Some Stamp A Mania Fun
and
Belated Unveiling of Birthday Card to DB {Dear Brother}

Last January I had the pleasure of going to Grapevine, Texas to the Heirloom Productions Rubber Stamp Convention. I made my first trip a number of years ago and was hooked! Sadly when layoffs came, I had to bypass on the trips. This past January I resumed a tradition a friend and I had for years. If you have never been to a Rubber Stamp convention, I should tell you the energy in the Convention Center is amazing! Stamp Companies spend hours setting up their booths with all the latest, greatest supplies and samples of the wonderful things you can do with their products.

Always being on a budget, I learned that first time many years ago to do a little homework before the convention and during the convention. You will see so many wonderful things that you will want to impulsively buy. The conventions are usually so large, you almost feel like you are in "sensory overload" - the wonderful kind of overload!!  I always check out the Heirloom Productions website for the list of vendors for the show nearest me. Heirloom now has posted their 2010 {Wow ~ 2009 is flying by!!} schedule in case you are in the States and want to know if they will be near you. (Right click on their name above to go to their website.) As time gets closer to the event, they will have a link to the list of vendors who will be at that particular show.  I like to spend some time checking out the vendor websites. Sometimes you find something you feel "you just have to have" and you make a mental note to look for that at the convention. So that's the pre-convention homework fun.

When the long awaited day arrives, I make a preliminary tour of all the booths, take in a few demos and then start formulating my game plan for the purchases I want to make that day. Knowing I cannot possibly spend all the money I would love to spend, I always ask for business cards so I can purchase online later if I find something that is perfect for future projects. I have fun seeing everything first and then deciding which booths caught my attention the most. I make a second round and go back to those booths that grabbed my attention. It gets even more fun as I decide what wonderful tool(s), supplies and/or stamps will be making the trip back to Studio Z.

One of the vendors who caught my attention the most in January was {right click on logo to visit website in a new window}:

Stamp A Mania utilizes calligraphers to hand letter their stamps. The beautiful calligraphy definitely grabbed my attention, as did the wonderful images! I really enjoy Southwest designs. Mark and Cynthia are also busy working on some exciting additions with Posh Impressions and Stampa Barbara. {Right click on name to open websites in new window.}

Part of the fun of watching demos at Stamp Convention is you sometimes become the lucky recipient of a demo card. Below is the card I received from Cynthia.

I shot this on a black background to show the moon template used, but the lighting in the room was not sufficient for you to also see the round portion from the cut out that comes with the template so you can ink around it for a different effect. Cynthia used two shades of Embossing Powder for the trees on a grey cardstock. If I remember correctly, she also used an Alabaster ink with the moon template. {Cynthia, correct me if I am wrong.} Whatever color it was, the ink pads flew off the shelf as everyone saw how great it worked for the moon. Each time I look at the card, I think of a cold winter evening and the "Warm Greetings" remind me of a nice, toasty home.

I have ordered online from Stamp A Mania since the convention and each time they are fast in getting the "goodies" to me!

DB {Dear Brother} enjoys buffalo a lot so for his recent birthday {I am really late in posting this on my blog} I made him a card with the Mimbres Buffalo by Stamp A Mania. Each time I look at this stamp I see more ideas on wonderful ways to use it. Below is a picture of the way their wood mounted stamps originally came ~ with a beautiful laser image. You can still purchase wood mounted images, but the index is no longer done with laser. One can only imagine the logistics (and the cost) of mass producing a full line of stamps with laser images! I love that Stamp A Mania offers all of their stamps in unmounted also. This is a cost savings, in addition to the storage advantage of needing less room to store your stamps.

I liked the look of the buffalo on the polished stone background, but the photo does not do it justice:

Along with cardstock in white and yellow, I used one of my Polished Stone pieces recently shown. The image was stamped with VersaMark Dazzle Frost using Ranger's Fine Detail Silver Embossing Powder.

The punch is a Corner Adorner Card Creator punch by Paper Shapers (a division of EK Success). As you can see by the shape, it is designed to punch thru any corner, including the two by the fold. This punch is called "Lotsa Slots".

On the inside of the card, I used Happy Birthday stamp by Hero Arts and on the back, I used "Original Stamp Art 1/1" by Just for Fun.

Hope you enjoyed the card. Be sure and check out the Stamp A Mania website!

For those arriving in search of fiber, I promise fiber content next post.


KZ

From the mailbox...

Recently I posted about Polished Stone technique {Click here for link to that post}. My subtitle was "The Marriage of Alcohol Inks and Glossy Paper". That title elicited the following response:

Dear Twisted Reader,
You made me laugh! Thanks for adding some comic relief after a very long work day yesterday!

Belated Birthday & Anniversary Wishes from August

{I did say they were belated!}

We have two anniversaries and two birthdays to celebrate in August, so I decided a Zebra Cake would be fun. This is to be enjoyed virtually... but if anyone reading this lives in Broward or Dade Counties in Florida, you can purchase a real cake from www.ilyscakes.com. They deliver to several towns in the area.  Isn't this a spectacular cake? Wow!  I wish I could buy one. Visit her website {click on her website url above} and check out some of her other wonderful creations!

