Still Holy, Hot, Moley

Ok friends, its been a while now since my last post and it's still hotter than H--. I hate to say it, i'm ready to think snow, just to cool myself off. Yesterday I took 4 showers in an attempt to "get cool" but just ended up sweating some more. How disgusting! Since I returned from Arizona life has been nothing short of a whirl wind, not to mention my computer froze and started acting weird. This is very unusual considering I use an Apple computer not PC. Cost 40 bucks for the tech support to talk me through the fix. Uuugghhhh. Curtiss is now officially as tall as me. Here we go....I guess we're really in the teenage years. Lacrosse has been done for a while. Curtiss went to the UMass Amherst boys lacrosse camp during the hottest week of the summer (of course he did). Hockey starts Labor Day (Oh Joy) and I started Ultimate fitcamp/bootcamp in an effort to drop some pounds. Let me tell you, I couldn't even lift up my purse after my first session last monday evening. But, it is exactly what I needed, to get my butt kicked by someone almost 20 years younger than myself. Later I will post some fun photos from our summer travels. Floating down the lazy river was quite relaxing i'd have to say. It took us 3.5 hrs to float about 2 miles. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer no matter how hot it is. Make the most of every day.

Carpe Diem,

Carlotta :)

July 14th!! Holy Hot Moley

Oh the Red Rock of Sedona, How beautiful and unique

Well, as some of you are aware June & July to this point have been quite a whirl-wind for me. With school being out, two weeks vacation and going to Phoenix, Arizona, OMG! I absolutely loved Sedona and the Grand Canyon. It truly is a Wonder of our World! 113 degrees in Phoenix. I never thought this little New Englander would EVER see a temp like that. Let me tell you though, it wasn't half as bad as the humid 90's here near Boston. The Desert Flowers are beautiful! My only regret was not being able to take Curtiss and Randy. I attended the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners national conference and couldn't swing it schedule wise. They would have enjoyed the golfing alone!

I have been busy with swaps over at www.splitcoaststampers.com. What a wonderful website for any newbies out there. Techniques and galleries galore. I have been the gallivanting traveller in my house this summer so far, so the pictures are mostly of me and the scenery. I am working on a travel related card, but thought the video above does a nice job showing an alternative to a standard scrapbook page. I love it! You can never have too many albums. Oh, can I also give a huge hug and shout out to Susana's Custom Art and Card Design over at http://www.SCACD.com. Susana's service is incredible. I ordered on Sunday and mailman delivers Wednesday. That's Cali to Mass. OMG! Also if you get a chance go over and check out Clear and Simple Stamps at http://www.clearandsimplestamps.com. They have some nice sets. As the dog days of summer approach we all know cooking gets less and less. But entertaining is more often, so I thought I'd share a quick cool appetizer with you from my favorites from Kraft. It's their recipe for BLT dip.

BLT DIP

1pkg(8oz.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

3/4 cup shredded or chopped romaine lettuce

2 plum tomatoes, seeded, chopped

4 slices Bacon, crisply cooked, drained & crumbled

Spread cream cheese onto bottom of a 9-in" pie plate

Top with lettuce & tomatoes; sprinkle with bacon

Serve with Wheat Thins snack crackers or your favorite and serve with assorted cut up veggies.

Enjoy! Makes 2 cups or 16 servings, 2Tbsps. each Yum, yum, delicious.

I have blog candy that I will give away to one lucky winner on September 30 th. With school well back under way. 3 Copic markers of your choice and one Magnolia or Elisabeth Bell stamp of your choice. To enter just leave a summertime/ travel card/layout or recipe card with Mr. Linkie at the end of my blog page with your email/web address and picture of your card/layout linked. I would also like to know your fav summertime family tradition in the comments section. I love summer but hate humidity (Copics do too). Have a great week.

Carpe Diem,

Carlotta

In the swing of Summer

Hi all, well, just a couple of new cards today, along with a new reference page for masking. Seems to me if you want to make a scene or combine images from different companies than you're gonna need to know how to mask.

When I first started stamping I did a bunch of image swaps, and it just didn't occur to me that just because I didn't have the actual stamp from many of the images I received that I could mask the images. I could've masked the images I received and combined them with the stamps I already owned. All you need to do is photocopy on your printer the image, cut out the copier image, apply a small piece of removable tape and voila!! You have a mask for an image of a rubber-stamp that you don't own. Save it, someday you'll own it. Trust me if you like the image, eventually you'll buy it. That's our addiction right????

