Mission: Continued

I try not to be a whiner, but today my heart is as heavy as lead -- so either indulge me as I blow off steam, or scroll down to look at the photos you came to see.

For one, I found out this week that my diabetes is to the point where I have to take insulin shots before every meal and every snack, and test my blood glucose levels at least five times a day from now on. My insulin expenses will be over $100 more than what I've been paying for my one-a-day shot, and with my fixed income I'm scared about my finances. As if all that isn't a kick in the teeth, I also got socked in the gut for trying to be helpful to someone in one of my Yahoo! groups, and for reasons unknown I'm finding it very hard to let go of the hurt. Ever have something bug you SO MUCH and you don't know why? Then you know what I mean.

Okay, enough indulgence. On with the show!

I've continued to work on the "guy" birthday cards anyway, although it seems like everything I've touched these last few days has turned to crud. I'm hoping I'm the only one who is less than impressed with these three cards, and that given how things are going perhaps I'm being too harsh on myself.

The following card looks nothing like it did in my head! The card base is Chocolate Chip, and on that is a panel of Dusty Durango on which the Medallion has been stamped in White Craft ink and embossed with Iridescent Ice embossing powder. The big polka dots were made by a pencil eraser head and embossed to match the Medallion. I sponged some more Dusty Durango on the panel, and then in the center of the Medallion placed a white Jumbo Grommet with a Chocolate Chip corduroy button brad. I layered some Corner punches... and then decided to stop playing around before I REALLY mucked things up!


The remaining two cards are made with Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard, and Autumn Traditions DSP. The Trendy Trees were stamped in Always Artichoke and Soft Suede, and the sentiment in Elegant Eggplant. This first card is super simple in layout, with a single More Mustard grosgrain ribbon bow as the sole embellishment.


The second Autumn Traditions DSP card I made has the Trendy Tree in a circle of More Mustard and Scallop Circle of Elegant Eggplant, all of which is layered with Stampin' Dimensionals on the reverse side of a bit of Soft Suede polka-dotted grosgrain ribbon. I used the Modern Label punch on the sentiment and then layered it on a scrap of Elegant Eggplant. I stuck with a super simple layout on this card, too, because I really wanted to show off the DSP.


I'm going to bed early tonight in hopes that tomorrow will give me a lighter heart and a fresh start. I think for the remaining four "guy birthday" cards, I should work with blues instead of this autumny stuff... but we'll see what tomorrow brings.

P.S. Lookie! A new blog name and header! "Stamping for Sanity" is being used by someone else, so I've renamed my blog "StamperJoyce's Creative Corner." Back in 2007 when I chose my blog name, I used several search engines to check to see if "Stamping for Sanity" was already taken, but nothing came up. Nevertheless, someone WAS using the name, so I've been wanting to rename my blog for awhile now. "StamperJoyce's Creative Corner" is also the name of my store at www.shophandmade.com, so it all works out. I'm not sure about the blue cloudy sky as the photo background for the header, so I'll be experimenting with different pictures over time. Okay, raise your hand if you're glad to see the psychedelic banner I've had since early this year go away! :)