TCP123

It has been awhile since I have played along with The Cat's Pajamas's card challenges. Being paralyzed has a way of taking the fun out of a girl's life.

This weeks's challenge is hosted by Susan, who challenged us to us any TCP beverage stamp.

When I ordered the stamp set with this tea cup, I also ordered the dies for the flowers. The flowers have holes in them to make them look like buttons. I was going to thread embroidery thread through the holes, but my thread and needles are in the basement and I am upstairs and I have no way to get down the stairs. So, I punched centers for the flowers, and I think the flowers look just about as cute with centers as they do being buttons.

Stuff used:
Stamps: TCP Toni's Tea Set, A Cuppa Set
Ink: Versafine Onxy Black, Stampin' Up Gable Green and Pink Passion
Paper: Stampin' Up Gable Green, Pink Passion, Pixie Pink, Yoyo Yellow (all retired), PTI white
Other: TCP Flower Buttons CutUps die, 1/4" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, corner rounder punches

Elizabeth's birthday card

This is the other card that I made on Wednesday. It is a birthday card for my niece's 21st birthday. She will be able to listen to bands in clubs where she was not able to go before (legally).

I thought that the cocktail glass was fitting, but I also wanted to remind her to not overdo it. The bear inside the card has a "hangover icepack" on his head.


A month ago, I was not able to hold an X-acto knife. This week, I am able to use one to cut paper.

A month ago, I could not use scissors in my right hand. This week, I can cut paper well enough to do some paper-piecing. I still can't cut shapes that have a lot of inward cuts. But I was able to cut around the bear's belly and the balloons to make them from patterned paper.

I wish my hands didn't shake when they get tired. But they have come a long way from being completely paralyzed 8 months ago.

Supplies used:
Stamps: All stamps by The Cat's Pajamas: A Beary Good Year, Coolvetica, You Say It's Your Birthday
Paper: Stampin Up Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Summer Sun, Whisper White; Classic Crest Solar White; patterned paper from DCWV Indian Summer Fall Matstack
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia, Prismacolor pencils
Other: Oval Nestabilities

Garth's Birthday card

Due to my paralysis, I haven't made any cards since January, except for a couple of cards at my Stampin' Up dealer's house over a month ago. I needed help with those cards since I had to do most things left-handed.

I made two cards on Wednesday. This is one of them: a birthday card for my brother-in-law, Garth. I love the radishes in this patterned paper, and when I saw it I thought of Garth. He enjoys working in his garden.

Supplies used:
Stamps: "So Many Scallops" by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Old Olive and Real Red, Solar White By Classic Crest, Offbeat 6x6 paper pad by Basic Grey
Ink: SU Real Red
Other: SU Scallop paper punch, circle Nestabilities, Cherry Devine Twine

Where have I been?

It has been over 5 months since I have posted anything to my blog. I have done only a few crafty things during that time. The last card I made was for my mom's birthday in January. I had every intention of posting a picture of it, but I landed in the hospital.

Ed took me to the local hospital, and I was taken by ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, Washington. By the time I arrived, I was paralyzed from the neck down. I spent around two weeks at Sacred Heart, where I regained the use of my left hand and arm. Then I spent around 8 weeks at St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute. There, I regained most of the use of my right arm and hand, some strength in my left leg, and there was some movement in my right foot. I learned how to use a wheelchair and I was almost independent by the time I left. My diagnosis was Viral Myelitis. I was an incomplete tetraplegic, and the paralysis was caused by some random virus. I was OK with it, and I planned to continue to work hard at getting better at home.

We were home for 3 and a half weeks, and I was getting stronger, due to physical therapy. Then I woke up one morning and I didn't know where my right arm was. Ed checked, and there was no strength in my right arm or right leg. We headed to the ER, I was admitted to the hospital, and I was given steroids. That afternoon, I lost the vision in my right eye. We then headed back to Sacred Heart. I was there for 15 days, and that was followed by 3.5 weeks in rehab. My vision is returning, my right leg has some strength, and I am able to move it a little. I still cannot feel my right arm and hand. I have to propel the wheelchair with my left arm, and to keep from going in circles, I steer with my left foot. I am still an incomplete tetraplegic but the paralysis was caused by an autoimmune disease, which we are calling Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO), also called Devic's disease/syndrome. I tested negative for the antibodies, but 30% of patients with the disease test negative. So, I now have a disease that can relapse and paralyze me again.

