Deadbeat Designs

Barking Up The Right Tree

The last thing I should be doing today is blogging! Actually, I guess the last LAST thing would be cutting off an appendage or robbing a liquor store or getting a tattoo of Sarah Palin but you know what I mean. Actually if I did get an SP tattoo, cutting off an appendage might be warranted... depending on the appendage. See how I get distracted by words? Once I start typing, it's hard to stop. Anyway, suffice it to say that I have plenty to do today and adding a blog post to to the mix wasn't part of the plan.

Nevertheless....

This card was inspired by Curt at Curt's World. Curt is definitely busier than I am so if he can find some time, dammit, so can I! He stamped on a cool piece of bark which he stole from his neighbor's tree. Just kidding. I think he stole it from an arboretum of endangered trees.

Or found it, I can't really be sure.

He doesn't seem like a bark thief but you can never tell. Anyway, his card turned out so well that I wanted to try it but having no bark (and not much of a bite) I used some wood veneer. I think I found this at Stamp Salado but there's no label on the back so I don't know who makes it. Google it.  It's just about as thin as card stock and very easy to cut and stamp on - I used Brilliance Ink for the tree and random dye-based inks for the leaves. I also went around the edge with a Marvy Marker and got a wet brush to blur it a little.

I didn't have any embellishments that I thought would work but it needed something so I added this old postage stamp. I'm not sure that's exactly what it needed but that's what I had so that's what it got. One of the benefits to reorganizing my office was finding all sorts of treasures (aka "crap") like this. And then I finished it off with some copper cording and photo corners. The corners were gold but a black Sharpie marker did the trick.

I'm not sure but stamping a tree on a piece of wood might not be the best environmental message. That reminds me of a "Deep Thoughts" card...

"If trees could scream,

would we be so cavalier

about cutting them down?

We might, if they screamed all the time

for no good reason."

Well, I guess I've wasted enough time. If your order is a little late, you can blame it on the blog. Or the blogger. Or the bark. It's really Curt's fault, though.

A Card And A Rant

Good grief! I have just returned from a trip to my local Hobby Lobby as I needed some tan card stock and although I hate Hobby Lobby, when you need tan card stock, you need tan card stock. The reasons I hate Hobby Lobby are too many to mention but today's reason is this:

It's not even July and they are putting out Christmas decorations.

Why did they bother to take them down? Was it so that they would have room for more tacky crap? Of course the Christmas crap is just as tacky especially in June but there in front of me in line was some poor dumb woman buying Christmas ornaments! Really? Is Christmas coming early this year or is it still December 25? I opted to look upon her with pity instead of giving in to my first inclination which was to point and laugh.

More Hob Lob ranting below, but first, here is the tan card stock made into a card to fit into the envelopes from the other day. For my inspiration, I used a card I received from an old stamping friend, Kathy Lewis. Kathy was the teacher at Stampa Barbara long, long ago. I have a whole box of correspondence I've saved over the years. Her card is very exact...

... mine is not. I have a feeling she used a light box and stamp positioner to get the images to line up perfectly but since I chose tan, my light box would not penetrate. I don't figure anyone is going to get out their calipers to check my alignment so mine won't be as perfect as Kathy's. First I stamped the image on the front, cut it out - which reminds me.....

Whoever broke into my house and stole my Exacto knife broke back in and returned it! Thanks, but you could have at least changed the blade!

Anyway, so once the front image was cut out, I traced around the cut out part to the second panel, lined the image up with the positioner, and stamped. I then cut out around the Texas shape and repeated the process for the inside panel. It's really more trouble than it's worth but a cool effect, nonetheless. And your friends will wonder how the heck you did it. Colored pencil, some Versamark stamping and a little stamp pad dragging to finish.

The real trick is finding an image with a foreground and a background that isn't to difficult to cut out. And if you are like most people, you are afraid of your stamp positioner. Odds are, if you would just practice, you'd love it!

Now, back to that damned Hobby Lobby...

