the conversation on Christmas Eve...

I'll give you the shortened version...

Picture this...me in the kitchen making the trimmings for Christmas dinner...

Rick in the studio...

Rick...hey blondie...is it OK to use any red cardstock I find in here?

me...sure

Rick...I know you paid a lot for this paper trimmer & it's old...but it still works great.

me...yep...I love it...(my genesis)

Rick...I stamped on bumpy red cardstock & it doesn't look good. I bet I should have used flat cardstock...right?

me...yes dear...

Rick...OK...I'll trash this one...

Rick...One of my favorite tools in here is this paper creaser thing.

me...Yep...LOVE my Scor-it...

Rick...hey wen...I need white ink to stamp on black. Why doesn't Ranger make white ink?

me...they do...look in the ink drawer. It's called snow cap...

Rick...DUH...I was looking for a lid that says "plain white ink".

me...I'll ask Justin & Alain @ CHA if they'll change the label just for you...NOT!

Rick...can I use one of these sparkly green flowers or are they "just to look at?"

me...you can use one...or 3...odd numbers are good.

Rick... these red envelopes don't match the red card. Is it ok to use a white envelope instead?

me...sure...

Rick...do you care if the envelope isn't 100% perfect?? It's JUST the envelope...

me...it's fine...whatever..................

Rick...(laughing hysterically)...wait 'til tim see's this masterpiece. You might be demoted on the cruise...He might want me doing classes & he might tell you to go park it on a deck chair...

me...REALLY??

Rick...hey blondie...we'll find out if Maya Road reads your blog...

me...what???

Rick...if they see this card, they'll be asking me to make CHA samples for them...but I'll have to tell them I only do cards...not those books you make them...they take too long...

that's the short version...

So...I'm sure you're dieing to see "THE MASTERPIECE"...

Your wait is over...

Here's his card...



Not bad... although I do not see any studio 490 stamps...only tim's...Oh well...it's the thought that counts.


This guy is always worth a laugh...or 10...


I hope you laugh today and...
MAKE ART!
wendy

from Rick and I...

to ALL of you...

Happy Holidays!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May these coming days be...
THE BEST EVER!




Here's our wish for you...

May you all have...

LOTS of LOVE...

LOTS of fun time with family & friends...

LOTS of laughs...the belly shaking kind...

LOTS of good food...especially desserts!
They're all low cal on holidays...(I think...)

LOTS of NEW memories...

and maybe a few presents too!

((((((((HUG))))))))...
that's my version of a
GIANT VIRTUAL HUG to all of you!
PASS IT ON!

then...
remember to...

Make it MERRY!
wendy and Rick too...

ps...HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sweet hubby...he was born on CHRISTMAS DAY!

oops...One more thing...
KAT...I think you're right...there just MIGHT be a flower or 2 in those new studio 490 stamps!
pss...really funky...flowers...

stamps and shoes...another version...

I swear...it's NOT my fault...they find...ME!

While shopping in Prescott...these guys just jumped right out and waved for me to notice them...


And they were bargains too...$12 for the shoes...don't you wonder what the final shoe looked like? Obviously they were heels... I bet they were cool...
Hmmm...I wonder who wore them...

And that stamp...actually works... $5.00...another MUST have for the studio. At least I was a cheap date...THIS TIME!...
NOT SO on other days...what's a girl to do?

Now... on to some art...

On my "to-do" list for Ranger's booth @ CHA is a project using Claudine's sticky back canvas...and her paints...

I set these products out a few days ago...trying to decide which of the fun colors to use... I think this color combo looks like me...




So...I'll paint some on the canvas (it's cool stuff!) and then...

OOPS...can't say...MUM's The word for CHA stuff.



I can't wait to start...I did die cut some flowers from the canvas...TOTALLY FUN and sooo easy...since it's already sticky!!!
And...the canvas can be shaped for dimension & it magically stays in place...try it!

Maybe I can post a tiny peek later...maybe not... I certainly don't want the RANGER cops to come & take away my Ranger products...

Here's a link to claudine's color mixing chart...check it out...she makes it VERY easy to get great custom colors...

http://www.rangerink.com/pdf/chstudio_colormixing.pdf

And last...but NOT least...

Michelle left a message yesterday that my NEW STUDIO 490 STAMPS were shipped to me... YIPPEE!! Now if the weather cooperates..it's like a blizzard out there now. We have 4 more inches predicted..put that on top of about 2 inches of ice...NOT a pretty picture...
I have a vision of Rick on a ladder...cleaning the satellite dish...AGAIN!

NEW STAMPS!!! What a GREAT Christmas gift...Let the inking begin...
***EDITED*** MR UPS braved the elements to deliver them.
They arrived an hour ago & I have already made a very COOL...???