I am home again, and I hope to stay here. Through drugs, we hope to prevent relapses. Meanwhile, I will adapt to being left-handed. I hope to be able to craft again.

March of the Penguins

I have decided I like my local hardware store. Unlike Home Depot and Lowes (which we don't have in town anyway), the store carries some exotic woods in the warehouse out back. I bought a 15 inch piece teak so I could make a gift for my sister and her husband and for my cat sitter. I bought enough so I could make one for us too.

These penguin puzzles are a bit less complicated that he cat puzzle I made for my parents. But they also took me less time to sand!



Working with teak was a new experience. I can see why it is used for outside furniture, since it is very oily. I sealed the wood before coating it with varnish. I used no stain, since the wood is so lovely in its natural state.

Here is one penguin pair. This set has been sent to my sister and her husband.

Note cards

My niece will traveling abroad during the spring semester. Her Christmas wish list is short. She only wants money so she spend it on her travels to Brazil.

Bleah. I hate giving money for Christmas. Half the fun of choosing a gift for someone is wrapping it in pretty paper. Wrapping a check is boring! I put her check in a stamped card from my stash. I wasn't even motivated to make her a new card. If I had something Brazilian-themed, I may have been inspired.

I still wanted to give her something she could unwrap. So, I decided to make her a set of "Note" cards. My niece loves music, so I searched through my stamps for music-themed stamps. I settled on 4 designs and made 3 of each. If she has 3 of each, maybe she will use them instead of save them?

Two of the cards have cats on them. My niece isn't into cats. (The poor dear has never experienced the joy of living with one.) But since I like cats I have cat stamps, and I am sure that some of her friends like cats so she can send the cat note cards to them.

They are all one-layer cards. Here are the four different cards:





I put them in a clear box with some envelopes and decorated a belly band with one of my music stamps which I didn't use on the cards.



Stuff used:

Pink note cards:
Stamp: Stampin Up Notable Notes
Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White (looks off-white in picture)
Ink: Palette Noir, Stampin Up Pixie Pink
Other: Stencil made with an oval Nestablilties die, sponge

Yellow singing cat cards:
Stamps: Cat Song by Cornish Heritage Farms, sentiment from Studio G
Paper: Stampin Up So Saffron
Ink: Palette Noir, Zig Millennium marker Prismacolor pencil
Other: Acrylic block for drawing the square

Blue guitar cards:
Stamps: Geetar by Stampola, Swirls by Autumn Leaves, More Great Greetings by Stampin Up
Paper: Stampin Up Bashful Blue
Ink: Palette Noir, Versamark, Prismacolor pencil

Lavender sax cards:
Stamps: Blues by Rubber Cottage, sentiment from Studio G
Paper: Stampin Up Almost Amethyst
Ink: Palette Noir, prismacolor pencil
Other: Gold stickls for saxophone, Scor-Pal to score lines

Belly band and box:
Stamp: Cats on Treble Clef by PFY
Paper: computer paper, Papertrey white, Stampin Up Pixie Pink and Almost Amethyst
Other: Nestabilities dies, box from Papertrey, plain envelopes from Staples

Christmas cards

I haven't blogged in almost a month! I guess I have been busy.

Before Thanksgiving, I had my Christmas cards stamped and done. Or, so I thought. When I got them out to sign them this week, I realized I had not stamped the sentiments inside. Taking care of that did not take long though, and all the cards were put in the mail yesterday. I am sending out only 15 Christmas cards this year.



The photo doesn't really show the sparkle and the depth of color that these cards have. The base card is shimmery, as well as the mat behind the tree layer. The tree and sentiment are embossed with silver, and the ribbon adds another silver element with another texture. I had planned on stamping the tree on the shimmery paper, but it didn't make the tree pop. The Handsome Hunter paper was the perfect match to the shimmery green paper. I had a half sheet of the hunter paper left in my stash, which was not enough. My Stampin Up demonstrator was willing to loan me some sheets so I could work on my cards. (I will order more, with my next order!) Her husband was a sweetheart and even delivered it to me at work, since my demonstrator was out of town when I figured out I needed the paper!