My Edwin card is actually the gift card holder tutorial from split coast stampers. Very easy to do. This is my father's Day card this year. I am going to enclose a photo of Curtiss the boy as well for Dear hubby. My Ballerina Tilda is a gate card which I just love to make. My DP's actually came from prior card kit swaps as did the images. A big thanks shout out to Shannon Wyman for the striped paper and craft cardstock. Now just to figure out which giftcard to put it, Lowes, Home Depot.......(Michael's if it were truly my choice) :) Have a great week all. Deadline is June 30th for my school's out cutesy image swap over at Splitcoast stampers. Hope to see you all there. Stay cool this week end, it's supposed to be in the 80's in MA. this weekend. Yahoo!!!!! See you soon, Carpe Diem, Carlotta

It's tough to see unless you double click the photo but I used liquid glass over the rose and bottom's of Edwins boots. A little stickles here and there. That's about it for bling. I didn't want it girlie Since it is to my husband from his son. I was very pleased with his jeans and shirt. I hate harsh lines in my coloring and did okay with this one.

Tilda features embossing, stickles, gold jelly roll pen for the tiara, airbrushing for the sentiment. We all know I love that darned Airbrush system.

Scraproom organization and summer hydration :)

Happy Thursday all. I can't believe I'm cleaning the ol' scraproom again. This is never ending.It's because I bought so many cute stamps at the Heirloom show last Saturday. They're everywhere. But one good thing has come from all of this.....I found an AWESOME unmounted rubber-stamp storage system called StorRite, from Rubber Stamp Concepts. Awesome. I placed a photo at the end of this posting and you can find out more about them at www.RubberStampConcepts.com. OMG It's great. Although I have more than 3 Storage sheets per binder. I don't mind that it's a little heavy. So what.

I also have a wonderful and cute video up on how to use Nestabilities with the Cuttlebug. It is helpful for those newbies out there. Lastly, with the warm weather among us, many of you will become week-end hostess warriors so I'd like to share a Sangria style summer cocktail recipe with you. It's a white wine switch on a classic dog-days refresher. The fruit makes you feel like you're doing something healthy for your body, but the rest of it, well, its cold, really smooth and icy. After a while, you might not feel much of anything! It goes great with tortilla chips and salsa. Enjoy with friends or just drink the darn pitcher yourself! Enjoy & Carpe Diem!

Carlotta's Cheery Crop Chiller:

1. 750ml bottle dry white wine, such as chardonnay (or your fav)

1. 6-ounce can frozen lemonade concentrate

1/2 cup light rum

1/2 cup orange liqueur, such as Triple Sec or Grand Marnier

1. 15.25oz can pineapple tidbits in natural juice

1. lg apple, diced (approx. 1 1/4 cup)

2 cups chilled lemon lime soda

Strawberries, lemon or orange slices for garnish if you desire.

In a one gallon pitcher, combine the wine, frozen lemonade concentrate, rum, orate liqueur and pineapple tidbits and add to the sangria. Stir well and refrigerate, covered at least two hours.

Just before serving, stir in the soda. Serve over ice in classes, garnished with the strawberries and orange slices. Usually serves 8 (I warn you, you'll need way more than this for 8 people. Double the batch :) Carlotta.

TGIF

What a long week! I'm glad it's Friday. I will be posting a Magnolia Birthday Bash week three challenge card here this evening. I loved Chris's sketch. You can view it at www.Magnoliabirthdaybash.blogspot.com in the week #3 challenge. I also wanted to invite anyone who would like to join in on my School's out image swap over at Splitcoast stampers.com. Under the forums go to swaps, once allowed in it's titled: New & Open Summer- Schools out Image Swap- Everyone Invited.

It's sunny in the high 70's here. No rain, which means no stamping or scrapping at the moment. Hopefully after dinner. Enjoy your weather, Carpe Diem,

Carlotta

Summer begins

Hi all, just a short post today. Going to the parade and maybe some golfing. My first tutorial video is done and on you tube. It demonstrates how to mount unmounted rubberstamps. I am posting it here on iheartscrapbookingink as well for anyone who needs it. Hope you enjoy. Have a wonderful holiday and enjoy the time spent with family and friends. We never have enough quality time. Carpe Diem, Carlotta

Well, I think I did it

Okay, I used my JVC cam corder and actually made a video. I am in the process of posting it to youtube. Since I have received several emails regarding mounting of unmounted stamps I thought it was about time. It is uploading on youtube as we speak. Apporox. 2 more hours. Just enough time for a piece of peach pie. I don't know who made it, but I think i'll wait until Monday and ask. Tomorrow starts a new Magnolia-licious birthday challenge. Good luck to you all. I'll be interested in knowing how many BINGO winners we have. Stay tuned....Carpe Diem,

Carlotta