New Cards!

I finally got to play with some of my stamps last night. I've had these cards in my head for awhile - just haven't had the opportunity to make them happen.

This card uses SU Kraft, Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green and Confetti White card stock. The Ostrich is a Creative Mode stamp I purchased from www.stampingfreak.com. The rest of the stamps used on this card were also purchased there. He is stamped with Timber Brown StazOn and colored in with my SU Watercolor Wonder Crayons and an Aquapainter. I then stamped the SonLight Impressions Chicken Wire Backgrounder with my Encore Silver ink pad over top of the ostrich. I used my CM cutting system for the ovals. The sentiments are by Gina K. Designs and are stamped in SU Basic Brown. I also used the Basic Brown for the DTP technique along the edges of this card. The ribbon is American Crafts ribbon that I got from my pal Sherri.

This card uses SU Bashful Blue, Only Orange, Old Olive and Shimmery White card stock. The fish and sea grass are Creative Mode stamps. The "Eat my bubbles" is a Gina K. Designs stamp. Those stamps were all purchased from www.stampingfreak.com. The circles are from SU's simple shapes. The fish and sea grass are stamped with Black StazOn ink and colored with SU Watercolor Wonder Crayons and an Aquapainter. I used my CM cutting system for the circles. I placed a window sheet in front of the fish to make it look like you were looking into a fish bowl, but it doesn't show up here. The circles are stamped with SU's Bashful Blue and the sentiment with
Basic Black.

I did it!

I just bought a new digital camera. I can't wait for it to get here!!! I went with the Canon PowerShot A540. I looked into upgrading to the S2 IS, but couldn't justify paying that much more for the optical zoom I don't know that I really need. I wanted a Canon and read a lot of good things about this one so hopefully it will be wonderful!

Only a few more days until I go back to work. Part of me is glad to get back out in the adult world and another part of me is going to miss being at home with the kids... We'll have to see how it goes. I really am only working for the health insurance. We are going to keep really close track of all the expenses and I may end up having to leave my job.

Well, here is another card for you to look at. I did something similar for a swap recently, but I wanted to play with stitching the hemp along the top to look like a notebook of sorts. I wasn't totally happy with it so my swap card used two eyelets in the middle of the top and had the black hemp going through them and tied in a knot, if I remember correctly. I think I also added a sentiment in the lower right corner. I thought the colors gave it a retro look. They are Cool Caribbean, Going Gray, Basic Black and Confetti White. That is Big Pieces and Little Pieces for the stamp sets you see here.

I kept telling you...

And here it finally is....


This is one of the purse calendars I did as gifts this year. No stamping on this. I utilized the Island Blossoms simply scrappin' kits that were hostess items in the last catalog. That is a matching pen next to it. This is going out in the mail to the blog candy winner, Debi along with a champagne bottle "celebrate!" stamp from Michael's.

So weird thing about the webcam....it seems to take better pictures in low light. I tried to take some pics today with it of some 3-D items I had made awhile ago and they would not turn out. I'll try agian tonight when it is dark. I was thinking I may be able to get by without a new digital camera, but probably not.

New webcam

My dad got us a webcam so we could "see" each other more often. I was playing with it and took this picture of myself. Flattering, isn't it?

Movin' right along...

Foot loose and fancy free...Isn't that from the Muppet Movie or something? The Frap packs were easier to decorate than I thought. Believe me, they are aren't fancy. I wrapped some patterned paper from Joann's around the carrier and printed 'labels' on card stock with the flavors of the candles and did some DTP on those and slapped them on. I figured it has taken me two weeks to make the candles - that is good enough! I have to take pics with my 35mm and scan the pics after they get developed. And I don't think Santa is bringing me my digital camera...I'm kind of pissed at Santa right now but that is another story.
I got 3 out of the 4 frames stained last night. Much easier to stain wood than it is to do the primer and then paint it. I tried that with the 4th and then tried to go back and that one is pretty crappy looking right now so I am going to have to fix that. Right now I am making a pie and brownies while I wait for Corey to come home so I can go back down in the basement. Did the grocery shopping this morning. That was fun - NOT!

I need to give you something to look at!

I haven't made anything (except those purse calendars I forgot to scan in) for a couple of weeks so I'm trying to find something on my hard drive I haven't shown you yet! Because I am sure that there are thousands of people who check my blog daily to see what I have been up to (he he!). I must be getting delusional. Let's see....
This was a card I did for a swap awhile ago. I really liked it, but I don't think I got any comments when I posted it in my SCS gallery. I think it is buckaroo blue. I stamped the On the Spot background in white craft ink and after it dried I rubbed the buckaroo blue ink pad all over to give it more of a distressed look. The Thanks So Much is from Riveting... Ya know it is really hard to line up those colors in that set. We used it at stamp camp recently. The ladies thought I was nuts when I told them they had to line up the yellow in the outer ring on the card we were doing. It took a few tries and then most of them got a decent image. Good thing I had a big enough paper to give them a few tries! The colors on this card in the circle are stamped off first so that you could still see the words and flower.


I don't feel like getting dressed today. I just put on another pot of coffee. I can't believe it is almost Christmas! I still need to stain/paint picture frames, make purse calendars, finish up my Grandma's card tin, make those round tin purses for my two cousins, I have one more batch of candles to make, then I need to decorate the Frap packs and the bottles, I was going to make ornament sets and I ordered punches to fit better, but they haven't arrived yet and I don't know when they are coming because the FedEx tracking info went to my work email which I can't get into anymore. My password finally expired after being off for three months and it won't let me change it from home. I need to go grocery shopping for the Christmas Eve dinner and wrap all the kid's presents still! I think that is it!!!

Yesterday I made cinnamon candles. The whole house smelled like BIG RED chewing gum. I thought I was going to puke! Today will be pumpkin spice as soon as I get around to running the bottles through the dishwasher. I'm going to make beef stew in the crock pot today. I should probably go get started in the kitchen.