While Ed was signing the cards, his comment was that the cards were "kinda pretty". That means that he thinks they are very nice.

Stuff used:
Stamps: Snow Swirled set by StampinUp!
Paper: Stardream Emerald, Curious Metallics Galvanized, and StampinUp Handsome Hunter
Ink: Versamark, embossed with Silver Ranger Super Fine detail embossing powder
Other: Ribbon from Michaels

cat puzzles

When I cut my fretwork ornaments, I had so much fun that I decided I wanted to cut more wood. Plus, I saw some fun projects in the scroll saw magazines which I wanted to try. So, I located a couple of boards I had purchased years ago, put a new blade on my saw, and had more fun.



I will be giving these kitties to my parents for Christmas. They really don't need more dust-collectors in their small retirement apartment, but I do think they need some cats. Plus Mom seems to really like my scroll-saw work. (She leaves my scroll-sawed ornaments out all year long!)

Here are the cats, assembled into a puzzle.



I made two puzzles, by stacking an oak board on top of a poplar board, and cutting both puzzles at once. This way, the cats would be different textures. I also used 3 kinds of stain to make the cats look different. Half the cats were stained with Cherry stain, and half were stained with Fruitwood stain. There was not a noticeable difference between the stain colors on the oak pieces, so I over-stained the fruitwood-stained oak pieces with a Red Mahogany stain marker.



Red cats, brown cats, yellow cats, and tan cats.

I sanded the cats carefully so that the fronts and the backs of the puzzle pieces looked the same.

Here are the two puzzles. We are keeping the set that is lying down in the picture.

Ornaments

I have been playing with my scroll saw.

I created this year's ornaments, and have almost completed next year's ornaments.

Here are this year's ornaments. They are made of Kiaat wood. I must say, this has been my most favorite wood to cut. It cut easily and while I was working with the wood, it gave off a mild aroma, kind of like incense.



Here are the almost-done ornaments for next year. They are made from Narra wood. It is similar to Kiaat, but I didn't notice an aroma while cutting it, although it is supposed to have an aroma too. I do not intend to 'finish' these until January 2010, since I signed and dated the 2010 ornaments with the year 2010. Not only do I want the date to be the year I give the ornaments, but also the year I make the ornaments. To keep the ornaments from being 'finished' this year, I will wait to add the hanging threads until the next calendar year.



Here is one 2009 and one 2010 ornament, alongside a quarter, for scale.




Last year, I posted pictures of the ornaments I created last year, along with pictures of ones from previous years.

2001, 2002, 2003, 2004's ornaments can be found here.
2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008's ornaments can be found here.

Gargoyles

Do you ever see something in the store that you just have to have? Now, I am not talking about toilet paper, which is pretty much something that a person has to have. I am talking about something frivolous that makes you smile and makes you keep thinking about it later after you leave it in the store because your depression-era parents have ingrained frugality into your system so much that something has to be on sale in order for it to be purchased.

No? That doesn't happen to you? Well, it happened to me.

I was in Michaels and wandered through the Halloween section and saw some gargoles. I had a coupon, but it was for one item, and there were three gargoyles which were a set, but they were individually priced. I looked days later, and they were still there. I considered printing 2 coupons and using one from the paper and buying two gargoyes one day (tip: send your DH through another checkout line with a coupon and an item so you can use two coupons with one trip) and buying the 3rd gargoyle the next day. But what if someone bought the one I had left in the store and I ended up with a set of two? This would not do.

Finally, a week arrived when all Halloween decor was 30% off, but when I was at the store on Monday and saw there were two sets left, I didn't realize they were on sale. Thursday, we returned to the store and we looked high and low and there were no gargoyles. I was so bummed, but I kept my chin up and looked for silver ribbon which I wanted for Christmas cards. When we got to the checkout line with the ribbon (no coupon needed, since ribbon was on sale), Ed glanced up and there were the gargoyles by the checkout stand. They were un the clearance area where I never look. Oh, happy day! Ed has such sharp eyes! (Being a foot taller than I means that he didn't have to look up to see them, so that may have something to do with it.) So, did I buy them? Absolutely yes!



