My Very First 4th of July Card

Yup...it truly is. I'm thinking back...and....nothing. I've never made a patriotic card before ever! How is that possible? So I was playing around with my Papertrey It's A Celebration set and this is what I came up with...

I think it turned out kind of cute. I really love the colors. I am so very glad that they will have this color...I hope for a long time since SU's soft sky will retire in June. I love this shade of blue. it's a fav of mine!

So this is my second card for Sharon's No Time To Stamp glitter challenge. I was just not happy with the spica on the other card. It's really pretty in person but to photo....well you just can't see the sparkle. I thought that was a bit of a bummer.

Thanks so much for stopping by...I am off to enjoy our first day back to school. By that I mean try and play catch up around here! One note...please make sure you page down to the next post...that's where the winners of the blog candy are announced. I'm not sure when I am going to be able to post again today so I wanted to get it all in this morning.

Have a great one! I will post you soon! :)

And The Winner Is.....

Today's the day! I still can't believe that I hit 20K hits! That still just amazes me! So I plugged all of your names into my little randomizer...

And the winner is....

Annelies!

Please send me an email with all of your deets so that I can send you this little package. Congrats to you girl! I hope you enjoy!

Ok...so true to form...I never imagined there would be so many entries! I have a little something for a second and third place as well...you each will get some ribbon and a mini stamp. So Veronica from over at Too Excited to Sleep and Melissa(...who posted "It's no wonder you hit 20,000. . .your creations are gorgeous and full of great ideas. I love scanning over your old posts because there's just so much to absorb it all the first time around.") Thanks for the chance to win! please email me your info as well so that I can send this off to you!

Thanks so much to each of you for coming by and leaving such sweet comments. I am so grateful. You guys rock!

So how bout we do this again at 40K...ok, ok...a bit presumptuous...but stranger things have happened! ;)

Take care and I will post you soon!

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge & Everything You Didn't Want To Know About A Toad

Well...finally finished...actually it's been sitting on my desk for about 5 hours. We've had an insane day! Today is officially the final day of spring break. Tomorrow ....school! (woohoo!) I'm sorry...but I think we all need a break from the fun! ;) Although, I am really ready for summer! It's been really fun spending more time together.

By the way! You know, I think I told you guys that we have 6 frogs! ...ok...5 now...and they aren't really frogs, they are fire belly toads. Did you know there was a difference between frogs and toads? If you did I am really impressed...and a little weirded out...just kidding! ;) I do know that frogs stick out their tongues to eat while toads just, well, eat their food....open mouth, grab the food and eat. Oh...and the food of course is live crickets. Yes, I have issues with that. Number one because it's totally disgusting but number two because yes, I feel really bad for the little crickets. The crickets?!! Whatever...

So here's are funny story about our little toads...

The other day at bedtime, Evan asks me if it's ok to take the frog...toad or not we always say frog...tank out of his room. When I ask him why he tells me they are too loud at night. Now here's what I, at this point am finding strange...I have yet to hear them make any sounds. This is another difference apparently, because they do not croak like frogs do. When I ask him what sound they are making he can't really duplicate...hey, he's only 8....so I make a mental note to listen for the frogs but tell him that I can't move the tank back and forth because they would miss him...again...he's only 8....and I realize I am the worlds worst mom at this point...total liar! But are you going to be moving a 15 gallon tank filled with gravel and water back and forth from his room every day? I'm so not!

When I get into his room to tuck him in I hear the stangest sound. Not quite a chirp...it almost sounded like ducks....like there were ducks outside his window. Ev. meanwhile is covering his head and getting ready to go to sleep. I ask what's up with the blanket and he explains that the frogs are freaking him out basically...and I realize that that is the 'duck' sound I am hearing! The frogs sound a bit like ducks!

Well after waiting in his bed with him for him to fall asleep I head to the computer to investigate. Did you know that fire belly toads make this 'chirping' sound when they are mating! If you are really ambitious in fact, I found out just how you can breed them in captivity! Aye! Ohmygoodness! Well, that explains why one of them is always climbing on to the other. I thought the little guy was just trying to get more crickets. Who knew!

All together now....EEWWWWWW!!!!!!

Moving on....Here's my card for Beate's weekend sketch challenge. I really love this sketch and yet I feel like I didn't come close to doing it justice. I was determined to use my Define Your Life stamp set and when I chose the 'unique' definition I was determined to add the letter 'U'...and then I was determined to use my little sticky letter and attach it to my close to cocoa card stock and then cover it with micro beads because it totally looks like it's covered in sugar! Why I thought that was appropriate for the word 'unique' I have no idea! Just smile and nod....

So here's the card...I started out using a different color combo but then decided I had to do the close to cocoa with the micro beads and this is where I ended up. Well...that's all I have for now. I look forward to posting more for you tomorrow. Tomorrow is the one day this week that I know we have nothing going on! I am so looking forward to a little nap after taking the boys to school in the morning. I need it!

Have a wonderful evening and I will post you soon!

Pink...Pink Petticoat

Last night I finished this little number...it's easy peasy lemon squeezy....EPLS....
...well, I've already told you that it's EPLS...It's also a quick version of a sketch that Julie linked on her blog this past week. It's from Chris over at Just Me. Chris and her friend Leslie are starting a new blog of sketches. How cool is that!

Anyway, I think this also fits with Sharon's challenge as I glittered the little bug and the petals of the flower. I may have cheated though as I used my spica pen to do the job. I do so love the spica! I am going to do another for Sharon's challenge as well...I love glitter! The problem with the spica for me is that when I photograph it, it's hard to see the shine. I am going to combine Beate's WSC with Sharon's glitter challenge and use real glitter! I think I already know what I am going to do. I am hoping that I will have a chance before this evening to work on it. We will see how the day goes.

Well I'm off to find some sudaphed. I am in desperate need! I will post you all soon! I hope that your Saturday is awesome so far! It's gotten cold here again! Bummer! But I don't feel much like going out anyway!

Have a good one! :)

Tag, Your It! ;)

The very sweet Jackie tagged me the other day! She is such a sweetie! ...and super talented to! So here we go...

Rules: Link to the person that tagged you (Jackie) and post the rules to your blog; share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them; Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs; Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Well...I think I got a similar tag sometime back...it's here...so I will include something new...hmmmm

1.) I love working in the dirt. Plants/flowers are a passion. I look forward to everything blooming in the spring and then spend tons of time pruning, watering, and ...well...just staring all summer long!

2.) I was a speech pathology major in college...but my actual profession was flight attendant! Do you know how many of them actually have degrees in some other profession?! Tons! The benefits were awesome...the travel was great...! Well...until the plane crash! ...see previous tag...

3.) If I could I would sleep until at least 10 every morning! I really am not a morning person at all!

4.) I really wish that hamburgers and french fries were considered health food. I am a burger junkie...I would much prefer that to just about anything else...but I mean a really good burger. Have you been to Ted's? Or Fuddruckers?...I so wish we had a Fuddruckers here! I don't eat these very often so I want it to be great when I do! I took the boys to lunch the other day and we decided to try a new restaraunt that claimed to have 'gourmet' burgers. Ha! They stunk! Well...the burger was ok...but the french fries were gross and that ruins the whole thing for me...it's the whole experience...