I upgraded

I moved to the new version of Blogger and all was fine. Then I changed my template and lost the customization I had done. I had added it all in the html part of the template and today I found a much easier way to do it. Not sure if it was available all along or is part of the new blogger! But I've pretty much got my stuff back now...

Blog Candy Winner!!

Thanks for all the great recipes. I think I am going to use most of them. Well, I had my daughter pull the name and she picked Debi Calandrelle. Please send me an email with your address and I will work on getting your prize out. stampsnmore@hotmail.com Congrats!

The prize that I won on another blog arrived today. The photo tile coasters are wonderful! It is so cool to see them in person. I'm going to have to try and make some myself.

Also my new toy arrived today. I got my Cuttlebug! I'll be spending a lot of time in my basement the next few days so hopefully I can get a little time to try it out.

Yesterday I got my free stamp set from Stampin' Up!'s Shelli Gardner. It is really cute. I'll also try to play with it a little in the next few days.

Well I need to get back to my candle making so see ya later!

Blog Candy!!!

I finished my Christmas shopping yesterday and then it hit me that our Christmas Eve dinner is only a week away and I don't have the menu planned or half of my gifts made! We are having a Honeybaked Ham and Corey requested new potatoes, but I don't know what else to make. He doesn't want the greenbean casserole...This is where you come in. Post a comment to this thread with a link to a good recipe, or the recipe itself and you will be entered in a drawing for some goodies. I'm thinking one of my 2007-2008 purse calendars with matching pen and maybe some stamps from Michael's $1 bin. I need a salad, some veggies and a dessert. I think we're having 11-12 adults and a few kids. Contest ends Wednesday, December 20th at 3:00PM EST.

There has been a lot going on...

the last few days. I forgot to scan in the purse calendars before I gave them away so I will have to do that when I make the rest of them for the aunts.

My order came from www.stampingfreak.com the other day. I didn't allow myself to open the box until I got the house vacuumed and the dishes in the dishwasher and the laundry done. They are really cool and of course I haven't gotten to use them yet. Maybe tomorrow!!!! I got an additional gift of ultrasmooth white envelopes. So cool! You can never have too many of those.

I haven't gotten a chance to try my UHU glue yet. Maybe tomorrow!

I have been seeing these fabulous cards with the embossed backgrounds. So I found out they were the Cuttlebug embossing folders and I bought myself a Cuttlebug and some embossing folders for Christmas. I didn't have a Joann's or Michael's coupon, but I heard about a website that had a pretty good deal so I got it from them. www.busybeescrapbooking.com Check them out!

Today I went back to one of the blogs I browse and found out I won a drawing for a set of photo tile coasters! They are pretty cool. I can't wait to get them. Here is the blog...
http://scrap-snap-n-blog.com/wordpress/. Check out the entry on 11/28 for the instructions for the photo tile coasters. I'm going to do a drawing soon too. So keep a look out. I just have to figure out what it will be!

Tonight I get to do the Christmas shopping for the kids! Finally!!! The to-do list is starting to get shorter and some of the stress is fading. My mom is taking the older two over night. I told her she didn't need to take Morgan since she is only 2.5 months and can't tell her brother and sister what they are getting! I think Corey and I get to go out to dinner. How exciting! I wonder where we will go.

One last thing. Our new furry family member is doing great. We named her Bailey. She is doing awesome with the crate training. Only one accident in the crate in the two weeks or so we have had her. And that was the 1st night. She still doesn't get that she isn't supposed to go potty in the house, but that will take some time.

Super Simple Christmas Card

I had scanned in this card and trimmed the black around it off and it just looked like 3 dots so I rescanned it and left the black on so you could see that it is a card! I joined the JulieHRR super simple card movement and made this my Christmas card.
There are a few details that make it more than three dots on white, but of course they are hard to see here.
First of all I used the SU shimmery white card stock just to make it a little more sturdy and give it some class.
Next, the middle snowflake (all three from the Snow Flurries set in the Holiday Mini) is heat embossed with clear over the Encore Silver ink.
Then, all three snowflakes are dry embossed. You can kind of see it on the cranberry one here. This is the first time I have really dry embossed on one of my cards. Can you believe it? I've had all the stuff for years and never used it. I've tried dry embossing before, just never did it on my cards. Tip - rubbing some wax paper on your card tock before dry embossing really does make a BIG difference. I was amazed at how much easier it was and you don't have to rub the wax paper hard.
The inside is stamped with Happy Holiday's from the Warmest Regards hostess set. I love that set. The font is great.
I tried to add some organdy ribbon along the side and it just didn't look right so I took it off.
I made 25 of these in a couple of hours. Then I got to work on a few other things. I'll try to scan one of the purse calendars in later today.
This card was inspired by many on SCS who were part of this year's simple Christmas card movement.

UHU and Starbucks

Today my samples of UHU arrived. They sent a glue stick and the Twist & Glue. I'll have to try them out maybe tomorrow and report back.

I also made my first candles. That is what I'm doing with the Starbucks altered frap packs. It was pretty easy, but I have to top them off some more. I keep getting holes in the middle. I found you need a little more than 2lbs of wax for all 4 jars. Strike that - You are probably better off with 2lbs of wax for three of the bottles. The wax came in a 2lb package and by the time you top off the bottles a couple of times you are safer just doing three rather than trying to get all four out of it. The first set I did was hazelnut coffee scented and the next will be french vanilla. I also have a pumpkin spice, cinnamon, and sugar cookie. Yum, yum! Once I get the packs decorated I'll get some pictures.

Phooey!!!

Is that how you spell it? I really was going to order from www.stampingfreak.com today. I couldn't order before today and today is still cutting it close, but I went there and when I put in the coupon code it told me it was expired. I'm so bummed! Maybe it is a sign, a sign that I'm not supposed to order these non-SU stamps, or a sign that I shouldn't spend the money. The site says they've extended the "coupon until December 8th". So I guess that means it isn't any good today. It should've said through the 7th if they wanted to make it more understandable. The blog I found the coupon code on says "through the 8th" so I guess I'm not the only one who thought it would work today. I sent them a message. Maybe they will extend it through today...

