On second thought...

Friday wasn't as good of a day as I thought it was. It was a day of ups and downs. After I posted I ripped a whole in my jeans. That was bad. So at lunch I went out and got a new pair of jeans that fit really good and were on sale for $16. That was good. I also picked up quite a few clothes for Morgan who is growing like a weed and they were clearanced on top of the marked down. That was good. I picked the wrong line at the check out and that TOOK FOREVER. That was bad. Ok well enough about Friday.

Today I have a couple more cards from the DKOS swap to share.

The first is a Donut Card made famous by JanTink, well famous to me anyway. I got to use my scalloped circle on this one before it started acting up on me. The card base is Rose Red and I used the Spot On Jumbo wheel in white craft ink. I put a Certainly Celery scallop circle on the front and punched a 1 3/8" hole through it and the front of the card. Then on the inside I have layered circles and images from the Seeing Spots set in Cameo Coral and So Saffron.
This one is made with the Touch of Nature set. I also used my Weathered background on it. The base is Almost Artichoke and then I have Brocade Blue and Bravo Burgandy. The ribbon is the bluebird grosgrain SU retired. I watercolored the flower with Peerless Transparent watercolors from www.stampingfreak.com and I also used the oval scalloped frames and doodles from stampingfreak with my Giga Scalloped Oval. This one is kind of off center because I decided to add it after I punched and didn't get it lined up quite right, but the ones for the swap were all good. I'm not thrilled with this card. Not sure if it just isn't my style or I am missing something...

It's a good day, really it is

It started out with my 3 year old throwing a temper tantrum because he didn't want to wear his spiderman shirt. He wanted to wear his incredible shirt. We have 3 Incredible's shirts and he already wore two of them this week. I told him spiderman was lonely and missed him. So I had him dressed and he went into his room and found the last clean incredible shirt. I told him not to put it on...mainly because he had spiderman shorts on and it wouldn't match (yes, I am a bit anal when it comes to these things) and also because I just didn't want him to get his way after throwing a fit. So I go into the bathroom and help big sissy get her teeth and hair brushed and come out to find Dad putting the incredible t-shirt on him. I lost it. Gave Dad a lecture on giving into a 3 year old after throwing a tantrum and when we left the house everyone was dressed as I had planned.

Got to day care and found out that one of the gals from the infant room is going to be leaving. Barb is a really sweet lady and I will miss her. Morgan is going to be transitioning to the toddler room next week so she wouldn't be spending much more time with her anyway. Yes, they are kicking Morgan out of the infant room. She is the oldest in there and there are new babies that need spots. Plus, she looks longingly through the french doors to the toddler room most of the day, I am told. Morgan takes all the toys from the less mobile babies too. She is the big bully of the infant room. No not really, but she does hog the toys and push the other babies around in the walkers. They need to get it on video. It is like walker bumper cars with Morgan leading the pack, or so I am told.

Then I come to work and check my email to find that the velvet wine bags my upline ordered to test for our next camp work. THEY WORK!!!! We will be doing velvet stamping on the bags for one of the projects for our Christmas camp. Woo-Who!! Can you tell I am thrilled? The first bags that came in did not work. So we were looking for alternative projects, but now we don't have to. So our Christmas camp will feature the velvet wine bags, a candle & tile candle holder set, a little purse thing with 3X3 cards in it (I think that is it), and 3 simple Christmas cards.

And now for a card...
This card features the Doodle That set (didn't make the big catalog). The colors are Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard and Always Artichoke. I did some DTP on the card base. I roughed up the edges of the chocolate chip with the distressing tool in the cutter kit. I used the word window punch for the little tab thing. I used my scalloped circle punch and other circle punches. I also used a stardust pen on the swirly vine part, but it is hard to see here.

It's About Darn TIME!

I took some pictures of the stuff I had been working on in the last MONTH or so. Here is a card I did for Crystal's non-convention goers swap.
Sorry it is kind of dark. I took it outside because it is usually brighter, but a cloud must've passed by. This is the Baroque Motifs set. So classy! I used Not Quite Navy, Soft Sky, Basic Black and Whisper White. The swirl image is stamped in Soft Sky on the white and also stamped in versamark and embossed clear.