5.) I'm a whack job! See above confession...

6.) My favorite book in the entire world is A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving. If you haven't already, I highly recommend reading this one. It's just so awesome! I've read it soo many times! When I was flying it was my standby...I always had a copy in my bag. If someone asked about it I would give it to them so that they could read it. They usually asked because I would start laughing out loud at something I was reading! See above confession... Seriously...it's an awesome book!

7.) Did I tell you guys that I met my husband on a blind date? Yup...we met for lunch at a little Mexican joint where we used to live. He went back to the office and told his secretary that he was going to marry me.

So now to tag some of you....for this one I am going to pick 7 people who have posted for the blog candy....which...I can't believe has sooo many posts! You guys are soo awesome! I would love to find out more about you!

1.)Deborah

2.)Denise

3.)Enfys

4.)Chriss

5.)Kathy

6.)Stacy

7.)DebbieDee

So there's my list of 7 of you. It's been so awesome reading all of your posts. You all make my day! I so love sharing with you guys and seeing your wonderful creations! You all rock!

Then the very sweet Diane from over at My Little Stampin' Spot tagged me with this...

How sweet is she! She is such a great gal! In all honesty....this blog might not even exist were it not for her! She was so patient and answered all of my silly questions that helped to get it going. She just rocks! Such a sweetie and soooo very creative!

This one goes out to all of you...you know I hate doing that...if I do that nobody puts it up on their blogs! ...drives me nuts! I mean it! You are all so awesome! I just adore you!

Thanks so much you guys! I really appreciate this! I am really enjoying getting to know all of your through your emails and creations! This is truly a privilege!

I hope you are all having a great day! I am off to clean just a bit and then I am going to get started with some creating. I have picked out my ribbon for Sharon's challenge...I love glitter! This is going to be really fun! I also love Beate's new sketch and am looking forward to it! Tomorrow is going to be Stampin' Up Sunday for me. It seems like I am neglecting my SU stamps. They told me so! ;) What a fun stamping weekend!

Take care and I will post you soon!

A Very Late Sketch

I should be posting some of the new sketches...but I am just starting last weeks! It is my goal to finish last weeks and this weeks by the end of the weekend. ...that should make things interesting! ;)

Anyway, here is my card for Beate's WSC #42. This is a really great sketch. I am keeping it for sure. My card is pretty simple...but I love simple...isn't there a saying about simple minds?...wait...that's probably not a compliment is it?

I used my Papertrey paper and stamps and ribbon for this one. I also used some pearls for the cupcake. I so love pearls!

Well...that's it for tonight! It's been a crazy day and I haven't had a chance to see what you guys have been up to all day! I am going to go through the blogs and then go to bed! I'm not sure if I am suffering from allergies or if it's a cold but my head is completely stuffed!

If it is allergies...there worth it! I've caught up on all of my pruning today. There is so much new green popping out! Tons of things are getting ready to bloom! ...my vinca is already blooming! It's so pretty! My azaleas are getting ready...I will take some pictures once things start to wake up. I so love working in the yard! It's the whole getting your hands dirty thing. Guess that's part of what I love about stamping...my hands are always covered with ink!

I'm off...I hope you all have a wonderful night! I look forward to posting you tomorrow! :)

A Card Swap Reject

k...just mean that it didn't quite work out... ;)

By reject, I mean that I realized that I didn't have enough paper to go with this one. Well, and after I was finished I wasn't quite sure that I loved it. Anyway, here you go....

I sent my cards out today...express to meet the deadline! ;) I can't wait to share them with you! For one I altered one of the altoid tins that I got from GinaK's store. Fun! Lovin' it!

I hope you are all having a great day! It's a rainy one here which goes quite nicely with the colds that we all have. I am off to try and clean my desk up a bit. It is completey ransacked after last night.

I will post you all soon!

WooHooo...Finally Something New! ;)

Wow! When I noticed that it had been a week since posting something new I think I put a little pressure on myself! I really have a goal to post something every day. That hasn't happened over the last week. I am working on being a bit more organized so that I don't wind up going this long again!

Ok...so here's a little something. I made the box last week and have been waiting on the card. My problem is that I keep looking towards the What's In My Tin set. Once I do that I worry that the card/project will end up being my swap project. Well I can't share that yet! So, here's one that didn't make the cut.

...Oh! No pressure now! If someone feels ripped off for not getting this little simple something I will feel terrible! Maybe it's a good thing it's a long distance swap! ;)

...I really am kidding...sort of! :)

Oh yeah...here you go!

This is pretty simple. But I must confess, I really love simple! ...and this stamp set! Wow! Bam! Love it! ;)

...and the Bachelor! Ohmygoodness! It's back on...if you aren't watching tonight you are missing quite the fireworks! I've never seen it quite like this before!

Ok...post you soon! Have a wonderful night!

How sweet!

So how sweet is Beate! I really just adore her! Today she nominated me for this rockin' girl blogger award! ...She rocks!... She's just awesome! Super creative and just about one of the sweetest people I know! Yes...I love her...ok...not in the crazy stalker kind of way but in the friendly stamper kind of way! ;) ...although I do stalk her blog! Hey, who doesn't! The girl rocks!

So now I get the pleasure of nominating five of you! :) You know how I love that! I've posted this once before...but I really think that each of you deserve this! You are all so awesome! I just love this online community! It's filled with the sweetest, most supportive group of people! You all rock! I'm still smiling about the posts I've been reading from the blog candy post! Wow! You all have made my day! ...and let me tell you, I needed that today! ;)

Here's who I am tagging...
1.) Andrea from over at Andrea's World
2.) Cammie King
3.) Lori Craig
4.) Lisa Murphy
5.) Sharon Johnson

You guys all rock!!

I am hoping to be able to post a little something else this evening...and by that I mean a card or something! I just realized that it's been since last Monday that I posted anything new! Wow! That is definitely a drought for me! It's not because I haven't been stamping...I've been a stamping fool! I've just been working on the Gina K swap so I haven't had a chance to really finish much else. Three....that's the number of other items sitting on my desk just waiting to be finished! I am hoping to complete at least one of them tonight in between my little tins.

I was lucky enough to get the What's In Your Tin 2 set to work with for this swap. I so love this set! It's such an awesome set! Of course I had to ask if it would be ok to use the actual tins! I had such a great idea! Then I signed up for the second swap but I wanted to do a card for that one. This set is just awesome!

...ooookkkk...I'm starting to sound like an ad! ...and I don't work for anyone! I just get really excited when I love something! I can't wait to share it with you! I think you will love it! Hopefully sometime next week as we have to wait for everyone to receive their cards first. I love mine! I'm hoping everyone else will as well.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Beate! You really are such an awesome friend! I really just can't say enough about you!

Thanks so much to each of you! You are all so very awesome and I really can't tell you how much you have made my day! I'm still smiling! Such sweet words!

Have a wonderful...Bachelor filled...oh no I didn't!...yup, I did...it's Monday! :)... and I can't wait! And for all of the inquiring minds out there...I have no idea who I want him to pick...it's easier to say who I don't want him to pick! **cough, Robin, cough**...Sorry if you love her...she's just really bugging me. ;)

Take care and I will post you soon! ;)

Blog Candy!

