Well hey there! I know I’ve been MIA a few days and surely owe you an update. Jeanne and I left Tuesday morning bright and early and drove to Broni’s house in South Carolina. OMG Broni just the most adorable person and the more we’ve talked the more we realize we have in common! Yesterday morning we loaded up the car and headed for Orlando. Of course, one of the places I wanted to stop on the way was Savannah. Ever since my girls were in scouts and I was a leader, I have wanted to go to Savannah. I was so excited when I saw Girl Scouts walking down the street in their uniforms – you just know they had been to the Juliette Gordon Low house! We ended up down on the river front for lunch, just couldn’t wait to get that seafood.

While we were having lunch up on this balcony,

coming down river was this marvelous ship. Once we got back to the house, I googled the name and found out that it is used to transport cargo, specifically automobiles from makers to distributors. We never have ships this large on the Ohio River.

Broni and I weren’t satisfied until we cruised around Savannah and found the house from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. We started off here at the Forsythe Park, thinking it was looking over this one. Nope, but there was this fabulous fountain in the middle.

With Broni as my navigator we started up one the main streets (which have little parks in the center every few blocks) and right there, before our eyes . . . The Mercer House.

We left Savannah after a couple of hours, realizing that the next trip down will have to have at least 2-3 full days to explore the area. Before we left the river area, I was able to snap this picture of the Savannah Cotton Exchange building.

Up on the top of the building is the most intricate detail.

With another stop at Cracker Barrel. This time for pie and coffee, which they were out of just about every dessert. I settled for pecan pancakes and Broni and Jeanne shared the last apple dumpling. Settling in the driver’s seat, knowing that a sugar coma was imminent, we headed south for Orlando.

Today, we had planned on going to Daytona and tour the track, and just mess around on the beach. However, we got a little sidetracked this morning, and decided we would take advantage of the pool in Kittie’s backyard. We had a plan – go for lunch, buy some groceries and pool floats and come back and enjoy the sunshine! Hmmpff. It started to rain while we were in line buying the floats and it hasn’t stopped since. Maybe we shouldn’t have bought the damn things! Needless to say, I crashed and had a wonderful long nap and it now feels like it should be mid-afternoon, when actually it’s 8:30 and we’re throwing stuff on the grill.

Tomorrow we plan on helping to set the booth up for the show. Hopefully in the morning before we have to leave there will be a little floating in the sun time!

Good morning! I just know you have been holding your breath waiting for my big surprise! Well you can exhale now, cause I’m about to tell you. Actually there have been little clues dropped the last couple of days. You just needed to look closely!

It’s been a year in the making. Last June, Jeanne, Kittie and I sat around Kittie’s pool talking about her stamping style. It was before Kittie’s stint with design teams and even before the Dirty Dozen. To be exact – it was a year ago to the very week. We brain stormed the idea of Kittie making little kits with images and tools to help others learn her techniques to create the scenes she is so famous for.

I am so happy to announce that the day has finally arrived – INTRODUCING (a little drum roll please)

Kittie Kits by Kittie Caracciolo - CAUSE A SCENE exclusively from Rubbernecker Stamp Company

Kittie has designed two Master Kits, one for Landscape Scenes, Master #1

and one for Beach Scenes, Master #2

Along with these two Master Kits, Kittie has also handpicked her favorite Rubbernecker images to be incorporated into accessory kits to accompany the Masters. The images have been resized and reworked for the exclusive kits.

The ones below accompany the Landscape Master #1

and then these accompany the Beach Master #2.

If you paid close attention over the last few days, you would have seen that Kittie has been uploading cards made with the images, dropping hints along the way about the new images.

It was my pleasure to make a sample with the Landscape Master #1 and the accessory set with the cabin.

