More Liberty....for all

Yesterday I spent the day stamping with a friend. It was just what the doctor ordered. LOL. She had just ordered a bunch of the new Stampendous Changito images so expect to be seeing some new items made with those soon. In the meantime...a few more Clear Dollar Stamp samples!

I really do love this new "Liberty" set! If you have an older veteran in your life...or even a current veteran...this set makes awesome cards for them. You can also use it for patriotic holiday cards. Heck...with the little stars you could even use it for birthdays. So it's a pretty versatile set.

Here's the other samples I made with set. It becomes available on July 1st. So hop on over to Clear Dollar Stamps and get your own!

Thank You for Our Freedom:



Spotlighted Flag:



Enjoy!

Jane

Sneak Peek #3 - Happy Girthday!

Good morning! This morning I'm going to continue sharing some July 1st new releases from Clear Dollar Stamps.

The main strip across this card is made with a new stamp called "Charlie Fun". It's one of the new wheel stamps that runs a whopping $4.99. The long strip contains a total of 5 little horses all in slightly different poses and facing different directions. It's a very cute image but when I got it I wasn't sure how I was going to use it. I suppose it COULD be used as a background stamp...but it was SO cute that I really wanted it to be the main image. So...that's what I did with all my samples using this stamp...made it my main image. I'll be interested to see how others on the Design Team used their stamp!



Details:
Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Charlie Fun (main image strip), Charlie Frolic (star and saying)
Paper: Unknown
Ink: Black Marvy, Close To My Heart Pink Carnation and Indian Corn Blue
Color Medium: Prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits
Embellishments: mini self adhesive crystals
Other: Paper piercer tool and silver gel pen
Techniques: Faux Stitching

I'm off to stamp with a friend today. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Jane

Sneak Peek #2 - Charlie Frolic

I love this whole line of "Charlie" stamps. This little set is called "Charlie Frolic". It is a set of 5 stamps...for a whopping $4.99! You get the horse image, along with a star (great for backgrounds), and three sayings (Giddy-up for you!, Happy Girthday!, Get well soon).

In particular, the thing I love about this Charlie image is his versatality. If you leave him on all four he's happily galloping along...if you set him up on his hind feet he's kicking up his heels and having fun!

Also shown in this sample is an image called "Hoofin It". It is a set of 1 for $4.99. This is a long thin image that CAN be used flat on a block OR you can buy the Rollograph wheel from the Clear Dollar Stamps site and wrap it around the wheel and roll it out. That's what I did. The great thing about these wheels is that you don't have to use stamps specifically made for the wheel. You can take any of your smaller Clear Dollar Stamps (or other acrylics I'm sure...but I haven't tried that) and place them on the wheel close together and roll them out!

Ok...let me share the sample...then I'll post the details...

Box Card Closed:


Box Card Opened:


Details:
Stamps: Hoofin It (with Rollograph wheel), Charlie Frolic
Papers: Close To My Heart
Inks: Close To My Heart (Chocolate, Desert Sand), Marvy Black
Color Medium: Prismacolor Pencils and Odorless Mineral Spirits
Embellishments: Mini Brads

If you'd like the link to how to make the box card...then check out Clear Dollar Stamps on July 1st! She'll have a link there.

Enjoy!

Jane

July 1st New Releases - Clear Dollar Stamps

Today is the first day we are allowed to start sharing July's new releases. I am absolutely (oh so absolutely) in love with the stamp set I'm going to share with you today. I've previously mentioned my Dad being one of the original Darby's Rangers from WWII. So I love anything patriotic.

This new set is called Liberty and is going to cost you $7.99 for a set of 14 stamps!

When I saw the Sketch Challenge 182 over on SplitcoastStampers I knew I had to use this stamp set. From there the card evolved on it's own and I LOVE how it turned out.

What do you think?