Oh my goodness! I know I've been busy lately but I didn't realize I had been quite this busy! I had intended on giving out a little somthing once my counter hit 20,000 hits. Who knew it had gone over! Wowza! I am so glad that you guys come by and take the time to share a little encouragement with me! You are all so very awesome! I can't thank you enough for all you do!

So....I wanted to share a little something with you! How's a little blog candy sound? Ok...I will run this for one week. Next Sunday at 12AM eastern standard time is the deadline to post a comment to this link for a chance to be the lucky winner! I will use my Dad's little randomizer for the drawing. This is the program I use for my 50 for 50 drawing. I so love that he wrote this little program for me. He rocks!

I promise to post a picture a bit later today. I am cleaning my desk at the moment and finding all sorts of goodies that I am going to include!

Good luck to each of you and thank you so very much for your support! You guys are awesome blogging friends!

Take care and have a wonderful day! ;)



****Update...just a quick update...sorry it took so long to get the picture uploaded...but here it is. I tried to include a little bit of everything. There's ribbon, a creative memories punch, lots of brads and buttons, flowers, some small pre-scored cards and the Oh So Sweet SU stamp set. At first it started out all sort of coordinating and then I started throwing in a few other things and the next thing you know...you've got this....

Hope you are all having a wonderful day! It's beautiful here and I think I am finally getting most of the pruning done outside. It's so much harder this year with a little one running around! I had forgotten just how much of a challenge things like that were!

Good luck to each of you and thank you again for all of your kind words and encouragement! You are all so very sweet!

Have a great one and I will post you soon!

Carol's Card

Happy Birthday to you! It's round three of birthdays in the Buck household. What a crazy day! It's not as if I don't know the day is coming! I've been all around this town twice today it seems!

1.) Take the kids to school

2.) Grocery for cupcakes and juicebox for Evan's class

3.) Target for a last minute gift

4.) Home to regroup

5.) Back to the school to pickup Carter

6.) Off to the bakery to pickup the birthday cake

7.) Lunch

8.) Regroup...and by regroup I mean diapers, milk that sort of thing...there's no mommy regrouping at all!

9.) Off to the school to bring the cupcakes for Evan's class...let me tell you, I have a whole new appreciation for teachers! Wow! All the questions!

10.) Home for about 5 seconds before heading back to school to pick up Evan

11.) Unclog yet another toilet...this is a work in progress at our house! Trust me, I would rather they use too much toilet paper than not enough! ;) gross!

12.) Dinner...hard to get much of an appetite after the toilet but the margarita was great!

13.) Home for cake and presents

14.) Time for Hayden's bath and bed

15.) Breathe!

I can't even believe that was my day! Not much stamping going on here today! Which puts me behind on ever challenge! You know tomorrow is Friday and I still have last weeks challenges that I haven't completed! I am working on my card swap cards...they are moving along just fine! One is completely finished and I am tweeking the other. Fun, fun!f

Well, speaking of card swap...it's a perfect time to share one of our swap cards with you. This one is from Carol. She really makes some great cards! This is one of my favorites!

I just love this! Love the red with the black ribbon...love it! Card swaps are awesome! We used one of my sketches this time and it was so much fun to see what everyone came up with.

So now it's off to bed! I am so tired now! What a long day! I can't wait to hit the pillow! I hope that you have all had a wonderful day! I look forward to sharing more with you tomorrow and checking out what you've been up to. I haven't had much time for the computer today! It feels really strange! Withdrawals!

Take care and have a wonderful night! :)

How Sweet!

How sweet is Julie! She's nominated me for the Arte Y Pico award. Inquiring minds...I had to go and google this thing. I think these awards are so super sweet....but I'm a bit rusty on my Spanish...and by that I mean that I don't speak Spanish. ...sort of wishing I had taken it in school instead of French...not that I really remember any French. All I could really say in that language is that 'you are dead meat'....I only know this because I was a bit of a pain in class and my teacher said this to me on a daily basis...multiple times during any given day! I know that Julie said that it is for people who share their creativity through blogging but what exactly does Arte Y Pico mean.

So...having googled I am no closer to really knowing what 'Arte Y Pico' means. But whatever, I think that it's such a sweet thing! I just love her! She is such a nice person...and she's creative! ...and I do love that she puts up with my silly questions! ;) ...(thanks for that...you rock, Julie!)
So I think I am supposed to pass this on to a few more people. Last time I tagged you all...ok...well that didn't work very well...nobody played along! I want to see this on your blogs! Nobody did this! So this time I am going to name names! ...and I want you to put this on your blogs and then pick five more people who can then put it on their blogs and so on, and so on, and so on....lol...there's the breck commercial again! Not sure why that always pops into my head.

lol...I do crack myself up...I know...at least I crack someone up! Anyway...here you go...

1.) Terrie Bailey

2.) Jackie Western

3.) Lesa over at Punkydoodle Papers

4.) Diane Gilbert

5.) Beate Johns

I am forcing myself to only list five of you. Do you know how hard this is for me. Seriously, I can't handle this! ...you know that I think you all rock! Ahgh! Pressure...feeling, pressure...

ok...deep breaths...... ..... .....
.....
..........
I'm going to try and walk away from this. I'm going to try and not come back and 'pretend' that I was nominated again and nominate more of you....
....this is going to be really hard for me.....

...yes, I know, I am quite the dork! Off to do a little stuff and hopefully get lots of stamping done! I will post you all later!

Bumpin' It Back Up

Can you believe what happened last night on the Bachelor? ....oh, wait...that's not why you're here! ;)

...just kidding...I told you, I would not put you through another rant on that show again...'I said what I said and I meant what I meant...'

I was working on stuff last night after my card swap card. I have this idea...I found something at the dollar section in Target...love that section...

...ok...can't share it yet because it led to what I think will end up being my card swap for the Gina K swap from over at SCS. I am not supposed to share that until everyone has received their cards. So...now...I've got nothing new! ;(

Bummer! So I was thinking of bumping up an oldie and here it is....

I did this little number for Beate's inspiration challenge. What a surprise to me when I got an email saying that it had gotten an honerable mention over at Papertrey! That was really exciting!

I really love this technique. I'm so glad that Beate gave a tutorial for it at SCS because I will confess that I wasn't a fan of chalk until now. I think this is such a fun way to use it. I don't think I had even used my chalks since I first signed up as a demo about three years ago. I ordered the new colors when SU changed them way back when...

...like that...'way back when'! I've been a demo all of three years! ;) Yeah, right, whatever! Anyway, I am happy to now use them for something.

So that's it for now. I am so excited that I think I might have something really fun to swap. Can't wait to get that finished up and send it off. I just hate that I won't be there when everyone gets theirs in the mail! I so love seeing everyone's expressions when we swap cards here. It's like Christmas!

Yes...I have it really, REALLY bad!

Hope you are all having a great day! I am off to start dinner and do the mom thing. Solo still...so thankful that my hubby will be back home tomorrow...Everything takes longer when he's out of town....and there never seems to be as much time for stamping!

Whaaaawhaaawhaaa...cry me a river! Allright...sucking it up and moving on!

Post you soon! Have a fab afternoon! :)

A Card Swap First Draft..

