Shopping Tips and Guidance by Mandy Claire

I dag er det min(Mariannes) dag, og dette har jeg gledet meg til!!
De fleste har nok å gjøre i disse dager, så jeg skal ikke be dere lage kort i dag. Like fullt har jeg en skikkelig utfordring til dere!
Tiden er inne for å kåre ”Årets kort”!

Gjennom hele året har dere sendt inn bidrag til StampARTic, og til andre. Dere har gledet venner og familie med de lekreste kreasjoner. Dere har lagt hjertet og sjel i kortene, og gitt mottagerne en glede og en følelse som varmer lenge!!!
Min utfordring til dere i dag er å plukke ut ett av dine egne kort som du har laget dette året, og sende det til oss. Det kan være ditt vakreste kort, et kort som betyr noe ekstra for deg, en spesiell stemning du hadde da du laget kortet, en spesiell mottager av kortet osv. Skriv gjerne noen ord i bloggen din om hvorfor du har valgt ut nettopp dette kortet, og bruk Mr. Linky for å delta i utfordringen.

Åååå som jeg gleder meg til å se igjennom alle bidragene fra dere denne gangen. Kremen av kort!
I tillegg til æren og berømmelsen som følger med tittelen ”Årets kort”, vil vinneren også få en flott premie i posten. Premien er disse to søte stemplene fra Elzybelle. Så sett i gang folkens, bla dere tilbake i kortene deres, og plukk ut det ene som har noe helt spesielt.

Today is“My day of fun”(Marianne), and I have really been looking forward to this!
Most of us have more than enough to do these days, so I will not ask you to make a card, but still I have a big challenge for you!
It is time to choose “the card of the year”!

All year trough you have sent your cards to StampARTic, and to others. You have pleased your friends and families with beautiful creations. You have put your heart and soul into your cards, and you have given the receiver happiness and a warm feeling that last for a long time.
My challenge for you all today is to pick one of your own cards, that you have made this year, and send it to us. It can be your most beautiful card, a card that mean something special to you, a special feeling you had when you made this card, or a special person you made the card for. I will be happy if you write in your blog why you picked this exact card, and use Mr. Linky to participate in the challenge.

Oh my, do I look forward to see trough all your beautiful cards this time!!!
Beside the honor and glory that comes with the title “Card of the year”, the winner will also get a great price in the mail. The price is these two cute stamps from Elzybelle. So don`t wait, take a look through all the cards you have made this year, and pick the one that really are something special.

Det kan høres enkelt ut, men tro meg det er ikke det. Jeg har valgt ut et av mine kort, og det tok tid å finne det rette, men her er kortet mitt.

Do you think this challenge is easy? Believe me, it is not!
I have been looking through my own cards, and it took time to find the right one, but here it is.

Jeg har valgt dette kortet fordi det var mitt aller første DT-bidrag til StampARTic. Jeg var så stolt og glad for å få være med i teamet, og såååå nervøs da jeg lagde dette aller første kortet. Den gangen hadde vi en nydelig skisse å følge, og responsen både fra teamet og fra alle dere ga meg en følelse som ennå varmer. Derfor er dette kortet spesielt for meg.

The reason I picked exactly this card, is because it was the very first card I made for StampARTic. We had a beautiful sketch to follow. I was so happy and honored to get to join the StampARTic team, and I remember I was so nervous! But the response from the team, and from all of you was great and overwhelming, and you all gave me a feeling that still makes me warm inside.
That is why this card is so special to me.


Jeg håper på å se mange flotte bidrag fra dere denne gangen også. Fristen er satt til tirsdag kl. 21, og vinneren avslører vi her hos StampArtic på onsdag.
Lykke til alle sammen!

I hope to see a lot of beautiful cards from you this time, as always.
Deadline is Tuesday 21.00, and you will find the winner here at StampARTic on Wednesday.
Good luck too you all.

Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored," hosted by an expatriate Appalachian named Anne Johnson. Anne Johnson is my real name. What it lacks in originality is more than compensated for by its fabulous properties of anonymity. I am me, and we are many, and go ahead and Google, try to pick me out from the crowd!

It has long been known that a supply of natural gas exists deep beneath the mountains of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and northern West Virginia. This gas is trapped in a kind of rock layer called Marcellus shale. Recently, engineers have perfected a means of extracting the gas by blasting water through horizontal drills that are somehow plunged deep beneath the mountains' surfaces.

Several things have happened as a result of this little jump in drilling technology:

1. People who own piece-a-nothin' farms overtop the Marcellus Shale Deposit could be potential Jed Clampitts and are already being lured by big-money energy companies.

2. Those big-money energy companies (think Dick Cheney) are trying to do what they do best -- circumvent paying out dough to property owners and low-balling what they do give in compensation.

3. Environmentalists are debating the pros and cons of getting clean energy (natural gas) by doing more mountain-rape, which brings us to the debate that...

4. Drilling for gas beats mountaintop removal mining for coal and brings a similar payoff: energy from a domestic source.

My granddad had a natural gas lease on our 75-acre farm. The farm sits on top of Marcellus shale.

My uncle, who has lived on the farm for the past 25 years, canceled the gas lease long ago.

The farm could go up for sale shortly. I own a share of it, but so do several cousins who are strapped for cash. My sister also has a share in the place, and she wants to sell. I would like to keep the farm, but with two kids to educate and a house in New Jersey, I can't afford to buy a second property -- even though I would only have to pay 5/6 of the agreed-upon price.

Usually I can get a grip on issues pretty quickly, but this Marcellus shale thing has me all at sixes and sevens. Does the gas beneath my mountain make the property more valuable? How would I feel if the Cheney trucks came roaring in and started to drill, baby, drill? Would I rather keep the farm in the family, and reap the potential Clampitt windfall, or sell to some speculator? How much respect do I have for the beauty and purity of my mountain? What happens if my neighbors have differing opinions and open their properties to the Cheney drillers?

It's times like this when one needs a bored god's advice. And who knows the underworld better than Hades? So today I put in a call, and it happened that He wasn't too busy (imagine that!). Here he comes now, trailing a little fire-and-brimstone that smells like Retsina. Please give a wild, warm, wonderful TGAB welcome to Hades, Greek God of the Underworld!

Anne: Welcome, God of the Underworld! How are things down below?

Hades: Oh, man, I'm stoked. Stoked! Yowsa! I've got Tiger Woods!

Anne: You mean Tiger Woods is dead? I didn't see that on the news.

Hades: Not yet. But when he dies, I get him! Turns out he's a cheetah, not a tiger! (Laughs)

Anne: Oh, for the love of fruit flies! I didn't invite you hear to listen to bad puns. I have a serious philosophical issue to discuss with Someone who knows the inside of the Earth.

Hades: I'll show him a thing or two about golf.

Anne: Now. Let's go over this whole Marcellus Shale Deposit thing. Where does the deposit lie in relation to Your kingdom?

Hades: Every time he tees up, I'll melt his irons right out from under him.

Anne: Could we please not talk about Tiger Woods?

Hades: Hey. This is a big catch for me. I've never gotten over missing out on Lou Gehrig.

Anne: You've gotta have a hundred thousand top-quality athletes in your collection, Hades. Not to stereotype or anything, but they're kind of a randy lot.

Hades: Yes, and golfers are no exception. But Tiger. Tiger! Huge acquisition. Huge.

Anne: Just for a moment can You give me some insight on the Marcellus Shale Deposit?

Hades: This also gives me all his concubines. More cuties to keep me warm in the wintertime!

Anne: You know what, Hades? You're not the first bored god I've interviewed from the ancient Greek and Roman pantheons. And to be quite blunt, I can see why it was easy for Christianity to get a toehold in those cultures. You Greek deities all seem to have such flagrant human failings. Try to be serious for two seconds! Please!

