Crazy Daisy Creations

Please send a card to Pam :)

2009-01-18T13:08:00.002-06:00

Yesterday morning my FIL calls my husband and says that my MIL twisted her ankle and that he was going to take her into the Convenient Clinic just to get it checked out.
Well after talking to the staff at the Convenient Clinic on the phone they told my MIL that she might as well go to the Emergency Room instead.
Well, good thing she did... She actually BROKE her ankle and most likely did damage to her ligaments! :(
She has to see the bone specialist tomorrow to find out if she needs surgery. And it sounds like she most likely will :(

I know that many of you have found my blog through Pam's so I thought I would share the news here. As of right now her computer/stamp room is downstairs in the basement, so I doubt she will be able to answer e-mails any time soon. Although there has been talk of moving her computer back upstairs since she can't navigate steps too easily with her crutches. If you would like to send her a card and do not know her addy you can e-mail me and I'll get it to you. (my e-mail addy is on the side of my blog)

HUGS!!!

A little bead flare!

2009-01-16T13:17:00.003-06:00

I'm still lovin' the Bittersweet papers from Basic Grey and this particular pattern is one of my favs! Aren't the colors just yummy!

I have to admit that I worked really hard on this card. I started it yesterday afternoon and didn't finish it until about 10:30 last night. I really had to ponder the different elements! LOL!!! And even after all of that pondering, I think the card still came out really simple looking. Oh-well, I still like the card a lot.

The base of this card is Close to Cocoa that I inked up with some Basic Black ink. I then layered the dp onto a piece of Rose Red that I embossed with my Cuttlebug. After I attached the dp I layered both pieces onto Basic Black cardstock. I also inked up the Rose Red paper with some Close ot Cocoa and Whisper White ink to bring out the embossed design. I stamped my sentiment (from SU!'s Love Matters) onto the Close to Cocoa cardstock using black ink and then I used the word window punch to punch out the opening on the layered cardstock. I then attached the layerd cardstock onto the Close to Cocoa base using dimensionals. I layered pink and Close to Cocoa ribbon across the card and finished it out with a Basic Grey brad and a felt flower from American Crafts.

Then.... I decided that the card needed a little extra flare. I went through my jewelry making beads and found this great assortment of pinks and browns. I strung these seed beads onto some stiff jewelry wire and laid it on top of the ribbon. Ta-da!!! My finished card :)

Hope you are enjoying the start of the weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

HUGS!!!

Lovin' this Basic Grey Paper!

2009-01-14T09:51:00.003-06:00

This past Sunday I went over to my friend Karmen's house to do a little stampin'. And that is exactly what we got done, a little! This is the only card that I actually completed! Isn't that pathetic! LOL!!! Anyways, we had lots of fun even though we were not very productive!

This card is extremely simple, but I blame the simplicity of this card on the fact that I still have not located my "stampin' mojo"! ;) Hopefully I'll find it soon!

I used one of Karmen's clear stamp sets to make this card. I can't remember the name of the set, but it was a Valentine's day word set. It was super cute! I also used my nesties and some velvet ribbon from Dashes, Dots, and Checks. I used SU!'s Very Vanilla and Close to Cocoa paper to accent the gorgeous Basic Grey paper from their Bittersweet series. I love the new BG paper and can not wait to play with it some more!

Thanks for blogging by today! HUGS!!!

My Second Rag Quilt

2009-01-13T09:20:00.004-06:00

I would never call myself a real quilter. I am definitely not that talented, skilled, or patient! ;)

However, I have started to dabble in the world of rag quilts. They are not as intimidating and much more forgiving of crooked sewing and unmatched seems! I made my first rag quilt for my sweet, dear blog friend Charmaine. (If you haven't checked out her blog, you must do so now!) I sent it to her and her beautiful son after he was born. Follow this link on her blog to check it out.

I decided that I wanted to try and make another quilt. So, for Christmas I decided to make my mom a rag quilt. (I knew she would appreciate all the time put into this handmade gift.) I wanted to make a comfy quilt that would be perfect for snuggling up on the couch at night.

My mom is a real life cowgirl. (She operates our family's 2800 acre ranch all by herself!) So when I spotted this material I knew it would be perfect for her. I also used a bunch of old jeans for the quilt. On four of the squares I cut out the pockets on the Wrangler brand jeans (a must wear for any cowgirl or cowboy) and stitched around them to attach them to the quilt. I thought it was kinda' a fun detail. Plus, she could always stick the remote in one of the pockets so she didn't loose it between the couch cushions! LOL!