...For my local card swap...I've been so excited that I was able to get into a Gina K swap at SCS...I never see this kind of thing on time! I am always late and miss out. So excited about this that I think my friends are tired of hearing me talk about what I am going to do! ...sorry guys...deadline is fast approaching...then you will just hear me talk about the cute little cards I receive! ;)

For my little card swap we did things a bit different this time around. Each of us that signed up in March agreed to participate for March and April. In March we each brought enough of an embellishment (that had us a bit stumped) to swap with one lucky person...who will then use for their cards in April. We drew names to see who would get who...just to keep it fair...and I was the lucky recipient of Amy's contribution. She gave up these really cute book plates and rhinestone gems. How lucky was I! ...yes, I'm still doing my happy dance y'all!...sorry I'm really excited about these little things.

I knew the minute I saw these exactly what I was going to do....and is often the case with me and card swap...my first draft is not always the completed version. This card doesn't utilize the gems...since I want the finished version to be a surprise and since Amy had an extra in the bag...I decided to do this one as well...I will work on the final project for swap and share that after we have our swap...as well as the photo I took of all of our loot.

Here's my first draft...

It's definitely an EPLS...but I thought it was a cutie. Love these little bookplates...I must have more! ...Amy...you have to hook me up!

That's all I have for the moment...I am off to play for about 20 minutes until bedtime...then off to stamp a bit more...I may have something else tonight...but for sure tomorrow...I have over a dozen new ideas in my little book and there is a stack of stamps on my desk just waiting to be played with! So many stamps so little time!

Hope you are all doing well...oh!...and it's Monday! Bachelor and Medium! What an awesome tv night! ...there I go again....sorry...I will try really hard not to post anything during the Bachelor...you know how that show drives me a bit nuts!

Take care and I will post you soon! :)

.

Cosmo Bella

What a crazy week! I have this little something that I wanted to share with you all. I am combining Sharon's No Time To Stamp challenge with Beate's Inspiration challenge for this one. I really loved both of these challenges and was really excited to play.

Here it is....

This was a fun one. I got to play with lots of my favorite things for this. Love the colors, love the Bella, love the flowers, the rub ons, and the little glitter dots I got from Gina K. Love it all!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. We are taking it easy and watching a movie. It's nice that the boys are getting a little older...I can handle 'Night At Tthe Museum'...huge improvement from their Barney days. With a rainy, cold day and Larry on the road this is the perfect afternoon.

Post you all soon!

Hayden Page

Can I share that I am going on no sleep! Last night I stayed up until 2 working on different things. Once I finally went to sleep Hayden woke up at 4 so I guess I've had about an hour or so of sleep...remarkably I am not really feeling it yet. I'm guessing that I will crash at any moment! Thank heavens for Starbucks!

One of the things I was working on was Hayden's baby book. Here is the first page of that book...

I wish I could say I accomplished more for this book than this one page. I started working on this page and then was ready to do another and realized that I am completely out of soft sky! How is that possible! Guess it's time to take an inventory and get an order in.

I hope you are all doing well. I am off to try and get a few more things done around here. I will post you all soon!

Pay It Forward

So here's my pay it forward list...Laura, Jackie Western, Christina Dean, and Hilma Rose. Thanks so much for playing you guys! I am so excited to send you a little something. I will say...I am a bit nervous! I hope you like it! I am heading to the post office today so it's on the way!

Thanks so much, Julie for the information! This was lots of fun!

I will be posting some stuff this evening...for now it's mom duty! ;) Have a wonderful afternoon!

Get Well Quickie

Ok...I'm here to share a card...I am quite sure you are all going to think...ok...know... that I am such a tv junkie. Trust me...it's worse than you thought! I watch just about everything I can squeeze into the three or four hours I have after the boys go to bed and before I pass out!

Tonight it's the Bachelor. Yes, I am a total reality tv freak! I can't even believe that I am telling you I am watching but I can't help it! I can't turn away. This show is such a train wreck. I get so embarrassed for the people on this show.

Are any of you watching this season? First, he is adorable! But what's up with all of the singing!?! Could you even imagine singing to a date like these gals are doing? In a room full of strange gals going after the same guy and you are going to break into song!?

Sorry, I just don't get it. Surely there is a better way to get his attention...ok...besides putting your undies in his pocket...if you haven't been watching you have no idea what I am talking about but some chick actually did that! I would like to think it was the alcohol but my guess is that's not quite out of the norm for her.

Ok...am I really giving you an update on the Bachelor? Soooo very sorry...I guess I should promise not to post during this show ever again. You should be safe that way.

So here's my quick little card. I really needed a get well card.....

......another singer!....this one is opera! Please NO more singing!


I so love this stamp set. I love how versatile this is....and how awesome to have a card just scream to get well! Perfect! Absolutely perfect! Love it!


...yes, I think I did say I would move on from this paper...sorry...it's still on my desk and it's soooo very pretty! Is it a problem that I run out of it within a few days? Does that mean I have a problem...aside from the obvious?


Rose ceremony coming up...gotta dash...

Post you all soon!

Happy Easter!

Yes, I should be posting something either really springy or something with some chicks or eggs or something!...owls? Hey, they are so stinkin cute! I couldn't wait to play with them! I was totally inspired by the fantabulous Terrie Bailey who uses these Pink Petticoat images all the time! She's awesome! Check her out if you haven't already!

So I pretty much couldn't take it anymore. Terrie's cards and pages are always so wonderful! I must confess that I hadn't been over to the Pink Petticoat website until yesterday...of course now I'm a regular!... and, well, here you go....

Thank you Terrie for another obsession! ;) These are so scrummy! (I hope I used that the right way!)

How cute are those owls! I just love them! They went perfectly with this paper from Basic Grey. I made this card for a challenge over at SCS for trying a new technique....this is tlc160 Hey, trying something new...not always something I run out to do...until now! ;) I think I will add this to my weekly program. How fun would that be! I could stand to learn something new! This is a totally new technique for me. It's called the negative effect. Love it! Check out the link and give it a try! It was easy and fun!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Easter!

Take care! :)

THREE...

Woohooo! I can't believe that I actually did it! Of course, yes, using the same paper helped. That was one less thing to think about. I have finished and stuffed eggs and baskets. I hid the eggs. That was a bit tougher this year. The boys are getting old enough to really hunt for them. Well not Hayden...but Evan and Carter.

So here's my final card for the night....

This is for Taylor's cupcake challenge. Of course, there isn't a cupcake on this one. This is from my Thinking of You set from Gina K. Love this...and the paper is....Papertreyink! ;) ...and the miracle is...I still LOVE the paper! I also did a little treat box with it tonight...super cute! I will have to post it tomorrow night as I am just about to fall over! Too tired to do much of anything else but sleep now!

I hope that you all have a wonderful Easter!

Take care and I will post you soon! :)

TWO.....

Ok...Here's the second...I'm not sure I am going to make a third. Not only are all three from tonight using it, but didn't I use it last night as well? I do really love this paper! It's just stunning! But is everything starting to look the same? Love the pink!

Card number two is for Beate's weekend sketch challenge.

I love this stamp set...both of them actually...the flowers are fom PapertreyInk. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up! It's a fav of mine. It's just beautiful!

Ok...not much posting this time around...I am off to finish the third....hopefully....it would be really nice! Eggs are waiting!...oh, and the baskets!

