Another Cricut & Cuttlebug card!

I'm loving my Cricut & Cuttlebug! I'm still trying to figure out all the features and adjustments on my Cricut, but like everything else it's a learning process. If anyone has any tips or suggestions about the use of these two machines please let me know! I would greatly appreciate it!

To make this card, I used another pretty paper from K & Co and paired it with SU!'s Certainly Celery, Pretty In Pink, and Chocolate Chip cardstock. I used my Cricut to cut out the flowers and the sentiment. Then finished it off with a little distressing, a brad and some pink rick-rack!

Well, that's all I got for now. I'm still trying to organize my stamp space, so I better get back to "work"! Thanks for stopping by! HUGS!!!

My first post using my Cricut & Cuttlebug!

I didn't want to play with my new stamp "toys" that Santa brought me until I had found a place for everything and my stamp area was organized. Well I must have been a very good girl this year because Santa brought me a TON of new toys. He brought me so many things that I've ran out of room for them all! So I gave up on trying to organize my new stamp stuff and decided to make a card. I literally pushed everything to one side of my table just so I had a little spot to stamp on! Hopefully, I'll have time tomorrow to get organized!

To make this card, I used some pretty designer paper from K & Co that Santa left in my stocking. I also used some white core card stock from DCWV, and yes Santa left this for me too! I then used my Cuttlebug for the flower image, put some ink around the flower using a q-tip, then finished the distressed look by sanding the flower a little. I then used my Cricut to make the little tag and stamped "friend" on the tag with my SU! Good Times set. To finish the card a added a little brad and some ribbon by American Crafts. Thanks for stopping by! See you tomorrow! HUGS!

Beautiful Winter Wonderland!

We had some serious fog yesterday and last night and very cold temps. This definitely isn't my favorite weather combo, but it did make everything absolutely gorgeous this morning! When the sun came out this morning it made all of the trees so "sparkly" it was like someone took a giant bottle of Stickles and covered everything!

I took these pics from the walking trail behind our house and from our front yard.

I'm hoping to get some stamp time in this afternoon, but right now I need to do the

laundry! Yuck! Hopefully, I'll have some card pics

to post later. But until then I hope you enjoy the pics of our winter wonderland!

BTW did you notice how awesome this pics came out?! Santa got me a new digital camera for

Christmas! How awesome is that?!

Hey there!

Well since I haven't posted for awhile I thought I would do a quick update!

Last week I was busy with finals. It wasn't too bad or stressful. All my grades were posted this week and I did great. So that's a relief.

This week my Grandma has been staying with us. We've been doing some shopping and baking. She's also been showing me how to make a rag rug. So that has been fun!
We're taking her home tomorrow. It's been nice having her here, but I'm also looking forward to some alone stampin' time!

I've been dieing to get into my stampin' room ever since last Sunday when I got two Christmas gifts early! I can't believe that I got both of these in the same year, let alone on the same day! It's almost overwhelming! I just keep imagining all the fun creations I'm going to make with these! Are you curious yet? I'll give you a hint. They both start with the letter "C", and they both make die cuts. Did you guess yet? Well if you guessed a Cricut and Cuttlebug you are right! I'm so excited to start creating with these two machines! But it doesn't look like I'll have time to really explore their possibilities until after Christmas! So make sure and check back!

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday season so far! Much love to you and yours! HUGS!!!

Pay it forward!

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on this post requesting to join this Pay it forward exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it next week, but you will receive it after the New Year.
The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. So basically, if you comment, you’re on. I’ll send you something crafty that I’ll make for you. Once you sign up, copy and paste the above paragraph on your blog, and three other lucky people will be recipients of your handmade work. I got mine from Barb here.

A new rut!!!

Okay, so I've finally moved on from that fun pink and green pp that I was using for all of my Christmas cards, but now I've found a new layout that I can't seem to get away from! But that's okay right? Every "great artist" falls in a rut, look at Picasso and his Blue Period! ;)

Supplies for this card include: Rose Red paper, Wild Wasabi paper and ink, pp from DCWV Christmas Glitter Stack, glitter embossing powder, SU stamp set Perfect Presentation, some SU punches, and my Coluzzle.