This quilt took me forever and is much bigger than I expected it to be. It is the exact width of our queen size bed and about nine inches longer then our bed. I really liked how it turned out, but won't be making another one this size for awhile! ;)

I do need to get started on another baby quilt for my niece that will be arriving the end of February. Yep, my tiny little, big sister is having baby number four! I can't wait to be an aunt again!

Thanks for stopping by and check back for more card creations!

HUGS!!!

What's your opinion?

2009-01-10T20:39:00.004-06:00

While DH is watching football tonight, I decided to spend some much needed time in my stamp room.

As I looked at my cluttered table, I decided to challenge myself and my creativity. The challenge was to use things that were laying on top of my table. I couldn't get out any new paper or stamps, I could only use what was already out. However, I did decide that it was okay to dig through my embellishments and ribbon. So this is what I came up with...

To make this card I used a "Happy Birthday" cutout that I made using my Cricut. (originally this cutout was suppose to be for DH's b-day card) The dp is "Black Brown Tiles" from The Paper Studio. I also used SU!'s paper and ribbon.

The card is definitely different, but I think it works.

You may be wondering why I have two pics of the same card on this post. Well the first card is my original design. After I finished my card I showed DH and he politely asked "What's the deal with the bow?" I guess he thought it looked a little girly for the card! ;)

So what do you think? Should I keep the ribbon around the "Y" or loose it?

I'm making my comeback!!!

2009-01-09T12:31:00.010-06:00

No your eyes are not deceiving you... this is a new post on CDC!!! I know, I know, it's been a LONG time since I've posted, but I've had other priorities the last few months. (I'll tell you what I've been up to later.)

Well, for those of you who use to read my blog, back when I could call myself a blogger, you know that I was attending college at WSC and was majoring in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education. As you might have guessed from my picture and my use of past tense verbs, I have finally graduated!!! Yea!!!

My sweet MIL was kind enough to host an open house for me following the graduation ceremony. She completely out did herself with tons of yummy food and a custom cake from our favorite cake lady!!! YUM-MY!

So of course I needed to whip up some thank you cards to send out to everyone whom came and showered me with generous gifts!

But let me tell you, when you take a six month sabbatical from stamping it's not so easy jumping back into it! ;) First of all there was the problem of a thick layer of dust covering my stamping area!!! I had to get out the endust and dust rag before I could even start thinking about making cards! You might think that I'm kidding, but seriously I'm not!!!

Then I had to get my creative juices flowing and try to come up with a layout and design. Well, that didn't go well either. After trying and failing several times to come up with my own creative design, I gave up! It just wasn't there. So I decided to completely CASE my own graduation invitations that my MIL sent out for my open house. This is just what I needed in this time of stamping rehabilitation! :)

The card is very simple, so I won't bore you with the details. If you are only interested in the card stop reading now :) If you want to hear what I've been up to the last few months read on by all means!!! ;)

Okay, so I student taught from the middle of August until the middle of December. I was placed in a local school just outside of the Norfolk. The first part of the semester I taught in the Kindergarten room. Oh my, do I have the stories from that experience!!! ;) The second part of the semester I taught in the 4th grade classroom. I had a fabulous time teaching each grade and loved the students so much! I also had wonderful cooperating teachers who were very helpful. I can not say how much I appreciated their help and guidance throughout my student teaching experience!

The part of student teaching that was horrible was the "homework" I had to do for WSC! It was very overwhelming. Not only did I have to do everything that a regular teacher had to do: plan, attend meetings, teach (of course!), etc... I also had to complete a 20 page document explaining a unit of study that I taught, how my instruction influenced the students, contextual factors, assessment results, etc, etc, etc. I also had to journal every week, journal after every lesson that I taught, and write every lesson using the Madeline Hunter format!!! Yes, I said EVERY lesson in that format!!! (Those of you who are teachers, I'm sure you feel my pain! ;) I had an entire two inch notebook full of all of this "busy work" at the end of the semester. Oh well, I made it through! :)

So now, I'm going to be substitute teaching until I find a full time position. I actually have my first sub job this coming Monday. I am subbing in the same school that I student taught at. Not only that, but I am going to be subbing in my 4th grade class!

Well that's enough rambling from me... Thanks for dusting of your link to CDC and stopping by. I promise it will not be another six months until my next post!
HUGS!!!