I started the image by painting water on the top half of the watercolor paper, and applying a wash of Broken China Distress Ink. Once that dried, I painted the bottom half of the watercolor paper with water and applied a light wash of Shabby Shutters. Once that dried, I stamped the trees, masked them and stamped the cabin. Leaving the mask on the cabin, I stamped a few evergreen trees in the background. The cabin and tree trunks were water colored and the grass was given another layer of green. While the grass was still wet, I stamped the grass sprigs on the grass and let them run to add some dimension to the ground. The leaves were stamped with various images from the Kit, and then the flowers were added. To finish the card, I used Soft Sky which I sponged the edges with Weathered Wood and Old Olive.

• Stamps: Kittie Kits - Cause a Scene Master #1 and Rubbernecker Accessory Kit from Rubbernecker Stamp Company
• Paper: Canson 120 lb. Watercolor Paper; SU Soft Sky and Old Olive
• Ink: Ranger Tim Holtz Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Weathered Wood, Fired Brick, Broken China and Vintage Photo Distress Ink; and Adirondack Pesto
• Accessories: Water Brushes; Ribbon; Tsukineko Sponge Dauber

Kittie will be with us at the Rubbernecker Booth during Stampfest Orlando to demonstrate her Kittie Kits and to give demonstrations. If you are planning to attend, we hope you stop by the booth to visit and say hello!

Arrrrrrr ye mateys, it be a Tuesday and ya know what that means. It’s Treasure Hunt Tuesday at Rubbernecker Stamp Company. Put ye swashbuckling skills to the test and plunder all the treasure that be waitin’ fer ya. Set sail along with me mates and join us fer the first clue. Along ye way, there are a few ports ya need be stoppin’ at. There be some extra treasure to be found today – set sail now and visit Broni and Kittie! After ye stops there, head on over to Rubbernecker where ye will find the first clue and more deets on how ya may claim ye bounty!

While ye are sailing around today, make sure ye stop and visit the rest of me mates, Tami, Leigh, Candy, Shelly and Linda, who have samples posted today. But don’t stop thar! Keep on goin’ to Jeanne’s place and check out the Rubbernecker Blogger Challenge today. The challenge this week is this sketch:

When I first came up with this sketch, my idea was for a tall gate fold card. But in the course of messing up the first try, and lack of time to get much finished, I settled on a smaller card with split negative.

I stamped the background in black on white paper and then in white on black paper. I lined up where the panels needed to be, and then trimmed down both panels to match. The center element is a piece of Grunge Board that I colored with Adirondack pigment ink, and then stamped the sentiment on top. The Grunge Board was then raised on mounting tape and the ribbon ran through the ends.

• Stamps: Rubbernecker Collage Collection Herbal Collage SKU:262-03 and KK Originals Sentiment Create SKU:69-07 KK from Rubbernecker Stamp Company
  
• Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; SU Basic Black and Soft Sky
• Ink: Ranger Archival Jet Black, Adirondack Cloudy Blue and Snow Cap Pigment Inks
• Accessories: Tim Holtz idea-ology Grunge Board Elements; Tsukineko Sponge Dauber; Ribbon; Mounting Tape

Now don’t forget to check in tomorrow! I’ve got a huge announcement that you are not gonna want to miss! Jeanne and I also traveling today, and we’ll check in when we get to Broni’s tonight!

Good Monday morning! Well just a few more days, and Jeanne and I head off for Stampfest Orlando. I’ve been frantically trying to catch up on stamping projects and the fog is finally lifting. I’ll be taking along some things to work on while I’m gone – Hey, I’m gonna be in Kittie’s stamp room for a few days! Wonder if she’ll let me stamp or make me organize before I can?

It’s my pleasure to host the Try a New Technique Challenge on Splitcoaststampers today, SC174 - Hittin’ the Bottle. With almost everyone coloring with Copic Markers (myself included) these days, there have been many conversations about alternatives to water coloring, for those that don’t have the Copics. I know myself that I have stepped away from the basics that I used to enjoy. It’s just that those darn Copics are right there in front of me and just so darn handy and quick. I’ve reached for my Prismacolor pencils a few times, but always end up putting them back. I’ve also seen some conversations about watercolor crayons, and honestly, I don’t like mine. So, to challenge myself and to fill a gap in the conversations, I challenged everyone to color with reinkers.