The green cardstock is from Close To My Heart and has a white core. So I sanded the cardstock to distress it. I sponged all the tan pieces to age them a bit. Then for the main image I used the "cracked glass" technique. It's the first time I've done this technique but I knew this image would look great with it...and it does! Basically you take an embossing ink pad and ink up the whole piece of cardstock...then add clear embossing powder (if you have the Ultra Thick Embossing Powder it works better...but you can do multiple layers of regular embossing powder if that is what you own). Heat the whole piece with your heat gun till it melts. Repeat layers if necessary. Mine is a coarser version of the fine embossing powder but not quite as thick as UTE so I did two layers. Then I stuck the image in the freezer for a few minutes. When I pulled it out I was able to bend the paper and "crack" the glass. Then to continue with the distressing I sponged brown ink onto the "glass" to emphasize the crack.

In addition to the two stamps you see on this card (the main image and the word "Hero" - this set also includes an image of the Liberty Bell, a circle of little stars, three different size stars, and the following word phrases "your", "my", "Thank You", "for fighting for our freedom", "sacrifice", "for", and "LIBERTY and justice for all".

Hope everyone enjoys this card as much as I enjoyed making it! Also, others from the Design Team will begin posting to their blogs today as well...so go check out their blogs (links to their blogs are posted on the right side of my blog). Tell them Jane sent you!

Jane

Amber's Day

On this day 11 years ago, I said goodbye to my baby girl. I was 25 weeks and 3 days gestation with triplets when Amber's water broke. They hospitalized me and when no labor ensued they stepped me down to wait out the rest of the time. They were hoping for 32 weeks. But Amber had other ideas. Her cord prolapsed and by the time they rushed me to the OR the cord had quit pulsing. The OB did an ultrasound and then the perinatologist did another ultrasound. They both told me Amber had died inside me. They proceeded with the cesarean to get the other two babies out. They got Amber first and laid her to the side and went to grab the next one and Amber started moving! I have the doctor's report of the delivery. He states in it multiple times that they have no idea how she was born alive. The nurses nicknamed her "Amazing Grace" and she was the talk of the hospital. She was whisked off to the NICU as were her siblings. She was the only one doing well enough for me to see that night. She was my fighter. The next night they came and got me and told me she wasn't going to make it through the night. I sat by her and talked to her and touched her. She pulled through. The next night I woke up early (like 4 a.m.) and called the NICU. They told me she had been awake and doing well all night. I went back to sleep. An hour later they were at my bedside with a wheelchair. Her premature lungs had clamped down and they weren't having any luck reviving her. I watched as they tried to get air to her. After she passed away I finally got to hold her for the first time. All one pound one ounce of pure fight.



The pain has dulled over time (although I sit here with tears pouring down my face). I will never forget her or her sister. Life moves on whether I'm ready for it to do so or not. I still look at little girls and wonder what my daughters would have looked like. I still go to my son's school activities (my only survivor of the triplets) and struggle not to cry because I know there should be three of them up there performing.

Has it gotten "easier"? Yes. Will it ever be "easy" or "ok" that it happened? NO.

Jane

My Memoir - Tagged

I was tagged by my friend Nikki over at Widdle Shamrock. I love her humor - her blog is sure to entertain.

So the Meme Rules:

1. Write your own six word memoir

2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like

3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post.

4 Tag five more blogs with links

5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

So my 6 worded Memoir.

Life sometimes hurts, live it anyways.
or
Loving Mom,Wife,Sister,and friend.

The first memoir is inspired by this song by Martina McBride called "Do it Anyways".

You CAN spend your whole life buildin'
Something from nothin
One storm can come and blow it all away
Build it anyway

You CAN chase a dream
That seems so out of reach
And you know it might not ever come your way
Dream it anyway

God is great but sometimes life aint good
And when I pray
It doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
I do it anyway

This worlds gone crazy
And it's hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway

You can love someone with all YOUR heart
For all the right reasons
And in a moment they can choose to walk away
love em anyway

God is great but sometimes life aint good
And when I pray
It doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
Yeah I do it anyway, YEAH,

You can pour your soul out singin'
A song you believe in
That tomorrow they'll forget you ever sang
Sing it anyway
Yeah sing it anyway, YEAH, YEAH

I sing
I dream
I love anyway, yeah.

