Christmasy Goodness Giveaway

Jennifer has a fabulous giveaway over on her blog Created by JB. Hero Arts and Purple Union Designs stamps and goodies - oh my! Click on the link above the photo to check out her beautiful work and enter the drawing.

clipped from createdbyjb.typepad.com

How to fix the economic crisis

This is from an article in the  St. Petersburg  Times  newspaper on Sunday.

The Business Section asked readers for ideas on :
”How Would You Fix the Economy?"

This is a letter that was published:

Dear Mr. President,

Please find below my suggestion for fixing  America's economy. Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan.

You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan:

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force.  Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire.  Forty million job openings – Unemployment - fixed

2) They MUST buy a new American CAR.  Forty million cars ordered. Auto Industry - fixed

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage. Housing Crisis - fixed

It can't get any easier than that!

(contact information omitted)

P.S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress and their constituents pay their taxes...

Mr. President, while you're at it, make Congress retire on Social Security and Medicare. I'll bet both programs would be fixed pronto!

_____________________________________________

Perfect! My friend Cheryl had a similar idea which would work well, too. Hers included sending the $1 million to every taxpayer and doing away with food stamps, welfare, and Medicare. Either one will work for me. Maybe we need to start sending this letter to the White House!

I know what you’re thinking….it won’t do any good. Might not, but it’s a piece of paper and a stamp – what can it hurt?

I’m so excited!

Remember how much I love that Basic Grey Indian Summer paper, and how I thought it would look awesome as a handbag? Well, check this out! It’s not that paper exactly but it is gorgeous and I can’t wait to see it in person. There’s a matching wallet, too – how cool is that? One of my FB friends and her daughter design and sew handbags, wallets, and lots of other goodies. Last night I was browsing their website and found this:

Isn’t it beautiful? It will be on the way to my house next week :-) It has 6 pockets on the inside, too. Handmade, quilted, quality, and a LOT less $$ than Vera Bradley. I’m taking my new Vera back to the store today. She didn’t have any of the wallets left but had some fabric and is making one for me.

Pop on over and have a look at their creations. The website is DCR Creations and they are very wonderful people to deal with.

I promised not to keep you waiting too long

So here it is, my attempt at something a little different. Turns out it’s not all that different. Vertical instead of horizontal and one has a crocheted flower. The other one has a couple of Hero Arts Felt Leaves. I used some pink on both of them because I thought it went well with the patterned paper. I think I am out of ideas. Maybe I’ll just start on Christmas cards.

Which of these things is most like the other…

Do you ever feel like your cards are like a romance novel that was written by one of those authors that cranks out 6 or 7 of them every year? You know the kind of novel I’m talking about. You feel like you’ve read it before, just the names and locations are different? You could have written it yourself because you’ve read five others by the same author and very little really changes. No? Well, I do. At least I feel that way about these cards.

It’s not that I don’t like them. I do. It’s just that they are very similar, very alike one another. It’s easy to tell that they all belong to the same family – the resemblance is uncanny! I liked the layout so I repeated it…over and over and over again. A little different bit of ribbon, red instead of brown, Stickles instead of gemstones, blah blah blah.

This is how the whole thing started. I was doing a demo at Stamper’s Alley last weekend, for Open House. I was demoing the Cuttlebug and Nestabilities and I needed a couple of samples.

Sample 1. The bow and gems in opposite corners was inspired by a card I saw online, probably on someone’s blog. I liked the way this one turned out.

Sample 2. So I made another one, just slightly different. Golden yellow instead of burnt orange and no gemstones. Oh, and different color ribbon – same style, just a different color.

The demo went well and I needed to make some Fall cards to send out since I don’t do Thanksgiving cards. I don’t know why I don’t do Thanksgiving cards. I just prefer plain ‘ol Happy Fall cards. Anyway, I thought of just making some more of these since I already had a lot of the stamped images cut and ready to go but then I decided to try something different.

Oh yeah, this is thinking way outside the box, right?

I liked that one so well….yep…you guessed it. Another one. Very similar but not exactly the same. More like a fraternal twin than an identical twin.

I stamped a Memory Box tree and added some Fall foliage to it. Cut it out with a Nestie, sponged the edges, and colored some grass - to ground the tree. You can’t just have a tree floating in thin air!

Then I glanced over at the shelf where I keep my cards and saw the first two. Hmmmm.

Lather, rinse, repeat. I was on a roll now.

You still with me? Tap, tap, is this thing on??

The last one. Luckily for you I only stamped 4 trees.

I still have all of these stamps laid out and ready to ink up. I may have enough cards to send, since I made some others a few weeks ago. But I need to use these stamps. Need to. Bought them, must use them.

You know what that means. And I know you can hardly wait to see what I come up with next! Tell the truth (but not if it’s gonna hurt my feelings). I have to be honest – any new cards will most likely involve that awesome Basic Grey Indian Summer paper. Maybe that’s why I feel the need to make more cards. It’s not the stamps, it’s that paper. I love it. I love looking at it. The colors are just beautiful. If it was fabric I’d make myself a new purse out of it and carry it all year. Ok, so I’d think about what a great purse it would make and see if I could bribe one of my talented friends to make it for me.

But it’s only paper so I will have to turn it into cards. I will try not to keep you waiting too long.

Veterans Day

I want to wish you all a Happy Veterans Day and remind you to remember all of those who have sacrificed so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have today. My DH (he loves it when I call him that) is in charge of the website for Richard’s Coffee Shop in Mooresville and has put up a wonderful tribute to the veterans. Please go check out the site, and if any of you are in the area stop by for some coffee and a warm reception.

A little clarification

I think I need to clarify something about the two blog candy posts. I am not the one giving away the prizes, you need to click the link at the top of the photo of the prize and follow the instructions on their blogs to be entered. I noticed a few comments were left on the posts and just thought I would set the record straight. So, if you left a comment and thought you were entered, you're not - unless you followed the links.

What a fabulous prize!

Debbie is giving away some fabulous blog candy to celebrate 200,000 hits so go on over and throw your hat into the ring!

clipped from passionforcrafts.blogspot.com

Jacque is celebrating 6 months

with blog candy! Pop on over and add your name to the drawing. The link is at the top of the photo.

clipped from jacquesmagnolias.blogspot.com

Silhouette Blog GIveaway

Over at the Silhouette Blog they are giving away a $50 download card but they have to get 500 followers. So pop on over and help them out -> Silhouette Blog. Remember to sign up for the giveaway while you are there, and no matter if you don't have a Silhouette - if you win I'll be glad to give the card a good home for you :-)