This card I am aweful proud of. It was for the Different Kind of Swap #13. The rules for this one said we had to use It's Your Birthday, Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore and brads... What a crazy color combo, huh? Well I went looking for my Au Chocolat paper (which I didn't find and I know I have to have some left) and instead I found this paper I got at Joann's before Christmas. And can you believe it actually had those colors in it? Well close enough for me any way. I added some Apricot Appeal paper and used Real Red brads.


I've got a few more pics to share, but I will save those for another day.

Sorry for the lack of stamping stuff lately

I need to take pictures of some of the cards I made the weekend before last... Maybe tonight.

I've got a couple of projects I need to get done this weekend and then we will be going on a family trip across country to Colorado to visit my Dad and Grandpa. It has been a long time since I have been out there and Corey and I are really looking forward to it. The kids are really excited too. I'm kind of nervous about spending 20 hours in the car with 3 kids ages 5 and under, but we will survive.

I've been wanting to share this blog with you. It isn't a stamping blog, but I have become fascinated with it. Her life is just so different than mine. It looks like it is straight out of BH&G or something like that. I think she actually is in some kind of magazine. Go check it out and see if you get sucked in like I have... When I have a rough day I can imagine I live in her world.

Posie Gets Cozy

Ok and here is another cool blog.

Inspire Co

I WON!!! I WON!!! I WON!!!

I don't believe it! My pal Kimmy sent me a message saying I had won GinaK's latest Blog Candy and I had no idea. I won a GIGA SCALLOPED CIRCLE!!!!!!!

Go check out GinaK's blog... http://blog.ginakdesigns.com/ She has just announced the next Stamps for A Cause set and it is for Make a Wish. How great!

And check out Gina's store http://www.stampingfreak.com/. I ordered my 1st NON-SU stamps from her and they are great. Super quick shipping. And the Peerless Transparent watercolors are cool. Take a peek at those. I just used mine this weekend.

Pictures from My Yard

Tonight is the last round of the current stamp camp and we are already in the planning stages of the next two. We've got the dates and we are working out all the details. If anyone lives near Shelby Twp, MI and would like to come to one of our stamp camps leave me a comment and I will forward you the announcements and details.

Here are some pictures I took in my yard last Friday while the kids were riding bikes.

I have the most beautiful day lilies. There is a man who lives not too far from me that has gardens full of them and he does botany stuff and comes up with new ones all the time. I would love to get more from him but they are kind of expensive and my front yard has these, and my back yard is pretty over grown so I need to take out stuff before I can put more in.






This is a weed in my yard. Isn't it pretty?














This is lichen or whatever you call it growing on my tree. Exciting, huh? I was playing with my camera.

My 100th blog post!

And I just noticed that my blog is over a year old. Oops! Hadn't really paid attention to that.

Here is another tin. Ok last one for a little bit. I was on a tin kick. This tin I made for my convention buddy who is in Denver right now having a great time I am sure. One of these days I will get to go again. In the meantime I have to settle for regional seminars.

Her tin contained a pack of the new Theater Ribbon Originals. Oh they looked yummy! And I need to get myself some of those.

Changing it up!

Decided to change things up a little today. What do you think?

I also swore I had something to show you saved on my computer, but I can't find it... Hmmm.
I guess I will share these pics from our camping trip over the 4th of July. My oldest learned how to ride without her training wheels and these were some of the pictures I took during the training sessions.
Daddy helping Carter on the bike.














Maddie and Carter in their helmets.
The big push off...














Maddie coming down the hill and running over her brother who is standing next to me and I am too busy trying to take the picture that I don't see what is about to happen.

Finally!

...it has happened to me, right in front of my face, my something something can describe it.




Just kidding. I started typing and then that song popped into my head.





Any way...I am finally posting something. I have a few things I could post and just don't know which one to pick...Umm let's go with the stamp camp items I mentioned before. Last night was round two of the camp and these were my projects.



The first was a one sheet box - you can find a tutorial by Beate Johns on SCS under resources or I can just give you the link... Here

I used Baroque Motifs. They did three boxes. One in Purely Pomagranate, one in Wild Wasabi, and one in Blue Bayou. Some had a tone on tone background and some had the white as you can see here. Also did some different things with the main image. I like to change up some minor details and give them options at the camp.