I just got an email response back that says they are fixing it! Woo-Who!!! I get to buy stamps at 20% off after all!!!!

UHU Glue

So I browse many blogs and I have noticed a lot of gals getting free samples of UHU Glue just for having a blog and writing about their experiences with the glue on their blogs. So I contacted them and my samples are on the way. If you are a crafter and have a blog of your own, you should give it a try. Here is a link to the UHU glue project blog . Just scroll down on the right you should see where it says Projects and "Review UHU on Your Blog". All the details are there. Once mine arrives I will give it a try and let you all know how it works!

I'm torn

I think I am about to make my first major non-SU stamp purchase. I keep going back and forth about it... Just over 4 years ago when I was introduced to Stampin' Up! I had 1 stamp. It was a guinnea pig that I bought in high school. Ever since then the only stamps I bought were SU! I just recently bought some of the $1 stamps at Michaels. I haven't used them yet, but they were cute and cheap so I thought I would give them a try.
A couple of months ago my mom was going to be opening a store. She was going to make gift baskets and stuff and wanted to sell my cards there. Well, if you are familiar with the SU angel policy you know it is ok to make cards with SU images and sell them at craft fairs and such if you use one of the appropriate stamps on the back, but it is not ok to sell them in a permanent retail location (this includes websites, incase you were wondering). So I started checking out some other stamp companies to purchase stamps that I could make cards with to sell in my mom's store.
Fast forward to now... A couple of the gals blogs that I browse (Pink Lemonade, Prairie Paper & Ink, Stampin' Mama) are on the Senior Design Team for GinaK Designs and here is the new site where these stamps and others are sold http://www.stampingfreak.com/. So I checked them out and they have some really cool stuff and I checked on their angel policy and it is safe to sell in a store, just can't be mechanically reproduced...and I find out this weekend that my mom isn't going to open her store (long story). So they have a coupon that is good until Friday and they have free shipping on orders over $100 and I just read on Amy's blog that they are giving free gifts on all orders between now and the 8th. So do I still buy the stamps if I'm not going to be selling cards in my mom's store, or no?

Many Merry Ornaments

I made 18 of these ornaments the other night and it wasn't too hard. It was harder trying to get a decent picture of it. I took my crappy digital camera (and I mean 1 megapixel crappy)outside in the cold to try and get a picture because it seems to get better pics outside, but not today. It would focus on anything but the ornament. I tried to get some pics inside and that didn't work so I ended up scanning it and here it is. Santa, if you are reading this I want a Canon PowerShot A540 for Christmas!

So this is the huge tin (75mm) from Creative Xpress and it fits the large poinsettia from the SU designer series paper that was just in the Holiday Mini perfectly. I was able to use my CM cutting system to cut a perfect sized circle for this tin and that is why I was able to get so many done. I made some glitter glue with crystal effects and dazzling diamonds and painted it on the inside of the lid. Finished it off with the Thyme stitched grosgrain. I tried to make some more ornaments of the other sizes, but wasn't able to find an easy match for the inside circle so I will have to work on those another time.

Is there anybody out there?

I always wonder if Crystal and I are the only ones that come to my blog so I added a counter and I registered with the stamping top 50... I'm already in the top 145 or something. Probably because I keep coming here to see if the number is moving! ha ha!!!

Pictures

Last night we went for pictures. That was not fun. Morgan hated it and Carter kept sticking out his tongue. Here are a couple of the shots...

New addition!!!

Another you say? Well, this is one of the furry nature. She doesn't have a name yet. We go pick her up on Saturday. I can't wait!!!!

You think I am crazy, right? We already have dogs. Here is how I am justifying this one.... Ever since I had kids I became an obsessive compulsive freak about dog hair and other stuff on my floors. This one is a minature schnauzer and they don't shed.

Corey has a couple of hunting dogs that I keep telling him he needs to get rid of because he never has time to spend with them. And we have our Lab Sable that we have had since we first started dating. She will be with us forever, but she lives in the outdoor heated condo because of all her shedding. Plus, she isn't exactly thrilled about the kids. She tolerates them when they are outside playing with her, but I can tell she would much rather they leave her alone. I don't think she would ever hurt them, but she is a big dog too so I don't want to take any chances either. Accidents happen. I've been wanting a family dog for a long time. My Grandma had a schnauzer when I was growing up and she was my best buddy. She would go with me every where. I miss Sarina. So I am finally going to get my house dog!

Here is a picture from the breeder. Isn't she sassy?!

Finally!

I finally got to play a little with my stamps and such. I need to do a lot more to get ready for Christmas, but here is what I did for a tin exchange.















I made a covered notebook and matching pen and some simple cards and envelopes to go inside. It was fun and pretty quick too!

How bad is this?

The SU! demo site is down for a couple hours today for maintenance and I can't stop checking to see if it is back up so I can order some stuff!!! I just ran out of the vintage violet stitched ribbon, not because I used it, but because I gave it all away. So now I need to order more. Do I really need to order more, if I haven't used it and it is about to retire? We know it won't be around because it is one of the InColors that is only available through June 2007 and it isn't in the next mini catalog, but I feel like I should order it. And I need to order cranberry because I actually used that one, and I may as well order the thyme too so I have it. Crazy, isn't it?

It gets worse...I was on splitcoast trying to decide what I am going to make for Christmas gifts this year and someone points me to these Altered Starbucks Frappuccino packs, ya know the 4 pack of the bottles of cold Starbucks? Well, people are taking them and decorating the bottles and holder and putting other stuff in them. Now I want to make coffee scented candles in the bottles and of course I need to order Like it a Latte so I can decorate the packaging with it. And while I am at it...what are these pocket notes? Maybe I should check them out. So I look in the gallery and see all the cute stuff people have made with those and now I need them and a couple more stamp sets. It just goes on and on.

What a beautiful day!!!

