I’m sorry that I didn’t get a chance to blog yesterday. I was just signing on the Internet when my electricity went off. It came back on around 7:10 and went off again around 7:25, just long enough for me to get a shower. I hope you are all prepared for another cold morning. The temperature here is 38º, but it will warm up quickly. My granddaughter loves gummy worms, so I created this cute little box to put them in. I used the Cute As A Bug stamp set and markers. I wanted to make sure that the recipe for the Mug Um cup was tasty enough to actually give to someone to cook, so I cooked one of the Chocolate Cakelettes in a similar mug. The cake was very moist and it baked up nice. I think it would be good with some chocolate syrup and whipped cream on top. The whipped cream was Bonnie’s idea!

Bonnie and I canceled sister’s night due to the tornado watch weather status, the wind, the black clouds, and the lightening. We will try to meet tonight instead. Have you ever heard of Mug’ Ems? They are individual recipes in a mug. You can find them here; http://www.cqproducts.com/ The mug holds 1 1\2 cups. I fixed the Chocolate Cakelette recipe and stamped the tag with the stamp set, Oh So Sweet, and Like it a Latte. I wrapped a couple of candy bars in dp (designer paper) to give the mug a competed look. How to fix the cake in a mug is on the tag attached to the finished product.

I went into Joann’s Fabrics this weekend to get a footrest for my Adirondack chair on the front porch. Boy I was taken back by the price, but I did have a 40% off coupon. It was a good thing or I would have left without it. While I was there I was attracted to the color purple. As you can see my purchases were all in the same color range. I blame this on Lynnor, who was working on a scrapbook using baby colors. You know, all the sweet pastels of spring! Here is my creation using some of my new supplies. The basket stamp is by Judith. Umm! I wonder where I bought that stamp? Ask Trish, she might know. lol

I spent most of today with Madison. We played princess, cowgirl, cleaned strawberries, and chased chickens. We did all that and still managed a picnic of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the porch. Then we squeezed in a short nap.

This is what I worked on after Madison went home. The size of this purse box is 5 1/2"wide, 4 1/2" tall, and 1 3/4" deep. I used a purchased gift bag for a template so, right now, I don't have a template to share. I had to go to Michael's to buy extra large sheets of cardstock. The stamps I used are Stampin' Up's retired set called Garden Silhouettes. Artfully Asian on page 56 would work.

I got up yesterday morning and fixed a big breakfast for Zack and I. I went to Priceless to stamp with Bonnie’s scrapbooking club. This is my interns last week with me and I wanted to finish the gift I am giving her. She’s the current Cattleman Association’s Sweetheart, so I wanted something she could use. I think this file box will fit the bill. I used chicken papers that I bought at Priceless, and rub-on’s by Stampin’ Up. I used the retired stamp set called roosting on the file folders that I made for the inside of the box.

I came home from work and Sonny was packed and ready for his camping trip. Sonny, JP, Michael, Roy, McKinley and Dennis are canoeing on the Ocklawaha River. They will be camping two nights. Zack was going, but had to attend the funeral of a friend. It started raining around four this morning and has not stopped. I know that Sonny took his rain gear; I hope the others did too. Yesterday was J.P.’s 25th birthday. I can’t believe how old my boys are getting. Happy Birthday John Paul. Here’s the deal! I have a weekend of guilt-free stamping. I can stay in my craft room all day if I want. I don’t get many of these, so I am really going to take advantage of it. I stayed up until one in the morning last night. Here is one of the cards I completed. The pumpkin and brown dots is a designer paper. I used several stamp sets to complete this one. (Heaven Scent, Sanded, Fine Frames and Much Appreciated).

I had my North Ocala Stampers Ten meeting last night. We had a lot of fun catching up with each others lives. They all loved the projects. I think the calendar was the biggest hit.

Several people were interested in the acetate candy box that I made just before Valentines Day. I thought I had shared this with everyone, but I guess not. This is a quick, easy project that can be given for any holiday.

I had some computer problems last night. I hope that I have those fixed. I just sent out our Stampers Ten club meeting for my North Ocala group. I didn’t get any stamping done last night. I came home and started cleaning the house right away.

Here in a journal that I did for a friend. She had bought several of these and wanted some ideas for covering them. I used the stamp set called Wanted by Stampin Up.

I was tired yesterday when I got home from work. I fixed a big pot of chili for dinner and flopped on the sofa for the rest of the evening. I didn’t even feel like reading.

It’s a good thing I stamped two cards the night before. Here is another wedding card for the bride to be to choose from. I used the Together Forever stamp set and paper piercing.

