Happy Monday! I was going to say good morning, but by the time I crawled out of bed my morning was half gone – so it is afternoon! My weekend was not what I had planned, but hey – a mom has to do what mom has to do. I spent all Saturday cleaning in the basement. The middle area, which is more of a gathering place for the girls and their friends, was a total mess. It seemed that anything not wanted got piled on the sofa, shoved here and there, until there was only a small path to walk through the area. While I was on a roll of cleaning up the old laundry room, I figured I might as well tackle the middle. Moreover, Kate’s boyfriend was here and he could help me get the heavy items out for the garbage. I feel like I have one more money off my back!

Yesterday was the day of aches and pains. I can’t believe how out-of-shape and sore I was after a day of cleaning. This tells me one thing – I must start walking and working out a little. My family will jump up and down for glee since they keep telling me, get your nose out of that computer. So last night, after a day of not finding my mojo to stamp, I lit a fire outside, sat on the deck with the pups – it was such a beautiful night. The more I sat there the more the stiffness sat in. So I decided it was time to spend about 30 minutes in the hot tub. The weather here has been so hot that I haven’t even used it all summer, but last night the temps were just right. Ah the feeling of total relaxation – gotta love it!

So this morning, after some coffee and playing with the pups I checked in on Splitcoast. Of course, I had to check out today’s Try a New Technique challenge and must to more joy, it’s making one of Jenn Balcer’s 2-5-7-10 Box. Now I have been wanting to try one of these for quite some time but have not been able to work it in. I finally did today – WOO HOO!

I followed Jenn’s tutorial that you can find here, but decided not to stamp my box. I chose instead to work with a piece of my new BasicGrey Dasher paper. I picked this up recently on a short shopping spree at Hobby Lobby and the seal had not even been broken – until today. I picked the tree from Glad Tiding by Lizzie Anne Designs and stamped the image in VersaMark on the DP and then embossed with Dazzling Diamond Dust. Of course, the photo doesn’t quite pick up the sparkle but in real life – ooh I do like it! I made the medallion by stamping the MC circle stamp from the same set in Old Olive and then kept layering it on the same papers as the image panel. Both panels are raised on mounting tape. However, I did double mount the circle medallion so that it would be raised over the tree panel. Instead of using the corner rounder punch for the scallops on the flap, I pulled out my old Fiskars Cloud edged scissors.

Stamps: Glad Tiding by Lizzie Anne Designs

Paper: Dasher Flannel Shirt by BasicGrey, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, SU Old Olive and Soft Sky

Ink: VersaMark, SU Old Olive

Accessories: SU Soft Sky Double Stitched Ribbon, 1-1/4″ and 1-3/8″ Circle Punches, Double Circle Punch, Fiskars Cloud Edged Scissors, Dazzling Diamond Dust, Mounting Tape

Sorry for the long-winded post, I realize that I just got carried away and while I was doing so, the darn puppy just chewed the edge off the wood work in the studio – and guess who is going to be in trouble – ME!