Thanks to all who posted words of encouragement yesterday!

Yesterday morning I found out that a young man from my hometown was killed in a motorcycle accident. He was younger than me, but his older brother was in my graduating class. In the past two years four young people, from my little hometown of less than 600 people, have been killed in a tragic way. This includes my little sister's best friend who was only 15 when she was killed in a car accident. So anyways, thinking about all this tragedy with the combination of end of the semester stress just brought me down. And of course my DH is traveling for work right now, so that didn't help! But thanks to all of you, today is looking brighter! Thanks for listening! HUGS!

Just for fun!

If you read my last post, you know that I've been in a funk today. Well, thanks to a friend that sent me this video in an e-mail, I'm feeling better. It's amazing what a little stupid humor can do for the soul! So, I thought I would share it with you and pass on the laughs! (to get the full effect you'll have to pause my Christmas music at the bottom of my page)

Something different!

As promised, I came up with something different for today's post! I used some Christmas paper from the Glitter Christmas Stack, Stickles, my Coluzzle, and some SU punches, including the snowflake punch to make this card. I hope you enjoy it!

Sorry, I'm not very chatty tonight. I've had a day and am kinda' in a bad mood! :/ Hopefully tomorrow will be better! Thanks for stopping by. HUGS!

Am I stuck in a rut? ;)

Here's yet another Christmas card with the same fun pp from K & Co.! And yes I did pair it with Purely Pomegranate again! I just love this color combo!

I promise I'll use something else for my next card, just in case you are getting tired of seeing the same old thing. ;)


Well I hope you all have enjoyed your weekend. DH and I spent the afternoon watching a movie on the couch. We watched Blood Diamond. Have you seen it? It's about the civil war that happened in Sierra Leon in the late 90's. It's kinda' gruesome and heart wrenching, but a very good movie. Very eye opening.


Anyways, I have a couple of packages to get ready so I can send them off tomorrow. And I think I'm going to do a little on-line Christmas shopping! Hope you have a great rest of the weekend!


Thanks for stopping by! HUGS!

Last Year's Christmas Card

This is the card that I made last year to send to our family and friends. I made it pre-blog, so I thought that it would be okay to share it with you now!

I really like this card. Plus, it was so easy to make! Which is always a plus when you are "mass producing" original pieces of art! ;)

To make this card I used SU's Real Red cardstock and grosgrain ribbon. I paired it with The Paper Studio's pp called SM Retro Ornaments. I than stamped "Merry Christmas" with a stamp from Stampendous and punched it out with my circle punches. Finally, I attached my "ornament" with an ornament hook and "dimensionaled" it down. Easy-peasy!

I love this card so much! I think I might make some more of them this year with a few minor changes! Thanks for looking! HUGS!

More "Holiday Cheer!"

Okay, here's two more "Holiday Cheer" cards with the same fun Christmas paper that I used for my last post. Hopefully you are not getting bored by seeing the same stamp and paper in all of my cards!

Again, I paired the paper with Purely Pomegranate and Wild Wasabi. I colored the Christmas tree with prismacolor pencils and stitched around the pp on the other card.

Well, wish I had time to chat, but I have lots of homework calling my name!

Thanks for stopping by! HUGS!

Holiday Cheer!

Here is the first, of hopefully many, Christmas cards! ;)

To make this card I turned these little witch shoes into elf shoes. I used my prismacolor pencils and Liquid Applique to give them color and dimension. The cardstock is Purely Pomegranate and the pp is "Brenda Walton Peppermint Twist Ho Ho Ho Dots Flat Paper" (wow what a mouth full!) from K & Company.

Well wish I had time to chat, but DH and I are going to Sioux City to do a little Christmas shopping and maybe pick up a few things for ourselves! Thanks for stopping by! HUGS!

One last Fall card!