My Ocala Stampers Ten club met last night at Priceless. We had a few people out with the flu or other conflict. I think that everyone that showed up had a good time. It was a very quiet night. I don’t know if they were concentrating on their projects or if all the noisy people were absent. lol Just kidding ladies. I came home and worked on the wedding invitations some more. Here is one that is very much like the first one. There are a few changes. I used a different Cuttlebug embossing folder. I stamped the top with a background stamp in Pretty In Pink and I added a saying at the bottom. I also made these a little bigger. They measure 5” x 6 ½”. I think I will look for envelopes to see what is available for her to purchase. It would be nice if we could find some to match the colors.

I completed February’s Christmas cards for the challenge. All I had left was to emboss the white snowflakes. I bought these Christmas oven mitts right after the holidays. I thought they would make cute, useable packaging. Each oven mitt has five cards in it. I will place these in clear bags with some candy and a matching tag. My granddaughter’s went home yesterday afternoon. I was going to keep them for one more night, but I remembered that I had a Stamper’s Ten meeting tonight. After the girls left I read a short novel called Green Angel, by Alice Hoffman. This is the second book this month where the main character becomes an orphan right at the beginning of the book. This was a great story of survival.

I have my graddaughters this weekend. There is just too much hugging and kissing going on to stamp. But, don't worry, I have so many things stamped and scrapbooked that I could keep my blog going for a year and never touch a stamp.

Lynnor Goodwin is on baby alert this morning. She is about to become a grandma again. Many of you may remember Linda, Lynnor's daughter-in-law, she was in the stampers ten club last year. She will be a first time mom at any moment.

Since we are talking about time, how about a clock. I did this clock a few months ago and still have not found a home for it. I think it will end up in my dressing area. I love the frogs and just a touch of bling. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

My Ocala Stampers Ten meeting will be this Monday night, at Priceless Scrapbooks. I hope to see you at 6:30.

Good Morning! This is it! There were nineteen entries in my contest. The winning number was [2]. Congratulations! Bev Taylor, that number belongs to you. I want to thank everyone for signing up for my newsletter. When you get your automatic reminder, my daily entry will appear in the email. Would you rather go to the blog entry itself? Just click on the title in the email, The MadCat Stamper, and it will take you right to my blog. Here is a preview of one of our projects this month. If you come to the club meeting this week you will make one of these for yourself. This is one of Stampin’ Up’s In Colors, called Groovy Guava. Remember that after June you will no longer be able to purchase this color family.

Happy Friday everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentines Day. You will be seeing a lot of brown and pink in the next few weeks. I have been asked to design wedding invitations. I have no idea where to start. She is leaving it totally up to me for now. I think I will try to keep it simple, since there will be 150 of them. The good thing about it is that I love this color scheme. In this sample I used a Stampin’ Up stamp set called Together Forever. The paper is Chocolate Chip and Pretty In Pink. Again, I played with my new toys. I used the Swiss Dot Cuttlebug embossing folder. What a fun embossed background. I just love dots! Last Chance! Be sure to Subscribe to The MadCat Stamper by Email I finally managed to get it set up. Yea! Everyone who signs up by Friday, the 15th, will be entered into a drawing for this special prize. (A stamp set called Party Punch, a roll of Purely Pomegranate 5/8” satin ribbon, a Purely Pomegranate stamp pad, and a delicious dark chocolate raspberry candy bar.)

How to enter: 1. Subscribe to my site 2. Email me at Sjones9004@aol.com , type MadCatStamper in the subject line. That’s it; you will be entered in the drawing for the special Pomegranate prize. A Random Number Generator will be used to select the winner! I will notify the winner by email on Saturday the 16th.

Happy Valentines Day! I had a very busy day yesterday. It was an early release day. After my talkative children left, I spent the rest of the afternoon in an In-service. I went straight home and fixed country fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, and cauliflower with cheese for dinner. Sonny and I relaxed and watched a documentary on the Comanche Indians. I had set out all the ingredients that I would need to fix frosted sugar cookies for Valentines Day. So, I headed back to the kitchen.. These are so good! I frosted them with butter cream frosting and sprinkled them with sparkling sugar. While the cookies were baking I read another chapter in the book Listening For Lions, by Gloria Whelan. It’s a fiction novel for young adults about a girl that is left an orphan after the influenza epidemic of 1919 in East Africa. This one is getting really good, I can’t wait to get some more reading time in. Once all the cookies were baked, I got to go play with some of my new toys. Look what came in the mail today. Yes, your not seeing things. I got three of the new Cuttlebug embossing folders. I can’t wait to play with them. I made this card with the Number Collage embossing folder and the Nursery Necessities stamp set. I sanded the background with a sanding block after I had embossed it. The ribbon I used is Stampin’ Up’s new striped Wild Wasabi. Remember to sign up for my newsletter. That will be the only way to get it after Friday. Go to my blog entries for Sunday or Monday to see how to enter my contest which ends Friday.

