Mynee's Musings

Happy Birthday, Mom

It's my mom's birthday today and this is the card I created for her.  I used one of the images from the new Bloomin' Beautiful set.  I believe the consensus is that the flowers are violets.  Good thing because I used a violet watercolor pencil to color them.  The layer on top of the base is definitely purple (Elegant Eggplant) but it is one of those colors that is difficult to capture correctly on camera.  It looks more blue in the picture than it actually is.

Ingredients:

Card stock - Elegant Eggplant, Apricot Appeal. Always Artichoke and Whisper White by @Stampin' Up

Ink - Basic Black by @Stampin' Up, Prismacolor Pencils

Images - Bloomin' Beautiful by @Stampin' Up

Accessories - Apricot Appeal grosgrain ribbon and Hodgepodge Hardware by @Stampin' Up

Happy Birthday Mom!

-Melanie-

Patterned Paper ATC

The latest ATC swap I joined required the use of patterned paper.  I kept changing my mind regarding the paper I wanted to use.  I finally decided on this paper by @Stampin' Up which was part of a hostess set scrapping kit last year.  I originally had a completely different layout in mind but, once I started working on this ATC, it evolved into a different design.  Since the paper was the focal point of this ATC, I didn't want to cover it up with a large image.  I chose one of the Taggers Dozen images which I felt coordinated nicely with this paper. 

Ingredients:

Card stock - Wild Wasabi and Whisper White by @Stampin' Up

Ink - Wild Wasabi by @Stampin' Up

Images - Taggers Dozen by @Stampin' Up

Accessories - silver brad and Soft Sky ribbon by @Stampin' Up.

The all-knowning weatherman is predicting snow tonight.  I'm hoping that he is wrong as usual. 

-Melanie-

Least Favorite Color

The requirement for this ATC swap was to use our least favorite @Stampin' Up color.  Now, there are colors that I like, but I just don't use very often...Brilliant Blue, for example.  Blue is my favorite color and I like Brilliant Blue but I just don't seem to use it very often.  On the other hand, there are colors that I don't care for but I do use.  Cameo Coral...it's not a favorite but I find that I do use it and I actually like it in certain color combinations.  Is there a color that I don't really like and hardly ever use?  Always Artichoke.  Yep, that's it.  I can't remember the last time I used it and it's definitely not a favorite of mine.  It reminds me of the avacado color of the 70's.  I love the 70's but the color combos where a bit strange.  Watch an episode of the Brady Bunch and you'll see what I mean.  Anyway, I paired Always Artichoke with Close To Cocoa and Not Quite Navy and guess what?  I actually like it.  In fact, I used this color combo for a birthday card that I will post soon.

Ingredients:

Card stock - Alway Artichoke, Close to Cocoa, Not Quite Navy and Very Vanilla by @Stampin' Up

Ink - Not Quite Navy and Always Artichoke by @Stampin' Up

Images -Be Happy and Rough Texture jumbo wheel by @Stampin' Up

Accessories - Always Artichoke Brad by @Stampin' Up

Tools - paper piercer by @Stampin' Up

Well, it's the last day of my four day weekend.  I think I'll just relax and watch TV this afternoon.  Later...

-Melanie-

 

Wishing For Spring

Ugh!  I'm ready for Spring.  We have about an inch of sleet on the ground right now.  Luckily it's supposed to warm up a little so it should melt pretty quickly.  They're predicting temperatures in the 50's by Tuesday.

I would love to fly to Hawaii to escape the cold and ice.  Since I doubt that that is going to happen, I decided to design a Hawaii themed card instead.  Nothing fancy...just tropical colors and a little bling.  My new Prima Flowers gave me the inspiration for this color combo.  I bought the Aloha stamp when we were in Hawaii in 2006.  Just thinking about Hawaii makes me happy.   

Ingredients:

Card stock - Regal Rose, Cool Caribbean and Whisper White by @Stampin' Up

Ink - Regal Rose by @Stampin' Up

Images - by @RSP

Accessories - Prima Flowers, crystals (manufacturer unknown)   

I think I'll just close my eyes and imagine myself sitting on the patio at the Moana Surfrider, drinking a Mai Tai and enjoying the view of Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head.  Aloha.

-Melanie-

Our Sweet Maggie

Our dear Maggie went to kitty heaven five years ago.  You can click here to read my post from last year.  She will forever be loved and is greatly missed.

Kitty kisses and hugs to you, sweet Maggie.