Post you soon! :)

ONE....

It's my goal to have a three challenge night!

CAN ... I.... DO.....it?

lol...totally laughing at myself! ...hope your laughing a bit to...otherwise I really am just a bit nuts!

I always start Friday off with the best of intentions. I am going to do every challenge there is by the end of the weekend. More often than not as of late, I am finishing the challenges as the new ones are posting the next week! Such a bummer...I hate being late!

My first card is for Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply Challenge. For this one you have to include round corners. I am hoping this counts....

One quick note...I am thinking that every card will be using the same papers. Hey...it's just easier that way. That's one less step in the whole creating process tonight! I still have major eggs to stuff! ...and quite frankly, I am thinking I should have taken a bit more time on the umbrella. I was drawing it at an angle..in that it wasn't straight up and I wasn't really paying attention until after I was finished. It seems crooked to me. ...Let's just pretend it's a really windy day!....remember...Major eggs to stuff! ;)

Now off for card number two....

Thinking of You

How much do I love this set! Love it! This is from the 'Thinking of You' set from GinaK. When I first saw this set I knew it had to be mine. It's just adorable and with so many possibilities!

Here is my first card with the set. I am using some paper and ribbon from Papertreyink.

So in love with it all!

Ok...off to stamp some more...I really want to get started on some challenges...you know how I love them!

Post you later! :)

Pay It Forward

Yesterday Julie Koerber not only posted another Be-U-Ti-ful card...just beautiful!...she also posted what I think sounds like such a fun game of 'Pay it forward'. I'm game...after getting the remedial directions!...

So...if I am understanding and not goofing this up...you've seen me when I'm tagged!...I tend to make it up as I go! ;)....For the first three people that leave a comment here, I will be sending you a little something. This game came at the perfect time as (unfortunately for me and the store!) one of my lss's just went out of business. I am really bummed but I did get lot's of goodies to share with you! So if you decide to play you then get to share a little something with three others..and so on, and so on, and so on...I'm remembering the breck? commercials from way back when....Just remember when posting a comment here to say you are ready to play and I will email you for your deets.

Hope you are game to play....no worries if you decide not to.

I don't really have any new cards or projects for this post. I've been at my boys school all morning and now have to get everything ready for little Cary's birthday! I cannot believe he is 6 today! I will be doing some stamping tonight. I have lots of fun stuff to play with and can't wait to ink it all up!

For now I thought I would share an oldie with you. This is one of my favorite cards...I really love this stamp set and love the furry pink feathers. Hope you like it as well...
I took this picture way back when...so it's not the greatest but have since actually learned how to use my photoshop program...wooohooo...small steps...

Hope you are all having a wonderful day! I am off to pick up Evan and I look forward to sharing more with you soon! :)

Just A Quick Little Something

EPLS...that's the theme for the evening! I've been wanting to do a cow card.

...huh?

Yup, a cow card. Who knows what jumps in my head sometimes. Even I don't try to overthink it. It hurts to much!

So I get started with it tonight and well...here it is....

...I must confess...there is no stamping on this card. I did sponge it...but that's as far as it goes. I was thinking about adding something up the side but I just wasn't feeling it. So all I did was cut out the cow print. The computer printed the sentiment. I actually did some searching for a cow bell. I found one. It's on my desk. I don't know...again, who knows what goes through my head. It just didn't work. So I added the flower. You know I love the flower fusion kit...thing...whatever it is. It's awesome!

That's it for now. I am off to play with my GinaK's! I just got the Thinking of You set! I am soooo very excited to play with this one! I've already cut out the phone. That's probably going to be the first one I use. I really love that topiary as well, and the bistro table...heck, I love the whole darned set! Where do I start!

I hope you are all having a great one!

Take care and I will post you soon!

Beate's Inspiration Challenge

Here is my card for Beate's inspiration challenge. I was all finished with this one last night...well, except for the crystal effects part...I needed to wait for it to dry...while waiting I took the bold...(yeah, I'm laughing at myself while I type that one...really bold move! ;) ...it is a good thing I make myself laugh! Anyway, I decided to try out the color challenge over at SCS...still can't believe I actually used sage shadow and orchid opulence! Wow!

...oh yeah, back to it...once the crystal effects had dried I realized that it completely blurred the stamped sentiment...talk about a bummer! It was late so I saved it for today...and here it is...

...this time around I embossed the sentiment first with a kaleidoscope embossing powder and then added the crystal effects...worked much much better! When I saw the inspiration piece all I could think of was frogs and lily pads...so there you go. Of course, what frog is complete without a set of jiggle eyes...I so love these things! I do feel like I buy them in bulk! I wanted the sentiment circle to look a bit like a build-a-brad...mine weren't quite big enough...It says 'smile'.

So there you have it...I am off to do????...ok...not sure what! I should be cleaning my desk! It is a complete disaster! I really don't even have room to work anymore! That's just a bit more practical than I care to be tonight though! We will see how that goes! ;) I must confess, I am anxious to see who goes on American Idol. I was less than impressed last night. Yes, I am a tv junkie!

I hope you are all doing well and I will post you soon! :)

A SCS Color Challenge

One of the things I have been working on today is a color challenge from SCS. This is a new one for me. I've hosted this type of challenge within my card swap but I am choosing the colors! I will admit that I stay within my comfort zone. Well over at SCS for CC158 I am definitely out of my comfort zone! I do love a good challenge.

One of my favorite stampers 'TruCarMa' or Carole Burrage is hosting...if you haven't checked this one out you need to. She is cracking me up by describing this as a challenge that will either 'strike fear or at the very least give indigestion'! Well, I will confess to the latter! I really am not a fan of the colors but her examples were so very cute...who'ld have thunk it! These colors can actually look cute together!!!

Ok...it's getting late...enough rambling...here's my card...
It's funny because I already had this paper...and didn't realize the background was sage shadow...probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise! I was really liking the butterflies so that's how it ended up in my shopping cart.

Well there you go. Tomorrow I am going to get back to Beate's inspiration challenge...my first draft didn't quite go as planned and it's just too late to work on this anymore.

I hope you are all doing well and that you have a wonderful night!

Post you soon!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

We've had quite the weekend! Evan and I worked on his science project...and by that I mean our project! I also have a stamp class tonight so I needed to prep for that. Crazy, crazy weekend.

I wanted to share this little number with you in honor of St. Patty's day.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all! I hope that you have a wonderul luck filled day!

Take care and I will post you soon! :)

Just Wanted To Pass This Along

My guess is that if you come here you probably visit Sharon Johnson's blog....No Time To Stamp....this link will take you directly to her post about this. Sharon has posted something about a young man, Kurt Blake, that was injured in a skiing accident. His family has set up a blog that you can find here.

My family obviously believes in the power of prayer. I just posted in my tagged article about being both a cancer and plane crash survivor. God has really blessed us. We also have a friend that suffered a brain injury about 5 years ago and the dr's had given up on him. Luckily his family and friends never did. We continued to pray for him and today he is here with his wife and their beautiful 2 year old son! It is truly a miracle! He does still have some limitations with his vision but is doing so well.

Please keep this family in your prayers and pass the information on to whatever prayers groups your church or friends may have. We can never have too many people praying for us.