I finally got a call from Bonnie. Her email has been bouncing back to her. It says that she doesn’t have an email account. lol They had a great time in California and are returning today. Her and Trish have walked and walked and then walked some more. They will be home later today. I can't wait to see all the wonderful ideas they are returning with.

Faux-Film Strip I found this tutorial by Julie Buhler and created one of her cards following these directions. http://paperpleasing.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/02/faux-film-strip.html

Here is my card using the Faux-Filmstrip. I used the Zoofari stamp set, aren’t the little animals adorable? Create the faux-filmstrip following the directions in the tutorial. My square punch was acting up, so I had to rough up the edges of my squares. I like the distressed look that resulted in having a dull punch. I colored the animals with my watercolor pencils. I haven't used those in a long time. I shaded them with markers. It's a fun and easy card to create. Thanks Julie for a fantastic tutorial.

Be sure to enter my contest. Go back to Monday’s blog entry to get directions.

Still no news from Bonnie, but I have news from Trish: Here is what she had to say. “Hey, It's great and exhausting (in a good way)! We left Ocala at 6am and finally arrived at our hotel at about 4 California time, but a good night sleep does wonders. We're heading out again this morning. Will keep you posted...” Evidently I am really into theses elephants right now. I love this stamp set called Wild About You. I cased this card from one of the Demonstrator magazines. Sorry, I don’t remember which one. I made a few of these and then I worked on February’s Christmas Card Challenge. I stamped, water colored, and cut out ten snowmen. Now, I need to figure out what I am going to do with them. They turned out nice, with a definite country feel to them. Please sign up for my newsletter by Friday. I will not be sending out any update notices after that date. So even if you don’t want to enter the contest, sign up for the newsletter. Thanks Be sure to Subscribe to The MadCat Stamper by Email Everyone who signs up by Friday, the 15th, will be entered into a drawing for this special prize. (A stamp set called Party Punch, a roll of Purely Pomegranate 5/8” satin ribbon, a Purely Pomegranate stamp pad, and a delicious dark chocolate raspberry candy bar.) How to enter: 1. Subscribe to my site 2. Email me at Sjones9004@aol.com , type MadCatStamper in the subject line. That’s it; you will be entered in the drawing for the special Pomegranate prize. A Random Number Generator will be used to select the winner! I will notify the winner by email on Saturday the 16th.

I had a quiet Sunday. As you know I worked on my Blog site in the morning. I got some laundry done and went to the grocery store. I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. {I really needed that!} I finished Reading my book “The Art of Keeping Cool.” The story was good, but it would never hold the attention of my students. I still haven’t heard anything from Bonnie. I hope her and Trish are having a great time in California. I CASED this idea from the Sell-A-Bration mini catalog. Are you looking for a way to leave your matches sitting out? I am going to create a set to match my bathroom colors for all the candles that I light in there. Now I won’t have to go into the kitchen to get the matches anymore.

Be sure to Subscribe to The MadCat Stamper by Email I finally managed to get it set up. Yea! Everyone who signs up by Friday, the 15th, will be entered into a drawing for this special prize. (A stamp set called Party Punch, a roll of Purely Pomegranate 5/8” satin ribbon, a Purely Pomegranate stamp pad, and a delicious dark chocolate raspberry candy bar.) How to enter: 1. Subscribe to my site 2. email me at Sjones9004@aol.com , type MadCat Stamper in the subject line. That’s it, you will be entered in the drawing for the special Pomegranate prize. A Random Number Generator will be used to select the winner! I will notify the winner by email on Saturday the 16th.

Good Morning, Finally! Be sure to Subscribe to The MadCat Stamper by Email. I finally managed to get it set up. Yea! Everyone who signs up by Friday, the 15th, will be entered into a drawing for this special prize. (A stamp set called Party Punch, a roll of Purely Pomegranate 5/8” satin ribbon, a Purely Pomegranate stamp pad, and a delicious dark chocolate raspberry candy bar.) How to enter: 1. Subscribe to my site 2. Email me at Sjones9004@aol.com , type MadCat Stamper in the subject line. That’s it, you will be entered in the drawing for the special Pomegranate prize. A Random Number Generator will be used to select the winner! I will notify the winner by email on Saturday the 16th. I had a great day yesterday. Sonny and I took the boat over to the Oklawaha River. We went downstream and met JP and Tammy for a cookout on the banks of the river. The water is down about four feet or more. Your not allowed to fish for bass north of the bridge. It was a beautiful day. We had a full escort of birds all the way down river. The water was moving extremely fast I have never seen it like this. No stamping last night! I still was able to create a card without stamps. What? No Stamps? Stampin’ Up’s new Rub-Ons are fabulous. They coordinate with their stamp sets and are so easy to use. I have used them on glass, plastic, ribbon, and cardstock. You have got to try them… I CASED this card from the demonstrator web site. Have a fantastic weekend.