The next project was a Gate Fold card. Beate also did a tutorial for this on her blog. Hers is square and mine is regular card size 5.5 x 4.25. To do that you score at 2.75 inches from each end of the 11 X 4.25 piece of cardstock. The colors on this are Certainly Celery, So Saffron and Cameo Coral.

I used Zoofari. We did some with the markers and some with the pastels and blender pens. I like the look of the pastels and blender pens better and went back and added some shadows/dirt to this one and my other samples after I took the picture. I'll have to post and updated version next week when I get my samples back so you can see the difference.

I'm back and have been running ever since!

We came home on Sunday and then had to get back to work on Monday. Spent Monday night trying to catch up on laundry and put the camping stuff away and then Tuesday night had to run to the grocery store and wash all the kids and prep for the stamp camp we had last night.

The stamp camp went pretty good. It was the 1st of 3 sessions of the Fabulous Folds camp. My upline and I do them together. I do 2 different cards/projects (usually they make 3 of the same design) and she does 2. So they have a total of 12 items when they leave. We usually have 3 sessions because she can only fit so many people in the stamping area at once and the demand is high enough that we fill up 3 nights of the same camp (mostly her customers - I have 1). Is this all making sense? The fee for the camp varies depending on the projects. Usually around $18-$24. The more expensive camps we have done were for the tins and the alphabet one we did with name frames and such, I think. I'm bad at the $ end of it. My upline usually figures out the pricing and I say ok sounds good to me.

So my projects were a gate fold card and a one sheet box. And my upline took on the triangle tri-fold and the magic slider card. We try to balance each other out. So her projects were more challenging and mine relatively simple. I don't have any pictures yet as I was switching cards and hadn't made my boxes until midnight the night before the 1st camp! I might be able to snap some pics tonight....

The 1st order of duty today is to buy my son a new bike. He had inherited a 12 inch bike from his cousin and was really getting into riding it instead of the trike because his big sister kind of learned to ride with out training wheels this past weekend. And also he got pulled over by the cops on his trike in the campground. The officer put on his lights and told Carter he needed to slow down, he was going too fast. Carter's response was "I can't go dat fast on my bike". So I think he was ready for a bigger bike. Anyway... while I was stamping last night the kids were home with dad and riding bikes. My sister in law had put the bike together with the front wheel on backwards so my dear husband told Carter he needed to fix it. He proceeded to take the bike apart and couldn't get it back together so Carter is rather upset with him right now.

Oh yeah - I got tagged twice in the last week or so. 1st by Emily W. Her site is on my list over to the right of Blogs I Like to Browse. And the second was from Robin. I have to add her to my list still. I recently came across her blog... I met her at a stampin' get together near Lansing a few months ago. She is a really sweet, funny and talented gal. At any rate I'm supposed to tell you 7 things, tag 7 others, etc. I'll tell you 7 things, but this time I am feeling lazy and don't want to tag anyone, besides it seems that most people have been tagged already recently. Let's see...what didn't I tell you a couple months ago when I was tagged.

1. My favorite accessory is ribbon. I want to buy ALL of the new ribbon in the SU catalog.
2. I don't know that I have a favorite SU color. I like quite a few of them and I go through different combos quite often. The last card I made uses Certainly Celery, Cameo Coral, and So Saffron.
3. I placed a small order from the new catalog yesterday and wasn't able to pick a stamp set from my wish list to add to the order so I didn't get one. I figured I would wait until I could put in a bigger order and just get them all at once. I'm bad.
4. Continuation of #3... I think I may get a different stamp set that I didn't even have on my list. I liked it, but I am trying to be more selective so it wasn't list worthy. I see that a lot of other people have gotten it/are getting it and now I want it too. Priceless.
5. What did I get on my small order? Well, I had to get more cardstock for the stamp camp, because I misfigured and wasted a bunch trying to get my original card plan to work out. But the exciting stuff was the pomegranate double stitched ribbon, kraft taffeta ribbon, bashful blue grosgrain, and the scallop circle punch. I also got the Theater Ribbon Originals, but they are a gift for my convention buddy who really likes green. And she is in the Army, you think she would be sick of it!
6. I have a box of contraband stamps (non-SU) most of which have never been inked. I had to have them... I have a couple of SU stamps that haven't been inked, but I am getting better about that. I force myself to use them for camps.
7. Some of the stamp sets on my wish list are: Simple Snowman, Big on Christmas, Wonderful Favorites, and Sanded.