I have definitely switched over to the Christmas mode, but I had to post this Fall card that has been in the works for months now! You may think that I'm being dramatic, but this simple little card has been a work in progress ever since I got the Fabulous Flowers set from SU! at the end of August. After I stamped the flower image I couldn't figure out what to do with it! I loved it so much I didn't want to waist it on just any old card. So my little flower image has been sitting on my stamp table for months! After much deliberation, I decided that it was best to keep the card simple and to let the flower image really stand out. What do you think?

I first inked up my stamp with Really Rust, then went around the edge with Ruby Red, and finally went around the very tips of the flower with Bravo Burgundy. I then decided to out line the flower with Candy Cane Stickles. I mounted the image on Ruby Red and Bravo Burgundy and then placed it on a piece of Really Rust card stock with some pretty copper ribbon.

I hope you all had a wonderful Fall and are ready for the Christmas-Hanukkah-Kwanzaa Season! No matter what you celebrate I hope you are having a wonderful start to the holiday season!

Thanks for stoppin' by! HUGS!

Black Friday!!!

So how many of you crazy shoppers were up and at 'em early this morning? Well if you were, I was right there with you!
I was one of those crazy people standing in line outside of JC Penny's at 3:45a.m!!! Can you believe it?
When I worked retail a few years ago, I swore that I would never shop the day after Thanksgiving! I thought that those people were completely crazy! Well I guess I'm crazy now! ;)
This morning I made it through six different stores before calling it quits. After I saw two women almost get into a fight at Target I decided I was headin' home! I pulled into my garage at 7:15 and was back in my pajamas on the couch before 8:00! Not bad huh? ;)
Right now I'm cleaning my house so I can put up our Christmas trees and other decorations this afternoon. And I'm actually thinking of heading back out into the madness to check out the sales at a couple of stores that I passed by this morning! I know, crazy right?
Well, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and are enjoying "Black Friday" whether you are out in the madness or cozy at home!
Thanks for stopping by! HUGS!

Another "She's Expecting" card!

Wow! This little dollar stamp from Michael's sure is coming in handy right now! It seems that their are so many people having babies lately!
This little card is for my cousin who will be having their first baby in a few months. Tomorrow I'll be going to Sioux Falls, SD for her baby shower. It has been a very long time since I have seen her and I am looking forward to the trip. My MIL is also tagging along so she can do some shopping at her favorite stamp/scrapbook store while I'm at the shower. Works out great, huh?;)

My cousin found out they are having a boy so I went with the Wild Wasabi and Ballet Blue color scheme. I would have never thought of pairing these colors if they were not already together on the ribbon. I stamped the background paper with Wild Wasabi & Ballet Blue. I also stamped some circles with my versa mark pad and glitter embossed them for extra sparkle. I then dry embossed the little circles at the bottom and then rubbed some WW ink on top of them. To finish the card I hand wrote "Baby" on the dry embossed circles and added more sparkle to the "mommy to be" with some Stickles.
I know that it is not a very "original" card since I cased the layout from another blog and already used it on my last post. But I'm trying to ease back into this stampin' thing so be patient with me. ;)
Thanks for looking and hugs to you!

Happy fall! (again)

Hi everyone (if there is even anyone who still reads my neglected blog ;) I hope that you are having a great fall. The weather we are having here is unbelievable! It has been so nice! I just hope that we have snow by Christmas! I love a white Christmas!!! BTW there are only 39 more shopping days left! Can you believe it? I better get busy with those wish lists!

Well if you have been wondering what I've been up to... I'll give you a quick run-down.


This semester has been crazy!!! I've been really busy with school and work. I've also had my fair share (or should I say more than my fair share) of any contagious crud that is going around! In the past two months I've had at least 3 colds and viral pink eye! Yuck!!! I have never had pink eye before and have decided that I don't ever want to have it again! I guess I have actually had it at least three times in the past couple of months! I've decided that I keep giving it back to myself. I'm probably doing this through my make-up, even though I have replaced it twice in the last month! Talk about expensive!!! I've been continuously contagious with random things for so long that my germ-aphobic husband has started to treat my like Typhoid Mary!!! LOL! Okay, it's not that bad, but I wouldn't blame him if he did! I've also been going to the chiropractor for the past couple of weeks. I have a irritated/pinched nerve in my neck. This is something else that is not very much fun! But at least it isn't constantly hurting anymore. I'm blaming this on my extremely heavy book bag, lifting babies/toddlers at work, and stress. Oh well, what can you do?!