-Melanie-

Mary Had a Little Lamb

Are you getting tired of these ATC's yet?  I hope not because I've joined quite a few swaps lately so I'll be posting even more of them over the next few weeks.  This latest one is a Cricut ATC swap.  The requirement was that we use one of the Cricut cartridges other than an alphabet so I decided to use the Animal Kingdom cartridge.  Now, everyone knows that I love cats, but I love lambs too so I chose the lamb image.  He's so cute and fluffy!  I tied a little red gingham bow around his next to make him even cuter.  He looks like he could be someone's pet.

Ingredients:

Card stock - Real Red and Black by @Stampin' Up, White by Papertrey Ink

Accessories - Red gingham ribbon by @Stampin' Up

Tools - Animal Kingdom Cricut cartridge by Provocraft

If I had a cantaloupe stamp, I would have stamped it next to the lamb so that he could "pin the cantaloupe" but no one other than my family would understand the significance of this...hee hee hee.

Snow, sleet and ice are headed our way for the next two days.  I'm taking tomorrow and Friday which means I will have some extra time to spend in my "studio" because I have "deadlines."  Hee hee hee... 

-Melanie-   

Vellum Butterfly

I bought the new Cuttlebug Butterfly die/embossing folders a few weeks ago and I finally had a chance to play with it.  I chose "spring-like" colors because I'm tired of the cold and I'm definitely ready for spring.  I cut the butterfly image out of Cool Caribbean card stock and then cut a second image out of vellum card stock.  I embossed the vellum image and then layered it on top of the Cool Caribbean, off-setting it slightly to give it some depth.  I really love how it turned out.  I'm definitely going to have to use this layout again with different colors.   

Ingredients:

Card stock - Cool Caribbean and Barely Banana by @Stampin' Up, White by Papertrey Ink

Ink - Cool Caribbean by @Stampin' Up

Images - Linen background by @Stampin' Up, sentiment manufacturer unknown

Accessories - White organdy ribbon and silver brads by @Stampin' Up

Tools - Butterfly Tag Team set by Provocraft; rectangle scallop Nestabilities die

We're supposed to get more snow Thursday and Friday.  I just might have to take a few vacation days!  Hurry up, Spring!

-Melanie-

Glitter Window Friend ATC

I joined another ATC swap a few months ago and I decided to made an extra ATC so that I could turn it into a card.  The theme of this ATC swap was "Glitter Window."  I love anything sparkly so I couldn't resist.  When the ATC was finished, I tore a piece of Very Vanilla card stock, sponged the edges with Chocolate Chip ink and then layered it on the base of Brocade Blue.  I then sponged the base with Chocolate Chip ink, added the ATC and viola; instant card.

Ingredients:

Card stock - Ballet Blue, Very Vanilla Chocolate Chip and River Rock by @Stampin' Up

Ink - Ballet Blue and Chocolate Chip by @Stampin' Up;

Images - In the Spotlight and So Many Sayings by @Stampin' Up;

Accessories - Blue grosgrain ribbon, eyelet and Dazzlin' Diamonds by @Stampin' Up

We had a brief blizzard appear from nowhere this morning for about 10 minutes.  The weatherman had said that we may see a few flurries...he lied!  It didn't amount to much but the streets were covered briefly and it was actually considered a white-out for a few minutes.  The sun then came out and the snow melted.  Bizarre. 

Check back tomorrow to see my "Vellum Butterfly" card.

-Melanie-

Avenue Q

We saw Avenue Q at the Fox Theater yesterday.  Oh my gosh; it was hilarious.  The only thing I knew about it prior to seeing it was that it involved foul-mouthed puppets.  Hee hee hee...yep, it's definitely not a show for young ones or people who are easily offended.

The story is about a group of people living on Avenue Q in New York City.  There's Kate Monster, Christmas Eve, Princeton, Brian, Trekkie Monster, Rod, Nick, and Gary Coleman.  Some of the cast are real people and others are puppets.  The songs were quite funny..."What Do You Do With a B.A. in English", "It Sucks to be Me" and "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" to name a few.

We went to the Tap Room for dinner after the show.  Now, I have tried just about every beer that Schlafly brews so, imagine my surprise when I saw a new brew listed.  It was an English Brown Ale and it was very good!  It went quite well with my beer pretzels and salmon.

It's a cold, dreary, gray, rainy day today.  I just might curl up on the couch later this afternoon and take a nap.   

-Melanie-    

IQ Test

I found an online IQ test so I decided to try it.  Here are my results:

Your IQ Is 135

Your Logical Intelligence is Exceptional Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius Your General Knowledge is Genius

Click here to take the IQ Test

Hmmm...I guess I could have done better in Algebra.  Don't tell my mom and dad...hee hee hee.

-Melanie-