Sorry It Took Me so Long!

Here is my altered tin ensemble. You can click on the pic to make it bigger and see it in all its glory! This is going to a pal from a yahoo group I am in. I hope she likes it. I did the tin and matching post-it note holder, pin, notepad and pen, paper clip things, little tin with magents, and a picture frame all with the petals & paisley papers. I'm also throwing in some stuff for her to alter and some envelopes.

Well I've got to go finish packing for our annual 4th of July trip. Happy 4th to everyone out there!

Just wanted to say thanks...

to all of you who have visited my blog lately and to those of you who have left comments. It is really appreciated. I hope to get some pics of the other tins I did this week posted tonight or tomorrow.

Something to Show You

Oh lookie what I have to show you. See my wonderful tin that I made with the Petals and Paisleys designer paper. The ribbon is from the ribbon originals that was in the winter mini. I've been hoarding it. But now that I am using it I really like it. And under the tin is a little something else... do you see it? It isn't mine. I had to borrow one from Crystal because mine aren't coming until tomorrow!!!!

Funny story about this tin. I put the ribbon around the "belly" of the tin and couldn't get it to match up good. It was in the back so I was just going to leave it, but then it was bugging me. So I put the bow on it to cover it up. I felt weird about my tin having a bow on it's butt so I took it off and turned it around to the front. I couldn't get the sticky strip off, so I put another layer on top and it just isn't sticking well so I think I am going to have to take it off and use my hobby blade to try and get it off and start over. I think I may have to keep this tin for myself. Oh well. I have 2 others in the works. I need one for a tin exchange I am in and the other will probably go to my convention buddy. I couldn't make it to convention this year so I got a buddy who is going to give me the scoop and maybe pick up a little something from the momento mall. Well, off to go look at the catty some more!

All is well

The catalog did start arriving in California on Friday. I got the scoop on what I wanted to know and now I just can't wait to see it!!!

I got a chance to make cards for my friend Crystal's non-convention goers swap. I only signed up for one spot and I took the time to make a fantabulous card, if I do say so myself. I don't know if I have ever made such a complicated card before in my life. No one thing about it was particularily difficult, it just has a lot of steps.

I used the Double Line Doodles set we got at regionals and it will be in the new catalog. I also used the Doodle This set which our friends in CA were able to confirm is in the new catalog. Now the little companion set Doodle That and the alphabet did not make it, I believe so if you want those you can still get them from the spring mini through the end of this month and if you are at all on the fence about Doodle This you may also want to get that now because come July 1st the price on it goes up.

The card base is Summer Sun and the next layer is Rose Red. On the Rose Red I stamped the doodle from Doodle This in Rose Red and in White Craft ink. Then there is a little strip of Old Olive that I did some DTP on the edges with my Black Craft ink. On that is tied the Black Gingham and the Turquoise Grosgrain. Not too bad so far, right? Now the main image is on Whisper White ultrasmooth and layerd on black. Both of those are Ticket Corner punched on all four corners. I stamped the flower from Double Line Doodle in Tempting Turquoise 3 times and the stems in Old Olive. I then went over the stems with my blender pen. Now the little flower centers were done by taking Rose Red and Summer Sun cardstock and pressing the versamark pad to them then using Irridescent Ice embossing powder and my heat tool. Once I did that I stamped the little flower doohickeys with black stazon over top of the embossed cardstock. Then I cut out all those doohickeys and attached them to the flowers with Earth Elements brads. Now the colors of Earth Element brads are Ruby Red, More Mustard, Old Olive and Not Quite Navy and even though they weren't the same colors I used on my card the Ruby Red brads were close enough to the Rose Red and the More Mustard brads to the Summer Sun that they worked in this case because I used them on the opposite paper. Now if I was trying to use the Ruby Red on the Rose Red and the Mustard on the Summer Sun it probably wouldn't have worked.

