Oh, let's just continue this unfinished theme...

Long time readers know that I get on "themes"   - maybe a bunch of Loony Tunes characters, or back views, or the Peanuts gang....

So, I'm hanging with this "unfinished" theme for yet another day 'cause... well, because it is just darn easy and I keep on finding other things to do than finish stuff (I'm on a reading jag right now, and you KNOW how hard it is to put down a good book.....)

I got the TWO new punches in the mini catalog today - yep, I waited until Sale-a-bration to order them. 

Translation:  Sale-a-bration - when you get free stuff with every $50 spent - an annual event with Stampin' Up!

So, I opened the box about an hour ago - put stuff away quickly cause I'm still on my cleaning thing - finished cooking dinner, ate, and ran back to make sure my punches were punching and instantly saw....

Little Christmas ornaments from the Blossoms Petals Punch

Not that you need Christmas ornaments at this time of year, but file that away in your memory bank because I'm sure you are going to order this punch. 

Right? 

Of course you are.

AND

in addition to the ornaments - it also is the answer to my feather duster issue (although, I have to say I liked the cocktail suggestion).  If I can't turn THIS

into a feather duster - I'm hanging up my Punch Lady Title.

Unfinished Share

I don't want to face that Angry Blog Reader so here I am again - sharing something unfinished. 

The punch art is finished - I just don't have it on the recipe card...

Base - modern label - just 2 "bumps" worth
Stand up part (technical name, I'm sure) - modern label
Top - wide oval trimmed flat
Buttons - dry embossed using the mat in the good old paper piercing kit as the template
Beater - thin strip and word window repunched in brushed silver cardstock- use pen or marker for "holes"

VERY easy and applicable to so many recipes!

What am I going to do?

This is the cleaning "me" I was working on before it morphed into Angry Blog Reader.  I am still unfinished because the punched version of a feather duster that I use to clean my stove top didn't work out.  So I'm open to suggestions to how to finish "me" off.  Huh? Huh? Huh?  What shall I make myself hold/do/be?

This really is me - glasses - sticky out gray hair - jeans - crooked nose.  Except I don't wear red lipstick.  And my arms aren't that thin.

Pants are the small tag punch - snipped to crotch
Shirt - wide oval trimmed
Face - owl
Hair - scallop circle repunched
yadda yadda yadda - same old stuff

I will give you a couple of REAL cleaning tips -(besides using a feather duster on your stove when you never cook.)

Try those Mr. Clean Magic Erasers for your bathtub - LOVE THEM!  They really do work and are so easy!

AND get a swiffer duster - the ones that extend - oh my gosh - I can dust my ceiling fan and my baseboards with the same tool without bending over OR getting a step-stool.  FABULOUS TOOL. Now my ceiling fans and baseboards stay clean instead of the once (or twice) a year cleaning they used to get.  Oh, don't get so grossed out - the health department has NEVER had to come to my house.  Promise!

Angry Readers

Oh my gosh, you gals crack me up!

Here is a hilarious comment I got this morning from Melanie:
"OK do all of your cyber friends need to band together for a road trip and do an intervention? If you need motivation I have glue dots just waiting on you, they are dusty but waiting patiently. If you are spending this time cleaning I need you to come to me! Think Kentucky and bring hefty bags.
Need inspiration?? How about me having to clean as I have nothing to punch? RETURN OH PUNCH FAIRY"

I was actually in the process of making an old cleaning lady (ME) when I read this - the Inspiration Fairy must have flickered past because she quickly morphed into

Angry Blog Reader

Hands on her hips, toe tapping, waiting for me to get on the job and create some new punch art!

I don't promise daily posts but I'll try to work in a little more frequent desk time and maybe we can get that Fairy to do her thing so Melanie's glue dots will not petrify.

Owl face, 5 petal flower shoes, scallop trim border punch for glasses - the rest is the usual stuff.

Stalking

When someone says "stalk" I think celery. 

Maybe because I'm trying to eat more veggies...?

Turns out I have a stalker.

A dear reader misses my posting and said she would continue to stalk me waiting for my return.

Stalking - funny and flattering at my age and situation

Stalking - creepy when some guy she barely knows is calling my daughter 9 times in 2 hours during the middle of the night.  I'm hoping it was a bout of "butt dialing" but we will be vigilant about that situation.