See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil.

I took them to work and have them sitting on my corner hutch above my computer in my cubicle. They are staying there, well past Halloween.

Halloween 2009 cards

I haven't stamped in a couple of weeks, so I haven't had any new cards to share. Then I realized that I had not shared a picture of the Halloween cards I made to send to family members. (And one card for one Halloween-lovin', card-appreciating friend of mine who oddly enough did not send a Halloween card this year. I hope she is okay.)



I made the cards over a couple of months! Back in August, I had the layout in mind, then I needed to order some card stock for the bases of the cards. Sometimes a card needs a dark background. A dark background can cause a problem when making a card, since something is usually printed inside the card, and that is where the card is signed. So, choices have to be made. A person could cut the background to be the exact size of the finished card and mount it on a folded light-colored card. Or, the card base could be dark and the writing inside is one with a white gel pen. This method works okay when the pen behaves. I have yet to find a white pen that works the first time every time and then doesn't blop and skip! Another workaround for the dark-based card is to glue a light-colored liner inside the card. A final method is to try to find card stock that is dark on one side and light on the other. I can't find card stock like this locally, so I had to mail order mine. A funny thing is that after I placed my order, I was at Michaels craft store and saw pre-folded black cards that had white insides! However, the cards were folded on the long edge, not the short edge, so they wouldn't work for the cards I had in mind. When I make vertically symmetrical card I prefer to have the fold at the top of the card. Actually, I like most of my cards to fold at the top, so the card can sit there looking like it is on a little display easel, and I can feel artistic or something.

Anyway .... I had stamped the main images onto little white squares of card stock, and there they sat until early October. Then I finally sat down and colored them, and I got all the parts cut and assembled. I even mailed them on time earlier this week.

The drippy stuff was made with a punch. I was not able to buy that punch last year, and I was so happy to see it was made again this year. I bought it as soon as I saw it in the store, and lucked out that I could use a coupon on it. I have other plans for the punch too.

Stuff used:
Stamp: Haunting Halloween by Stampin' Up
Paper: Stampin' Up Whisper White, Gable Green, and Tangerine Tango, Core'dinations Black Magic (color= Abracadabra)
Ink: Palette Noir (? either that or Versafine Onxy Black), Prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits.
Other: Martha Stewart Drippy Goo punch

TCPTUES80

I missed last week's The Cat's Pajamas Challenge, but to make up for it, I created this week's challenge card on the day it was posted... Tuesday! This week's challenge is hosted by Amy, who is kicking off a new category of challenges... a supply challenge.

Amy challenged us to us buttons on a card. Now, normally, I am not a button-on-a-card kind of person, because I usually make cards that are flat so I can mail them. But for this card, since it is already gonna be bulky with one button, I decided to use a bunch of buttons. Actually, I had the design for this card sketched out and on my messy table, with the intention of having it for the Haunted Hop we had a couple of weeks ago. However, things came up at the last minute and I ran out of time so I didn't get my card done. I am thrilled that I have an excuse to complete the card.



I used 7 buttons! Count 'em!

Stuff used:
Stamps: Slanted House, Batty, Ghosts, Halloween Candy, and sentiment all from the "Fright Night" set by The Cat's Pajamas
Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Stampin' Up Summer Sun, Only Orange, Basic Black
Ink: Versafine Onxy Black; Stampin' Up Markers in Summer Sun, Barely Banana, Only Orange, Almost Amethyst
Other: Hocus Pocus buttons from The Cat's Pajamas, lavender sewing thread from my sewing room, mini glue dots

TCP Haunted Blog Hop

Hello! This post is part of a Haunted Blog Hop, which kicks off a special that The Cat's Pajamas Rubber Stamps is having, starting tomorrow, September 29! The New Kitty Kat Pack includes the "Fright Night" set, fun new buttons and spooky new glitter for $24.39. This is 20% off the regular price of $30.49.

You, yes you, can win this collection of goodies in the new Kitty Kat Pack! All you have to do is leave a comment for each person in the blog hop. If you didn't come here from Jen's blog, you can start at the beginning with Susan's blog.