I'm passing along this tag to:

Jamie
Concetta
Linda

Jane

Blast from the Past

I was searching for a decent photo of me on our hard drives last night and discovered an older section of photos. Now I have pictures of older things I've done that I can share as fillers!



This is a card that I CASED (copied). I received the original card in a swap and liked it so much that I had to make my own. It's been long enough ago (several years) that I have NO idea who I copied it from. But I did copy it. I love the colors and the layout.

Ok...one personal photo and then I have to get off here and get dressed for work! I also found this photo of my Dad with the boys. My Dad passed away in August 2005 - when my boys were 5 and 8. So this is a special photo to have and keep.



I tried to fix the lighting the best I could. I don't own any fancy software. But this looks much better than it originally did. Now you can at least see all the faces! Before the light was way too bright and they were all washed out.

k...gotta run.

Jane

Ms. Sophie

Nothing stamping related to share today. I went searching in my pictures folder and found this picture of Sophie that I'm sure I haven't shared yet. So, in lieu of a card...you get to see my sweetie.



A few years ago we had to put down our only dog (a little Shih Tzu). After a few months I told my husband that I really would like to find another SMALL indoor dog. Well, someone he knew was getting rid of a "medium" size dog. He'd already stopped by to see her once and thought she was probably larger than I wanted (duh!) but then he went by again and took the kids with him. Now how could I say no to him AND the kids? So...Sophie came home with us. She is a german shepherd/chow mix. She's a BIG dog. But she is such a sweetie and so well behaved. I'm sure that the "well behaved" came at a cost to her. She was very much abused in her early life. The people WE got her from had pictures of when she had first come to her house. The previous owners had pour hot tar on her. And I'm sure they beat her for going near garbage, or coming into tiled areas. There are lots of things she's very skittish about. I swear there is a human inside her. She looks like she can talk and her eyes and face is just so gosh darn adorable. Now I can't imagine my life without her.

Since then we have picked up another shih-tzu and I'm on the search for ANOTHER shih-tzu (I love the breed) but Sophie is my "lover girl". For how large she is (compared to the shih tzu) they get along great. They play and growl and chase each other around like puppies. It's funny because she is SO big in comparison but she's so very gentle with him. And even when it comes to food...she is the submissive one. She's never been agressive.

Well, I shouldn't say "never". She's agressive towards strange men in our house (like repair men and such). Which is just fine with me. I always let them know I have to lock the dog up. Bet they never think twice about coming back uninvited! LOL.

Ok...gotta run off to work. I'm sorry I'm not sharing much this week. I'm busy trying to get some Design Team work done. Plus this time of year I'm not feeling overly creative (This is the time of year that my daughters and Dad died...one in June, one in July, and one in August).

I promise I will eventually get back to posting more often. Towards the end of the month I will be able to start sharing all the DT stuff I've been working on.

Jane

Happy Father's Day!

I thought this card was appropriate for our two little guys (monkeys) to give to their Dad for Father's Day.



The stamp is one of the Changito Monkeys from Stampendous. The saying is one I created on the computer. I found a free font and downloaded it to use. The coloring is done with prismacolor pencils.

I've made three other cards this weekend but can't share them yet (top secret work in progress!)

There is a park near here called Children's Memorial Park. When my daughters died almost 11 years ago I had their names engraved on the wall at the park. I don't go visit often. But today I did. They have added new walls and a statue. As I read the names on the walls I noticed a few that would have two or three in a row with the same last name. I wondered if they were part of a set of multiples (or all of a set of multiples) like mine. It's 108 degrees here today so I didn't stay long but was feeling the need to visit. We cremated our daughters' remains so there is no grave to go visit. When I'm feeling that need I go to the park. Sometimes I wish we had something more personal to visit but I've never been willing to actually bury the ashes in a cemetary. I thought about burying the ashes with my folks but that's three hours away and I never make it up there. So...nope!

Anyways, hope everyone is staying cool whereever you are. And hope you are getting lots of stamping done!

Jane

Clear Dollar Stamps Design Team NEWS!