The weather was absolutely georgeous today. Sunny and mid 60's. I took the kids to the nature center for a "hike". I say "hike" because what we did was nothing like a real hike -- the kind I took with my dad and husband (before he was my husband) a few years ago in Colorado. Through this canyon to get to some secluded river so they could fly fish. I thought I was going to die! Today's "hike" was nothing like that, but it was pretty adventerous with a stroller. I had a few people ask me how I made it with a stroller. There were some muddy spots and a suspension bridge that was a little hairy, but we survived. Morgan pretty much slept through all the bumps too. It was good to get out of the house and a break from the running and screaming and fighting that goes on everyday here.

I'm a Collector

I'm one of those people that when they decide they need something they need the whole darn set. Our stamp sets for example...I had to have Little Layers, Little Layers Plus, and Little Layers II and I think I only used the pacifier and the graduation hat and maybe the fish. But because they all coordinated I had to have them. I used to collect CM albums. Never put anything in them, just had to have them. I bought a bunch of the hostess ones off of ebay. This summer when money was tight I ended up selling them all probably for 1/2 of what I paid for them. I never used them, but I had to have them. For awhile I was obsessed with the BST board on SCS. It just felt good when I was able to trade a stamp set I wasn't using for one on my wishlist. I finally realized I wasn't using the ones I got much more and I was spending too much in postage for all this mailing stuff around. Well, it is happening again. Right now I am obsessed with getting The keychains that were sold at convention. They are so cute. Well I think I have one, but now that isn't enough. I want one of each and an extra one for my friend Crystal!

Here they are. Aren't they so cute? These aren't mine. I found the pics on SCS.

Stamp Camp Cards

Better late than never... Here are a couple of the cards we are doing at the current stamp camp. We did 2 sessions of this camp already and the 3rd session isn't until December. My upline and I had a hard time getting our schedules to synch!


This card is my favorite. It is a big buckle card and uses the faux shaving cream technique for the flower.


















The inside of this one says "Will you pick up my mail while I am gone?" I wanted to do something funny and I hadn't used this set since I bought it so figured I better put it to use. We did some watercoloring with the watercolor wonder crayons and aquapainters on this and they loved them! I love them too! They are so much fun.










That is all I have to share right now. I haven't had too much time to be creative lately. Hopefully soon!

Winter Mini Pre-order

Today us demos could start ordering stuff from the winter mini. My order is in already! I got Big Pieces, Fancy Flexible Phrases and the Small Tag Punch. Of course I got some other stuff too from the big catty. I can't put in an order unless it qualifies for hostess benefits. That's not a real rule, just mine! I needed some stuff for our next stamp camp, a gift for our group's Christmas exchange and a few things I have been wanting for awhile. Next week sometime it will be here!
I'm cleaning the house now, can't you tell? I'm waiting for the floor to dry. I need to feed the kids and if I have time later I will post some cards I made. I haven't posted any good stamping stuff for awhile.

I'm seriously addicted

Every time I get a spare second I run over to the computer to check my emails and splitcoaststampers to see if I am missing anything. SCS hasn't been moving fast enough for me lately so I started cruising stamping blogs. I linked to one off of another and saw this card that looks a lot like a card I got from my secret sister so I am wondering if I accidentally figured out who she is. Oops! I need to be spending my spare time stamping but my set up just isn't good for that.

It's Halloween! I some how volunteered to make mummy hot dogs for Maddie's kindergarten. That was fun. I ended up making them last night and then just heating them up this morning before I took them to school. Morgan had her one month check up today. The chunky monkey is 10lbs. 7oz. already! Maddie is a Cheerleader and Carter is Elmo. I found a cheerleader outfit that Morgan will fit into so I may dress her up tonight when we go trick-or-treating. Maddie will be thrilled. Well, Morgan is calling and I need to go pick up the kids and get them fed before we go out tonight.

Silent House

No, not mine...It is a song by the Dixie Chicks on their latest CD "Taking the Long Way". It is a really good CD. It is really crazy how they have been banned from certain radio stations because of their political beliefs. We have a newer country station in the Detroit area and they had people call in and vote whether or not they wanted the Dixie Chicks music played on this station and I think they lost. I was amazed at the ignorance of people calling in to complain. The music is great regardless. It is really sad. Their first single "Not Ready to Make Nice" is even about this situation. It mentions how they got death threats because the lead singer made a comment about being ashamed to be from the same state as George W. Bush. If I was from Texas I would be ashamed too, but that is another story.

Back to the point of this post. Silent House is a song about someone with Alzheimers. I heard it for the first time the other day and it made me think of my Grandma. "I will try to connect all the pieces you left. I will carry it on and let you forget. I'll remember the years when your mind was clear. How the laughter and life filled up this silent house." I was very close with my Grandma growing up. My mom and I lived with her for awhile and we spent a lot of time together. Now she is in a home and I don't see her too often. I saw her a couple of weeks ago. She really enjoyed seeing the kids. I got pictures of her holding little Morgan. Two days ago my mom called and told me they were taking my Grandma to the hospital. She's not doing good. Her blood counts were down and she was dizzy and her memory had gotten drastically worse. I went and saw her last night. They aren't sure what is wrong yet. And once they figure it out, not sure they will be able to do anything about it. She is 84 and probably couldn't take a surgery. My visit with her was actually kind of humorous. She was telling me that Meerkats live under my aunt's deck and it is all because the neighbor lady used to feed them. I really don't think we have Meerkats in Michigan, but I didn't go there. She asked if my husband knew how to get rid of them. I just said that I didn't think he had experience with Meerkats.

2 year old boys sure are trouble....

Well, at least mine is. He won't let this baby, or me, sleep. This kid is always up at 6:00 in the morning, comes in to my room and makes a bunch of noise. Or he climbs in bed and pulls my hair or sticks his finger in my ear and his cold feet on my legs. This morning I just about strangled him. He was kissing Morgan while she was sleeping in her cradle, that didn't wake her up but the yelling he was doing later did. Why does he always have to talk so loud? None of this bothered me until the baby came along. Some of it was even cute. He was and still is my mamma's boy. But things are different now. I still love him to death, he just gets on my nerves! He is good for getting tissue, diapers, etc and putting stuff in the fridge or getting it out...He's screaming at me now. Time for a nap. "I'm mean at you" That is what he says when he's mad at me, which seems to happen a few times throughout the day.
I think I am just in this honeymoon stage with Morgan. She screams at me too, but it is because she is hungry, or wet, not because she is "mean at me". She wakes me up every night and morning, but I don't get mad at her when she does.