Thanks so much for passing this on and for praying for this young man and his family.

Hugs to each of you!

I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged by the sweet Taya. How fun is that and what a perfect night to play along! I have the makings of 2 cards and one scrapbook page sitting...mocking...on my desk...I am not feeling inspired this evening. ;) Tomorrow is a new day...so tonight I will answer a few questions. Here are the rules of the game...

• Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here are the 7 random things about me....
1.) I am a cancer survivor. I was diagnosed in September 2003 with Hodgkins Lymphoma...it's the 'good' cancer...did you know there was one?...seriously, that's what I heard from more than one dr....and I have been cancer free since 2004....I just passed the 4 year mark!
2.) I still can't stand the smell of jollyrancher candy and certain soaps...they will make me toss my cookies...a byproduct of chemo.
3.) I am also a plane crash survivor. Yes, I am happy to be alive and feel so very blessed that I am here.
4.) I live in sweats.
5.) I have a weakness for all things shiny....glitter, rhinestone brads, etc...I once covered a card in sequins just because it was soo sparkly and even posted it even though it was a skunker! It was so sparkly...and remember the time I went crazy with the gems....I have tunnel vision here!
6.) If I have more than one cup of coffee I could run an auction.
7.) I say I am watching Jimmy Neutron and Sponge Bob because the boys are but have been known to rewind and see what I've missed...what does that say about me????

Here's where I skunk the rules....who do I tag....I would actually like to know about each of you...I am not so bold as to think there are more than 7 people who actually read this but just in case...your it....I check your blogs so I would love to learn a bit more about you. How about we change the rules and you post here with the link to where you've posted the 7 things about yourself so that we can all come to your blogs and see what you've exposed...Hey, I told you all about Jimmy and the yellow guy ...you should all be game! :) Come on lets see what you've got...

...and now it's off to bed. Tomorrow I am going to get everything ready for my Stampin' Up class that will be meeting Monday night. We are also having our card swap but this time we are drawing names and swapping embellishiments that some lucky person will have to include in their card for our April get-together. How fun will that be! I can't wait to see what everyone brings!

I will post some stuff tomorrow...hopefully I will be more inspired then than I was today...hey, my desk is clean! That's a good thing!

Have a great night and I will post you all soon!

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge

Ok...so I was going to head off to bed...then I noticed there were some new shows in my DVR. When did this happen?! ...and where the heck is Journeyman! I so love that show. Is it coming back!?

Well, I decided to watch a show and why not keep on stamping while I'm at it! Time for another EPLS! So here's my card for Beate's weekend sketch challenge....

Yup...epls...the wheelbarrow is from SU...I think it's a retired set....all I know is I got it from some mini way back when...the flowers are of course Gina K...told you I love this set! How cute are those flowers! This card reminds me of what I wish I would be doing tomorrow...working in the yard planting lots and lots of flowers! I am so anxious for spring! Of course, I won't be able to plant anything until May...otherwise I will still run the risk of everything dying in a last freeze. But May will be here before you know it! How exciting is that! What is such a bummer is that my bulbs haven't even popped up yet! I am hoping they weren't ripped up with all of the work we did last year. Do you know how bummed I will be if my daffodils aren't there! My azalea's won't bloom here until May. I am a bit worried about them as we have had some warmer weather lately. That happened last year and they bloomed early..for Indiana...and then were promptly frozen to death! drag!

Enough of my flower woes. I hope you are all having a great night and I will post you tomorrow!

Take care! :)

Sharon's No Time To Stamp Challenge

It's Friday which of course means challenge day! There are so many great challenges out there! I am always torn as to which one to do first. It's a problem! Tonight I started with Sharon's paper piercing challenge. For this I pulled out my Bella's. They have been hanging out in my stamp closet feeling sort of sad and lonely lately. Seriously, I could hear them crying! ;)

Here's my pierced card....

EPLS!....(Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!) I so love her! I wanted something quick. It's been a really long week! Today was another really busy one. I was working on a couple of other things I will share later and of course doing the mom thing. Hayden had his one year dr's visit today....shots! aaaahhhh! He was quite the trooper though. Then there were lots of errands, cleaning...playing...all of the day to day stuff.

I am hoping to get to your websites as I haven't had a chance and then off to bed! I hope you are all doing well and I will post you soon!

Take care and have a great night! :)

The Box

Ok...I am going through some of the pictures I took today...and yes it's always true...

....the box is always more fun!

Post you soon!

A Gina K Set The Scene Challenge

It's my first Gina K challenge! You know how I love a good challenge! This one was a ton of fun! For this, you needed to create a scene on your card. Fun! Ok...I missed the deadline...why you ask....well here is the reason...

I started working on this last night. I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to get everything lined up and then started coloring it all in with my copics....only to have my favorite green marker just drool all over my paper! Let me tell you!...at 11PM when something like that happens you just have to cut your losses and head to bed! Uhhh! What a total bummer!

So today is a new day...but Hayden's birthday! How exciting to see the little guy enjoy his birthday! Although, I'm not sure if he enjoyed it quite as much as his brothers did! They were really having fun with the whole thing...well, until the little guy decided to put his hand in the cake...let's face it...we all have to let them touch it....it drove Ev and Carry nuts! They didn't want any 'Hayden' germs! Yeah, right! I see them pick their noses! Who do they think they are kidding!

Oh, back to the card, here's what I came up with for my 'scene'....

Did I tell you this was a favorite set of mine! I so love these flowers and the basket with the eggs is adorable! Adorable!

Well, next time I will be on time! :) It was a fun challenge anyhoo. I really liked putting the stamps together like this. I think it looks cute.

So now...off to???? I really need to get some scrappin done for little Hayden...who I must say just doesn't seem so little! ***insert sad face here...he's getting so big so very fast!

If I finish anything tonight I will post it for you. I may break in between to do another card...I have this really cute paper that I want to play with. It's adorable!

I hope you have all had a great day and I will post you soon! :)

It's A Two-fer

It's a two-fer! I have the lofty goals of completing lots of challenges today...well, like five minutes ago! There are some really fun ones out there. Unfortunately...there's just not much time...so, it's a two-fer! I am combining Sharon's flap challenge with Beate's inspiration challenge for this one. Here's the flap open....

...and here it is closed....I am thinking I am going to have to take these pictures over again tomorrow. It's dark and they just aren't coming out right. Here's what stinks about this card....my fingers had a bit of ink on them and I got a few smudges on the image piece. Aaahhh! What a total drag. I tried to fix them but it really didn't work. Tomorrow is Hayden's first birthday! Can you believe it! ...I am a bit behind the eight ball around here trying to get stuff ready...so there really isn't any time to fix this any better than this. Sorry...

On the plus side....that inspiration piece was awesome! So love the colors and layout of the piece. What a great project...and the flap seemed to fit for me.

Hope you are all having a great day. I am hoping to get a scrapbook page in for Hayden turning 1...still can't believe that it's been a year! Wow! It just really does fly. I am also hoping to finish a few more challenges. ...I also have a few PTO things for tomorrow...yeah....lofty goals!

Thanks so much for stopping by...and thank you so much for your kind words. You are all so very sweet. I am so lucky to have such great blogging buddies!

