I have been working on my stash management.  Seems I have piles of stamped images that I have made over the years with the intent on coloring them or using them for a greeting card or scrapbook page someday.  Among this stash I found 3 of these images that states “Mama said there’d be days like this…”  Little did I know that it would also sort of become the motto for my work on these cards.   Last week I had done the coloring on the cards with pastel chalk.  It gave them such a nice subtle antiqued look and I was really pleased with how they turned out.  On Sunday night I matted them on the black cardstock and attached them to the smoky blue cardstock.  They were ready to be bagged and listed on Etsy the next night.

However….my cats had a different story.  It seems one of them decided to walk across them and cause dark smudges on the blue cardstock.  I won’t accuse Elmer but I am pretty sure it was him.  He has been terrorizing the house recently.  In case you think I am exaggerating I will give you an example.  His newest trick is to knock over my wooden dish drainer.  Glasses go smashing into the sink.  Why can’t he break the dirty dishes and not the clean ones?  

So instead of finishing the cards and getting them listed on Etsy last night I sat looking at my poor card and wondering how 2 of them had the dark smudge but the other did not.  As with any problems all my fretting didn’t fix anything.   My lady looked like me as I held my head in my hands and sadly wondered what I would do….   It had been one of those days – LOL

But as I often tell those at my stamping workshops, I had to remind myself that this is another opportunity for embellishment!   Off I went to search my rubber stamp stash for some help.  I pulled out my antique cracking stamp, made a template to cover my lady and used Going Grey ink pad .  You can’t even tell that the smudges are there anymore.  Whew – what a relief!   Mama did say there would be days like these and I sure had one on Monday.   Still it all worked out for the best.  The card would not be as dramatic without the additional touches.

The rubber stamp image, Going Grey ink and cardstock are from Stampin’ Up!  Although this set has been discontinued you can check out all the current Stampin’ Up! products on my website there.  The full catalogs are available for you to view.  

I love Stampin’ Up! and this month I celebrate 7 years of being a Senior Demonstrator – yippee!!!

As usual, thanks for reading….

It was a beautiful and sunny day last Saturday, April 25th when we were scheduled to do a program at the Waretown Branch of the Ocean County Library.  The program was called “Creative Recycling” and was an event for Etsy NJ.  Although I haven’t been active with Etsy NJ for too long, Abbie invited me to come along and help out.  I sure do love to creatively recycle so it seemed like a great idea to me.

So off we went with Abbie’s vehicle filled with all kinds of stuff for us to display.  Some was borrowed from other Etsy NJ members but most of it was what each of us had created, including my new window display.  There was an awesome poster in the door of the library and they let us in before the library was actually open so we could get set up.

Hehe – Abbie’s photos had the high view – mine had the low – wonder why!!!  Here is my “Button My Jeans” quilt made from old denim.  It looked great against the brown tablecloth and got quite a few comments after the program.

We even had our own podium – very exciting!

My window display in on the right with one of my corkboards and a few other decorations as well.  It was fun to hang things on it for the first time.   In the center is the wine box that I am turning into a display for my other cork creations.  That is a work-in-progress but looks great already.

 This was a really clever idea - a package wrapped in an old blueprint.  The ribbon is made from VHS tape – it was shiney and made a great accent to the package.  Can’t wait to try this trick on some upcoming birthday packages….

These were clever.  Bracelets made out of can tabs made by Sue Bee. 

and the other landmark event of the day – SONIC!!!  This was my first time eating at a Sonice – no wonder not many were at our presentation – they were all at the the drive-in!   Can’t wait for one to open in our area.  It was all yummy.  We had really worked up an appetite. 

Check out Abbie’s website for more pictures:  http://abbieroadart.blogspot.com/2009/04/creative-recycling.html