Nuture today...with friendship

Life is so full these days! As I heal from my surgery, my mom continues her treatment for breast cancer following a bilateral mastectomy, and my grandmother begins another round of chemotherapy for stage 4 lung cancer.
Through all of this we have all been so very blessed with the prayers of friends, family, and strangers.
My dear friend, Lisa, has been such a treasure, through her company, support, and willingness to keep me focused when I need to be and distracted when I need to be!:)
Thank *God* for good friends!
We've been up to quite a bit, Lisa and I. First, we cleaned out some of her store's inventory, making an insane number of grab bag boxes to post for sale this week: http://www.thecraftsmeow.com/products/grab-boxes
Check them out! We spent two days going through product, sorting it out into boxes, and even cleaning out some of her personal stash for a local scrapbook store's garage sale. Wouldn't you know it, Lisa convinced me to give it a go as well, so I've purged my scrapbook room in a big way! It's SO NICE!
When I was helping Lisa, she generously paid me in stamps...and I mean STAMPS. I have so many incredible new images to play with I can hardly stand it!
Here is teh first card I've made using some of the Unity stamps I got from Lisa, along with some silk ribbon by May Arts and SU! clear buttons she gave me:

The die-cut frame is by Crate Paper, and the paper is Cosmo Cricket. Strangely enough, I made the card for teh fun of it, but it is *just right* for my mom thsi week, so it will go off in the mail tomorrow.
So,that garage sale...oh gosh! The scrapbook store kept 15% of our profit and the rest was paid to us in store credit. I have been wanting to build up a good collection of mists, inks, and washes and thsi was the perfect opportunity! I made $253 and enjoyed spending every penny of it today! If your local store does this, you have got to give it a try! I didn't sell all my items, but I'll keep them for their next sale, maybe they will sell then.
I decided to make a video haul of my new goodies, so if you have time, I hope you will check it out!

Fun, right?!
I am just so excited to enjoy all my new toys and blessed beyond belief!
Hugs and HOOTS,
<3 Alicia

Brain surgery is cause for reflection

Hello friends! I hope your 2012 is off to a wonderful start! I am on week 6 of my recovery from surgery. I have Trigeminal Neuralgia, which is the compression of the nerve root which hosts all the nerve endings to either side of your face. The condition is very painful and I've had it for 5 years. To make a long story short, my husband and I had had enoiugh of this disease and it's effects on our life together, so I made the decision to have a Microvascular Decompression (MVD surgery). They made about a 4-5 inch incision behind my left ear, cut a silver-dollar sized hole into the bone, and went about putting some teflon pads in between the artery and vein that were compressing on my Trigeminal Nerve. They popped the bone plug back in and sewed me up. *phew*

Pretty scary stuff, but the worst of it is that I've been left with some vertigo as a result of the surgery and am waiting for it to fully pass before returning to work.
What does this have to do with crafting?!
Well, brain surgery is certainly cause for reflection. Having this surgery will allow me to get off the heavy meds I have to take to keep it in check, which will allow me to have children of my own one day, but also give me my energy and life back! I have been thinking about how different I *can* make my life now that I've got this surgery behind me and how I can get back to the energetic, ethusiastic ME I was before my surgery. One of the things I used to do was Art Journaling. It was so fun to make a mess, try out new techniques, purge and vent, and either share it, or tuck it away just for me to see.
I decided that the NEW-old me should art journal this year...what a way to document this year, right?!
I went through all that to share a couple pages from my journal using the Gelli Plate by GelliArts (http://www.gelliarts.com/), which allows you to monoprint anytime without the need of a press or the mess of making your own gelatin and letting it set...all that for just $30! SO WORTH IT!


On both of these pages, I used some rubber stamps by Unity-they are SO my favorite new stamp company. The owl was purchased at a trade show and the "follow your heart" set was purchased through Unity's new stamp of the week club-a new stampset in your mailbox every week for just $5.97! SO FUN!
I hope that you will try out thE Gelli Plate too, or at least check it out on YouTube...it's a BLAST!


Hugs and HOOTS,
<3 Alicia

This little light of mine...

For the millionth time in my life, I found something I could do nearly every day and probably happily turn into a side business. Each time I strumble upon a new craft or a technique that I could see working on all through the year for some type of craft booth, I name it. Today's endevor: "This Little Light of Mine Boutique".
Okay, so I won't quit my day job, but I do have to share what I made. I am aware that this technique is by no means new, but it is new to me; I've seen many candles with stamped images over the 12 years I've been stamping, but have never ventured so far as to figure out how to do it. After seeing my pal, Debbie's project, I dashed off to the dollar store to collect the supplies I needed. For $20, I am one happy stamper and hopefully everyone on my gift list will be too because I have 13 candles!;)
Enough yappin' girl, show us the goods:

Stampendous Stamp Set: "Snowy Short Stack" and Copics

Stampabilities Stamp from the 90's and Copics
The sentiment on the back of this one reads "Baked with love to warm your heart"

Penny Black Stamp-new release at Hobby Lobby this month
The sentiment on the back of this one reads "Snowmen fall from Heaven one flake at a time"

Penny Black Stamp-between 2001-2002
The sentiment on the back of this one reads "Merry Christmas" in scrollwork


I *NEED* to go to the store and buy some taller candles and some teeny tiny candles to keep playing with this technique...so many fun ideas! If you haven't tried this yet, DO IT! You won't be sorry!