Here are the two happy anniversary couples enjoying a rare visit together. Mom and Dad are on the left and my Aunt and Uncle are on the right. They wish the miles were not so far apart between their homes. I think it is neat that Mom and her DS {Dear Sister} share the same month for their wedding anniversaries because my DS and I share the same month for ours! 

A few days after celebrating their wedding anniversary, Mom had a birthday.  This is a picture of Mom with Avery, who enjoys life with my DS and her family. {Out of courtesy and respect for privacy, you will find that I only post the names of our beloved pets and not our human family members.} Grand-dogs are grand indeed!

A few days after my Aunt and Uncle celebrated their anniversary, my DB {Dear Brother} celebrated his birthday. This is a picture of him with Dad at the family August celebration. As you can see, my family shares birthday months in addition to anniversaries {DB and Mom share August. Dad, DS & I also share a month}.

Best wishes to our celebrated August family members!

Special thanks to my DS for the wonderful pictures!  She keeps me up to date on family events when I am not able to be there.

P.S.  Once again I was holding off thinking I would start a website and have a blog as an offshoot of the website. I have started a website, but am waiting to unveil it at a future time.  I finally came to my senses and decided if I did a blog as an offshoot, I will just put the teasers or first part of these blog posts on that site and have a link over to this blog... that way I will keep posting and not lose valuable time thinking about where to blog. In other words, I like my little blog home right here. LOL!   

Yarniverse ~ Memphis, Tennessee

When I was planning a trip to visit family this past summer, I immediately put a stop in at Yarniverse on my list of things I absolutely had to do. I first heard about this fun two-story yarn shop when I became interested in the Lizard Ridge Afghan. {Click on the name or the picture for a link to the pattern. Click on the name of the store. for a link to their website where you can hunt for "free patterns." Only some are listed under "free patterns." Part of the fun is the hunt.}

The pattern to this beautiful afghan can be found on

and right above the pattern is an advertisement for Yarniverse's Kureyon Club:

Clicking on their link above the Knitty pattern, I discovered Brenda and her always-helpful crew are in Memphis, Tennessee ~ now that caught my attention! Wish I lived closer so I could go in and knit with them. Knitters are always welcome at their table.

If you are a fan of Koigu, they also have a Koigu Collector's Club for you:

Their aim is to have in stock all of the colors from Knits from a Painter's Palette:

That is probably no easy feat with the ever-increasing popularity of Koigu.

While I was at Yarniverse my DB, DSIL and DGN {Dear Brother, Dear Sister-in-Law and Dear Grand-Nephew} were with me. My creative brother wrote the following poem about his first experience in this wonderful yarn shop:

The Magic of Knitting
by KZ's Brother

Traveling from Galaxy to Galaxy in the Yarniverse
Watching shooting beads: red, yellow, blue and brown
Dodging falling meteor buttons as they spin by
Then up ahead an exploding wool star
Thousands of brightly colored wool blast off in every direction
As we continue to sail through the magic Yarniverse.

I went there early on my trip so I could take advantage of an in-store sale they were having on Tahki Stacy Charles Cotton.

My plan for these colors is to knit a blanket. I need to add some more colors to have a full complement, but I have a start.

Looking at these pictures taken this summer at DB and DSIL's pool brings back wonderful memories of my trip to Mississippi.

Soon after I got to my parents' home, I wound the cotton into yarn cakes. I owe a special thanks to DM {Dear Mom} who visited with me thru most of the winding and a very big Thank-You-So-Much to DD {Dear Dad} who sat with me tirelessly helping to get the knots out when a couple of skeins proved to be extra challenging. I am sure many of you can relate with your own experiences of yarn that did not wind willingly {I know that is quite an understatement ~ In fact many of you have your own names for just such yarn and just such an occasion!}.

{Special thanks also go to KZ's Brother for the poem and for "going out on a ledge" to help me show off some new yarn stash.}

Carpe Knitting,
KZ

Do Ghosts Knit?

Something Knitty to ponder this Halloween

by Knitted Zebra's Brother

Ghost seem to be a hot topic on the late night radio talk shows. I did a search on the internet for ghost pictures. After looking at several hundred pictures, I came away with more questions than answers. All our lives we are told, "you cannot take it with you."

As I looked at all the pictures I realized something was not right. All the ghost had clothes on. They say a ghost is made up of high energy. We know that clothes have no energy. I looked at three ghost pictures of the same great grandmother taken three years apart at an annual family reunion. In each picture she was wearing a different color dress!

Now here is a thought to weave this Halloween ~ Do ghost knit? Maybe that explains it. Ghosts that knit continue to appear in their family photos. The ones that cannot knit do not have the guts to stand naked in a family photo. Could it be that simple? I hope when I die some friendly ghost will knit me some Boo-jeans for family photos.

KZ's Brother


I think talking about ghosts has scared the Zebra!

