Grumpy Stamping......

I have been wanting to get out in my garden and work on my beds and my veggie garden all weekend. Mother Nature has not been cooperative at all, so I decided to stamp today, and well....my stamping reflected my mood.

I used a couple of Hanna sets for this one and my new Copic markers!!! Still getting the hang of those babies, but I like them very much - I must get more of them!!!

Chow for now!

Jacqui

The Stress of the Couch Potato

With all the rain this weekend, I had the opportunity to catch up on all my shows that I usually watch, but didn't have the time to do so last week.
I have recently became hooked on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. I think Mariska the gal that plays Olivia is just beautiful and is an awesome actress. The episode I taped this past week was the season ender.....what the heck??? Finn put in for a transfer??? What is L & O SVU gonna be like without ICE T??? And Casey Novack - possibly being disbarred - they better not do that.

Criminal Minds is another favourite - although the season finale is this week. I think I liked it better with Mandy Pantinkin, but it is still a good show and the characters have good story lines - and Shemar Moore.....need I say more!!!!

LOST - I love this show - but honest to God, my brain hurts when I am done watching it. I am like huh?
I totally do not understand anything - just when I think I have a grip - I've got rope burn on my hands from it being ripped from my hands..... I hope some day it will all make sense.
And I want to make enough money some day to be able to "move an island!!!!!"

CSI - my favourite of the CSI's. The original is most times the best. David Caruso makes me want to hack, so we don't watch that one - and I was peeved when they killed of Speedle a few seasons back. So CSI Miami is out..... I love Gary Sinese as an actor, but the first season was so dark...I mean the way they filmed it, not the subject, I just couldn't get into it - I know they have changed that because people were complaining, but a whole season had gone by so I couldn't get into it. So CSI New York is out too. But the original CSI with Grissom, Warrick, Nick, Greg, Sarah, Katherine, Brass and all the lab rats, that I can't remember their names.
So I get all settled down to watch the season finale of CSI. I'm all nestled in my big comfy couch and I begin to watch. I felt so sorry for Warrick cause he is just such a cutie pie and he gets a bad rap a lot of the time....even though...he tends to get himself in his own messes. Anyhow, I was so happy to see them all sitting around the table in the diner laughing and having a nice breakfast (well not so nice if you listen to Katherine's comments about the bacon) after clearing Warrick.
And the Warrick goes and gets in his car to drive home and that under sheriff knocks on his window.
I won't say what happens next just in case you haven't seen the finale yet - but WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY THINKING?
Honestly, I cried.

ER - I have watched this show from day one and I love it. Right through the Doug Ross and Nurse Hathaway romance and marriage, through Carter's Africa experience and loss of his baby, through many Kleenex boxes when Dr. Greene died, through all the cameo appearances of other stars, which always makes it fun. Remember when the Dr's from Chicago Hope came on the show? What a hoot.
So the same thing.....I settle in to watch the season finale. I love Steve Buscemi what a great actor. His role in Armageddon made me laugh like crazy - when they are up on the meteor and he starts shooting and they end up strapping him to the seat!!! His creepy role in ConAir when he was a child molester - but then didn't hurt the little Mexican girl - he just had tea with her.
He has been in many other things, but those are the two characters that stand out the most right now. So what a great cameo for the season finale.
I was so happy for Luka and Abby when they decided to settle their differences and make their marriage work. They make a great couple and they both deserve some happiness.
Pratt - it's about time he found his own little tulip he loves and wants to marry!
Same and Gates - they make a cute couple!
Nela and that ignorant Australian doctor - they really need to ease up on her sex drive - enough said there..
But the ending - what the heck????? Who was in the ambulance?

I don't know if I can wait until the next season starts.
and those bloody writers - they better have that strike stuff out of their system for next season.

So that's my critique in a nutshell.

chow for now
Jacqui

The Perfect Drink

Well I haven't posted in a bit, and I haven't done any stamping lately cause I have been trying to get out in my yard and get my flower beds and my vegetable garden all prepared and planted.

So I thought I would put this quick post up - just in case you are looking for a new drink on this long weekend!!

This wonderful little item to the left is a Carmel Apple Martini. My best friend Vicki introduced these little gems to me about a year ago! They are just about the best thing I have ever tasted!!

They are very easy to make

Caramel Apple Martini Recipe:

2 shots (1.5 ounces per shot ) of Green Apple Vodka

2 shots of Sourz Apple Liquer

1.5 shots of Buttershotz Liquer

4 Shots of Cranberry Juice

Shake over ice and serve with a slice of green apple

Give this one a try and see how you like it!!!!

Chow for now

Jacqui

Clownin' Around

I just decided to do a little stamping today. Not for anything or anyone in particular, just to stamp. On our road trip to Victopia, we found these awesome stickers at some of the stores we visited. They are called Peel-Off's. Basically you peel off the outline of the sticker, place it on your cardstock and the colour the inside. The markers I used to colour the inside were the Souffle markers made by Sakura. They puff up a tiny bit when they dry and dry to a nice pastel colour. These are very cool and have a very nice look to them! The silver makes it look like they are embossed!!! This was my first card using the stickers, but they are lots of fun!