This has been a sad month at work. I have needed several sympathy cards. With this one I used one of my favorite sets called Lovely as a Tree. I watercolored it using ink pads and a blender pen. For the sky, I painted it with a paintbrush dipped in water and reinkers.

Late! My day didn’t start out too good. I was almost to work and noticed that I was out of gas. Now, that usually wouldn’t be a problem. As I was about to pull into a station, I realized that I had left my wallet on the dinning table. That was a problem! I had to go home and start all over. I called work to let them know that I was running late. I was going to fry chicken for dinner when I got home from work and realized that I was out of oil. I still fried the chicken I just had to wait for Sonny to pick some oil up on his way home from work. But, that worked out for the best. I had time to create the cutest set of cards and read another chapter in the book I’m reading. (The Art of Keeping Cool, by Janet Taylor Lisle) Do you want a card that is quick and easy? Here it is! I cased this set of cards from Stampin’ Up’s On Stage magazine for demonstrators. Kim Cagle of NC created the design. This is a fun set to make. I used the Wild About You stamp set on page 70. Use any designer paper, but try not to have it too busy. Match your ink and solid cardstock to the designer paper that you choose. I used the black gingham ribbon on page 191. I completed the entire set of six cards in about thirty minutes.

I started out with a completely different idea. Well, it just wasn't coming together. I hate it when a plan doesn’t come together.. “@#%*!” I used the Boatloads of Love, page 38, for this card. I used the watercolor crayons on the boat and to highlight the word friend. I don't think you can tell in the picture, but I paper pierced the corners of the burgundy mat. To finish it off, I added some ribbon and a little bling. It’s ok, just not the look I was going for. Have a wonderful day.

Yes! I finally got to stamp this week. Boy did that feel good! I needed to release some stress.. I went to Bonnie’s for Sister’s Night. We prepped the projects for February’s Stampers Ten club meetings. Patti joined us and worked on the projects that she had started at Griffins earlier in the day. One of her projects looked very familiar, actually both of them did. lol But, the card looked exactly like a card layout that I was working on. I CASED this one from the CTMH catalog, page 57. I had to come home and finish it, this was just too funny. We are all starting to think alike when it comes to our stamping. lol I used Stampin’ Up stamps called Petal Prints and Birthday Greetings. Notice that I used buttons again, along with twill ribbon and some linen thread cross stitches.

I am sad to say that work followed me home again last night. At 3:15 I was informed that I have another IEP meeting today. That's another three hours writing another eleven page IEP. I was so tired that I had to get up and walk around to wake myself up. I'd write a couple pages and take a break. I don't think I have ever been that tired before. Now, if that had been new stamps in there waiting on me , I would have been pretty perky! lol Don't fret, I do have a project to share with you. Here is a set of 3 x 3 notecards that I completed last month. I used a set called All Through The Year on page 59. This is one of the samples right from the catalog. I did some dry embossing on these. The blue strip has little circles embossed on it and the circle that the cherry is stamped on is embossed around the edge. Dry embossing really adds a 3D look and feel to your cards.

I didn’t get any stamping done this weekend. I entertained my granddaughter for about four hours Sunday afternoon while they went fishing. I watched her stamp in a little book, but all I did was fetch stamp sets and ink for her. Madison is only two, so we had ink everywhere, but she is learning and very particular about what stamps she uses. After they left, I spent three hours writing an IEP (Individual Education Plan). I told you that I wish I could leave my work at work. lol

Here is a card that I stamped a few weeks ago. Again, I used the Voila stamp set. It turned out ok; I have never used this layout. It’s right from the catalog on page 42. I love this saying: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. " - Mark Twain

Here is the birthday card that I sent my son. He turned 31 on January 25. Wow! Where have all the years gone?

I used the stamp set Voila' and Voila' to go on page 42 of the Stampin' Up idea book and catalog.

Happy Saturday,

I am in a much better mood today! I wanted to share a waterfall card that Selda made. Didn't she do a wonderful job? I am so glad to see that some of my readers are sharpening up those scissors and putting them to good use. Thank you Selda for sharing your lovely artwork.

Here is my Saturday post: Using the Doodle This stamp set, I cut out the flower and curled the petals before layering them. I finally used a button! I have jars full of beautiful buttons and never use them. (shame on me..)

I will be at Priceless Scrapbooks around 11:00 if you would like to pick up your latest order. I hope to see you there.