*Sigh* Still Nothing

No one on SCS has gotten the catalog yet. Or if they have it they aren't saying. Looks like we won't hear anything until next week. This is the last of the cards I made a few weeks ago that I haven't shown. I plan to do some stamping this weekend, some nights next week, and next weekend so look forward to some new stuff. My oldest two will be with grandma so I get to stamp when Morgan is preoccupied or sleeping.

Let's see we have Almost Amethyst, Pixie Pink and Cool Caribbean. There is also some Amethyst paper from the Palette o Prints sampler we were able to order. This was done for a different kind of swap where we have to follow the directions they give us. I think this one just said we had to accessorize the elephant or whatever animal we used from the wild about you set. I decided to make it a baby card and used the It All Adds up set (which I am selling by the way - See June 18th post) for the accessory and the background. I had cuttlebugged some paper and didn't know what to do with it so I threw it on these cards. Also the clip thing is a weird paper clip I think I found at the dollar store.

OMG I am going nuts!!!!

HELP ME! I can't stop looking and checking. Someone pull me away. Those cattys need to arrive already.

It is that time of year again

When I sit with my eyes glued to the monitor looking for as much info I can find about the new catalog before mine finally arrives. I got caught up in the retired accessories list yesterday. And now some of the new regional locations are listed and I'm trying to get an order submitted and waiting to clear some things up first. Just one of those days. So enough of that. Here is a card or two for you to look at.

Since it is the 1st day of summer lets go with a couple of summery cards.

Made some changes

I created a free header and made some changes to my blog. I like it. What do you think?

Here is another card we made at the last stamp camp. It uses Big Blooms. Colors are Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore and Cameo Coral.

Soon to Be Retired SU! Stamps For Sale

Here is a preview of the stamp sets I will be selling as of July 1st. We technically are not allowed to sell any current items so that is why I said preview. If you want any of these sets contact me to reserve them. Anything not reserved by July 1st will be going up on Ebay. They are mounted and in good condition. If you are not local contact me to work out shipping arrangements. Feel free to share my list with other stampers if you want. Thanks!

Loving Hearts $15
Mon Ami $10
Holiday Spirit $15
Sweet Holidays $10
It All Adds Up $15
Celebrate in Style $15
Fun Filled $10
Little Hellos $10
LoveYa Bunches $10
A Little Love $10
Mixed Bouquet $20 - Cheryl V
Watercolor Minis $10
Burst into Bloom $8 - Kristine B
Spring Garden $15 - Sherri
Fall Whimsy $10
Fishy Friends $15
Around & About $8 - Lisa P
Fontastic $10 - Sherri
Brushstroke Alphabet $20 - Lisa P
Alphadots $25
Alphadot Numbers $10
Only Ornaments Wheel $3 - Lisa P
In Any Event (Hostess Set Level 2) $20
All Around Argyle (Hostess Set Level 3) $25

Doodle This

I've been meaning to post this card for a long time and just haven't gotten around to it. I love how it turned out. We did this one for a stamp camp a month or so ago. Cutting out the flowers took some time, but the ladies really loved it.

The base is certainly celery and it has the doodle from the set stamped in celery on it. Then there is a piece of chocolate chip with some chocolate chip DTP on it and hand drawn doodles with the white gel pen. Then layer of pixie pink. Some au chocolat paper brayered with amethyst. Then the doodle flowers are embossed in white and cut out and there is some celery ribbon in a knot in the center.

Twisted Cards Round 5 - Rated R for nudity

Warning - Naked Snow People Below.

I call this card "The Cold Shoulder" notice the color of the brads around his umm carrot.





















This one says "I heard you needed a lift...Man they weren't kidding." Now her boobs look better than mine after breastfeeding 3 kids, but I couldn't figure out how to make them look saggier without it making my card look ugly. Even though these are funny cards you still want them to look good!