This card, I started out making for my mom for Mother's Day, but then thought I should make her a more flowery one! So I just finished it and will throw a sentiment on it sometime I want to give it to someone.
No paper piecing on this one - can ya believe it? I just coloured with the Stampin' Write markers.
I did use a Sakura glitter pen to colour the bubbles on the background. I love those Sakura glitter pens. They run so smooth and have awesome coverage.

Hope you enjoy these little samples.
Chow for now
Jacqui

Congratulations All Around!!!

I thought I would put up a quick post before I go outside and begin my yard work. I find gardening very therapeutic, so it's fun, but the clean up sucks -that's the only part I hate - so I figure if I try and do it on Mother's Day weekend....certain individuals may feel a twinge of guilt and come out and help me....you'll have to revisit to see if it happened!!!

Anyhow, about these cards.
The music Bella card I created for my sister Courtney. I am so proud of her. She is quite a bit younger than myself, but much more mature than I!!
She recently found out that her teaching job at her school was upgraded to a full time position. I am so happy for her. She is a music teacher and is one talented lady. I makes me tear up when I think back to one of her early piano recitals where all the other kids in her grade took up their one piece of sheet music and clunked out their rendition of Mary Had a Little Lamb or Old MacDonald had a Farm, and her comes Miss Courtney, places her 4 or 6 ( I can't remember exactly the number) pieces of sheet music and played The Rose. It was quite comical to see the faces on the other parents!!!! She is extremely talented and I love to watch her play the piano and sing. Anyhow, my chest is bursting with pride, so I better stop before it explodes!! I shot her off this card to say congratulations on getting full time. The music Bella and the music Cuttlebug embossing folder just fit so nicely together. I added a little bling on her necklace with a little rhinestone and used the sakura glitter pen to make the necklace sparkle. I hope she gets the card before she sees this post!!!


Also deserving a big congratulations is Courtney's boyfriend Jay. He is the coolest guy, and I am looking forward to calling him my brother-in-law some day!! (hint hint Mr. Britton!)
Anyhow, Jay has just passed all of his real estate courses and now is in the market to sell houses! I am so proud of him as well. He worked very hard to get this course and I just wanted him to know that we are all in support of his new career.
So if any of you are in the GTA and need a real estate agent!!!
I put together this card to send to him as a congratulations.
When I first saw this wheel I was not too impressed to tell you the truth, but then I saw some very nice samples using it and I just had to have it. I thought it fit in well with the real estate theme and the Cuttlebug numbers embossing folder I thought added a nice touch to the background. I'm sure he is much better with numbers than I am!!!
So to wrap up, I am just so proud of my little sister and her boyfriend and I wanted to share their achievements with you all.
Enjoy your day!
Chow for now,
Jacqui

Hanna in the Tulips!

I don't know about you, but I commute to work. Some days I just crank the toons and rock it out all the way to work. Other days, like today, I actually drove a little slower and took the time to look at "spring". I could not get over all the tulips that are out in bloom. These fairly short lived blooms seem to be invisible one day and the next day they are swaying in the breeze with their vibrant colours.

So when I read the Hanna Stamps challenge tonight, I thought what the heck...I'll put some tulips on my card.

The challenge was to make a card using Always Artichoke, Ruby Red and Creamy Caramel. I paper pieced Hanna's dress with the Always Artichoke Designer Paper. I love this paper. The patterns are so cool and they add a nice touch to any card or scrapbook page. I coloured the tulips with the Ruby Red and Always Artichoke Stampin' Write markers. The base of the card is Creamy Cardstock. I put the Lovely As a Tree stamp in the background to try and make it look like the trees were off in the distance. I'm not sure if I really achieved that or not, but I was fairly pleased with the finished product.

Chow for now,
Jacqui

Happy Birthday Dina!

My good friend Dina's birthday is today. So last night I whipped her up this card. I just love the Hanna sets. They are AWESOME for paper piecing, which I did for all of Hanna's clothes and all of her packages as well.

Dina loved the card, which was the reaction I was going for!!!

Smilin' Granny Layout

My sister Diana, is coming home for a visit in 14 more sleeps!!!!! I cannot wait. When she is home, we are gonna team up and do a workshop at our mum's house! She has asked me to design the scrapbook page, and she will be designing the cards.
This is the layout I designed. I designed one similar to it, back in February during Sell-a-bration, but it used Sell-a-bration sets so I had to tweak this one a little to use current sets.

I love this picture of Granny. She always says she takes a bad picture, so if she knows you are gonna take it she won't smile. So you have to catch her unaware! Courtney (my little sister) cross-stitched this picture of Jesus for my Granny. She absolutely loves it.

Hope you like the layout.

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Hanna in the rain in the woods!!

This is the card I designed for the card challenge in the Hanna Stamps forum. These are great fun and get my old brain thinking outside the box and doing some original things instead of just copying other people all the time.

I mixed 3 sets to create this card.

It took me longer than expected to create, but I was pleased with the results.

I paper pieced Hanna's coat, boots and the umbrella. I popped up both the fence and Hanna. Hopefully these close ups show it a bit better.