Anyways... the end of the semester is drawing near and I can't wait for it to be over with! I'm looking forward to Christmas break and plan on doing some serious stamping during my time off. Hopefully Santa will see how good I've been this year and bring me lots of fun new toys to stamp and play with! ;)

Lately, I have taken a little time to stamp (for my own sanity) and came up with these cards.

The first card is one that I created at my MIL's when I created my "pumpkin" card (see last post).

The other card is one that I gave to a friend that just found out that she and her husband will be having their first baby next summer! I'm so excited for them.

Well I've waisted enough time rambling on about nothing... I better get back to my homework. I'm planning taking some Nyquil and going to be early in hopes of kicking my latest cold!
Hugs to you!

Happy Fall!

Can you believe it? Finally...a new post! ;)

Well,I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Mine is ending too soon. I wish I could have just one more day to hang around the house before I have to start another week of work and school! Yuck!!!

But, I can't complain too much. Even though my weekend feels too short I have enjoyed it. Yesterday I got to do something that I haven't done in quite some time. I got together with my MIL and stamped. It was great! I'm so very lucky to have such a great MIL that just so happens to share the same hobby as me.

To make this card I used my new Coluzzle that I just got from my Stampin' Up party. I'm not for sure how I came up with the idea that the oval template looked like a pumpkin, but I think it turned out cute. To make the lines on the pumpkin I cut out strips of pp and glued them on. Then my MIL sewed over them with her cute little sewing machine that she loves so much. I dressed up the background by using SU's Weathered background stamp. And then I finished it off with some linen thread and a tag.

Well, thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Tag!!!

Charmaine tagged me awhile ago and I'm just getting around to posting...

I'm not for sure who has already been tagged, so if you haven't... TAG YOU'RE IT!!!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) -Penny Grand Prix
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Vanilla Sugar (this should be my stripper name! LOL)
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) J-Spe
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) - Pink Cat
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)- Rae Burke
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) - Speja
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put “The”)
The Turquoise Cherry Coke
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)- Donald Henry
9. STRIPPER NAME : ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy) Fleur Caramel
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Maxine Donald

Two years ago, today...

"As the trees burst into color, and the autumn season arrives, we pledge our faith, our love, our lives..."

This was the phrase we used on our wedding invitations that we sent out over two years ago! And I have to admit that this phrase still brings tears to my eyes! I'm such a softy!!! But don't you just love it???!!!

Since it is our anniversary today, and I haven't had time for any stamping lately, I thought that I would share some wedding pics with you!

We had a full out fall wedding! Fri st I was dead set on having a summer wedding, but when my older sister found out that she was expecting her third child the end of July we had to move our date back a few months. And I'm so glad that we did! I loved our fall theme! We used tons of leaf garland, potted mums, and lots and lots of pumpkins! The Wednesday before our wedding my whole family (mom, grandma, sisters, niece, nephews, etc.)went out to a local pumpkin patch and picked over 30 pumpkins! We also went on a hay rack ride, went through the corn maze, down a zip line, and did lots of other fall stuff! It was so much fun!

Well, instead of rambling on, and I definitely could, I'll just give you a few of my favorite "wedding stats" and let you look at the pictures!

Thanks for going down memory lane with me!

Date- September 24, 2005
Time- 7:00p.m.
First Dance Song- At Last, Etta James
Scripture Reading- I Corinthians 13
Bride's Jewelry- My Grandmas wedding jewelery that my Grandpa gave to her on their wedding day, October 25, 1950.
Honeymoon location- Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
* Andy made our "S" cake topper out of wood! Everyone thought I was crazy when I told them that I wanted a wood cake topper, but I think it turned out great and went well with our fall theme! Plus I get to display it in our house without it looking too "weddingish"!
* At the end of the ceremony, when we were leaving the church, we released 50 balloons in memory of my Grandpa and other loved ones that couldn't be there.