In case someone else is wondering - I'm fine.  Just busy.  And I never know whether to post some blather to try to make you laugh or wait until I have some punch art worthy of sharing.

I can blather about something to try to amuse you on a daily basis but they have professionals that get paid to do that  - no one from the comedy channel has knocked on my door begging me to submit my nonsense for airing or publication.

Working on some recipe pages for a friend so I'll have something to share soon.

Thanks for noticing I was missing.

Link to Love Bug

Are you in the "Mood for Love"? 

No, I'm not trying to seduce you - I just saw a CUTE CUTE CUTE Valentine Love Bug on Kay's Creations on Paper blog and thought I'd send you HERE to see it.

Darling!

No, I'm not calling you that -  "Darling!" is the perfect adjective to describe her project.

She is offering a class so she doesn't have the directions posted but I'm betting some of you clever clever ladies can figure it out for yourselves - or at least get close - if you need a Love Bug.

Victim of the New Year

I know I have neglected both the blog and my punches the last few days - and I might have to let the neglect linger for a couple more.

I have been busy busy busy.

I am a victim of the new year.

I am one of those people that want my house all clean and organized for the new year.  I'm not alone - seems like the stores all have sales on "organization tools" and bins and cute boxes this time of year because many people seen to have this same illness.

Oh, I used to be worse - I had to have my house spic and span on New Years Eve.  That doesn't happen anymore.  But by the time hubby gets back to work and the kids that are in school go back to school - I go on a clean out - throw out - clean up - reorganize mission.  And that is what has been going on around here.

Fortunately, the house wasn't it too bad of shape.  So I am using my New Year disease to focus on my stamp area.

Here is my confession.  I am not a very good SU demo anymore.  Oh, I love the product.  I use the product.  I just don't do much selling of the product.  SO I decided to reorganize my area for the way I actually USE things - not the way I needed things when I was holding workshops.

I UNMOUNTED my wood stamps and put them on cling mount - then totally ignoring "sets" I sorted them into categories that have meaning to me.  GASP!  Don't have a stroke - I'm not asking YOU to de-set-afy your stamps - but this will work for me.

THEN - because my play area is out in the middle of our home - I tried to make things LOOK nicer.  By simply adding a paper liner to my clear boxes - my stamp area looks so much better.

Let me show you:

Sorry for the reflection - all the cleaning and polishing paid off in glare!

I took this shot from the "side" so you could see that the paper is just on the bottom and front of the clear case (the kind SU wood stamp sets have come in for years).  For this size case I cut my paper 9x5.5 and scored it at 8 inches - added a label - slipped it in the box and filled it with unmounted stamps in that category.

For "categories" that had fewer stamps - I used the new DVD size cases that SU uses for the new cling mount stamps (and you can buy them separately) - I also slipped in some pattern paper and added a label for those.

In the photo I left a box with mounted wood stamps and one with unmounted stamps in them - so you can see how much better my shelf looks just by adding the paper liners.

And if you look closely at the photo you will see boxes with "tools" in them - brass stencils and sizzlits - and one for "faux denim" where I pre-made some paper.  Makes for a more cohesive look in my stamp area.

If you need more info or are interesting in my categories leave a comment.  Otherwise, I'm ending this little novelette and unmounting that last stamp set in the photo...

Mr. Versatile

I am making an effort to use some of my "purchases" that sit neglected. 
I decided I HAD to make something using one of the two tag punches. 

THIS is what I came up with.....

Mr. Versatile

Why that name?

Because he can also look like this

or even this

(in case you need to scrap the robber on the bank surveillance tape)

Pick a topping and make your man!

Head - wide oval

Chin - small tag punch

Nose - 3/4 circle trimmed

Moustache - curly label next to curly label hole at shorter end

Sunglasses - butterfly (just bottom half)

Sunglasses ear pieces - cut word window in half (hot dog style) - use the ends

Add some highlights with while gel pen

Hair - oval cut like grass

Baseball cap - 1.75 circle cut a little off from half - big piece cap, small piece brim

Set Sail

I have not taking up sailing - I am not a water girl.