Carpe Knitting,
KZ

Knitted Zebra's Aunt

by KZ's Brother

I have to say a word about the Knitted Zebra's Aunt, who just returned from a week of vacation in Alaska. She is the one who taught me about multi-tasking. This was long before any books were written about the subject. As a family we had always made gifts for each other.

KZ's Aunt was on her way home from college one weekend and passed through a small Mississippi town. The local policeman did a double take. Our Aunt was driving perfectly and within the speed limit; however, she was knitting while driving. {Please do not try this yourself.}

The policeman drove up behind her and turned his lights on. The Knitted Zebra's Aunt kept going. He turned his siren on to no avail. Finally the policeman moved over to the lane beside her, rolled his window down and yelled, "Pull Over"! KZ's Aunt responded by saying, "No ~ it is a pair of socks for my sister!"

KZ asks, "How does he come up with this stuff?! "

Our Aunt really is very talented ~ and that's no joke!

Carpe Knitting,
KZ

Happy Birthday Colonel

{a.k.a. Knitted Zebra's Brother}

While I was growing up, we celebrated birthdays two months out of the year. Dad, Knitted Zebra's Sister and KZ were born in January. Mom and KZ's Brother were born in August. We also play favorites in my family. So on this last day in August, I am sending birthday wishes to my favorite brother and our parents' favorite son.

My apologies that I do not have a better picture to share. I have inserted his face from the blurry picture we took at Mom's birthday party into a picture I took when he did not know I was taking his picture. Right after I took this he asked me not to take his picture ~ for the record though I took this before he said that. I have included this secret picture so there is something knitting related in this post and to also show how kind he is to KZ. {That's my story and I am sticking to it!} Next post you will find out more about what he was doing for me out on the rocks.

The Colonel would walk with me to school when I was in Kindergarten and in First Grade. His school was next door to mine. In First Grade I remember hunting for him sometimes when he was heading home for lunch. One of the local teens would occasionally break into the school at night. The next morning some of the older kids would tell the first graders that the person who broke into the school was waiting on us and was going to grab us. Since this scared me, I would tell my brother I did not feel good and needed to go home.

Early on my brother would receive Elvis records for Christmas. After hearing Elvis all thru the holidays, in my young mind I decided Elvis music was Christmas music. Little did we know years later the Colonel would be the only telephone company employee allowed to install a phone in Elvis' hospital room each time Elvis was there.

Being several years older than me, I was heart broken when my brother joined the Navy and I could not go with him. I remember my parents explaining to me that the Navy did not allow young girls to enlist. I did not play with dolls very often but I really liked the Ken doll with the Navy suit my parents bought for me shortly after the Colonel headed off to Boot Camp. He sent me one of his Navy hats and my parents took a picture of me wearing the hat and holding Ken the Sailor. I included the picture in my next letter to him so I could let my brother know I missed him. Years later I learned that picture went with him on four tours of Vietnam.

During the four years he was in the military, he sent me the coolest letters. I recall one where the writing was all in wavy lines like the ocean. We moved to Corinth while he was still enlisted. I remember looking out the window of our new home one afternoon and seeing my brother, dressed in uniform, getting out of a cab. It was a surprise visit so my Mom thought I was hallucinating. I went running to the front door and was so excited that I could not get the door open. I think I was calling out my brother's name over and over. My parents came running when they realized he really was on the other side of the door.

So for the Colonel's birthday, I close with Elvis on tour in Hawaii singing "American Triology." I chose this one because it shows some pictures from Tupelo, Missisippi. You will even see a couple of pictures of Elvis' birthplace which was across the street from where we lived for five years. Double click on the arrow to start the video.

Carpe knitting,
KZ

Thoughts to Weave

Last post I promised you a guest writer ~ someone very dear to my heart. I have known him my entire life. When I was growing up and other people would ask who my hero was, I always replied "My brother!" He has it all: he is handsome {when we were growing up girls offered me money for his pictures.. but I would not let them buy any. Naturally this made them want them even more!}, he is intelligent and he has a great sense of humor. {Sorry ladies, he is married!} When he sent me the following, I immediately shot back with an email asking, "May I please post your list?" Being the Dear Brother {DB} that he is, he wrote back granting his permission. Before you read his thoughts, take a moment and read my description of As the Wool Turns at the top of my blog and the quote I have at the bottom of my blog. Now without making you wait any longer, I present to you:

Thoughts to weave.....

1. The whole world is a ball of wool. Be careful how you weave it.

2. Life's tapestry waits for no man.

3. I was spinning and weaving when a bead got in my eye. I woke up and found I had pulled the wool over my eyes.

4. As the wool turns I sat on a knitting needle.

5. Wet wool is hard to love.

6. Every person has a thread to weave, discovering yours is wet can be the pits.

7. Every person has a thread to weave, discovering yours came from an ugly sheep stinks.

8. The spinning stops here.

9. Growing up as the Knitted Zebra's brother, I could always tell when she was mad at me. At Christmas I would get a sweater made from steel wool.

10. Don't weave while driving.

signed The Knitted Zebra's Brother

Thanks DB!!

I hope you will leave a comment to let him know you enjoyed his thoughts. I want to entice him to write more for us!

Carpe knitting,

KZ