Spooky Stuff!

I made this card for one of Kim's (Crafty Me) card swaps! I really struggled with this layout but think it turned out cute.

I don't have much time to chat tonight... I have lots of homework and a BIG day tomorrow! You'll have to check back Sunday night to see what I'm talking about!!!

Thanks so much for looking!!!

Long time...no post!

I simply have not had much time for blogging lately. The fall semester has started and I'm busier than ever! I won't bore you with all the details, but I will say that this is going to be a very crazy semester!

Even if I would of had stamping time this past week I wouldn't have been able to post any pictures of my creations. Why? you might say. Well it's because my camera was traveling to China! Andy had to go to China to help set up a new plant in a city by Shanghai. For those of you who don't know Andy is a mechanical engineer for a major tire and rubber company. I'll let you guess which one! ;)

He got back Friday and we've just been enjoying time together this weekend. Right now he's snoozing on the couch trying to shake his jet lag, so I don't feel guilty that I'm blogging instead of hanging out with him right now!

He also brought me back the best souvenirs! I guess pearls are a hot commodity in China. So, Andy brought me back a string of white pearls with earrings! And as if that wasn't enough I also got a string of black pearls with earrings!!! They are gorgeous! Now I just need a place to wear them!;)

Speaking of jewelry I wanted to show you what I have been spending my crafting time on lately. A friend of mine is getting married on the 29th. She wanted to give personalized bracelets to her bridesmaid as part of their gift. She ended up liking the bracelets so much she asked me if I could make matching earring and necklaces. By the time I was finished I had made bracelets for her bridesmaids, flower girls, personal attendants, and the mothers. I also made matching earrings and necklaces for her bridesmaids and I also made a bracelet for the bride. Instead of using a monogram charm for the bride I used a firefighter charm because her fiance is a firefighter. I thought that it was a cute touch. The jewelry turned out gorgeous. The picture really doesn't do it justice! :)

Well that's it for now. I do have a couple of cards to post. I'm hoping to get them posted tomorrow, so check back! Thanks for looking!

Good luck at boot camp!

I whipped up this card last night to take over to our neighbors house. Our sweet neighbor girl joined the National Guard and is leaving for boot camp this Monday. I tried to "girl up" this card with a few feminine touches, since she is definitely a girly girl! But I also wanted it to look "military". Does that make sense? I printed the outside sentiment on my computer. IT SHOULD say "a girl can do anything if she has the right pair of shoes". Whoops a little type-o on my part! I actually just noticed this error while posting! Ahhh! How did I over look that! I actually showed the card to my husband and friend before I gave it to her. So if they didn't notice then hopefully my neighbor won't notice! The inside of the card says "Good luck at boot camp!" I thought that it turned out pretty cute, with the exception of my type-o!

Supplies: SU!'s Garden Green, Chocolate Chip, Confetti Cream, ribbon, and Weathered background stamp, Martha Stewart's glitter in Smokey Quartz, Marvy punches, corner rounder punch, Spare Parts paper clip, the pp is an old scrap and I'm not for sure what brand it is.

Car update!

Well we found out what was wrong with my car. The sway bar broke. At least I think that's what Andy called it. Anyways, our tires were rotated on Sunday and I guess they were put on backwards and that's what caused it to break. I guess the tires need to be put on a certain way because they are "directional". Well, guess who wanted to be the handy man and rotate them himself! Yep, that's right Andy! I need to remind him that he's a mechanical engineer not a mechanic! LOL!!! Don't get me wrong he is very handy and extremely smart! Just an honest mistake. Life happens...