DH and I after graduation ceremony

Baby Shower Creations

2008-06-13T09:21:00.003-05:00

I know that it's been a long time since I visited/posted in the wonderful world of blogging. But, what can I say life gets busy sometimes! ;)

I'll give you a quick run down of what has been going on since the last time I posted. (that way we can catch up! ;)

I've spent a lot of time doing some serious spring cleaning (even though I still feel that my house still needs some work) and also getting stuff ready for a garage sale we are having next weekend. Oh, and I also painted one of our bathrooms last weekend. It's a very small bathroom but it still took just as long as a bigger room! All that cutting in around the windows, doors, etc takes forever!

I also got my wisdom teeth removed on May 19th. This is probably the main reason for my hiatus from stamping and blogging! I had all four teeth removed surgically. The extractions went fine for the most part with the exception that I couldn't open my jaw more than a 1/2 an inch for two weeks after!!! According to my oral surgeon my jaw muscle severely spasmed and contracted from the stress of the surgery. He said that he has never seen a case like mine in his career, and he has been doing surgeries for over twenty years! Leave it to me to be an anomaly! After he made sure that my jaw joint was fine he gave me some exercises to do for it. Man did those hurt!!! But I'm happy to say that they worked (if they didn't I was going to have to go to a physical therapist!) and my mouth is on the mend! Yay!!!

Oh, and I also got back my results from my dermo about the moles that I had removed. Three came back fine but one came back dysplastic. Dysplastic moles are the ones that turn into melanoma! I wasn't even that concerned about the one on my back that came back bad. My ob-gyn noticed it at my last exam when she was checking my lungs and she said that I should keep an eye on it. I'm so thankful that I finally quit procrastinating about this situation and got them taken care of. So I'm going to get on my soapbox now... Go get your moles checked! Trust me it's not that big of a deal and it's such a relief after it is done! Also, please wear your sunscreen every day!

Okay... on to the stamping part of this post! I made these cute invites and thank-you cards for my dear friend that is having a baby in July. She's due July 5th but I know she's going to go two days early so he will be born on my birthday! ;) The theme for the shower followed the decor that she picked out for the nursery which is farm and tractors. I searched everywhere for a tractor stamp and could not find one that I liked. So I finally came up with the idea of making a simple image in Word using the drawing toolbar. After I got the image how I wanted it I just copied and pasted the tractor and printed it off! I colored it in with my prismas and layered it in Green Galore, Barely Banana, and pp from Doodlebug Design (baby boy plaid). I really like how they turned out! Well I better go I have about 30 more of these thank you cards to make before tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by! I missed you all so much! HUGS!!!

Stampin' Challenge!

2008-05-07T07:24:00.004-05:00

Good morning! I can't believe that I'm actually posting at 7:30 in the morning! For some reason I'm feeling really motivated today! I've actually already folded some laundry and started some more and did a few other minor household chores! It's going to be a good day! ;)

Okay, onto the stampin' stuff... This little creation was a challenge from our SU! demonstrator. At our last Stampin' Up! party she gave everyone an envelope and told them to create this little bag (I forgot what she called it). I have to admit I messed up the envelope that she gave me and had to use one of my own! (I'm a little rusty with the stampin' :) Anyways, this is what I came up with. I'm not crazy about it, but I do really like the colors! I had the hardest time trying to figure out what to do with the layered sentiment! I finally gave up and just dimensionaled it where it landed! :)

Well I hope you have a great Wednesday! HUGS!!!
Edited: Okay, so maybe I'm not on top of my game this morning! I just went to poor myself a cup of coffee and realized that I forgot to put the coffee grounds in! Hmmm, maybe I could make a cup of tea with all of that hot water I just brewed!!! LOL! ;)

A little show and tell!

2008-05-03T09:52:00.006-05:00

Finally! I have time to post a few cards! The first two cards are ones that I made a while back and just never had time to share. The cute little dog card was a total case off of the back of the stamp set that I used. I would tell you the name of the set but I can't find it! (I really need to clean my stamp area!;) The other card is made from all SU! supplies with the exception of the Birds & Swirls embossing folder.

Finally, the last card was one that I made yesterday. It's actually the only one I made yesterday. I know I told you that I was going to celebrate the end of the semester by stamping all day, but I just wasn't feeling up to it. I had four moles removed on Wednesday. Two of thess were under my right arm and for some reason were really sore yesterday! So I tried to limit my movement. To make it worse I think I'm allergic to bandage adhesive! Go figure!!! I'm definitely looking forward to these healing and getting my stitches out!

Well I wish I had more time to chat and stamp but we are going to my family's ranch to help brand this weekend. If you have no idea of what I am talking about check out last years post and pics! Thanks for stopping by & have a great weekend!!! HUGS!!!