These children are going to drive me to drinking!!!

I don't know if I can do this. We've been talking about me staying home with the 3 kids instead of going back to work and I don't know if I can do that. Today has not been a good day. Last night was a rough night. I already sat down with the ice cream container to try and drown my sorrows. I don't think that worked. I may go open that bottle of wine that has been sitting in the laundry room since our wedding! It is an aweful big bottle and I don't think it will taste that good though. I'm not big on wine, other than Boone's Farm!!!

Twisted Swap - Holiday Edition

Here is my card for the twisted swap. I am in the adult group. My daughter asked why the boy and girl were on top of each other. You can't tell that much from the scan, but the slutty girl is bending over.

Morgan is here!!!

Morgan Marie arrived at 11:17 pm on 9/25/06. She was 7 lbs. 6 oz and 19.5 inches long. We're both doing great!

I'm still here!!!

They didn't send me to the hospital to be induced. I'm still hanging on...

Any day now....

Morgan will be here. On Monday I went to the doctor for my ultrasound and she wasn't active enough. Add that to the fact that my blood pressure was high and I ended up spending the afternoon on the monitor at the hospital. They let me go, but I had to do a 24 hour urine collection the next day. I haven't heard from them so I am guessing there was no protein. I go back this morning for another non-stress test. We'll see how that goes... Everyone thinks they are just going to send me to the hospital and induce me. Oh I was dilated to 2 on Monday so now I am paranoid that this baby is just going to fall out. I've never been dilated before I went to the hospital before. I was induced both times so it was nice and smooth, like checking into a hotel! I'm scared my water is going to break at work or something and I will have to rush to the hospital. That isn't going to be easy with 2 kids and my mom about an hour away. I've had a few friends in the area that have offered to watch the kids if we need them to so I may have to call one of them to watch the kids until my mom can get here. Well, better go get dressed and ready. Hopefully, you hear from me soon that everything went alright...

Twisted Swap Round 2

This is one of my cards for the twisted swap round two. It is called SCREW YOU. Self explainatory.













This is my other card. It is called COCK SUCKER. This was inspired by an etching done by my Dad's ex-girlfriend Darlene Hardie. She does great art work, a lot of it has roosters and chickens.

Exciting Morning

Had a little bit of a scare this morning. Morgan was VERY active during the NST. So much so that her resting heart rate was higher than it should be and he active heart rate was really high. So they sent me to the HOSPITAL!!!! They said there was a possibility that she would calm down by the time I got there and she did. Everything was back to normal when they hooked me up to the monitor at the hospital. THANK GOD! So they let me go. I promised I wouldn't drink any coffee before my next NST.

That was enough to scare Corey. We are headed to Babies R Us to pick up the last of the items we need for her arrival. This way, should I go early, we will be prepared! I better start taking my suitcase to the Dr. with me just in case!!!

I took Maddie to school this morning and dropped her off. Today was her snack day and silly mom bought applesauce. 30 of the cups of applesauce is a little heavy for a 5 year old to be carrying in her back pack so I figured I better just take her and drop them off. I'm really glad I did because it gave me a chance to chat with her teacher for a minute. She said Maddie is doing really well, she is smart and mature and she thinks she will do just fine this year. That was nice to hear since we were going back and forth about Early 5s versus Kindergarten. We didn't want to push her and we didn't want to hold her back either. I think we made the right choice even though she only turned 5 the day before school started. If we would've held her back I think she would've felt more out of place in the coming years. She is on the tall side and would seem really tall compared to her classmates if we held her back.

I'm mailing off round 2 of the twisted and demented swaps. I'll scan them in and show you mine later!

Everything went pretty smooth...

I was a little teary eyed a few times today, but Maddie seemed to enjoy Kindergarten. Tomorrow is her 1st full, half day without us. Today we were only there for an hour and a half. She gets to ride the bus and everything tomorrow. I'm sure she will do fine. She has already started rolling her eyes at me when she thinks I'm embarassing. It's kind of funny now, because she can't quite roll her eyes, but the rate she is going she'll be a pro at it soon.

Yesterday was the big B-day party at Chuck E Cheese and it was a hit. It worked out really well. Better than having to clean the house and entertain everyone. The kids had a blast.

Today I also had my 36 week check up and another ultrasound. Everything looks good. She wasn't real active while the ultrasound was being done so they told me to drink something sugary before the next one. Afterward, while I was waiting to see the Dr., she was jumping around like a nut. Of course! The best part was he told me I can take Claritin for my allergies. I picked some up today and I'm already feeling much better!

Holy Mood Swings!!!

Oh brother I am a mess. One minute crying, the next in a rage. Things have been crazy at work. My allergies are terrible. Both of the kids have been waking up every night and I wake up on my own each night at least twice to pee.

I went in for my weekly ultrasound on Tuesday and everything was more normal. So that is good I guess. I just wish I could take some allergy medicine. I'll ask next week if there is anything at all I can take.

Monday is Maddie's 5th birthday. We're going to Chuck E. Cheese. She is very excited. I ordered her a princess cake. The next day is the 1st day of kindergarten. She's really excited about that too. I can't believe she is 5 already. Looking back it seems to have gone so fast.

34 week check up & Ultrasound

I had my 34 week check up on Monday. They wanted to do an Ultrasound because they thought the baby was measuring big. Well...it wasn't the baby. Her growth is right on track, but there is more amniotic fluid than there should be so that means I need to go for an Ultrasound every week! I'm not thrilled, but whatcha gonna do? Most likely everything is fine with the baby, but there is a greater chance I could go into labor early because my body will think I am further along than I am. If I go early the baby might not be in position, thus she would come via c-section. I really don't want that! It takes so long to heal after a c-section. I was ready to leave the hospital less than 24 hours after I had Carter. You are back to normal in no time with a natural birth. Not much I can do now but sit and see what happens. Next Ultrasound is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. We'll see how that goes.