I did a little research and found out that Hob Lob is heavily involved in dominionism which is really creepy. Google it - you'll be glad you did! Now I don't care what religion you choose or what kind of crazy stuff you want to believe but when it comes to influencing the government, I get a little itchy. If your religion is so damn good, why do you need to push it on to others? Blue Bell Ice Cream tastes great - you don't need to force me to eat it!

I'll have to give them credit, though. They were still playing the nauseating religious elevator music instead of nauseating Christmas elevator music. Maybe there's something to it but I really doubt that a synthesized version of How Great Thou Art makes people buy more.

Maybe it's just me but encouraging people to spend money on something as frivolous as Christmas decorations in this economy is just wrong. OK, maybe if you have no debt and your kids have been completely educated so that they'll never have to work at Hobby Lobby and there's no chance that another economic crisis will force you to live under the nearest overpass then you can buy whatever you want. But if that's you, you probably have more sense than to overbuy and overdecorate. Actually, scratch that. I know plenty of seemingly smart, financially secure people who have the most god-awful taste. They are probably trembling with excitement in line at Hobby Lobby right now.

And how much of that crap comes from China? I'm guessing a lot which is interesting since Hob Lob purports to be such a Christian corporation. How does that work with the oppression and lack of religious freedom in China? Not to mention the economic situation between our countries.  But mainly I just hate the Christmas crap. Well, and all the other crap. And the fact that they are hurting small individually owned stamp and scrapbook stores. Oh, crap! I think I'm going to have to find another source for my card stock.

If you ask me, I and realize that you didn't, you should take the money you would normally cheerfully hand over to the Hob Lob and spend it on learning Chinese.

OK - I think that's it. Glad I got it out of my system. Now I'm going to sing a few Christmas carols and take a nap.

Going Postal

Well, my office is finally coming back together although I am still missing a few things. I'm pretty sure someone broke into my house and stole my Exacto knife with the rubbery turquoise handle. For some reason, they didn't steal my computer or television - I guess they didn't want to weigh themselves down with the heavy stuff. Anyway, if you have any information on this heinous crime, please let me know. For the moment, I even have a semi-dedicated stamping surface - literally about 12" X 18" but that's enough for now. I'm sure it won't last so this morning I took advantage of accidentally getting up early to see if I could get something done.

Back in the good old days when people still read newspapers, didn't make sex tapes and sent real mail, a lot of us used to stamp the heck out of envelopes. It was a challenge to be as creative as possible while still adhering to the postal services requirements. So today, I made some envelopes to send to my Texas stores. Not "my" as in I own them but rather stores that have to good taste and sense to carry Deadbeat Design stamps. Here's a close up of one:

As you can see, I basically threw everything but the kitchen sink at it but the layers are what makes it work. The more you layer, the less important each stamp becomes so it's a perfect background. Even the crankiest postal employee should be able to read the address clearly - even if they are having a really bad day and wad it up and stomp on it a few times, it will only add to the character.

And a word about the post office. By and large, the postal workers I come in contact with are all perfectly nice - nicer and more patient than I would ever be. The long lines are usually due to idiotic customers who act like they've never sent mail before and come in completely unprepared. It's not a pack and ship store people! And the fact that a card or letter can still be mailed to any address in the country for a mere 44 cents is pretty remarkable.

Anyway.....

In case you can't tell, I just used some Marvy pads directly onto the envelope and stamped seemingly random images in muted colors, Memento pads, mostly. The space for the address was masked first so the address wouldn't be obscured. I used a Sharpie Marker for the store's name and then went over it with a finer pen to refine the lines. And let me just stop you right there... Yes, you can have good handwriting! Of course, you have to practice - a lot! If you were to take a calligraphy class, you would begin by focusing on each stroke of a letter and at the end of the lesson, you might have mastered the downstroke of a capital "A" - the rest would take more lessons. I don't have the patience for a calligraphy class so I just write stuff over and over until I like it. So try it. And try it again. LIke a hundred times.

Here are all of the envelopes together. If you're making one, you might as well make a few. Besides, you might screw one up like I did. If you don't see your store, you either aren't in Texas or you haven't ordered in so long that I've just forgotten you. Sorry. But I've just been so distraught and violated over the theft of my Exacto knife.