ETA - The inspiration for these cards came from Julia's card from the 1st round of Twisted & Demented swap that actually got banned on SCS. Here is a link to the original on her blog. http://www.bluetemptation.com/web/crafty/archives/000097.html

Pardon me while I blabber

So I actually made some cards recently, but I haven't taken any pictures of them yet. I just feel the need to blabber today. I'm lonely. I thought I might feel better if I talked to the people I pretend actually read my blog that I never post to because I have been too busy. Maybe I should call you my pretend fans. No, that is probably going to far. You can't have fans if you never share any cards on your blog. My pretend friends maybe...Or pretend readers. Whoever you are, you don't have to really read this. Just pretend you are and I will pretend you did!

So a few months ago the plan was to finish my projects at work and stay home with my children. I had put in my notice at the end of January and was planing to work through April...then it became May... and now it is indefinite. After I put in my notice so did 4 other people and they all managed to just put in the standard 2 weeks instead of 4 months like some idiot I know. (yeah that was referring to me.) So they were all gone and I was still there and my manager started to panic. So I got an offer to stay and my hubby said I better take it because his job is unpredictable. Fast forward to today. I am working in a new office closer to home (that was part of the deal), where I know a few of the gals but not real well and they are all on a different project and I mostly keep to myself. My husband has been "promoted" at work, but so far his pay isn't reflecting that. I pushed him to confront the boss a few times and he did. Now we are waiting to see his check tomorrow to see if it made a difference or not. This promotion has made a difference in his schedule. He now works 3 nights a week and doesn't come home until 10:00. Tuesday was his not late night and he got home at 8:00. He works every other Saturday as well. He has been so busy at work he can never talk to me. After work I chase the kids around until it's time for bed and that is my life.

And on top of all that Splitcoaststampers has been having server issues and I can't get on when I feel the need to blabber!!!! Argh. I've tried retail therapy and usually that makes me feel better, but I really don't have the money for that so instead of making me feel better I have been feeling worse. So I don't know what to do. Stamping usually helps, but I can't seem to find the time when my husband is never home! Any suggestions?

Oh yeah and I need to blabber some more...I have come to the realization that I am not ever going to be stamping royalty so I'm no longer attempting to keep up with a the Jones' of the stamping world. I DO NOT NEED TO BUY THINGS I WON'T USE JUST BECAUSE 'THEY' HAVE THEM. I needed to put that in writting in case I forget. But...did you see the previews of the new papertrey release on Nichole's blog? {capture the moment} (Watch out Crystal that is one of those crazy things 'I' call a hyperlink.) I wasn't in love at first, but the sneak peaks have been getting cuter everyday and I have all the other Papertrey stamps so I can't not get this one, right?

Can you believe this is a Schnauzer?

My Bailey has been spending a lot of time playing outside. She would get wet and then dry and she got some pickers from the field next to us in her beard and on her legs. So when my husband dropped her off to the groomer he told them they could shave her if they couldn't get the mats out of her hair.... They shaved her alright!

Simply Scrappin' Kits for Sale - SOLD Thanks!!!

I have the following Simply Scrappin' Kits for sale. They are all the 12 x 12 ones NIP.





Time for Fun



Travel Time



Island Blossoms



He's Too Cool



You can click on the pictures to see them bigger.


$12 a piece plus $5 shipping or all 4 for $45 plus $10 shipping. PAYPAL ONLY. Leave a comment or email me if you want any or all of them. Thanks!

Watermark voila!

Guess what I made today? Nope not the kid, but the watermark. Well kind of a watermark. Close enough for me. I was playing around in powerpoint and voila!




By the way this is Morgan after her first popsicle. She was mad because it was all gone. Doesn't she look a little ticked?

Holy Crap! I got tagged!!!

I don't believe it. I actually got tagged. I have to list 7 things about me and tag 7 other bloggers (yeah right). I don't know 7 bloggers that haven't been tagged yet. Shannon tagged me. She and I are members of a super secret stamping society (actually it is a Yahoo group). At any rate...here goes.

1. My favorite color is blue. I love it so much that years ago when M&Ms were picking their new color I voted for blue several times and even got a tattoo of a blue M&M guy. Oh, I love M&Ms too.
2. I have 3 loverly children. The youngest of which (7 months) is watching Wheel of Fortune as we speak. It is her favorite show.
3. I have been doing 3 jobs at work, and unfortunately only getting paid for one, for the last month or more. I anticipate things to slow down after this month when I will be back to doing only one job. I won't know what to do with myself. Maybe I can actually stamp...
4. I have a husband of 6 years who is working all the time trying to make money and not doing the best job of it.
5. I am an only child. But I did have a pretend twin sister when I was little. Her name was Glorien.
6. I am allergic to cats.
7. I LOVE Chocolate. Especially Cadbury or Dove or Symphony.

