A message from Alena's husband Seth Hartman

Hello everyone,

I Alena's Husband Seth Hartman am sad to report that Alena has passed away. She lost her battle against breast cancer on 7-31-09, the day she was born into heaven, which just happened to be my birthday. I thank God for the gift of her in my life. I have been dealing with a broken heart and have found that this is the deepest kind of hurt that I have ever felt. I Loved her so dearly that I really don't know how to live alone yet. I miss her so much!

Alena was my perfect match! She completed me and was my soulmate. We were both so very happy to have found each other. This life is too short and my time with her was so very short. I struggle with the idea that she is gone. However, I know that I will see her again and the spirit of her will always have a part of my heart. She believed that Jesus was her savior and she is now with Christ in heaven and no longer hurting. She loved her friends and family so much and I know that she would want God to Bless you all. Stay true to your loved ones and never forget to love on those when ever you can. Because you never know when they will be gone.

Thanks for loving this beautiful lady the way you all did!

Seth

Blog Candy!

Howdy everyone, 

IMPRESSION-OBSESSION is offering a $25 gift certificate
as blog candy this month!

So, head on over to Shirley's Blog to enter:

http://cardartetc.blogspot.com/

Good luck!

Alena 

I met Judi from Judikins!

Hi everyone, 

I just got back from the Rubber Stamp Convention

in Sacramento CA. I was so excited to meet Judi from

Judikins. You can find her sight here:

http://www.judikins.com/. 

She is such a sweet person and her demos were amazing. I had a hard time not wanting to buy everything she was showing us. 

Hope all of the Moms out there had a fantastic Mother's Day. 

Enjoy!

Alena 

Flopsey Flowers

Hi everyone,  I just received Flopsey Flowers from My Favorite Things, and decided to experiment. This card took me 2 nights to make. LOL. My brain just wouldn't give me any ideas. I must have stamped Flopsey about 10 times before I was done. It took 7 of the flowers to cover the circle. I colored the flowers with the Stampin Up Aqua painter and Pink passion, then used the Prismacolor markers Process Red and Henna closer to the center, and then made white dots with a white Gel Pen. The circle was cut out using my Cuttlebug and a 2 1/2 inch Circle Nestabilities. The Missing You Bunches saying was stamped with Craft White and clear embossing powder, on Onyx Black CS from Gina K Designs. I love the Double Ended Tags from Spellbinders. I probably use them too much. 

I'm not sure if I like how the inside turned out, but I like the front of the card. I was trying to make it look like Flopsey was not on snow, but a grassy hill, and I couldn't figure out how to do that on black card stock. I ripped out a hill shape from a paper towel and used that as a mask, then I sponged Stampin Up's Craft White, and then sponged Green Galore on the hill, then I stamped The flowers from Trees Three with Pink passion and then Versa Mark and then embossed it with fine, clear embossing powder.  Flopsey is cut out and His ears are actually colored pink, but the photo didn't show it. I then cut out another Flopsey and taped him on top to mask him from the leaves. The leaves are stamped with Craft White and then embossed with Clear Powder. 

This is a photo of most everything that I used. Flopsey got really stained since I used the Palette Noir Black Ink, but it's just staining. Flopsey will stamp just as good for many, many years. 

The silk flowers started out white. They are from the Stampin Up Pretties Kit. Painted them with Shimmerz Blingz in Hottie Pink and Pixie Dust. Also from My Favorite Things. They dried pretty fast and I love the way they sparkle. Plus, I was surprised that I only needed one coat to get complete color saturation. I also used the Aqua Painter a little on the bigger flower. I dipped the brush into the ink from the lid of the Pink Passion Ink and ran it down the lines of the flower to make it look a little more pink, instead of just white. 

Here's all of the stuff used, if you are interested:

Stamps Used: Stampin Up "God's Beauty," My Favorite Things "Flopsey Flowers."