I guess my next project should be to figure out what to put in these envelopes. Probably should have thought of that first...

I Should Be Stamping...

I should be stamping, but I'm not.

Instead I've been enjoying the 100 degree temps and getting my deck in order. In order for what, I don't know, but it seemed like a more manageable task than my office at the moment despite the fact that the office is about 30 degrees cooler.

But before the pics for the 3 or 4 of you who are interested....

As you may recall from last week's post, the Deadbeat Road Trip is coming to a store near you in August! Except that if you don't live near Interstate 35 between Dallas and San Antonio we'll be nowhere near you. I'll list the schedule again and note that we've added an afternoon class at Stamp Salado since the morning class has already filled! Don't you people have jobs?! Anyway, don't wait too long to sign up - we're limiting the number in each class so they won't get too crowded and take too long. Here is our schedule:

Sat, August 13 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Scrapbook ‘N’ More, New Braunfels

Sun, August 14 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Stamp Antonio, San Antonio

Tues, August 16 11:00 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Stamp Salado, Salado

Wed, August 17 6:30 p.m. Googly Eyes and Craft Supplies, Irving

Thurs, August 18 6:30 p.m. Felicia’s Scrapbooks, Austin

Seriously, you're going to feel pretty silly if you try to reserve a spot a week before only to find out the class is full! Consider yourself warned!

And here are some random pics - you'll notice that I prefer succulents and cacti. Not only are they easier to take care of, they also reflect my prickly personality. Or maybe I'm just a prick! Whatever the reason, we seem to get along.

I find a lot of plants and pots at The Natural Gardener in Austin. Love that place!

Love this planter - found it several years ago at Marshall's.

Spider agave.

Isn't this the weirdest thing? 

Now that the deck looks good, maybe I'll stamp tomorrow...

Internet Exposure

It's so hot here i've been tweeting pictures of my thermometer.

 

Just kidding - I don't even know how to tweet and I don't want to learn. I don't really want to deal with many of life's technological marvels - and I use the term loosely. So when it came time to update my website, I decided I wasn't interested enough to learn how to make it better. Luckily I do know how to write a check so that's just what I did! Sometimes throwing money at a problem is the best way. Hopefully the website is a little easier to deal with and If you're one of those poor people who uses Internet Explorer and had trouble viewing the old site, give it another try. Hopefully it will work for you now! But you really should consider dumping Explorer - you just don't know what you're missing!

Click HERE now for the thrill of your life!

Observant eyes will notice the lower case 'f' on the home page which, as most of you know, does not stand for a popular expletive but instead for Facebook. Now I don't play Facebook nor do I condone the participation of others who clearly have too much free time. But whether I like it or not, it exists so if you want to 'like' Deadbeat Designs, click away! At the moment there doesn't seem to be a 'disdain' button but I'll be emailing Mr. Zuckerberg about that soon. Of course, if you don't want to 'like' me, that's fine. Call me old fashioned but I still consider the word 'friend' a noun and not a verb so I won't be visiting your face and clicking anything. At the moment, my life is full enough so I don't plan on very much Facebook activity but hopefully I'll figure out how to get the blog published there and maybe add some pics so more people can be exposed to this drivel and waste even more time. Of course, if anyone has any information on how Facebook can sell more stamps, feel free to let me know. A little exposure never hurt anyone... under certain circumstances...

 

I'm sure that not everything on the website works but I'll get to the problems eventually. I'll also be adding and changing things around from time to time since the enormous check I wrote provides for easy updating that I can do all by myself. We'll see about that, but I've been assured it's true.

 

Sorry about not having any photos for this post. I'm still in the process of moving back into my office (aka the front bedroom) and it's taking way more time than it took to dismantle. Hopefully I'll be up and running later this week.

Texas Tuesday Road Trip

Today's cards are from a while back - don't know how long ago and I don't really even remember doing them but I don't remember parts of yesterday so that's not such a big surprise. The floor guys are coming back this week to finish the house so both bedrooms and 5 closets have to be emptied. EMPTIED! So making a new card to post didn't make any sense with all my stuff crammed into the living and dining rooms. Plus, there's nothing wrong with an old good idea. You should take pictures of all your cards or projects and file them away. You'll be amazed when you look back to see what you've forgotten!