Dare to be fabulous! & Car back in shop! :/

I got my new SU! set yesterday, "Fabulous Flowers". I love it! The very first time I saw this set I knew that I needed it for this giant flower stamp. I thought that it would be perfect to cut out and layer. What do you think??? I really liked how it turned out. I might have went a little far with the distressing but it still works for me! ;)I also used SU's Soft Sky and Chocolate Chip ink and paper.

BTW our car went back to the shop yesterday! This time it's a new problem! Andy drove it yesterday to work and said that it sounded like the front wheels were going to fall off!!! Ahhhhh! We haven't heard yet what is wrong with it, but hopefully we'll hear something soon.

It's not like my car is a total piece, even though it sounds like it! I have a '99 Grand Prix GT. We've had it for at least five years and take really good care of it. I do put a lot of miles on it during the school year (at least 60 miles a day). And I DO NOT want a new car until I graduate in a year and a half. I don't want a new car parked in a college parking lot! Plus I really don't want a car payment! Hopefully Precious (that's my car's name, I know total nerd) will be up and running soon! Thanks for listening to my vent! Happy stamping!

New stamp set!

This is the card that I am sending to my older sister for her birthday this Friday. I got to use my new Stampendous! clear stamps, "Petal Plus Set" that I got at Archiver's this past weekend. I also used SU's Chocolate Chip, Pink Passion, gel-pen, and Little Pieces stamp set. It's a really simple card, but I like how it turned out! Well that's all for now... Better go price more garage sale stuff! Thanks for stopping by!

Let's catch up!

This post is all about catching up! It's been awhile since I've posted, but I don't want to bore you with my usual rambles so I'll keep it short.

-Computer got fixed (obviously;) just a minor part needed to be replaced! No viruses & we didn't loose any files! Yea!!!!

-Car got fixed! However, the first trip to the shop DID NOT fix the problem. The second trip and an additional $300 dollars did fix the problem! Oh-well at least it's working now!

-This past weekend we went to Omaha & Lincoln. I was so excited to go to Archivers & Michael's! I would of had more fun if Andy hadn't of went into Archivers with me! ;) But I am surprised that he lasted as long as he did in there! I also got to eat at my favorite sushi restaurant in Omaha. Yum!!! Oh and of course we had lots of fun with our friends in Lincoln! Good times!

- My last on-line test is due on Thursday! Then I'll be finished with my summer class! Hooray! But regular classes start the 20th! Boooo!

- We're having a garage sale this Friday & Saturday. Lot's of work! Our garage is full of stuff! We're mostly selling my sister-in-laws stuff. She moved to Hawaii last summer. So needless to say she's decided that she wants to stay there and doesn't need her household items & furniture any more!

-It's stinkin' hot in NE right now! OMG!!! It's really humid!!! You should see my frizzed out hair!!! LOL!

Well that's it for now... Hope you are enjoying some stamp time!

Car problems!!! Arghh!!!

Okay, so have you heard that saying "When it rains, it pours"? Well that was definitely true at the Speidel house yesterday! If you read my post from yesterday you know that our pc is "in the shop"! Well, now our car is too!

Yesterday afternoon my car started acting up. It actually died on me while I was waiting in a turning lane! Luckily, it started again and I was able to get back home with it. Whewww! I would of hated to be "that person" who's stalled in the turning lane! ;) Anyways, our car is in the shop and will be done later this afternoon. I guess the oxygen sensor was bad. Whatever that means... Thanks for checking in!

Computer problems!!!! Arghhh!

Well my post today is coming from my MIL's pc. Our computer started acting up last night, and now it's completely down for the count! I was typing an e-mail last night when our computer just shut off! The screen simply went black w/out any notice! We checked the cords and everything is plugged in. We were also able to run a virus scan without it shutting off, and found no viruses. So we are completely dumbfounded! We are sending it to a pc "doctor" so hopefully he will be able to help us. I'm just really glad that our pc didn't shut down while I was writing my test/paper for my Ethics & Values test. I'm also really thankful that Andy's parents live so close! I was able to come out here to their house and finish my test this morning and submit it for grading.(it had to be submitted by noon)

I'm going to be lost w/ out my pc! Not just because I'm going to miss checking your blogs, but it's also going to make my on-line class a little more challenging! I should be able to check my e-mail at least once a day, so feel free to e-mail me if you need to! Hopefully my pc will be up and running soon!