They just released the information about the next Design Team for Clear Dollar Stamps. I will be continuing on (as will a few others). In addition there are new additions and we'll also be having Guest Designers. I've posted blog links to the right of all the Designers. So go check them out and say hello. The new quarter starts in July so you may or may not see any Clear Dollar Stamps used on their blogs...but I guarantee you'll see some nice artwork!

I'm stamping with a friend tomorrow so will try to have more to share next week. My stamping mojo has left the building. Hopefully stamping with a friend will bring the mojo back! :-)

Jane

I've been Tagged!

I've been tagged by Laurie over on her blog Clearly Delightful. Laurie is a fellow designer with me for Clear Dollar Stamps. She also designs (illustrates) some of the stamp designs themselves. Check out her blog and tell her I sent you!

In the meantime...here's my answers...

Ten years ago: I was a relatively new mom (with a one year old). I was still lost in the grief of losing two babies (my one year old is a surviving triplet) and my Mom in the same year. I was not a very happy camper ten years ago.

Five things in todays 'to do list':
1. Work from Home for 4 hours
2. Wait for the A/C tech to show up and find out the damage of fixing our A/C unit. Right now it's already 90 degrees in the house at 9a.m.
3. Go to the mall - somewhere cool! Really no plans for today - other than working and trying to get the A/C fixed and staying cool in the process. Life is such an adventure!

Snacks I enjoy:Reeses Peanut Butter Cups are my favorite, but I also really like tortilla chips with nacho cheese dip once in awhile. I'm much more a sweets kind of gal than I am a salty kind of gal.

Things I would do if I was a millionaire: Buy a new home in town (so I'm not commuting a zillion miles a day)...it'd have a large "game room" for the boys and dh at one end (for all the computers/PS2s/tv/etc) and an area at the other end for my stamping/scrapping...so I could have peace and quiet. Oh...maybe I should just find one with an outside guest house and use THAT for my stamping! I'd buy copics, and a scor-pal, and a bind-it-all...all the toys I've been drooling over. I would take the kids on a vacation. I would have weight loss surgery. I would give back to some of the friends/family who have given to me over the years. I'd put money aside for the kids for college and for after we are gone so they would have an inheritance. And, of course, there would be donations to some needy causes (like Ronald McDonald House, homes for battered wives, etc).

Places I have lived:
Really boring...
Arizona

I will now tag:

Concetta, Concetta's Corner
Nikki, The Musings of a Green Knee Capping Leprecaun

I am supposed to tag four people but I only have two that I feel comfortable tagging. So...if you WANT to be tagged and do this questionnaire...feel free to play a game of self-tag! :-)

If the two listed above choose to play they will share their answers, include a link back to my blog and tag four or five new people (or however many you want).

Ok...gotta get to work!

Jane

Beate's Weekend Sketch x 2

A lot of the time on weekends I hope on over to Beate's blog and check out her weekend sketch challenge. This past weekend was no different. Both of my cards differ slightly from the sketch (the cow card is pretty close...the bella card the image is way bigger). But I like how both turned out...and they both at least originated from the sketch!

Entry #1: Cow stamp from Michael's $1 section



Entry #2: Bella stamp (received the image in a swap)



Hope everyone is having a good week so far!

Jane

Happy Monday???

Good morning all -

Not sure how I'm feeling about it being Monday. But I guess I don't have much of a choice. So...I'll stick with GOOD morning! :-)

Just a few quick pics of the boys to share. I did make a couple cards this weekend but haven't taken pics of them yet.

I love this picture of Dakota. I swear he was a fish in another life!



And here is Mario...they are loving jumping off the ladder!



Dakota...mid cannonball...



That's it for now. I gotta go get ready for work. The boys are probably going to have to stay out of the pool today (which they aren't happy about). Even with sunscreen and only allowing them in for an hour at a time a few times a day...they are still sunburned. For anyone who can't decide about a relatively inexpensive pool...I highly suggest it. This is the second summer where we've bought a pool (for under $100). Technically you are supposed to be able to use them for more than one year. But the last one the kids were smaller and ended up getting it so dirty that I didn't even bother saving it. I figured a whole summer of entertainment for $100 is a pretty good deal! Eventually I'd love to get a bigger family size outdoor pool but right now these little cheap ones work. This one isn't so little...it's 14 feet wide by almost 4 feet deep. It would have been over $100 new but we got it off craigslist. It was supposed to be new in box. For the most part it looks new. It does have a slight leak but when it's full of water the weight of the water pushes down enough that it doesn't leak (it's at the bottom of the pool).