Hades: I am serious. I'm a collector. Don't you get excited when you get a valuable new item for your collection?

Anne: I don't collect anything except memories.

Hades: Boooorrrrring! You should collect something! I suggest stamps. You don't have to be rich to own a first-class stamp collection.

Anne: You know what, Hades? I just remembered. I'm alive. And I have a lot to do today.  Look! Watch me move around, shoving the socks into the sock drawer! La di dah. Oh, it's great to be alive, with a wonderful new memory of dancing in the snow with the Spare, in the parking lot of the thrift store in Pennsauken...

Hades: I'll be back for you some day.

Anne: No you won't. I'm booked with another carrier. Thank goodness. Because it truly would be hell to spend eternity watching Tiger Woods try to play golf with molten putters.

Hades: Speak for yourself! I've got Tiger! I've got Tiger! (Dances into the storm drain and disappears.)


Well, readers, you never know what you'll get when you ask a bored god for an interview. Sometimes they help, sometimes they advise you to start a stamp collection. As always I'm open to your suggestions for a serious bored deity to which I can pose my ethical questions on the Marcellus Shale Deposit conundrum. Also, if you are reading this, and you have a personal opinion on the issue, I sure would like to hear that too. Even if you can spell "shale" and do nothing else, you'll offer me more than Hades just did.

Have a great day, and don't forget to look alive!

The template to this box is from PaperCraft inspirations issue 36.

Tämän kuvan myötä toivotan Teille kaikille
Hyvää Itsenäisyyspäivää ja Rauhaisaa Joulun odotusta.

Welcome to "The Gods are Bored," honoring Isis and Osiris through kitten care since 2003! I won't get a pyramid over my bones, or pots of honey and such, but those Egyptian deities are going to roll out the old welcome mat to yours truly anyway! Why, even as I type this I must stop every other word and stroke two tired kittens. Who will shortly be under a lit-up pine tree, waiting for the embrace of a sweet little girl I'll never even meet.

Say what you want about meditation, sweat lodges, magick, prayer, you name it. In my book, a gal who's putting in 60-75 hour work weeks who can still care for motherless kittens is performing an act of worship. (*TOOT TOOT!* That's me blowing my own damn horn.)

Here's a little crash course on foster kitten care.

Kitten Care 101

1. Kittens live in a rabbit hutch.

2. Kittens must stay in the rabbit hutch while humans are not watching them.

3. Contents of hutch as follows: blanket or cat bed, cat box, cat food.

4. If kittens are removed from the hutch for playtime, the cat box should be removed too. That way they can use it.

5. If kittens are placed back into the hutch for safekeeping during a long day when people aren't around, the cat box should be placed back into the hutch with them.

6. If the cat box stays outside the hutch while the kittens are locked into the hutch, things get messy.

7. So, always keep the cat box and the kittens in the same convenient location.


It usually doesn't matter to me whether or not my husband and daughter read my blog. Tonight I rather hope they will.

Men jag tänkte nu visa en liten enkel beskrivning på hur man går tillväga för att få den rätta popup-funktionen.

But now I´m going to show you a simple description how you make that right popup-function.

Börja med att leta fram lite papper som du gillar
och som kan tänkas passa för det ändamål du ska ha kortet till.
Det du behöver är minst två cardstock.
Jag brukar använda ett mörkare papper som stomme
och ett vitt papper som kommer bli själva ”popup-delen”.
Sen ska man ju givetvis även ha lite mönstrade papper också, välj ut efter tycke och smak.

Start looking for some papers you really like and fits for the card you want to do.
You need at least two cardstocks.
I use to use a darker paper as a structure and a white paper to the “popup-part”.
Then, of cause, you also need some patterned papers, choose after opinion and taste.

Skär ner själva kortstommen(gråa pappret) till 15 x 30 cm. Biga på mitten.

