Colour Challenged

I was invited to do a sample for this week's colour challenge over at Splitcoaststampers and I was so incredibly flattered to be asked. I was thrilled!

The colours were:

Always Artichoke

Blushing Bride

Marine Mist

And there was a desert option to do embossed frames but more than 1 per card.

I can't resist desert so I had some of that as well as playing with the colours.

I was over in the States today and on the way over my truck got x-rayed along with 5 other ones. I guess it had to do with heightened security becasue of 9/11 and I can understand that. The border guards were very nice and it all went really quickly too.

But if I'd thought about it I probably wouldn't have gone across this close to the anniversary of that horrible day.

My Tool Man and I watched a slide show on the internet and the coverage on TV about it and it still makes me want to cry, thinking about all the people that died and remembering hearing about it on the radio and then seeing it on TV when I got home from work that evening.

My heart goes out to all of the people who lost loved ones.

But since I was there I decided to pop into JoAnn's and have a look around. And while I was there this cat stamp just followed me home. I just couldn't resist her and I brought her home with me and knew that I had to use her to make one of my sample cards today.

Cat card

Stamps: Inkadinkado

Ink: SU Basic Black craft, Marine Mist, Blushing Bride, Always Artichoke

Clear embossing powder

Just a Note card

Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie, Hero Arts

Ink: Memento and as above

Copics BG72 as Marine Mist with BG70 and 79, R30 with RV21 as Blushing Bride and YG 99 as Always Artichoke with YG96 and 00

Kiss It Better

Not a great day at work today...

Cat wrestling is not a sport I excell at. I usually disarm them with my charm and understanding and they usually respond to the low stress, low restraint approach I take.

Until today.

No wrestling needed.

Until today.

I very rarely get bitten.

Until today.

Today I got bitten on both of my thumbs by a cat. It really wasn't his fault. He couldn't probably have helped himself if he'd thought to try to.

But it was a nasty, nasty bite. My thumbs got gnawed on. He chomped my right one and when I pried him off of that thumb with my left hand he clamped down on my left thumb too.

Apparently when I said, "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" It was louder and not as calm and rational sounding as I was attempting to make it. In my head I very cool and calmly said "Ow, ow, ow," as I gently removed his teeth from my right thumb.

And it bled... Alot... Which is good because hopefully that flushes some of the bacteria back out with the blood. But it is bad if you are the poor people that had to clean up after me. Normally I clean up my own messes but they, the poor people, let me off this time.

When we got done handling him, I turned around and there stood one of my technicians, syringe with teat cannula (so she could flush out the bite wounds more effectively) in hand along with a bowl of antiseptic soloution.

"No," I said.

"We have to flush it," she said.

"That won't work very well," I said.

I'm slightly notorious for not being good at getting needles or at having someone else dig things out of my hands. I let this gal do it because she is good at it, patient and gentle, and she likes to do it. But usually I have to sit down and have someone else forcibly hold my hand in place so I don't jerk it away.

"We'll get help," she said.

I am bad at getting needles. But what the problem is is that I have a really strong vagal vagal response - bascially you give me a needle and my nervous system has a reflex that tells me to feel light headed and faint - and I can't control it. It's annoying and embarassing. And it makes nervous to have needles and stuff done to me even if I'm not even afraid of it per se. Because you just never know, you know.

We compromised. I soaked my thumbs in the antiseptic and she watched me. And I confirmed that I had not been lying to all those animals in the past whom I've confidently told that the antiseptic doesn't sting.

Well, it stings a little bit. But only a little. And much less than the hydrogen peroxide my Mom wielded all throughout my childhood.

I have to take pills 3 times a day for 7 days.

Emergency Flutterby Instructor

This was done for Mother Mark's Teapot Tuesday Challenge over at Splitcoaststampers.

This week we are visiting Coconut Creek, Florida. Butterfly capital of the world and home to the National Butterfly Behaviour Foundation.

The challenge was Top Gun inspired as well and since I am that age Top Gun and the Tom Cruise of that era made my teenage heart fo pitter patter. I knew exactly what I would do for this challenge which is about 2 out of control young butterflies wanting to do a flyby on the administrative offices to make the secretary spill her tea.

I enlisted the help of Lavinia from Kraftin Kimmie and thought that she could be the NBBF's Charlie. Maybe she could get those boys undercontrol to avoid poor Emma, the secretary, getting tea all over herself.

I took a different slant than everyone else for this challenge but I like what I came up with even if it is unconventional.

Stamps: Lavinia - Kraftin' Kimmie, Silhouettes - Stampendous, Sentiment and butterflies - MFT

Ink: Memento, SU Baha Breeze, Vintage Violet, Blue Bayou, Distress Ink Walnut Stain

Paper: Melon Mambo, Neenah Solar White

Copics: R80's for the Pink and B40's for the blue. Hair is assorted E's in the 50 and 70 range.

Extras: Tim Holtz Texture Fade, MFT Cloud Die

I stamped and coloured Lavinia and the butterflies and then cut them out. I stamped the silhouette stamps inking both of them only paritally and then masked off the skyling and sponged BB for the sky and VV and BB for the tarmac. Then I did my embossing. All the layers have WS on them to distress them. I layered everything up and there you go!

Zebra at Sunset

This card was done for this weeks CAS challenge and last week's colour challenge over at Splitcoaststampers. Stamps are from Coronado Island (silhouette) and Artful Stamper (zebra).

I cut a piece of white paper, sponged on More Mustard, Melon Mambo and Pacific point and blended it all to make a sunset, then stamped on the skyline. I stamped the zebra, jazzed her up a bit with some W copics and then cut her out and popped her up. I hand wrote the sentinment.