Here is the card I made with the Fright Night set. I used the swanky new glitzy glitter. The glitter comes with 4 tubes of must-have Halloween colors-- black, purple, orange, and green. I used all but the black glitter on this card.



Stuff used:
Stamps: All from the "Fright Night" set by The Cat's Pajamas
Paper: Core'dinations Black Magic, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Stampin' Up Pumpkin Pie, Taken with Teal, and Lavender Lace
Ink:Versafine Onxy Black, Prismacolor Pencils, SU Lavender Lace
Other: Glitzy Glitter by The Cat's Pajamas, Oval punch, D'vine Swirl Cuttlebug embossing folder, sanding block, oval punch


Be sure to leave a comment on this post, then head over to Joanne's blog to continue with the Haunted Blog Hop.

TCPTUES77

This week's TCP challenge is hosted by Joanne, who challenged us to make a card using the colors Black, Melon Pink, Pumpkin.

Stampin' Up has a new melon color, and it does look okay with the company's Pumpkin Pie color, but I only have a little swatch of the new color. I ordered the new colors from my demonstrator, but the order is not here yet. So, I had to look in my tiny designer paper stash for a melon paper. I had some paper that was sort of melon color, but when I paired it with pumpkin paper, it looked like puke. So, I chose to use a pink paper that was a bit less melon-colored.

I didn't have much free time this week, so I didn't get to my card until today. Therefore, I kept it fairly simple, and used my favorite stamp, Sprinkle. She is like my little black dress of rubber stamps. Dress her up, or keep her simple--she is always in style.



Stuff used:
Stamps: "Large Sprinkle" and "What's New" both by The Cat's Pajamas Rubber Stamps
Ink: Versafine Onxy Black, Colorbox Frost White, Prismacolor pencils, Millennium black marker
Paper: Georgia Pacific white; Printed paper from DCWV Spring 4x6 Mat stack; Stampin Up Pumpkin Pie and Basic Black
Other: Circle Nestabilities dies, white embossing powder

Mystic Attic Interior details

Here are some pictures of the interior of my Mystic Attic room box. You can click on any photo to see it bigger.



The items on this table give some indication of who lives in this room. The hairbrush, comb, and mirror are by Chrysnbon. The perfume bottles and vase of roses are very special to me, since they were made and given to me by Flo Jaster, who wanted to thank me for helping her with something. I have never met Flo face-to-face, but I feel blessed to be her friend.



The drawers in the table open. The pulls are made from inexpensive earrings. The zodiac poster on the wall is a printout of a poster I had found somewhere online.

The room box is electrified, and the lamp on this table is one of the lights that works.

This is how I wired the lamp so that no wires would show. The lamp is a permanent part of the table, and the plug is part of the table. When the table is slid in place, the plug lines up perfectly with some eyelets in the wall, which connect to wires behind the wall.



Here you can see what is behind that wall. I made the roof removable so that I could make all the wire connections in the 'stairwell', and still access the wires. Ed added some resistors so that the lights in the fireplace would not be as bright as the lamps in the room. We can also add a flickering circuit to the system sometime in the future, and the circuit board will fit in the stairwell and not be seen.

Most of the wires run down to the floor and under the room box.



The crystal ball on the table is wired in a similar manner as the table lamp, however, the eyelets are in the floor and the table is plugged into the floor.

On the table are the tools of the occupant's trade. Or, maybe it is just her hobby. Feel free to think about who you imagine lives in this room. I think she is young, since her linens are lighthearted and fun, but she could just be young at heart.

The crystals are real quartz crystals. I dug them out of the ground in Montana. My dad was a rock hound, so some family vacations were spent digging in dirt.

I am not sure what the tarot reading indicates. I picked the cards at random, and didn't figure out if it was a good reading or not!



I almost always include a cat in my room box projects. (The cat, and the Chrynbon stuff and the items made by Flo are the only things I did not make for this room box.) This cat is named Tabitha, and she is thinking about jumping on the bed, but she might land on the ouija board if she is not careful. When my 'local' club still existed, one of the members showed us how to make ouija boards.

In this picture, you can also see the fireplace.