Look what Andy made for me!!!

I just wanted to show you what Andy (my DH) made for me yesteday! Isn't this the coolest ribbon holder?! I definitely needed new and improved ribbon storage, and this fits the order! Basically it is a wood frame with wooden dowels. He drilled holes through the frame so that the dowels could just slide in and out. Isn't it great?! Now I can see all of my ribbon and it's easy to access! I also love that it has lots of "growing" room! I can't wait to fill up all of that empty space!!! ;)

(previous storage)

Fun with new paper!

I had a total weak moment today and found myself at Hobby Lobby! I'm so bad!

Well, I ended up in the pp aisle (they just happened to have their pp 50% off)and spotted some new DCWV paper (well at least I haven't seen it until now). It's called "Nana's Kids" (with glitter & embossing). There are so many cute prints in this collection that are perfect for kids cards and scrap pages! I was already tempted to get this paper because I knew how many awesome cards I could make for my niece and nephews with it, but I was trying to tell myself "no"!

But then I spotted some pp in this pack that I knew that I NEEDED! I need to send a very special blog friend a very special thank you and knew that this certain pp would be just the thing I needed to make this card! That's when it happened... The pp jumped right off the shelf and landed right in my cart! Hey... if this pp wanted to go home with me that bad, who was I to leave it at the store? ;)

I made two cards with my new paper this afternoon. This birthday card I thought I would send to my nephew for his 2nd b-day on 8/2. This card is pretty straight forward. The only "tricky" thing that I did was punch out little holes in the scalloped oval and then layered it on another scalloped oval. Then I used my glitter pen to fill in the little circles.

The other card that I made is the one that I'm sending to one of my blog friends. I really wanted to post it, but decided not to ruin the surprise for her. Because if I posted the card it would be obvious who the recipient is! Guess you'll just have to take my word that it turned out cute! I'll post a pic of it after she gets it in the mail.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping!

Need a Monday laugh?

Okay, so I can't resist! I sent this pic to some family and friends today under the same title, "Need a Monday laugh?" I just think that this picture is so stinkin' funny I have to share it!

I took this pic last night while Andy and Ber were "rough housing". Ber is a pretty good sized dog, the last time he was at the vet he weighed in at 67lbs. So don't worry he can hold his own with Andy! ;)

I took this pic while Ber was waiting for Andy to make his next move before he "attacked" back! We always joke that when Ber really "gets goin'" he gets a look of "crazy" in his eyes! Well this picture captured that look for sure!!!

Hello Friends!

Hello friends! I hope that you are having a great Monday and are enjoying some stamp time!

I found inspiration for this card in Paper Crafts Magazine-Card Creations Volume 4, pg 54. I changed the card up a little, but it's basically still the same design. I ended up making the card a 5x7 so that the flower would fit on the cardstock. I usually stick to standard sized cards, but I really do like the 5x7 cards when I make one. I used a template that my MIL gave me for the flower, but I can't remember where it was from.

Well, that's all I have for you right now. I need to get busy working on a test/paper for my on-line Ethics & Values class. Thanks for looking!

Supplies: SU's Chocolate Chip cardstock, gel-pen, white embossing powder, and Love Without End stamp set, My Mind's Eye patterned paper, ribbon from Target's Dollar Spot, button from Paper Studio's Spare Parts, and embroidery thread.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

This is a quick little card that I whipped up this morning. It's a "thank you" to everyone who checks out my blog! I decided to keep it simple because I don't have much time to stamp this morning. Hopefully I'll be able to make some more cards this afternoon.

