This cute octopus came from the Birthday Bash cartridge. I used the Cuttlebug embossing folder and background stamp (and sentiment stamp) from Scrappy Mom's.  The card was created by using the Elegant Edges cartridge (welding a rectangle to one of the images via the Gypsy).  I also used the same cartridge to do the two mats in yellow and light blue.  I also threw some Stickles on there and google eyes and white gel stitching.... oh, and what else? Ah, yes...  Baker's twine from Scrappy Mom's.  Oh, one more thing-- the mat that the sentiment is on was cut using Fiskar's Deckle scissors.  

I hope he gets it in time.

Otherwise, HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE TOM!!!

Amuse-bouche:

Yesterday, I had the day off from work and took the dogs to a local park.  Here is a photo of them at the man-made pond.

And here they are looking at a crane.

 

Another Marlene image... and Viewers' Mail

I made this card using ANOTHER ONE OF Marlene's freebie image-- SEE WHAT YOU CAN GET FOR FREE???? 

What a screaming riot!  

I used Liquid Pearls to bling up the dress.  I also used Stickles on the shoes and hair bow. You will notice there is some distressing ink touchups on the edges of the image and the sentiment (Concord Grape). The Rustic Twine came from Paper Trey Ink.

I got the idea of this card from a male (mid 30's) friend that told me that sometimes (when around other guys), they use farting as a strategy either to change the subject, lighten the mood, or end the conversation.   My female friend and I stood there with our mouths hanging open thinking... ARE YOU SERIOUS? Wait, why am I surprised? I marveled at the sheer uninhibited freedom that NHL players have of blowing snot rockets on national tv. 

This card represents the female attempt at that strategy. Of course, I won't be testing this theory... as I don't fart.  (snicker....   )

 

Viewers' Mail:

One of my viewers was kind enough to ask her relative who is a fireman WHAT THE HECK WAS UP WITH THE DUMMIES....
Here is the (un)official response: "I'm sure that looked weird to see them driving around like that, but what your friend saw were rescue dummies. Those are used for training. The dummies are super heavy (in excess of 150 lbs) and super awkward because they don't flex like normal people. They probably couldn't get them in and out of the cab of the engine, so they just tied them off on the back, for transport. Pretty weird looking for sure. "

Me:  Thank you for inquiring dear viewer.  It was such an amusing sight and provided some of the viewers here with a chuckle.

A Day in Corona Del Mar...

If you weren't aware, Marlene makes these great images and gives them away FOR FREE for 24 hours. To get them, you  need to check into her FANTABULOUS and ENTERTAINING blog every day.  www.disguisedasagrownup.blogspot.com.

You can also buy her images if you miss the freebie download at www.squigglefly.com.

Here is a card using one of Marlene's images and sentiments.  I made this birthday card for my dear friend.  

 

We had a lovely birthday celebration walking and shopping in Corona Del Mar.  It was great weather.  Here are some photos I took:

 We ate at a gastropub that is attached to this restaurant.  The Gastropub was called The Side Arm. The Stilton Mac and Cheese was awesome, as was their cheese and meats platter.

This barber shop allowed your dog to come in and sit at your feet as you got your hair cut.  I inquired- they only do men's hair.  (DARN!)

I passed by a florist shop and saw these displays. Gorgeous!

This is a new cheese store that opened up down there.  This is only a small selection of the available cheese.