The teacher strike is over!!!

I'm breathing a big sigh of relief here. I didn't know how much longer we could last. Miss Moo starts preschool today and it would have been very disappointing if Oblivianna couldn't go to school as well; but last night the teachers' union voted to accept the school district's latest proposal and we're starting school today . . . nine days late. At this point, I'm just grateful we're starting, but I'm sure later on in the school year when we're missing scheduled vacation days and adding on days to the end of the year to make up the time, I'll be more disgruntled.

So here I am at 6:30 a.m. uploading cards and waiting for Oblivianna to get dressed so I can take her upstairs and help her get some breakfast. This is one of my most favorite cards that I have made in a while. I used the "Stinking of You!" sentiment on the inside, so this is a good card for just about any time you feel like giving a card (except for when you need a sorry for your loss card). Also, the Rain Drop bubbles are irresistible. When I was editing the card I zoomed in and I could see myself taking the picture of the card in the reflection on the bubbles. For this card's full recipe, visit my SCS Gallery.

Well, Oblivianna is all dressed. She's wearing an ensemble of grey tiger-stripes from Gymboree's Classroom Kitty Collection and when I say ensemble, I mean an ensemble of tiger-striped everything . . . shoes, socks, pants, and shirt. I tried to talk her into toning it down a little, maybe wearing a pink shirt or something, but she's made up her mind. That's my girl. Enjoy your day. I'm going to enjoy my 3 1/2 hours alone while Miss Moo is at preschool. Happy stamping.

Stink Bugs!

I made this card yesterday evening and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Let me start by saying that I love claw-footed bathtubs. You know how some people have little decorating motifs throughout their houses, such as roosters, pigs, or a certain kind of flower. Well, one of my motifs is claw-footed bathtubs. (The other one is piggy banks.) I have art prints of claw-footed bathtubs in my office. I have a mini replica of one on my desk that I use as a candy dish. Maybe someday I will have an actual claw-footed bathtub somewhere in my house. I'd need a much bigger bathroom than the one I currently have for that to happen though. It only follows that this stamp of two stink bugs taking a bath is has a special place in my heart. It is also one of the original images from the table the Carol and I decorated for my daughter Oblivianna. Anyway, I chose to use the polka dot SEI dp as my background because it sort of reminded me of wallpaper you might find in a bathroom and I tried making my sentiment tag have the look of a framed sentiment that someone might have in their house. Not "Home Sweet Home," but maybe "Stinkin' Sweet Stink." Of course, the little flourishes I added are crooked. It seems that my stamping aim is bad even when I'm using clear stamps on a clear block. Unless I use a Stamp-a-ma-Jig, things are always a little off. I used some liquid applique to make some 3D bubbles floating in the water. My 3.75 year-old daughter, Miss Moo, was especially excited about the fluffy bubbles in the water when she saw this card on my desk this morning. Since I am not the scrapbooking type, I generally don't think of uses for our stamps in that sense, but I think that this stamp would be great on one of those pages with a picture of a young child in the bathtub. You know you've got those pictures. I even have them of Oblivianna and Miss Moo. . . I just haven't scrapped them. If you've got a slightly off center sense of humor like I do, and don't mind referring to your children as stink bugs, you can even use the companion sentiment on the page as well.
That's it for the blog today. I only got to make one Helen card this weekend so I'll probably try making more. The stink bug card and the Helen card that I did manage to make are both posted in our Eccentric Images Rubberstamp Chat Gallery, where you can see a bigger picture of the card and all of the "ingredients" I used in making the card.