Paper Used: Gina K Designs (Card & Saying) "Black Onyx," & (Flopsey & Flowers ) "Pure White." Front of card is Stampin Up "Confetti White." 

Ink Used: Palette Hybrid Inkpad in "Noir Black." Versamark, Stampin Up "Pink Passion, Craft White, & Green Galore."

Accessories Used: Stampin Up Pretties Kit (Silk Flowers & Diamond Brad,)  Aqua Painter, and Antique Brads in Black. Spellbinders Nestabilities Circle and Double Ended Tags. Cuttlebug. Prismacolor Markers in Process Red, Henna (Flowers) and Brick Beige on Flopsey a little for shading. Pink Tombow Marker on Flopsey's ears. Zig 2 Way Glue to glue the flowers on the circle and to glue Flopsey to the inside. I can't forget to add my Scor-Pal. I not only use it to fold the card in half, but it does make an excellent work surface. I wasn't paid to say that either, just a happy customer. :o)

The End.

Enjoy, 

Alena

Music Expression

Hi Everyone, 

it has been forever since I have made a new card. 

I seem to be tolerating the new chemo that I'm on, it just makes me really tired, so I haven't felt like stamping much. I figured I better get my butt in there and stamp something. I just received this new set called "Music Expression," and I really like it. I got the jumbo roller too, but I haven't used it yet. 

I don't know if you all are interested in all of the colors and stuff that I used. Let me know in the comment section if you like that info. 

Here's a close up, in case you can't tell that stamped the Violin twice, then I cut one out and raised it up with Pop Dots. 

Here's all of the stats, in case you are interested. 

Stamps used: Stampin Up "Music Expression," and Thinking of you saying is from the "Birds on a Branch" set. Background is the French Script. 

Paper: Stampin up Natural Ivory, Bashful Blue, and Creamy Caramel.

Ink: Stampin Up Creamy Caramel, Bashful Blue, and Palette's Noir Black. 

Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Colorless blender pencil, Canary Yellow on the Flower, Light Cerulean Blue and Ultra Marine, on the bird, Pale Vermillion on the butterfly, Blush Pink and Crimson Red on the roses, Light Aqua on the dragonfly, Olive Green on the Leaves, Sienna Brown Pencil and Cinnamon Toast Prismacolor Marker on the Violin. Pop Dots, Stampin UP Vintage Brads, Spellbinders Double Ended Tags, ran through my Cuttlebug. 

I hope I didn't forget anything. Let me know if you have any questions.

The End. 

Enjoy, 

Alena :o)

Hudge Magnolia Blog Candy Give Away

Have you been over to Claudia's Blog yet? She's having a huge Magnolia Blog Candy Give Away. You can check it out here:

http://www.rosaswelt.blogspot.com/.

I love Magnolia stamps. Such great detail. 

Good luck!!

Hugs, 

Alena :o)

Hi everyone, it has been forever since I have made anything to share with all of you. I apologize for that. I have been making a lot of trips down to San Francisco to see a new Oncologists at UCSF. So, I haven't had much time to stamp. I sure do miss it. They are trying to figure out a new chemo to put me that will hopefully work. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed and praying. 

This card, was from a Valentine's Day Swap for one of the few stamping groups that I belong to. I don't know if you can see it in the photo, but I ran the edges of the Whisper White CS over the Real Red Ink pad, so it would pop out more.

Here's all of the info about it, if you are interested.

 

Stamps Used: Stampin Up "Love You Much," & "Loads of Love."

Card Stock: Stampin Up "Real Red," & "Whisper White," & "Stampin Up Love You Much Bundle Patterned Paper."

Ink: Stampin Up "Real Red." Palette Hybrid Ink in "Noir Black."

Accessories: Stampin Up Ticket Corner Punch, Prima Red Flower from Michael's, Prismacolor Markers. 

I hope that's everything. If you have any questions, just ask. I love you guys and hope you have a great week. 

Alena :o)