There has been a lot going on lately. We took Carter to the pediatric cardiologist and everything checked out with his heart. He's still having the leg pains though. I hate it when he gets them. I wish I could make them stop.

Maddie starts kindergarten in less than 3 weeks! I can't believe it. We ran into a boy she went to preschool with at the park last night and she told me that he is handsome and she wants to marry him. Then she told him that and he was like ok whatever. It was pretty funny. This morning she ran into daycare saying how she is going to marry Evan and papa Walt told her that she should do it before he gets cold feet. She looked at him weird and then said "I don't care if he has cold feet". She's gonna marry him whether or not the boy's feet are cold! Pretty cute.

Tonight is the last of our tin stamp camps. Hopefully it goes smooth. There are 8 people supposed to be there tonight.

Here are the cards I did for the twisted & demented swap:















The inside of the pregnant lady one says "So do we know who the daddy is this time" and the inside of the one with the dead guy in the back of the truck says "It is better to have loved and lost than to spend the rest of your life with that psycho"

Well got to go so I can eat before the camp.

Had my 32 week check-up...

and she is measuring bigger than she should be. I have to go back in 2 weeks and have another ultrasound. Hopefully it is just all the ice cream I have been eating lately. I'm hoping they don't want to induce me early because if I have to go on maternity leave September 29th or sooner that means I have to go back to work before Christmas and I don't want to have to go back to work until the new year.

I'm kind of glad we are having another ultrasound. Hopefully we will be able to confirm it is a girl. And I don't know if it will really help with this or not, but at least they will get another look at her... sometimes I think I have a bunny in my belly. Ya know how in Bambie Thumper will thump his foot up and down a bunch of times really fast. When he is twitterpated ya know, well sometimes it feels like this kid is doing that in my belly. I don't remember the others doing that.

Mini Convention is over...

and it was great. But I was exhausted!!!! Linda brought some great projects for us and our customers. I think everyone enjoyed themselves, but I know I was getting cranky towards the end. We didn't have a lot of time to get lunch before the customers arrived so all I ate all day was junk and that just isn't good for me. I think that is when I get cranky.

I've got swaps up the wazoo to get done and don't know when I will be able to do it. The first is a twisted and demented swap that is due to the hostess on the 15th. I need 20 cards, 2 different designs for that one. I got the ideas all figured out last night. I was excited to get that part figured out, because the actual stamping and putting together isn't so bad once you have the design. The 1st is a pregnancy card using the Swell News set. The front will have the gal and say "Congratualtions on your swell news" and then on the inside I am going to put "so do we know who the daddy is this time?" Twisted and demented...ya get it? They are supposed to be funny cards you wouldn't see every day. The next is a divorce/breakup card. I'm going to use the Loads of Love set with the gal driving the truck and the guy in the back with x's on his eyes, cause he is dead. On the inside I am going to use a saying I saw on a stamp by MissyB Designs that goes "It is better to have loved and lost than to spend the rest of your life with that psycho". What do you think? Sound funny enough? I'll have to post them once they are done.

Next I have 22 card fronts to do for Crystal's new catty set swap also due on the 15th. Then I have to go through my samples and send in fronts for some contest/swap thing that isn't really a swap also due on the 15th. THEN I have about 50 cards to do, 10 different designs for different kind of swap #8. That one is due August 31st!!! Argh! What was I thinking?

Pregnancy making me crazy?

Yesterday I stopped at a veggie stand to pick up some tomatoes and as I was there I imagined myself getting out of the car on the side of the road and getting hit by a car. As I was lying in the road I picked up the cell phone to call my husband and tell him he needed to pick up the kids. When he answered his phone he didn't let me talk just said I'll call you back and hung up on me. He does this in real life a lot lately. So back to the "dream"...When I was in the ambulance on my way to the hospital he finally called me back and I told him I was hit by a car and that he would need to leave work and go pick up the kids. He was all upset he had to leave work early and showed no concern for me or our unborn child...

This doesn't seem so far fetched to me. He has been working all the time and has no clue what it is like to be pregnant. And let me tell you, the third time around I have gotten like no sympathy from him. The 1st pregnancy was definatley the best. I enjoyed it. Even the 3rd time around I don't consider myself a bad pregnant person. I don't complain. I haven't had issues with swelling. I don't talk to my belly at work or pat it like a former coworker would do all day. I like it that people are for the most part nicer to me just because I am pregnant. Strangers open doors for me and the baggers at the grocery store make sure not to make the bags too heavy... I just wish my own husband would be more like them. It is so much harder being pregnant with two other children relying on you for everything and I mean everything. With Corey not coming home until they are in bed most days of the week I have to do everything. I may as well be a single mom.

In one way it is good that I am working full time and get to get away and out of the house, but that is also another thing I have to do and worry about. On top of all the stamping commitments I keep signing myself up for... I need a vacation away from everyone.

Haven't posted in awhile...

Oops. I went to update this the other day and got side tracked. We did our 1st two tin camps and they went wonderfully! All the tins came out really nice. I got new stamps and was able to mount them, but have yet to play with any of them... soon. I've got swaps to do so I need to get on those.

This Saturday is our mini convention in Flint. Our up, up, up....line from Florida is coming to visit and helping us put on a mini convention here for our customers. I can't wait. I know Linda will have some really cool projects for us to do. I am demoing the pearlex floored technique and our new cutter kit, and our punches. I have found some cool samples I have gotten in swaps with our punches that I will bring to show. I need to play with our cutter kit. I just read on SCS how you can put the perforating tool in white craft ink and then run it on your paper to get a faux stitched look. That is way cool. I have to go home and try it. If it looks good that will be the method I use. I'm too lazy to punch all those holes (sorry Julie HRR, wasn't that your technique you shared with us a few months ago?).