Take care and I will post you soon! :)

Thanks Julie!

Ok...so Julie Koerber was such a sweetie to offer to help me figure out Photoshop so that I could create a blog banner. Have you guys checked her blog out? She rocks!

...anyhoo, I've been working on trying to figure the whole thing out for a few weeks....not having any luck. I just couldn't get past the 12x12 digi-paper I was using. Last night I was blog browsing and came across a place that you could purchase a banner for 2 bucks! I figured that would hold me over until I could email Julie and get some direction from her. If you came by yesterday you saw a really cute banner with a couple of birds on it. Super cute.

...first funny thing...I called my friend Bobbi...you guys hear me raving about her all the time! She rocks also!...and what's the first thing Bobbi says?....'that just doesn't look like you'! I so love her! You know you're great friends when you can really be honest! Love that!

...so then I am just obsessed with fixing it...and by that I mean making my own! Thanks soooo very much to Julie! I couldn't email her last night as I had hoped as Hayden is getting a new tooth and super cranky. I had to cut my night short and go take care of the poor little guy who just wouldn't stop crying. But I get a chance to email Julie today and when I ask about my prob with the paper she says...'crop it'.

....duh! She's such a genious...and I am a little afraid to admit that, well, that just hadn't occurred to me! We will just go with the whole I was thinking about it to long thing....but really...just didn't even cross my mind!

...and viola...a banner is born. Albiet a pretty simple banner...but one that Bobbi does agree looks a bit more 'like me'! ...love her!

Ok...you've read this far...I am going to share another card with you....sorry for the ramble but I really wanted to thank Julie for all of her help...she is soooo awesome....and Bobbi for being honest.....Thanks so much you guys! You are great friends!

...and on to the card.....it's another from the 'You Know Your Old When' set from Gina K....soooo love this set!

Just love this little guy! He is just the cutest thing!

One more quick question....When I had Bobbi check out the final product the banner did not come up. If you are viewing this and have the same problem please email or post. I'm not quite sure what was up and am hoping I have it fixed.

Hope you are all having a great day and I will post you all soon!

Another GinaK

How much do I love this set! It's such a fun one to play with! I'm talking about Gina K's You Know Your Old When set. Love it! Here's my latest...

The inside of this one says 'getting lucky means you found your car in the parking lot'! How funny is that! ...and how sad that at the ripe old age of 39 I can totally relate to this one! ;)

Loving this set!

Well I am off to finish a few things around the house and then I am hoping to get some more stamping in. I still need to do Sharon's flap challenge...that sounds like such a fun one! I am going to check out Beate's inspiration challenge...so looking forward to that! ....and I actually made it to the GinaK forum last night and there are a couple of challenges there as well! One here and one here! So much stamping so little time!

Hope you are all having a great morning and I will post you soon! :)

How Exciting!!!

You all have to check this link out....Bobbi rocks! How awesome is that card! I so loved it when I saw it! ...and look at her go! She is so awesome! How cool is she and how cool is that card! You can check out more of Bobbi's great stuff here. She rocks!

Congrats, Bobbi! This is such a cute card!

Take care and I will post you soon! :)

How Cute Is He!

You know how I love this set! This is from the Tickle Your Funny Bone 'You Know Your Old When' set from GinaK. It's sooo much fun to play with. ...and this little guy! He's too super cute! Something about him reminds me of my Grandaddy. Anyhow....I masked a bit to use the teeth...which crack me up!...and here you go...

How funny is this! The inside of this says '...you and your teeth don't sleep together'! Talk about a crack up! I think I am giving this to my husband this year! ;)...just kidding!

Hope you are all having a great day! Thanks so much for stopping by! I am off to pick up at school and get a few things done around here.

Take care and I will post you soon! :)

Gotta Love The Cake

Hello to you all! Hope you are having a great Sunday morning! We've thawed out here and are having a wonderful warm day...inside! It's still kinda cold outside but better there than here!

I've got another quick GinaK to share with you. I so love this set! ...oh, sorry. I've said that before! ;) Anyway, here's the card...

You've gotta love that cake! It's the cutest! I wanted it to look like a party so I added the buttons and brads to the already dotted paper hoping it would look like a bunch of confetti. Hope you all like this one.

Have a wonderful afternoon! I will post you all soon! ;)

It's 50 Degrees!!!....INSIDE!

So we wake up this morning thinking it feels kind of cold inside. I don't really think that much about it as my husband is home and he really likes it cold. I figured he forgot to turn the thermostat back up before going to bed last night. Once I get downstairs I realize there is a problem! The thermostat is set to 71 and it's 60 inside! By the time the air people get here it's in the 50's!

So...we have a broken whatch-a-ma-thingy and do you know it's going to cost over $800! ...Ok...luckily I purchased a contract thingy with them last fall. You know when I did it I thought I was waisting money! Turns out it just paid for itself! Although we had to pay for the service call we did not have to pay for the $800 watch-a-ma-thingy! Whew! What a relief!

So now the temp is back up to around 60...my fingers are thawing...now maybe I can get some stamping done! I am off to try a couple of challenges and finish up a couple of other projects.

I hope you are all having a great day! I will post you soon!

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge

How fun to finally have a chance to stamp! It's been another long and crazy day!...fun but crazy! I thought I would start the weekend off with Beate's weekend sketch challenge. I am using another GinaK for this one. I so love this stamp set! It's a definite fav!I'm glad you all stopped by! I hope you are having a great night! I am calling it a day. Quick post...quick card. I look forward to sharing more with you this weekend!

Take care! :)

A Little Quick EPLS

I can't believe it's been since Tuesday since I've posted! What a crazy week! On the plus side...my desk is soooo super clean! You all are safe viewing here today! ...probably won't last...but today is a safe day! ;)

So how much do I love my Gina K's! Wow! These are such fun stamps! I have had so much fun playing with them. I have a few things to share but I will start with something that is EPLS.

This is one of my favorite hearts. It's just so cute and whimsical. I love it. Yes, this is probably one of the easiest cards around but I really like it. I used stickles. I really don't have very much experience with them....but they are sooo sparkly. I love them as well.

...just a giant love fest! ;)

Hope you are all having a great night. I am off to bed. I have a couple of cards to finish but unfortunately I am out of mini-glue dots! What a drag! I will have to make a quick Michaels run in the morning.

Post you all soon! :)

Beate's Inspiration Challenge

How excited are you that Beate has added an inspiration challenge to her week! I was thrilled! When I saw the little purse! Wowza...those are some awesome colors and what a funky fresh design! :)...So excited to play!

So what's really funny about this today? Do you ever start a project heading in one direction only to completely turn around and go someplace else entirely? ...I do this often!...and tonight is no exception! There is a little something I wanted to try with my copic markers...it turned out really neat to! That I will have to share later...I will have to incorporate it in a different card because the black from the purse made me pull out...of course, black card stock, which reminded me about Beate's chalkboard tutorial...she's so creative!...I was in love with this technique the moment I saw her card! How beautiful! I love the contrast of color! It's just so vibrant and beautiful! Awesome!

...so I pulled out my new Polka Dot Basics set and started playing around...and the next thing you know the whole thing had changed...no copics only chalks...using the chalkboard technique...So love this technique!

Here it is.....