Hugs and HOOTS,
<3 Alicia

Back to school...something to HOOT about!

Though school has already started for many, we are just getting ready in my district. I try to make a little "sumthin' sumthin'" for the people on my team each year, so when my dear friend, Lisa, owner of The Craft's Meow, gave me this awesome little stamp set, I knew I could put it to good use right away!

I used my Stampin' Up! Top Note Die for the goody bag toppers in Real Red and Kraft. I stamped all the images with Chocolate Chip, Real Red, and Wild Wasabi Inks. I embellished with google eyes (WOOT), SU! brads, and some super fun green twine by WRMK.

I used an old retired SU! lined stamp for the back...a perfect little message spot.
I know all the teachers will need to recharge with a few bottles of water as they set up their classrooms, so some tasty water flavor packets will come in handy!
Well, friends, I gotta' run...back to work to prep,prep,prep in the AM!
Hugs and HOOTS,
<3 Alicia

Hear YE, Hear YE...your presence is requested!

A very dear friend of mine is celebrating his daughter's FIRST birthday in serious style! His too sweet wife asked me for some input on the invitations, and you know I can't just stop there... ;)
They've decided to go with an Alice in Wonderland theme, so I got right to work on the invite options-ENJOY!

Option One: One Classy Queen
Front

Detail

Back


Option Two: The Mad Hatter Girls It Up
Front

 

Detail

Back


Tell me, friends, which do you prefer?

Hugs and HOOTS,
<3 Alicia

A color challenge and a lift!

I had so much fun participating in last week's SplitcoastStamper.com Sketch Challenge, I had to push myself a little farther and try out my first color challenge, this week! The color combo for SCS-CC334 included:
1) Whisper White
2) Basic Grey
3) Tempting Turqoise
I have to admit, I wasn't too sure about this combo at first, but once I strolled through the challenge gallery, I was ready to rock it! A quick rumage through my retired Designer Series Paper packs resulted in a couple sheets from the fifth avenue line in Basic Grey :) I decided to flip through the current Stampin' Up! catty for a layout to copy and was pleased to find a great card on page 109 featuring the "Just Believe" stamp set. I don't have that set, but I did have this retired hostess set, "Kind and Caring Thoughts"! I stamped the foilage in versamark directly onto patterned paper and embossed it in white, embellishing the main panel with some rinestones on a few martha stewart punched butterflies. Then I investigated how the ribbon was attached on the sample and had a go at it, using some whistper white ribbon that I colored with my SU! Basic Grey marker...AWESOME RESULTS!Finally, I used my new "Petite Pairs" sentiment set to stamp half the phrase on a circle of vellum, and then embossed!

 

I'm really happy with how this card turned out and I sure enjoyed teh challenge of having a set of specific colors to work with...I might just be hooked! :)
Hugs and HOOTS,
<3 Alicia

Resistance is futile!

Dear Mr. Brown (aka UPS Delivery Guy),
I've missed you; I really have. I so look forward to the sound of your truck rolling heavily over the complex entrance gate: kuh-chunck...front wheels, kuh-chunck...back wheels; and then a screech-sigh as you step on the brake and put that giant truck of goodness into park. A ding-dong on the doorbell and a wagging dog tail can tell me only one thing...you've come for me!

 

 

Are those *business supplies*?! No, no..I won't be needing those!

 

THIS IS WHAT I'VE *REALLY* BEEN WAITING FOR!
After much fondling, and too much time mounting new stamp sets, it's time to dig in!

 

I used the new "Delicate Doily" set to create a 3 1/2" x 4" gift card holder. In an attempt to show-off the versatility of this set, I went ahead and used the border punch to create ornament toppers and voila-from doilies to ornaments! Paired with a "Petite Pairs" sentiment, this crumb cake, wild wasabi, and ridinghood red card is ready to go!

 

So, you see, Mr. Brown, I missed you so much, I just coudln't resist re-joining Stampin' Up for at least a few months! Now you may be wondering if it was realy *you* or if I just did it for the discount...can't I have both? ;)
Hugs and HOOTS,
<3 Alicia (in apartment 96)