Well I need to go do some homework. Yep, that's right I said homework!!! Yuck! The July summer session started on Monday. There is an on-line class that is offered right now that I have been trying to get into, but it's been "closed". I've been checking the class quite often to see if any spots have opened, but no luck. I decided to check one last time Monday night and wouldn't you know there was a seat open!!! So yesterday I was busy traveling to campus (30 miles away) to pick up my book. I was so sad, my book cost $100!!! It wouldn't be so bad if it was a book that I was going to keep, but this is just a stupid Gen Ed class!!! Imagine how much stamp stuff I could of bought!

However, I am really excited because I would much rather take this class on-line! The class is Ethics & Values and I think that it would be a total snooze in the regular class setting! ;) Well, since I added the class late I'm already a little behind. (It's an accelerated course.) But, hopefully I'll be caught up in a few hours! Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Prima flowers, circle punches, SU's Apple Green ribbon, Green Galore and So Saffron cardstock, pp from DCWV The Glitter Stack, and thank you stamp from Studio G.

"Blacker" (blog slacker)

Have you ever wondered where all those little made-up words that are used in our blog world come from? Like, who thought up the word "blurffing" (blog surfing)?

Well, I have decided that they are probably just normal bloggers like myself. So I've created a new word to explain my latest "disappearing act" from my blog! ;) I've created the word "blacker" a combination of the words blog and slacker, because that is exactly what I've been lately. A blog slacker!!! (Well, at least I think I've created this word. Maybe someone else has already thought of it!)

A "blacker" is a person who temporally abandons their blog for various lengths of time through fault or no fault of their own!!!

You may have been wondering what I've been up to lately, since I haven't been blogging at all!!! Well, If you've read any of my previous posts you will know that we were remodeling one of our bathrooms. It was a mad rush to get it finished before our friends arrived, but we did get the job done in time!!! The plumber finished the toilet and other misc plumbing things the day before our friends got here. And, Andy actually hung the shower rod, towel hooks, shelves, etc. in the morning just hours before our friends arrived. Our friends would of totally understood if it wasn't quite finished, but I had it in my mind that the job MUST be done! This included all of the decorations! After all that's the most fun part of the remodel right?! Well, the bathroom looks great and I'll hopefully post pics of it tomorrow.

While our friends were here we were busy all the time! We went to the firework show that my friend Mandey's dad just happens to be the pyrotech for the organization that puts it on. So, we get to sit front row in the VIP section. The fireworks are at Skyview Lake here in town, and they estimate that around 30,000 people attend the show. When you look around the lake it is solid people!!! This is why VIP seats are so great!!!

The next night we went to our local country radio stations concert. This year they had Eric Church, Tracy Lawrence, and Phil Vassar. The concert is outside and the have sitting and standing sections. The guys opted to bring their lawn chairs and sit during the concert. But, Mandey, Gretchen, and I prefer to be in the "pit" up by the stage! It's really crowded and crazy, but so much fun!!!

The day after the concert we went camping, and wouldn't you know it stormed on us! Oh-well we still had fun. The following day we celebrated my birthday and then the day after that was the 4th of course! I thought after the 4th I would be able to do some stamping, but Andy ended up catching some sort of flu bug so I ended up cleaning bathrooms and washing sheets! Fun huh! :/

Well that pretty much catches us up to date! Here are a few pics for you enjoyment! Hope to be posting card pics soon! (If you actually read through this entire ramble you're a trooper!!!) HUGS!!!!

First pic is of the "fire balls" when these go off you can really feel the heat!












Here's Eric, Tracy, and Phil. The last pic is of Mandey, Gretchen, and I. I have no clue who the people are behind us! Guess they wanted to be in the pic too!!!

Celebrate U!

I needed a quick "guy" birthday card the other day. I don't have a lot of "guy" stamps to choose from, so I kept it simple. I really like this set (All About U) from SU!, but I really have a hard time "creating" with it. Oh-well I think it turned out okay.
I hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday! We are working on the bathroom today. Right now the joint compound on the new sheet rock is drying. So, it's a waiting game right now! But, hopefully it'll be done by next Saturday before our friends get here for the holiday weekend! I'll post pics as soon as it's done! Thanks for looking!