 

These two cards feature the Right and Left Western Swirls. First, used symmetrically with the Star Circle embossed between.

Next in VersaMark ink as a background. The Flower Concho and Santa Fe Concho are embossed in silver to make it sort of look like a belt. Not one of my belts, but....

So that's it for the cards. Here is where I was planning on making fun of Sarah Palin's recent interpretation of Paul Revere's famous ride. What a moron she is. God, I hope she runs for president. Anyway, if you haven't seen the video of her latest train wreck, google it.

Then I was going to make fun of Weiner's wiener. Good grief. Now I don't think it should be a crime to take a photo of your deal. Bad judgment, sure, but it causes no harm - being offended doesn't make you a victim. But here's the real issue: Has a tweeted photo of some guys deal ever - EVER driven any woman wild with desire? I think not! This article in the Washington Post suggests sending a photo of a made bed would get better results. If this doesn't prove that women are smarter than men, I don't know what does!

Except for that Sarah Palin. She really is an idiot.

Instead of more nonsensical current events, here's some REAL news! In August I'll be hitting the road with Lynn Lloyd (former owner of Stamping Wild and Stamp Shack in Ft. Lauderdale as well as Stamp Salado in.... duh - Salado) to teach at a few lucky stores! Lynn hasn't been in Texas for several years and everyone knows it takes a lot for me to crawl out from under my rock so this is a real event! No specifics yet on what we're teaching but it will feature a cool technique and brand new Deadbeat Design stamps. So new in fact, they don't even exist yet. I think the sketches are in a box in the dining room.

Here is our schedule:

Sat, August 13 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Scrapbook ‘N’ More, New Braunfels

Sun, August 14 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Stamp Antonio, San Antonio

Tues, August 16 11:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Stamp Salado, Salado

Wed, August 17 6:30 p.m. Googly Eyes and Craft Supplies, Irving

Thurs, August 18 6:30 p.m. Felicia’s Scrapbooks, Austin

So if you've got some time in August and want to have a lot of fun and make some stuff (and see if I'm really as grumpy as I sound), get in touch with one of the stores above. Seriously, this may never happen again!

Baby, You're A Firework!

Even as I typed the title of this post, I was aware that my average reader is probably not hip enough to recognize the reference. Even if I were to include more of the lyrics, it would be pointless so let's just say that it was a fairly popular song several months ago but don't worry about it. Today's music is not for people like us. People who are old. People who use correct English. Or appreciate a good melody. Or think that rap is an assault on the eardrums.

But all things considered, Katy Perry's Firework is a pretty good song.

These are some more of the new images - two sizes of fireworks and a Happy 4th of July, which conveniently fits behind the tailgate of the pick up truck. Everything here was embossed and the truck was painted with some iridescent watercolors which is pretty much the only thing that works on a black background.

But a white background is always easier to deal with. It also allows you to stamp the fireworks in different colors. A little Stickles adds some sparkle and some colored pencil for Mr. Flamingo.

A quick birthday card. I wanted these firework stamps to be light and airy - there are a lot of firework stamps out there but so many have too much going on or are too solid. I think these look good on their own but would also mix well with more elaborate versions.

And a cowgirl with a sparkler. I didn't have a good ribbon so I stamped the fireworks on a light blue card stock and cut out a strip. I used another piece for her dress. The Frost White Colorbox comes in handy here.

And I know in the last post I said "No Texas" for today but this doesn't really count. It happens to be the Houston Skyline which is a stamp I did back in the Iconography days but it could just as easily be any skyline. If you're not lucky enough to have a stamp of your skyline or if your skyline consists of a Super 8 Hotel and a Dairy Queen, well, you're out of luck.

These will be on the website soon and have already made their way to a few stores. And if you're in the Dallas area, they will be at the Great American Scrapbook Convention in the booths of Stamp Asylum and Googly Eyes. At least until they run out.