One month of blogging – Wow!

 

Blogging is like……

 

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Hi All,

A friend just reminded me that today was one month since I started blogging on July 18th!  Wow!  How time flies.

A big heartfelt thank you to all of you who have made this a fun ride over the last 30 days.   The cats thank you too and in honor of the occasion thought I should share a catly funny I found over on Michelle Zindorf’s blog today (see her post here for some inspiration too).  I’m hoping the subject isn’t their own comment on blogging and the time I spend on the computer!   Metaphorically speaking when I first tried to get a blog started a year ago I did have that reaction.   I surely thought I had stepped in something!   Having since figured it out however it’s fun, addicting, creatively inspiring and the friendships formed as a result are simply amazing!  Stampers are indeed the best friends a girl can have (oops better not let the cats read that sentence!).

So here’s Sandycat and Wickets contribution to the celebration….

 

 

Trust me Michelle – Bear poop is so much worse as my kitties can attest!  It’s not only more indestructible than toxic waste (and lasts almost as long), it has super glue properties the FDA is afraid to test!  😀

Hmmm…now that I think about it do blog celebrations, cat pictures and poop stories really go together!    In the Rogue Valley the answer is a resounding YES!   That’s life and nature as lived in the Rogue!

So what’s the story behind the story…….

A year or so ago  I had a juvenile bear (gotta love those teenagers) who decided my rock drive area was the perfect rest stop.   I have to say that other than the toxic poop he didn’t cause any trouble or get into trash or anything else so for a teenager was fairly well mannered.  Just pooped and moved on. 

The problem…..well it turns out that bear scat is very dense very glue-like and more or less like smallish cow pats that nothing can melt or wash away.   That winter was a fairly intense one with lots of blizzards, rain, hail, etc. and yet nothing effected the scat (a girl can only use the p word so much :D).  I even tried moving the stuff with a shovel and ended up with a shovel that was no longer good for anything!   So what did I finally do??  After a year of aging I was finally able to dig a hole next to each pat of scat and using newspaper rolled the whole mess into each hole and recovered with rocks.   I’m really hoping the EPA doesn’t come after me and also hoping this doesn’t count as something I have to disclose now that the house is on the market.  😀   Luckily the bears seem to have moved on to greener pastures (or better berry bush areas anyway) so hopefully no one will be the wiser!

Funny as this all sounds (hopefully anyway) it did have one positive effect.  I now always use a flashlight when going out to the well house in the middle of the night (another country fun time experience.  When the water goes off you don’t call the city you wander out to the pump house and deal with it yourself.)  Once was enough for stepping in the toxic stuff so at least now I don’t have to worry about running into skunks, raccoons, or tripping on branches left in the drive now that I always have a light on hand!  And you really don’t want to know what Sandy had to say when she inadvertentlygot some of the sticky stuff on her fur.   Ever since then she’s been very reluctant to follow me out to the pump house at night!   My theory is if she can make friends with a skunk (and she has) what’s a little toxic poop between fellow furred beings??    And no I’m not even going to consider using this as a new crafting medium or make my million dollar fortune selling it as a new and better adhesive.   After all who wants to craft wearing a clothespin on ones nose!    And in the time capsule department does any one else remember the show Northern Exposure where some kind of animal dung was used to cure their version of Swine flu??   Hmmm…possibilities there perhaps?

Hugs and blessings my friends – Jean

My Blog Picks and Posts from Here and There Around the Web #3

 

Hi All,

Here’s my latest set of Blog Picks (#3)  from here and there around the web.  A wee bit sparse this week but I’m still recovering and playing catchup from more than a week of Internet being down.  Also appears that the summer doldrums have struck many bloggers so not as much inspiration out there in general this last week.  Hopefully it will pick up once everyone recovers from Convention and gets back in the groove.  Till then…..

Generally you’ll see all SU here on my blog but here and there I find inspiration that is eminently CASEable with SU Product so will share that as well with suggestions for alternate stamps and paper.  Feel free to copy and paste this list and pass it around to fellow stampers or customers or whoever.   Keep in mind there is a lot of inspiration out there and these are just a few of what I’ve found that struck my fancy (so it’s very subjective).   If you are an SU demo or customer and would like to see a more extensive list I have newsletters for both groups (free for right now) with more details, FYI, video and tutorial links.  Email me if you are interested.   Now with that plug out of the way here’s this weeks list of links.