Cut down the structure paper (the grey paper) to the size 15 x 30 cm. Fold it in the middle.



Skär även ner det vita pappret men låt det gärna vara något mindre än själva kortstommen..
Ca 14,6 x 29,6 cm.
Biga på mitten.

Cut down the white paper, but let it be little bit smaller. Around 14,6 x 29,6 cm.
Fold it in the middle.

Här ser ni hur det ska se ut. Det vita pappret ska ligga inuti kortstommen.

Here you can see how it going to look like. The white paper is placed in to the structure paper.

Tag det vita pappret. Nu ska du rita upp vart ungefär du vill ha popup-funktionen.

Viktigt är att du utgår från papprets vikta mitt. Och skär lika många cm åt båda hållen.
Jag (exempelvis) väljer att skära 4 cm åt båda håll, alltså blir remsan 8 cm allt som allt.
Remsans bredd skall vara runt 1-1,5cm.
Skär längs linjerna med en skalpell.

Take only the white paper.
Now, draw a stripe where ever you want to have the popup-function.
It´s important you start from the middle of the paper
(where you have folding the paper.)
And it´s also important that you cut equal cm in the both ways.
I (for example) choose to cut 4 cm in the both ways, in other words,
the stripe will be 8 cm totally.
The stripes width is going to be around 1-1,5cm.

Popup-funktionen är klar!Nu är det bara till att börja smycka ditt kort!
Dekorera först det vita pappret. När det är klart kan du limma fast det inuti kortstommen.

The pop up-function is ready!
Now it´s time to start decorate your card!! =)
(Start decorate the white paper. When it´s done, attach (glue) it inside the structure paper.)

Här har jag stämplat upp lite motiv som jag skulle vilja använda..
Nu ska de bara färgläggas och klippas ut…
Jag älskar att bygga upp små miljöer inuti mina popup-kort!

Here I have stamped some stamps. I will coloring them and cut them out.
I love to make a little environment into my pop up-cards!

Man kan även fixa en framsida till kortet.
Det gör att kortet blir ännu stabilare.
Så här blev min framsida:

You can also make a front to your card.
That will make your card more stable.
My front look like this:

Ni ser väl grundstommen va?

You can see the structure paper, right?

Hur blev det invändigt nu då?
VOÌLA!

But how does it look like inside?
VOÌLA!

Jag har dekorerat den vita cardstocken som ett litet vardagsrum.
Soffan är den som ”Poppar upp”.

I have decorate the white card stock as a little living room.
The couch is “popping up”.

Dåligt foto, men här ser ni lite av hur remsan sticker ut från väggen.
Remsans bit som går ner i golvet, det är där jag limmat fast soffan på.
Panelen i bakgrunden var så perfekt i höjd att den kunde limma fast den under själva remsan som sticker ut från väggen.

It´s a really bad photo, but here you can see how it looks like then the stripe
is coming out from the wall.
The pine panel on the wall was so perfect in height so I could glue it under the stripe.

Närbild.

Close photo.

Närbild av fönstret.

Close photo of the window.

Soffan med små, dekorativa kuddar.

The couch with small, decorative pillows

Överskådlig bild.

Foreseeable picture.

Det finns en liten detalj jag tyvärr inte kan visa er.
Även texten har jag raderat då jag vet att personen som ska få kortet
kan får för sig att titta in här.

Hoppas det är ok.

Visar givetvis alla detaljer på kortet EFTER jul! (inne på min egna blogg) =)

The card got a small detail I unfortunately can´t show you.
Even the text is erased in case, if the person (who´s going to get the card)
are visiting this magazine.

Hopes that ok.
Ofcause I will show every details on this card AFTER christmas! (in my personal blog) =)

Lycka till!!

Good luck!

Jag vill även passa på att önska alla en riktigt God Jul!!!!

I will also wish you all a really Merry Christmas!!

//Petra~Paradise