Sunday I'm working the Buick Open. I hope the weather cools down. I'm not into golf much. I just volunteer so that my husband can come and "help". He really ends up running around like a kid in a candy store and getting autographs from golfers, but that is fine. We weren't really busy when he was gone last year so I don't think anyone minded. This year we are working the afternoon of the last day. The "Will Call" booth can't be that busy then. Everyone who is coming will already be there and they won't be leaving their passes for people to pick up the next day.

Comment SPAM!!!

Darn comment SPAM!!!!!!! Oh you have a great site and then there is a little link to a different website. I just enabled word verification and comment moderation to try and prevent the SPAM. I'm sick of having to go in and delete them.

SHIP, SHIP, SHIP!!!!

My 1st new catty order has been in picking status all day!!!! I need it to SHIP. It has my supplies for the stamp camp next Saturday. It needs to be here by next Friday at the latest. Before then would be good! I've checked probably about 10 times today and it still says picking. It really can't possibly take that long to pick. It wasn't that big!

OH DAD....Are you out there? Guess where the Stampin' Up convention is going to be next year? Can you say Denver??? Maybe next year we will finally be able to swing a trip out there and I can combine it with my convention. Corey has had a few very slow months at work, and now this month he is kicking butt!!! He has like 15 loans in the system for this month and when they close we will be caught up and then some. Most should close next month which means the Septemeber check he gets will be great! Now he just needs to keep this momentum going.

I need to go do some work now. I've been avoiding it all day. Doing everything other than the stuff I need to get done. I better do it now or I will have to do it tonight and that won't be easy with Maddie and Carter bugging me every two seconds.

Had my 28 week check up today. Everything is normal see you in 4 weeks blah, blah, blah...

I'm really feeling pregnant lately and getting no sympathy from my husband. I guess the 3rd time around they don't care anymore. He's working a lot of hours so all the day-to-day stuff with the other 2 is up to me. Even the nights he does come home at a decent time it is like pulling teeth to get him to help.

I've only gained 5 pounds so far, but it is all in my belly now and my regular pants don't fit anymore and I only have a few pairs of maternity pants. Of course I gave them all away from my last 2 pregnancies! I need to go get some pants.

Carter is obsessed with boobies lately. He discovered Barbie's boobies the other day and ran around yelling "Barbie's Boobies" for a good 10 minutes. He's gonna freak when the new baby comes and I start nursing. Maddie did when Carter came along..."What do you mean there is milk in those?" Right now she just keeps asking me if it hurts when you have a baby and when I tell her that it does she says she isn't going to have any babies and she is very serious about that.

I need new stamps!!! I am waiting to figure out what we need for our stamp camp so I can place my order from the new catalog, well that and the fact that I have no money at this moment! I can't wait. It is driving me nuts. Tracy gave them until today to tell her their paper choices so we should have it all figured out by the end of this week. Oh there is sooooo much I want.

Back to Work...

Well, I was off last week and now I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation. We all went up to Ludington and that was more like work than it was relaxing. After we got back I spent one whole day weeding my front flower bed and then it took me the whole next day to clean the house because I was so sore from weeding the day before!

Friday morning we took Carter to the doctor. They had us get his blood drawn just to check that there wasn't anything weird there that would cause him to have leg pains. I heard back from the Dr. today and the blood work was all normal. Now they are sending us to a cardiologist to do an echo and check out his heart. If that looks normal than it is most likely just growing pains. Which it probably is, but better safe than sorry with the family history.

Friday evening I got to stamp! With my up-upline from Texas Tara and my pal Crystal. It was fun. Poor Tara was the one who kept our group going when she was here and now that she moved she is pretty much on her own down there. She was so excited to stamp and see some of the projects I had been working on lately. Crystal and I told her she needs to spend more time on SCS!

FINALLY!!!

I finally got my hands on the new SU! catalog. It's not my copy, but my friend Crystal is letting me 'borrow' it until mine come, which will probably be tomorrow, but I couldn't wait any more!!!!

I'm gonna be in trouble...there is so much I want.

The next couple days are going to be crazy. Getting ready to go up north. Planning our next stamp camp. I've got to make 30 cards (5 different designs) and mail them by Friday. I don't know how that is going to happen unless I give up sleep. Work, kids, etc.


Carter has been complaining of his legs bothering him lately. Last night Corey asks me when Carter is supposed to go to the Dr. next. I told him we didn't have any appointments scheduled...and then he informs me that leg pains were something he complained of as a child due to poor circulation from his heart condition. After the doctors figured out what was wrong with Corey he had two surgeries to put a patch on his aorta. So now I am a little freaked out. We had Carter's heart checked when I was pregnant and everything looked normal then, but I'm still worried. I just made an appointment for him to see the Dr. next week. Hopefully it's just growing pains or something like that.

Well, time to go home!

The weekend is over

and it was a pretty good one. We dropped the kids off at my mom's to spend the night on Saturday. We went swimming. Carter wasn't too thrilled with the big pool at first, but he got used to it. He must've thought we were going in a little blowup pool or something. No wonder he thought my mom and I were crazy when we put on our suits and said we were going swimming with them. He kept giving us this funny look and when we were walking there he kept saying where are we going? Where is the pool?

Sunday I got to sleep in and do a little stamping before the kids came home. They went strawberry picking on the way back so I've got strawberries coming out the wazoo! The hubby watched the race and then we all played Zingo. It is the kids favorite thing to do right now. There were a couple of fights, but overall it was fun.

Now I am back to work. Two weeks and then it is time for our annual family trip to Ludington for the 4th of July weekend. Hopefully this year the fireworks don't get rained out.

Tonight is our demo meeting. I am facilitating. We are doing an altiod tin project. I wonder how many will show up. Seems like not many come to the meetings anymore and there have been a few dropping out of their demoships. It is kind of sad. But whatcha going to do?

It's Tuesday and I don't have much to say...

Nothing exciting is happening. I'm unmotivated to work. I can't wait for the new SU! catalog to come out so I can get excited about it, even though I don't have the money to buy stuff from it right now.