Now for the bloggers I am tagging: Crystal, Christy, Gamblemom, TheCrookedStamper, Cori, StampinLibraryGirl, and BunkerThoughts. Wow I found some neat blogs doing this!

WOW!

I can't believe almost a month has passed! Life has been super crazy hectic. Hopefully things will calm down a little soon and I will find some time to take pics and post the few things I have been working on.

My 30th birthday is on Sunday. I'm an April Fools baby. I got myself a personalized license plate. I've always wanted one and here in MI they are redoing the standard plates so I would've had to get a new one anyway. So I spent the extra $30 and got one that will let everyone know the blue Malibu is mine! Heee Heee! I can't wait for it to arrive!!!! Corey is going to kill me.

I am truly amazed...

at what a wonderful bunch of people stampers really are. Today when I got home from work I found a little package in my mailbox from Canada. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what it was. I haven't made any trades lately...what could it be? Well, it was a beautiful thank you card and some chocolates from Allison that was a runner up in a blog candy drawing I did awhile back. Unfortunately, the caramel kisses did not survive the trip from Canada but the others and the card were in wonderful condition. Thanks so much Allison. Your gift truly touched me.


Now I always get cards from my pal Crystal. She sends them for practically no reason at all and then there is me who can't remember the last time she sent out a card other than swaps. I missed Crystal's birthday and my upline Tracy's birthday. I am terrible! This is what I love to do for Pete's sake. Why can't I seem to stay on top of this? I am making an 8th of March resolution to stop signing up for swaps and start making and sending cards for the things that truly matter. I am so sorry Crystal, and Tracy, and Grandpa Bandy, etc...


The other thing that amazes me is how much talent is out there and how everyone supports each other. I haven't been able to keep up on all the blogs I used to visit when I was on maternity leave. Tonight I took some time to go through all the blogs in my favorites (and believe me this took some time because there are quite a few). In the last two months one gal is launching a digital scrapping site, another has a card in a box business going, others design banners and watermarks for fellow bloggers. I learned a lot about CASEing and copyrights and creative rights from Julie HRR. I never thought twice about taking a card I liked and modifying it a little and using it for a stamp camp project before. Now I will. I learned a lot about myself by reading JoanB's posts on Stamper's Neurosis. I now don't feel like I need to try and keep up with Jones' of the stamping world. I am now going to take a closer look at what I am doing and my reasons for doing it.

Long Time No Post

Life has been super busy lately and something had to give.

This is a card I did for a workshop a couple of weeks ago. It uses the Because of You stamp set by SU!, vintage violet and always artichoke paper. The main image is stamped in black StazOn on watercolor paper. I added some stitched violet ribbon.


Well, I hope to be able to get back to blogging more soon. I finally put in my notice at work. I'm going to stay long enough to finish the projects I am working on. So it will be a couple of months before I am off, but it feels good to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Updated List of Retired Stuff For Sale

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Busy, Busy, Busy

Sorry I have had a lot going on the last few days! The stamping get together I went to this weekend in Okemos, MI was great. I have a workshop on Friday night I have nothing ready for.

Cindy - you commented on my last post asking if the SS kits were still available. Yes they are. I don't know how to contact you. Email me if you are still interested in them stampsnmore@hotmail.com

I'll have to check in later and share some cards.

I'll pay the shipping 2/7 & 2/8 on my retired stuff

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I need more light

I'm noticing I need to take my pics in better light. They seem kind of dark.

At any rate, here are a couple more of my DKOS #10 swaps. Here are the "rules" we had to follow for this one:

Looks Like Spring 2 - Kraft base, with Buckaroo blue, Cranberry Crisp and vanilla layers. Accent with brads or hardware, and twine or hemp.










And this one:
Designer Paper/Punch - Use any SU colored card base, add at least one of the current designer papers and use 2 different punches on your card. At least one embellishment.