Here’s my sample card made for the challenge.

I stamped the image in Ranger Archival Jet Black on Canson Watercolor Paper, and then taking a water brush, I added water to the areas that I wanted to color first. I let it setup with the paper for a few minutes and then added my colors using Distress Ink reinkers. I kept working in small areas using the same technique until I had the image painted. The background panel is stamped very lightly with the diamond background in a coordinating color.

• Stamps: KK Originals Flowers #2 Collection Iris SKU:30-10 KK and Stamp Oasis Backgrounds Collection Diamond Background SKU:1340 SO from Rubbernecker Stamp Company
• Paper: Canson Watercolor; Prism Spring Willow Medium and Dark, Majestic Purple Medium
• Ink: Ranger Archival Jet Black, Tim Holtz Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Antique Linen, Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord and Faded Jeans Distress Inks
• Accessories: Ribbon; Mounting Tape; Tsukineko Sponge Dauber; Water Brush; Pallette

Before I leave you today, there is a little surprise I want to share. I’m gonna have a big announcement on Wednesday and you are definitely going to want to come back then. Lots of big things happening at Rubbernecker, and one of them will be announced on Wednesday! WOO HOO!

Have a great day!

What a day we had today! Great weather, family and friends all gathered for the Epilepsy Walk. It was great to visit with old friends that we haven’t seen in a year, and make new ones! You get to know the other teams who walk year after year, and this year, we had the great privilege of meeting Joshua. Joshua and his team, Joshua’s Helping Hands, have been walking years longer than we have, and it was nice to finally meet Joshua and his family. I was able to talk Kate and Joshua into posing for a quick photo.

Even though my family was running late this morning, we still had time for some quick photo ops before the program began. Here is our team (with the exception of a couple), all gathered and ready to go.

While we were all together, and sisters were sitting with sisters, I had to get a few more photos. Here’s Kate and Mallory together, posing like they always do,

then my aunt and mother, with Kate and Mallory hamming it up behind them.

Since it’s so rare that we are like this all together, here’s my sister, Carrie.

For those of you who claim that Jeanne and I must have been sisters separated at birth, here’s a pic of Jeanne and me.

Of course, before you begin something as strenuously as walking around the zoo, everyone knows that you need to warm up and get your blood pumping. This is always my favorite part of the walk, the aerobic warm up during the opening. This year it was to Elvis and as I turned around and looked behind me, here’s our team – the same ones warming up as always.

We had a couple of hours to stroll around the zoo, and here we are heading out.

Carrie started out walking with me and Jeanne, and we actually thought we were behind the rest of the team. Wrong! We were in front, but didn’t know it. Jeanne and I made a quick stop, and Carrie decided to go ahead and we would catch up with her. During our stop, my mother and aunt ended up catching up with us. It seemed like we were all spread out, everyone going their own way. We never saw Carrie again - actually not one of us had run into her. With just a few minutes left, Jeanne and I walked into the stage area and here is what we found!

Carrie, sitting on the bleachers with her feet up. She walked as quickly as she could all around the zoo, and I forgot that she still had a broken toe on her right foot and her left was swollen.

Because of your generosity, we were able to raise $2,610 of the $60,000 raised for the Louisville Walk. We didn’t come close to the top three teams, who raised (approximately) $10,000, $8,000 and $7,500, respectively. We are however, very proud of ourselves for raising what we did this year! In the past two years, we’ve averaged just around $500 a year. We set our bar higher this year and hope to continue to grow with each passing year. Thanks to all of you who contributed to our efforts – what a difference you helped us make!

I almost forgot. You’ve seen the front of the shirts in the photos above, but not the back.

(Jeanne’s back after a long afternoon nap!)

I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend, and I’m sure there will be more adventures to share in the upcoming days!