 

 Video’s

 http://chicnscratch.typepad.com/chicnscratchlive/2009/06/post-it-note-organizer-1.html – Post it note organizer

 http://lovenstamps.blogspot.com/2009/08/technique-tutorial-distressed-texturz.html – sanding embossed dsp technique

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3lYe_tO-BQ – Snowman with punches card

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag8lFEp9yhU – Fancy Favor Box – Angie Juda

Tips & Techniques & Reviews

 http://kweenbee.typepad.com/kweenbee/2009/08/buildabear.html – Meet SU’s very own Build a Bear!  What every demo needs to share his or her creative space.  After all hugs are very important to the creative process.

 http://www.stampthings.com/stamp_things/2009/08/box.html – Perfect box tutorial

http://www.stampthings.com/stamp_things/2009/08/tri-shutter.html – tri shutter card tutorial

 http://www.stampthings.com/stamp_things/2009/08/paper-piercing.html  – paper piercing techniques 101 (more to follow)

http://woodmounts.com/ – Source for additional wood blocks suggested by Virginia Brisco fellow demo on SU site.

http://137251.spreadshirt.com/us/US/Shop/Article/Index/article/Sassy-Maddie-Button-4533791 – For those of you in love with Lydia’s SASS images here’s her SASS in button form!

 

CAS (clean & simple)

 http://www.jaydeestamping.com/weblog/2009/08/asian-artistry.html – Asian Artistry

http://kweenbee.typepad.com/kweenbee/2009/08/kraft-black.html – Chic Boutique

 http://andreawalford.com/?p=2921 –

 

General Cards & Projects

 http://stampinwithrachel.blogspot.com/2009/05/watercolor-roses.html – Fifth Avenue floral – Simplicity has a lot going for it!

 http://www.stampinpretty.com/2009/08/real-red-medallion.html –  Medallion

 http://stampwithsass.blogspot.com/2009/08/monkey-business-ppa3.html – Sock Monkey

http://www.stampinfabulousity.com/2009/08/stair-stepping-with-ppa.html – Animal Crackers – WoW!

 http://alliohran.blogspot.com/2009/03/polka-dot-elegance.html – SAB set Polka Dot Punches

http://zindorf.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2009/08/04/black-cat-with-flowers-tutorial-244/ – C is for Cat

 http://zindorf.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2009/08/10/medallion-sun-tutorial-246/ – Medallion

 http://andreawalford.com/?p=2897 – Owl Together Now and a faux thread tutorial

http://butternutsagedesigns.blogspot.com/2009/08/z-is-for-zero.html – Simply amazing use of lovely as a tree

 http://gretchenbarron.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/08/hello-everyone-did-you-know-that-the-new-stampin-up-medallion-background-stamp-is-the-number-one-best-selling-stamp-in-the.html – Medallion

 

New Holiday Mini Sneak Peeks –

http://www.stampinpretty.com/2009/08/ppa3-sweet-centers-sneak-peek.html – Sweet Centers

 http://www.stampinchic.com/2009/08/dasher-dasher-dasher.html – Dasher with holiday mini embellishments and Greetings

http://www.stampinchic.com/2009/08/splendor-of-autumn-meadow.html – Autumn Splendor

 http://understandblue.blogspot.com/2009/08/run-rabbit-run.html – Sweet Centers – Make and Take Tutorial

 http://dreamingaboutrubberstamps.com/?p=1352 – Delightful Decorations, Shimmer Paint and Ornament Punch

 http://kreateskards.blogspot.com/2009/08/sweet-center-flower-tutorial.html – Sweet Center

http://www.jaydeestamping.com/weblog/2009/08/stampin-up-dasher-mojo-monday-99.html – Shimmer paint with Dasher

  

Christmas

http://www.jaydeestamping.com/weblog/2009/08/season-of-joy-ppa2-challenge-version-2.html – Season of Joy – check out the way that the embossed flowers match the stamped flowers!

 http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1450827?&cat=5125 – Snow Swirled Woven Card

 http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/dsp_bow/ – Paper Bow tutorial for those special gifts

http://www.addalittledazzle.com/my_weblog/2009/08/dazzling-envelope.html – Petals a Plenty folder and Dasher

 http://artisticavenger.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/my-favourite-convention-swap/ – Trendy Trees & Many Merry Messages

 

 Big Shot & 3-D & Punches

 http://alliohran.blogspot.com/2009/08/top-note-bag-tutorial.html – SU Contest winner Flutter by Butterfly  Top Note Bag

 http://www.mychicnscratch.com/2009/08/creative-contest-entry-7.html – WoW snowman

 http://andreawalford.com/?p=2878 – Reindeer Lodge

 http://artisticavenger.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/almost-the-last-of-the-artisan-award-projects/

http://stampingaddict.blogspot.com/2009/08/august-stamp-club-projects.html – fun uses of punches and dies and a wee tip on making a cute cone

http://flowerbug.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/08/bbq-punch-art.html – Summer BBQ to remind us that even though we are jumping into Christmas Summer fun is still to be had.

 

Storage, Organization, Tools & Stamp Rooms

 http://stampinwithrachel.blogspot.com/2009/06/im-back.html – color charts

 http://www.stampinpretty.com/2009/08/stampin-pretty-stamping-loft.html – Mary Fish – My dream space now has an actual practical example!

 

  I hope you enjoyed looking at these as much as I enjoyed combing the web to find them for you.    Time to hit the stamp room while the inspiration is flowing and the mojo is strong!

Hugs and blessings my stamping friends – Jean