A couple other things of note in this roombox are: The interior walls were textured by smushing torn Kleenex tissues onto the walls with the paint. The folding chairs are my own design, and they really fold. The fire place plugs into the floor, similar to the way the tables do. I did this so that bulbs could be replaced, should they ever burn out. Even the fire plugs into the floor so it can be removed. I never did quite finish this project, since the mantle is bare and there is no clutter in the corners. If I ever find the right accessories, I can always add them.

Mystic Attic

Some people wanted to see more pictures of the room box I showed at the county fair. So, here are some pictures. You can click any of the photos to see them bigger.

This is the back of the roombox. The basic room was designed and cut by friends, since this was the Spokane miniature club's 2005 workshop project. As usual, we were free to decorate and fill our room boxes however we wanted, but we were shown some techniques for using paperlay to make stones or bricks. At the workshop, I got the box nailed and glued together, but I did just about everything else later at home.


The stones are made of paperclay. The shingles are made from cardstock, which I cut into individual pieces and painted with various shades of grey. I 'chipped' some of the corners and 'split' some of the shingles so that they would look more like slate. I used "Weather It" on all the wood trim pieces to give them a nice aged look.

The shiny 'donut' stone on the wall to the left of the window is a power jack for the transformer.


Here is the interior.


Here is the interior, with the lights turned on.


If you zoom in, you can see that there are glowing embers in the fireplace too.


More pictures will be posted tomorrow.

County Fair

The Latah County Fair is this weekend.

After years of people saying stuff like "You should enter that in the fair", I finally got my act together and paid attention to dates and took one of my room boxes to the fairgrounds so I could display it. I have rarely seen miniatures at our fair, but there is a class for dollhouse stuff: "Models, Mansions, Houses".

The best way to win a "First of Class" ribbon at the county fair is to have the only entry in the class! :-)

This is my "Mystic Attic" room box. It started as a workshop project. This is the project where I really learned to use paperclay.



I may take more pictures of it after I get it home again. Until then, you can click on the picture to see it bigger.

TCPTUES76

This week's The Cat's Pajamas challenge is hosted by Toni, who challenged us to make a card that included:

Embossing (dry or wet)
Bling
and at least 3 circles

An interesting challenge, indeed!

Here is my card. It stated out different in my mind, but this is how it ended up.



Is something embossed? Check! The background and circles are embossed with Cuttlebug embossing folders.

Is there bling? Check! The bee's wings have glitter applied to them to make them sparkly.

Are there at least 3 circles? Check! My circles became elements, which were made by embossing punched circles and hitting them with some ink.

Stuff used:
Stamps: "Bee a Girl" from the "Hearts and Flowers" set by The Cat's Pajamas
Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Stampin' Up Close to Cocoa, Old Olive, and Summer Sun
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia, SU Close to Cocoa, Prismacolor Pencils
Other: Stickles "Star Dust" glitter glue, 3/4" circle punch, "Bloom Dots" and "Distressed Stripes" Cuttlebug embossing folders, sponge dauber

tcptues75

This week's challenge for The Cat's Pajamas Rubber Stamps is hosted by Leigh, who challenged us to use this sketch.

When I saw the image panel extending from behind the vertical panel, it make me think of something peeking around a corner. Something not quite wanting to be seen, but something that just cannot resist staying hidden. This calls for a cat!




Stuff used:

Stamps: "Large Sprinkle" and "What's New" by The Cat's Pajamas, paw prints from an old Inkadinkado foam cat set, Leopard Spots backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms
Paper: Stampin' Up Pixie Pink, Pink Passion, Lavender Lace, Basic Black
Ink: Versafine Onxy Black, Stampin' Up Lovely Lilac
Other: 1/2" and 5/8" circle punches

Australian Jasper necklace

This necklace started when I saw some beads in the store that said "Buy me." The "buy me" beads were the flat green stone pillows, that the label claimed are "Australian Jasper, dyed". So, they are real stones, but are dyed colors that appeals to me.

To complete the necklace, I purchased a strand of small round Australian Jasper beads, and added some copper round beads.

I love how this necklace goes with so many of my colorful T shirts, which I wear to work. (I work in a basement with computer nerds, and just about everyone wears casual attire.) The necklace goes with teal, aqua, various greens, and blue.