Lest we forget

Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Make and take mistake

I recently (and rather excitedly) joined in a card swap with fellow INKlings arranged by my upline, Jayne. There were only a couple of guidelines set:

1. use a stamp set introduced in the recently released Idea Book & Catalogue,
2. and it should be straightforward enough for a "Make & Take" (where workshop attendees can all roll up their sleeves, make a copy of it during a workshop and take it home with them).

Not much to ask really...except that I experienced an nasty bout of self-doubt. What if the card I make is so awful that other demonstrators gag on seeing it? Or go blind and lose their ability to continue as demonstrators? I'd have deprived them of their joy AND their income. So, I thought and thought about what to make...and forgot all about rule number two. When I had finally finished the four copies of my card design, I went back to the INKlings forum to review the details (I know - a bit late!) and rule number two stuck its tongue out at me. Noooooo! Woe is me! Boho Backgrounds, from this day forward, thine name shall be Boohoo Backgrounds! To me, that is...

Anyhoo, I made another four cards which were not as fiddly and they are now on their way to Jayne. But I thought I might as well share the first set of cards with you. The Whisper White Craft ink is a revelation - the tiny flourishes look like they are white rub-ons since they sit on top of the surface of the cardstock.

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Lovely Lilac
Rose Red
Taken with Teal
Whisper White Craft

Stamps:
Boho Backgrounds set
Carte Postale set

Cardstock:
Lovely Lilac
Rose Red
Taken with Teal
Whisper White

Accessories:
Stampin' Dimensionals
White Grosgrain Ribbon

Fridgey-ditch - the end of a cold relationship

Hot on the heels of my monitor going poof!, something short-circuited and tripped the safety switch during the recording of the last 10 minutes of a "Lost" episode (as if the show wasn't hard enough to follow as it is) . When we finally located the appliance causing the problem, it turned out to be our fridge. After serving for a faithful 36 years (a ridgey-didge fridge!), it had finally given up the ghost. RIP Westinghousey.

Being fickle creatures, we moved on by looking for a new fridge over the weekend. The new fridge arrived today - huzzah! but, as usual, there was a problem. The delivery person refused to remove our old fridge as it was a double-door model. He accused us of not telling him that this was the case. At this point, I just have to roll my eyes *roll eyes* It amazes me how it is always our fault for not doing someone else's job. I'm looking at you, refridgerator salesman!

Anyway, our old fridge is still with us even though we tried to get rid of it. And I thought I would post the following card that I am sure, when you squint and tilt your head, it looks just like a fridge - a double-door fridge just like Westinghousey.
Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Always Artichoke
Cameo Coral
Mellow Moss

Stamps:
Heartfelt Thanks set
Mostly Flowers set

Cardstock:
Always Artichoke
Cameo Coral
Mellow Moss
So Saffron
Very Vanilla

Accessories:
Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware
Cream Grosgrain Ribbon
Moss Gingham Ribbon
Mat Pack

Which way is up?

The great thing about circle stamps is that, whichever way you look at it, it is the right side up! This gives you flexibility in deciding what layout to use after successfully stamping a series of circles. Hmmm...landscape or portrait...diagonal perhaps? I can shimmy it over this mistake and presto! Perfect orientation.

This could be a bad thing in that the recipient may not know immediately where the card opening is.
card maker: *hand card over*
card recipient: *rotate* *fumble* *flip* *rotate* *smile sheepishly*
I suppose I could with live that.

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Basic Black
Gable Green
Real Red
Tempting Turquoise

Stamps:
Seeing Spots set

Cardstock:
Gable Green
Real Red
Whisper White

Accessories:
Silver Brad
Stampin' Dimensionals

Screened out

Yesterday, whilst I was having a lovely time meeting fellow INKlings and learning about the recent Convention at my upline Jayne's training session, my husband pottered about on my computer at home and *POOF* my monitor blew! Well, that was his version of events anyway. The ending, however, was verifiable as my monitor was completely unresponsive to the super technical actions of pressing the switch multiple times with increasing pressure and the odd whack to the side of the case.

I tried sneaking access to my e-mail and blog on hubby's machine but it was rather obvious as he noticed that his seat was lumpier than usual (with me sitting there) and all his browser windows were open to stuff about craft. Anyway, crisis has been averted today as we swapped out my monitor with a tiny 15" that we had in storage that was marked for disposal. Yay to hoarding!

Oh! Almost forgot the real moral of the story ... since I had to log on directly to gmail (as opposed to downloading it through Outlook Express), I found some important e-mails had been lodged in the spam filter. This screen problem turned out to be a blessing in disguise!

Thinking of SU!

I've always thought of myself as a night owl. When I worked in Corporate Australia, I would struggle to get into work at a respectable hour - and I was always the last one in (of course, I made up for it by working late *blush*). But, ever since becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I find it easy to get up in the mornings...never more so than today. Expecting that three Stampin' Up! parcels would land on my door as soon as dawn broke, I sprang out of bed before 7am. That is a record for me! And there they were ... compelling reasons for being a reformed sleep-in-errer. New stamp sets, new tools (always smile at a Crop-A-Dile) and new In Colors.

So, the following card using my new Frames with a Flourish set, is dedicated to new SU! stuff being in my thoughts and getting me up in the mornings. Sad, huh?!
Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Chocolate Chip
So Saffron

Stamps:
Frames with a Flourish set
Mostly Flowers set
Warmest Regards set (retired)

Cardstock:
Chocolate Chip
Very Vanilla

Accessories:
Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware
Stampin' Dimensionals
Very Vanilla Grosgrain

Non-SU!:
Cuttlebug Stylized Flowers Embossing Folder

A CASE, a colour challenge and ribbon

I was very impressed with a card that Belle recently made. I decided to CASE it for a colour challenge that was posted by Rebecca to keep us occupied whilst most demonstrators were in absentia (attending the Stampin' Up! Convention in Brisbane - lucky ducklings). The colours for the challenge were an amazing combination of rich and opulent hues with the crisp touch of black and white. To top off the card and celebrate Stampin' Up! ribbons, I tied on a little bit of black gingham ribbon. Oh yes! There was a lot of dotting with a white gel pen goin' on.
Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Basic Black
VersaMark

Stamps:
Carte Postale set

Cardstock:
Orchid Opulence
Pumpkin Pie
Rose Red
Whisper White

Ribbons:
Black Gingham
White Grosgrain

Ribbons Galore

Have you seen the latest range of ribbons by Stampin' Up!®? Other than the gorgeous Ribbon Originals which come in packs of 6 styles @ 1.8m length each, you can purchase ribbons by the roll. The striped grosgrain ribbon is perfect for sporty cards and layouts - reminds me of the trim on sport socks!
The double-stitched ribbon is a perfect complement to the new range of In Colors. And, as usual, the grosgrain ribbon matches a range of colours from the four classic Stampin' Up! colour families ... with the new addition of wider ribbon for greater impact. I've made up a ribbon sampler of these ribbons to show people how they look and feel in real life - so book a workshop with me and you can experience them in their full galorey ... ie glory!