Ok...now I really DO have to run! Have a great day!

Jane

Monkey See...Monkey DO

Hopefully I haven't posted this card yet. Sometimes I forget and end up posting things twice. Yep, I have a VERY short attention span! :-)



I made a set of these cards. I found a link to this blog where you can make a SheetLoad of cards! Each month it appears they post a sketch, samples and cutting diagram to make multiple cards with the same layout. This particular "sheetload" mad 10 cards...but I only had enough of my background paper to make 6 cards. So that's what I did! This would be a great way to make a bunch of cards to send to the troops or for any other reason where you need a bunch of cards. Maybe just for RAK's (Random Acts of Kindness).

Enjoy!

Jane

Happy Birthday Card

This card uses another stamp from Clear Dollar Stamps Stamp of the Month set (free with a $50 purchase).



I made a couple new cards today but will save them to post later this week.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Jane

TGIF

I am SOOOOO glad it's Friday. This week has seemed really long and I've been feeling realllllllly tired all week. Not sure if it's just because I was still tired from last week when my boss was on vacation (with my boss on vacation I ended up working more hours) or if it's because this time of year is always a little hard on me (the birthdate and death anniversaries of my daughters are approaching). But regardless of the reason, I'm tuckered out. Yay for Friday!

Here is another sample I made using my Clear Dollar Stamps. This set is now available here.



I had a lot of fun playing with this set. It isn't my normal style but I found it very easy to work with and very versatile.

Ok...gotta go get ready for work! Have a great day. Go forth and multiply (cards that is!) :-)

Jane

Clear Dollar Stamp of the Month

This little set is free with a $50 purchase this month at Clear Dollar Stamps.

For one of my cards I decided to make a pocket card. This was inspired by a design in the Stampin' Up catalog. Hope you like it!

Tag in the pocket:



Tag out of the pocket:



Ok...woke up almost an hour late this morning. Forgot to set my alarm. Ugh. So I gotta run. Have a great day all...one more day to FRIDAY!

Jane

I thought I saw a puddy tat!

I did, I did see a puddy tat!



I love this simple card. Once again, I borrowed all the goodies from my friend Concetta to make it. See the little tiny embossed dots all over the red background? That's the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder that I want to buy. All stamps are Stampin' Up. The inside of the card says "You're the Cat's Meow".

Hope you have a wonderful day! I'm off to work.

Jane

Grasshopper cutie

I love how this little card turned out! I made it weekend before last when I had a "stamping play date" with my friend, Concetta. Is it darling?



I used her Stampin' Up set (can't remember the name) and her paper (also Stampin Up) and her nestabilities. Can you see how the circle is cut and embossed and then layered with scallops? That's what the nestabilities do.

On another note (and just for those of you who are queasy about snakes! LOL). Here is a current picture of Dakota with his snake...it's getting HUGE!



I'm not a snake lover, but I'm not terrified of them either. I will hold this one if I need to. I do think it's amazing how they can have such a long thin body and still make everything work and move around the way they do.

Hope everyone is off to a great week!

Jane

Weekend Sketch Challenge

I decided it was time to play yesterday. And what better way to play on the weekend but to hop on over to Beate's blog and try her weekend sketch challenge!

This is the first card I made:



This one uses a main image from Gina K Designs. I masked the crab and tore some paper to use as a "cloud template" then I sponged the sky in. I also did a ton of faux stitching on this card.

And I had so much fun I had to try a second one:



Decided on this one not to use one big image but to use a smaller image and random stamp with it. I love this little pair of boxer shorts. The inside reads "A brief note".

Well, we are off to a birthday party at the YMCA. Can't believe the weekend is already almost over. Sigh.

Jane