I prefer my water in the tub.

Or lapping against my toes in the sand.

But deeper than my head is not my thing.

Don't like the lake, don't like to fish from a boat, don't want to canoe.

I'm willing to test out a huge cruise ship however.   (Honey, are you reading this?)

The life preserver and anchor were made for my friend Eileen the glitter queen.  She was making the CUTEST sailing scrapbook for a friend and needed a few extra embellishments.  I had to leave before she finished but she PROMISED to take pictures.

Link to "guy stuff" punch art

I titled this "guy stuff" but I'm sure there are plenty of girls equally into this.

Two punch art projects I would never have done 'cause I would never have thought to do them.
But they might be just what YOU need
Check it out:

Star Trek Ship - HERE by Kelly Mayou - this is very impressive
Halo Master Chief - HERE also by Kelly Mayou - looks impressive (and I assume it is accurate but I've never played Halo so I really don't know)

Once upon a time, Kelly made requests of me... now she just whips out her punches and gets it done.  Way to go Kelly - these are fabulous!

Odds and Ends

Disclaimer - No punch art today

But if you come just 'cause you like me and my blather, I do have something else to show you.

I mentioned that I "saved" my hubby a bunch of money at a 40% OFF sale.  This box is one of the things I got

It started out as a plain white shiny box and in just one afternoon I got it all "fancy" and cute for my desk to fill with odds and ends.

VERY little of this is SU product - but I wanted to use up some "other stuff" and I wanted to use something that I wasn't tired of seeing all the time - so I dug down in the stash a few inches (or feet or yards - I'm not telling how deep the stash really is)

One of the things I like best about SU is the coordination of colors - if you have paper - you have ink that will coordinate.  So this little box was a little more work than I'm used to - and a little frustrating at times but that just made me use my thinking cap.

Three of the papers I used were part of a line of paper so they coordinate but the frogs, the red flower and the brown dots were just odd bits that I added in.  Pretty brave of me and I'm very happy with the result.

I used up some retired chipboard pieces to frame some of the handles and I used a BIG piece on the back

Don't ask me what happened to the color  - my daughters are not jaundiced at this point in time - and I didn't change the lighting from the first pictures (haunted camera, I guess).  That chipboard heart is hiding the seam in the paper where I had to piece things - there is another piece point but it wasn't as obvious so I left it.

I left the "top" open on the back so I can swap out photos if I want to.

Here are some tips if you ever decide to tackle covering a similar box:

It was GLARING white so I tried to ink the "edges" to distress them.  Ink didn't "stick" to the gloss - so I got out my sanding block and roughed up the shine and sponged on some ink BEFORE I covered it in paper.

Go for a distressed look because it hides your boo boos

To attach the paper - I cut then applied mod podge (matte finish) to the back of the paper with a foam brush (1 inch wide throw away kind).  Start in the middle and brush out to the edges.  Stick onto the box and you have a few seconds to "move" the paper to the correct spot.  Then take your bone folder on its side and burnish your paper down.

Now I need to go fill up the drawers with all my little embellishments that I forget about and start using them!

Santa 1964

Last year, one of my Santa Creations was a Golf Santa and I said I'd use him on a layout with a photo of hubby because that was the only way I'd ever have a picture of hubby with Santa.

WRONG!

When I cleaned out my in-laws house for my father-in-law to move home this past summer, I told him my reward would be the closet under the stairs - I would get to go through it and copy the old photos (that I knew were there but had never seen).  He said I could have ANYTHING from the closet that I wanted.

Well, despite my hubby's claims that his photo was never taken because he was the third boy... I found a box of photos of him and this little gem was there

The "greenish" stuff is actually silver embellishments from my stash - but from the photos I took, we had a choice of awful glare or greenish embellies.

Evidently Santa had really thick eyebrows in the sixties - and a grumpy face.  I'm glad he got happier and better groomed before my girls came along - I'd hate to have too many photos with this furrowed (and hairy) brow.

FYI - the lettering is vanilla cardstock stamped with a newsprint background stamp and then the letters were die cut.  SU has/had some paper that looked like this - now I can stop worrying about running out and make my own.  I hit a 40% off sale at a scrapbook store and broke the bank saving my husband money!