Funky, fresh ...or just funky...I don't know but man look at that color! You gotta love the technique! It soooo rocks! Love it! Thanks so much, Beate for another fun challenge and for another great technique! I so love this one!

Hope you are all having a great night! I am off to get a little sleep. Tomorrow I have promised myself that I would spend the day cleaning my stamping area! This card probably took three times as long as it should have to complete because my desk is such a mess! I would take a picture and show you but then I think you would all have to run out for an update to your tetanus shot! It's a disaster!

I hate the stamp-n-search game that I have been playing for the last week! It's no fun! Besides...Hayden is not only tall enough to grab everything that is left on top of the desk...he is now really curious about everything he sees! He covered himself with a glass of water this afternoon right before bed. I'm just glad the computer wasn't near him when this happened!

Y'all take care and have a great night! I will post you all soon!

How Sweet!

Ohmygoodness! How sweet! How sweet!

Yesterday I read a post from Julie asking me to check out her blog...I headed over to find out that she had 'tagged' me with this .....

Ohmygoodness! How sweet is she! I have been fortunate enough to get to know Julie a bit and I must say she is such a sweet person. So super nice and very helpful....not to mention extremely creative!...and did I say sweet?...She is super, super sweet! Thank you so much, Julie! That is so nice of you and such an honor to me.

Well, I was getting this post ready...my tag list is super long! ...hope there is no minimum...one of the people on the list of course is Terrie! I was first reading some of the new posts only to find that she beat me to the punch by nominating me with this...

Terrie is another sweetie that I have been fortunate enough to get to know a bit by blogging. She is awesome! ...and also super creative!...and also...super, super sweet! Thanks so much, Terrie! You are such a great person and I am so honored that you chose me.

These gals both rock! Rock!

You all rock! How am I going to choose anyone! So is there a limit to this? Because quite frankly...I can't narrow my list down! Are you reading this right now? Guess what, tag!

I so love each of you! You are all so completely awesome! I am so inspired by each of you every day! Yup, I have a difficult time getting dressed every day to...trying to narrow down a list of all of you is impossible!

Thanks so much to each of you for always being so super creative, super supportive and just plain nice! Your all so awesome!

Big hugs to each of you! Have a great day! ;)...and pass it on!

P.S. Terrie...I usually check my blog on my laptop...the volume is always down as it is usually someplace that I need to be quiet....and windows always makes such yucky sounds... I had no idea you had such great tunes on your blog! The boys were getting funky with their bad selves! ;) Love it! I will have to remember to turn up the volume next time! :)

You Gotta Have Friends

Well I'm finally finished! ...sort of.... I made Angie a phone book for all of her 'old' friends and all of the new ones she will make in her new home. :(...insert sad face here! I still need to add the page tabs...They are finished but my fingers aren't going to work with all of the little letters right now. I will save that for morning. I also included a set of notecards so that she could write. Of course, I will probably just stalk her with the phone but it's the thought that counts. ...she can use them to write me to tell me not to call so much! :)....just kidding!

Here's the finished product....The colors are perfect for her. I know she will love the pink and black. I'm hoping she loves the rest. How depressing it's been to see the moving truck in front of her house all day! I will really miss her.

I hope you have all had a great day! Mine has been just as crazy as usual! I am so looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend!....oh yeah, it's only Monday! ....it will be here before you know it!

Have a great night and thanks so much for stopping by! I will see you all soon! :)

Never Leave Your Camera At Home!

Ok....I so love Bobbi! You all hear me talking about her all the time. Well, we took Angie out Saturday night and I forgot my camera. Thank heavens Bobbi thought to bring hers! I asked her to send me a copy of the picture the waiter took of all of us together. She called to tell me it was in my email box....here it is....

There's Meg, Amanda, Bridget, Me, and Angie.......and where the heck is Bobbi! I know she was in the picture but ???? Did the waiter cut her out?

I was on the phone with Bobbi while I was pulling this up. At first I didn't realize. I knew something was wrong but I wasn't sure what. Then I start to count heads...then I look down the rows...I say...'hey, Bobbi, where are you?' ...she says...'I was hoping you wouldn't notice'!

Wouldn't notice!!!! That is so Bobbi! ...you know she isn't going to send me the original either! This is why you should never leave home without your camera!

Well, I couldn't get this thing to print for the life of me! ...so I called Bobbi and asked her to please do it for me. She did and she included the uncropped photo as well...of course she included it in sepia! I needed black & white! You know she did that because she didn't want me putting it in the frame! Girl! I will get that picture! mwaahahhhaaaahhaaa! :)

Seriously...I will get that picture! I want it in black and white for the frame! ....and here is why....

You know...I think I can offically say I am a rub-on-a-holic. Wow. What will I do when they are no longer fashionable!

So now I am going to have to do something special with the uncropped version...I think it will get a scrapbook page. I love sepia. I've got some great papers that will go with it! I will post it once I have finished!

Hope you are all doing well! I will post you soon!

Just A Quick Little Something...

What a gorgeous day we've had here! The high was 63 degrees! Wow! How exciting to see the sun and be able to take the kids out for a little fun! We went for the longest bike ride. Hayden had his first ride in the bike trailer that has now toted three kids around this neighborhood. We have definitely gotten our moneys worth out of that thing! What a great day!

Most of my stamping today has been spent working on Angie's gift. It's moving right along. Although, an unfortunate incident with the bind-it-all will mean a trip to the scrapbook store tomorrow as I am in need of a little more paper and a little more chipboard. What a drag that was...I wanted to cry!

So before bed I thought I would try another something from the sketch book. This is such a simple card. It's a one layer...with the exception of the sentiment. ......and here it is.....Hope you like this one. I needed something quick....and I officially have scratched two things out of my book! This is huge for me! I really do have such a bad habit of getting it in there only to leave it in there!

I hope you have all had a great day! I must say....I am hoping for a little more warm weather. I am ready for flowers! Lots and lots of flowers! I really need to get outside and do some planting! I am now on the lookout for my daffodils. Maybe they will start to show themselves soon!

Take care and have a great night! :)

The Purse

I will confess that I am still not sure what I think about this one. I stayed up pretty late working on this last night and by the time I went to bed I was pretty sure I would wake up and go with plan B. ...and true to form, I spent all night thinking of what I needed to do to make this 'right'. I solved that...or so I thought...and still thought I would go with plan B as this took an eternity! and I have to start working on a little something for Angie.

Not sure what was up when I came downstairs this morning but when I looked at it with fresh eyes, well, I decided it wasn't as bad as I thought. Granted, it's still not quite 'right'...but not necessarily 'wrong' either. I hate when that happens! I added my little tag and here you go...my purse for Sharon's Stamp Simply challenge.....I made this big enough for either a chocolate bar...what gal doesn't need, er love!, chocolate or a gift card. It's super small! Part of what bugged me last night was that I thought I had gold brads. I really wanted to have the little nail heads. Of course, if I have them they are -?????- I put my purse in the background to show the inspiration but like I said yesterday...it's ginormous! There is only a little snippet of it. What ever possessed me!

Thanks so much, Sharon, for another fun challenge! Now I have got to start on Angie's thing...she leaves in just a few days! How sad is that! I will so miss her.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Saturday and I will post you all soon!

Take care! :)