This weekend we did a little garage saleing. Picked up some baby stuff from my husband's cousin. All we need now is the crib.

I took the kids to the park yesterday after work. I think they enjoyed it. The other kids that were there were pretty rude. My daughter asked if she could play hide and seek with them and she went to hide and they didn't go looking for her. I told her to go play before we had to leave and she didn't really notice they weren't looking for her. Then one girl came and stood up on the bench I was sitting on and proceeded to yell over my head to her mother that she was going to climb the tree right behind me. Her mother told her no and I gave the kid a look for standing on the bench next to me. How RUDE!!!

I read that the baby can hear things from the outside now so I told the kids to say hi to her. My son was saying "hi sissy" and giving her kisses. I wonder if he will be nicer to her than he is to his big sister. I swear he just likes to fight with her. He has to disagree with everything she says. Sometimes it is funny.

I don't know what to do tonight. My husband has a networking seminar so he won't be home until later. Tomorrow night and Thursday night he's got stuff too so I don't know when I'll see him.

I need a vacation or something.

Back to normal?

The kids are all healthy and back to daycare (knock on wood). Nothing too exciting happened the last few days.

Got my daughter's preschool report card. Said she was advanced academically and socially and that she is ready for kindergarten. My jaw dropped when I read this because just a month earlier I had called her teacher and discussed whether she should go into Early 5s or kindergarten and without a doubt the teacher said Early 5s. I agonized over it and finally came to terms with that was what was best for her and now a month later a complete 180. My husband met with her teacher the next day and she said we would be holding her back if we put her in Early 5s. She said the last evaluation she did was in December and that our daughter had made amazing progress since then. I wonder if she had my daughter confused with another girl when I talked to her in late April. So now my husband called the school and our daughter will be starting kindergarten in the fall. She's young, but big for her age so at least this way she may fit in better in the long run. I don't really doubt that she can handle it, I never did.

No big plans for the weekend, but I need to work on my swaps. Now that the stamp camps are done I have all my supplies back at my house in one place!
I need to fix a couple ink pads that got dirty at the camp. Bummer! This one gal was rubbing them furiously on the background stamp and now all the edges are fraid. On top of that she took some light colored pads and used them on stamps that had residue on them from the dirty scrubbers. I can't believe how quickly those scrubbers get dirty at a stamp camp!

Home with a sick kid...

Today I am home with my son. My husband took him to the clinic on Sunday and his throat is all red and swollen so they put him on antibiotics. He has been on them for almost a full day but is still complaining of a sore mouth (he's two, I don't think he knows what his throat is). He's drinking, but not eating much. Everytime he eats he crys and gives up. I went and got him those feel better bears sore throat suckers. He sucks on them forever and carries them around, but I don't think they are really helping. I tried giving him some chloreseptic before lunch, thinking that would numb his throat enough for him to eat, but it didn't work. Hopefully, by tonight he will be doing better and will sleep. The last two nights have been pretty rough.

Stamp camp tonight. I need to go get snacks, but I think everything else is ready. I washed my scrubbers and everything is all packed and ready to go. Hopefully it doesn't go too late so I can get home at a decent hour.

Well, Saturday is almost over and I still didn't get done most of the stuff on my to do list from Friday. I got my BC stuff cleaned out, but I still need to make a list of what I have to sell still. I didn't work on swaps. I didn't try out the tin. I didn't make the card for the shower tomorrow. I didn't cut the door prize or get snacks for Monday's stamp camp. I didn't do whatever else I planned to do. Instead I ran around with my husband and went to the grocery store and hung out on SCS a little.

Ok, tonight I need to do the shower card and the stuff for Monday's camp. If I have any extra time on Sunday I will decorate a tin.

This morning my son woke up with a fever so he has gotten most of my attention today. I hate it when the kids are sick. I guess one of the other little boys at day care had a throat problem last week, it wasn't strep, but his throat was all red and swollen. I wonder if this is a virus or if I will be at the Dr on Monday.

My daughter had her parents day performance this morning. She did great! I am very proud of her. The whole show and slide show at the end were a little long, especially with a little sick one on my lap through the whole thing, but I'm glad we went.

Ok, after dinner I am banished to the basement!

Yesterday was a crappy day, today a little better. I got a lot of support and advice from the gals on SCS (www.splitcoaststampers.com). They are all so wonderful. Thanks ladies!

I took tomorrow off of work so I can play with my stamps! I have a stamp camp on Monday and have a couple of things to prep, but most of it is done already since this is the 3rd date for this particular camp. It is all around alphabets and monograms. My projects are a Name Frame and 3 Monogram Cards. My upline is doing a Monogram Card Holder with 4 matching Monogram Cards and then a Monogram Checkbook Cover. All the projects came out really cute. I should figure out how to post pictures!

For our next camp we are doing the provo craft tin card holders and the next camp after that will be for the cards to go inside the tin. I think I will play with the tins a little tomorrow since we have been debating the best way to adhere the paper to the tin. I've seen a few different ways on SCS. I think we are going to try them out and see which we like best.

I've also got a big swap coming due at the end of June. DKOS (different kind of swap) #7 on SCS. This is a really cool swap where we all start out with the same basic plan for the cards (stamp set, colors, and embelishments, etc) but then we each add our own flavor to it. It is amazing how different they look in the end. There really are some talented folks on this site.

I'm also going to faciliate our demo group meeting on the 19th so I should figure out what I am doing for that I suppose.

I wanted to clean out my basement and go through all the BeautiControl stuff I used to sell, make a list and try and try and get rid of it. I'm also planning on dropping off all the business stuff to the director who adopted me up here. I'm sure she can find a use for it.

Oh yeah, I've got a baby shower on Sunday so I need to make a card for that. I guess my day will be pretty busy. We'll see how much of this I get accomplished!

I don't know what I am doing....

Well, this is my first blog and my first post. I need someone to tell me what all I am supposed to do. Why am I doing this to begin with? I'm not quite sure. I guess I just want to talk about me and have other people read it and see what my life is like. Maybe their lives are similar.