Ok...time to wrap. I love to shop...but hate to wrap...I think it's because I HATE to waste paper...Nuts...I know...oh well...

After that...it will be time to ...

MAKE ART!
and...ENJOY the holidays!
wendy

Stamps and shoes...

But first... a "THANK GOD" for hubbies & heat tools!

We had a major storm last night. First freezing rain...followed by 3 inches of snow...then more freezing rain. This is NOT good when combined with a satellite dish...

Poor Rick had to get a ladder (which did not break the ice...even with his weight!) and use my heat tool to de-ice the dish so that we could get back in this century & have internet access. How did we ever live without the net???

Winter in Illinois sucks...but I think I've said that before...@ least I made it to Arizona & back...phew................

ENOUGH...On to fun stuff...

One of my MOST favorite gifts from Holiday Hideaway were these stamps...


It might be hard to tell...but these are all MINI'S!!!
OMG!! They are soooooooooooo cool. THANKS Ted & Michelle!
I LOVE these guys...

And check this out...



EXCLUSIVE to Holiday Hideaway...YIPPEE!

If you missed it in yesterday's charm photo...Michelle's charm was a real mini stamp. It's adorable.

NEXT...

We shopped in the cute town of Prescott and it's hard to believe...

BUT...

these guys were there waiting for me.



I'm not sure how this happened...but they now reside in my closet. This time the flowers are on top.

That's it for today. Now that we are back online...I'll go look & see if I can find some Holiday Hideaway photos to steal.

Until then...enjoy your weekend and...

Make ART!
wendy

Next...the charms...

The first evening @ Holiday Hideaway, we swapped charms. The only requirement was to make them just one inch...

Here they are...all layed out. We were given a bracelet...but I think I'll attach mine to some sort of book instead.



Closeup of some...

Another closeup...

I presented mine in this envelope...

Here's the charm I made for everyone, using my favorite metal flowers from Maya Road.

Think about this...on the last evening I got to see tim's 12 tags...IN PERSON. Get it???

I need to go now & ...

Make ART!

wendy

There are no words to describe...

Holiday Hideaway.

I looked in the dictionary...nothing can express how awesome the weekend was.

I'm not even sure where to start...

BUT... I liked...

The attention to detail...LOVE LOVE LOVE it!
Tim is AMAZING!!! But...I already knew that before going...

The YUMMY food...Thanks Mario & Michele...GREAT job!!!

The classes...you'll see my MOST favorite below...

The surprises...just when I thought it couldn't get any better...
IT DID.

The group attending was just soooooooo much fun.
My table mates...Mr & Mrs Stampers Anonymous, Keychain, Kim & Pearl...THE BEST!

My travel mates...the St. Louis 6. Thanks for including me on the church bus...That was fun!

Prescott...what a cool cute town.

The SHOPPING! But that's a story for another day...

Jerome...another story for another day...more shopping...

There's more...but I'll show my favorite class..

When we entered the room, we had a table FULL of these vintage things...



There were HUGE pans of...



And more... (Don't be impressed. I didn't take the photos...I stole them from Sue. THANKS SUE!)




And here's what I made...I am in love with this guy!



Isn't he cute?




I can't wait to make another.

Each turned out different & oh so cool. I'll post more photos just as soon as I find some to steal.

Now...time to get back to the studio to...

MAKE ART!

wendy

The report...the shoes and the countdown

Woodfield was a blast. However...we did see that the decor was significantly scaled down this year. That was kind of disappointing...but we still had great fun and enjoyed the day together.

Like Rick told me...you can't make art EVERY day...sometimes you have to get out & blow off the stink.

Hmmm...sounds like I was driving him nuts...worse than I thought. Oh well...he's tough. He can take it!


We got some gifts bought...but we're no where near done. YIKES!

There was a neon sign flashing on these...it drew me in immediately...I had NO CONTROL.........

Check the name...

Just what I NEEDED!





Hey...they're BLACK...what can I say?



Then I also got this VERY THOUGHTFUL ...
***( I LOVE that guy)***

early bd gift...Something to occupy the long waits @ the airport...




This totally amazes me........Got some tunes...got some games...now I need to hire a genius to help me get connected to the net...



And I'll leave you with this enabler review...


I am in LOVE with the Maya Mists. Here's a little peek of what the red & green look like...



What's fun is that I sprayed the green over the stamped
(studio 490) image and it doesn't cover it.


I've done an entire large album for Maya Road for CHA and used
very little paper...all the pages were sprayed. This makes the background process quick.


Check them out...great product....easy to use...and QUICK.
***

And the OFFICIAL countdown to Holiday Hideaway...just 2 more sleeps. Think I'm excited???

YOU BET!


So...in addition to the message above...(make it merry)...

I also want to tell you to........

have a wonderful warm day and...

Make ART!!
wendy