Retired SU! stuff for sale

I really don't want to sell most of this stuff, but I need some cash fast so here it goes! All are good condidtion with minimal staining unless otherwise noted. I can email you a picture upon request. Once I sell the amount I need I will probably pull what is left so if you see something you want - act fast!

Payments accepted through paypal ONLY. If you don't have an account I can still send you an invoice through paypal. Everything will ship USPS Priority with Delivery Confirmation. Please add $4.55 to the price for your total. If it ends up costing more because of weight I will pay the difference. If you want multiple items I will ship in the flat rate $8.10 box with confirmation so add $8.60 to your total.

*Little Letters Unmounted & Little Numbers Mounted - $40.00
*Crazy Alphabet Mounted & Crazy Numbers Unmounted - $40.00
*Tall Tales Alphabet Mounted &Tall Tales Number Mounted - $75.00
*Pure & Simple Alphabet Upper AND Lower Mounted, but unused - $50.00
*Island Blossoms Mounted & Island Wheel - $35.00
*Going Buggy Unmounted & Tropical Turf Wheel - $25.00
*Fun in the Sun Unmounted - $30.00
*Houndstooth Background Mounted - $15.00 GONE
*Geometric Background Mounted - $15.00
*Linograph Background Mounted - $15.00
*Ornament Elements Mounted - $18.00
*Bloomin' Wonderful Mounted - $20.00
*It's a Party Mounted - $18.00
*Daisy Mounted (missing the stamp with half circle with dots inside of it, there is a dragonfly in its place) - $10.00
*Smile Mounted - $8.00
*Send a Celebration Unmounted - $8.00
*Alphabet Soup Unmounted - $8.00
*He's Too Cool Unopened 12x12 SS Kit - $13.00
*Time For Fun Unopened 12x12 SS Kit - $15.00
*Travel Time Unopened 12x12 SS Kit - $15.00

Different Kind Of Swap

The next few cards I will share are from a swap I participate in on SCS. It's called Different Kind of Swap (DKOS) because we all start out with the same items and then add our own creativity from there. It is really interesting to see all the different ideas that come back starting from the same ingredients.

For this 1st one we had to use Chocolate Chip for the card base, Certainly Celery, Pixie Pink and Whisper White.







We had to use at least three stamps from the Polka Dots & Paisley set, add an embellishment and use the crimper.

For this one the card base is any neutral of your choice. Layers of soft subtles and rich regals card stock. Use wheels only, standard or jumbo, and words are permitted. Embellish away.

LMAO about Glitter Herpes!

Oh my goodness! There was a thread on SCS today about glitter herpes. Glitter is the herpes of craft supplies or something. It is so true. I don't use it often because it gets everywhere. Yes, it's pretty, but I don't want it on me and everything else. I don't want to spread it to everyone I send a card to. I tried Heat N Stick with it and it helps, but I still get a little coming off. Or if you mix it with clear embossing powder or use the Iridescent Ice or Hologram Highlights it just doesn't have quite the same effect. So I was laughing so hard and wanted to share some of the funny stories from that thread here.

A woman had a gyno appointment and wanted to "freshen up" before the
appointment so she grabbed a washcloth off the sink, did a quick pass and headed
off to her doc's office. The doc proceeded to do the exam and said "Boy, someone
has taken some extra special care of things". The woman wondered what he meant
but didn't think about it again until later that night when her daughter asked
her what happened to the washcloth full of glitter that had been on the bathroom
sink!!

Can you imagine?!?! That doctor must've thought she was a nut.

A couple of So Very's

Here are a couple of So Very cards. These were also made for that exchange I was in. I think these are the last of those cards that I will share. Then I shall move on to something else.













I really enjoy browsing other people's blogs. I am amazed at the wonderful ideas people have out there. And then of course I come across other things I need to buy! I won't be able to buy anything in a little while unless I can find a way to make my creativity work for me. I pretty much told my boss I didn't think I could continue to work. It's just not making sense financially. My hubby and I are going to sit down this weekend and weigh my options. One thing I fear of staying home and relying on him for all the cash is that I won't be able to buy stuff I want any more! I need to come up with a way to make some spending money...