The final stretch!!!

2008-05-01T17:23:00.002-05:00

Okay, so you probably think that I have fallen off the face of the earth! Well I haven't! I've actually been planted in front of my computer for the last two months writing papers, lesson plans, observations, etc, etc, etc! But, I am happy to say that it's finals week!!! And I am going to my last final in about an hour! Not only is it my last final for the semester but it is my last final ever!!! I'm so excited! Next fall I will finally student teach and graduate in December! Well I just had to share my exciting news. I'm planning on doing some major stamping tomorrow to celebrate! ;) HUGS!!!

ALOHA!!!

2008-03-09T20:02:00.012-05:00

Hello friends! We got back yesterday from our wonderful vacation in Hawai'i! My SIL lives in Honolulu on Waikiki, so we stayed with her in her amazing condo! We are so thankful for her generosity and hospitality! Not only did she let the four of us (our friends Jon & Christine went with us) invade her condo for over a week, but she also chauffeured us around the island! You're the best KT!!!

Okay, so now I'm going to bore you with endless vaca pics! I'm going to do them in installments because I have so many I want to share! I'm posting all these vaca pics so my family and friends can see them too. So if you are here looking for cards and are bored with my all these pics I'm so sorry! :)

Oh, and to enhance your viewing enjoyment I changed my music too! (I know I'm a nerd!)

Andy and I, first night on Waikiki Beach

Katie, Andy, and I getting ready to hike Makapu'u

The view from the top of Makapu'u

Waikiki at Sunset

Sunrise from the deep sea fishing boat

Andy reeling in his mahimahi

Duke's on Sunday! (it's the place to be ;)

Diamond Head from Waikiki Beach

Hanauma Bay, Awesome snorkeling!

Hmmm... I wonder what this card is all about? :)

2008-02-27T13:10:00.003-06:00

No time for chit-chat today either! But, I'm sure you regular readers don't need any explanation for this one!

No time for chit-chat...just the cards!

2008-02-26T22:39:00.001-06:00

Quick Update!

2008-02-18T15:17:00.005-06:00

I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record... But I've been really busy with school and have had very little time to stamp! This is especially true right now because I'm trying to get everything done before we go on vacation! (yea!!!! vacation!!!)

I didn't have time to stamp this weekend either, because I was at state bowling! Yep, I said state bowling. And no, you do not have to be incredibly good to go to state, you just have to pay the fee!!! :) I've never bowled until this year, when I joined a women's league. I've had lots of fun bowling, but I'm not very good! But I am happy to say that I've improved a lot since the start of the season. And I actually bowled quite well at state.

Well here's a few pics to share. The first one is of our team. I just scanned the pic that the photographer took, hopefully he won't get me for copyright laws! :) The last one is of me and my friend Kinsey (and yes those are glitter shamrock glasses she's wearing!). We are pointing out my score where I filled the first frame and got a strike on the second! Obviously it was a big deal!

Thanks for stopping by! HUGS!!!

Lucky Number 15 Gets the Yummy Daisy Treat!!!

2008-02-05T20:42:00.000-06:00

Thank you for playing along with my little game! I got so many ideas from all of you, but I'm still not for sure on what to order!!!

I am still trying to decide between, One of a Kind, Boho Backgrounds, Smarty Pants, and Pretty Amazing. Oh, what's a girl to do? I guess I'm going to another SU! party in March so I can always get the rest of my wish list then! ;)

Okay here's the winning comment:
Amy said,

If you haven't ordered the "always" set I love it. Also, I love the berry bliss
paper. It is hard to tell you what to get when I don't know what you have. Is
your ink collection complete? I also love the bali breeze paper. Have fun
picking the perfect things!

Thanks for your comment Amy! I actually got the last few ink colors that I was missing for Christmas. Santa (aka MIL) is the best! So now I'm all about stamps!!!

Amy, send me an e-mail letting me know if you have any specific color combos that you would like or a specific word. Oh, and your snail mail address would be helpful too! :)

Thanks for stopping by tonight!!!

HUGS!!!

Meet Crazy Daisy! (Scroll down for a Daisy Treat)

2008-02-04T12:48:00.000-06:00

Well I don't have anything to post today. I'm working on LOTS of homework and have plenty of chores and errands to do later this afternoon. I do think I'm going to take a little time to browse Target this afternoon. I've seen some really cute summer skirts in there that I think will be perfect for our Hawaii vacation! Oh I'm sooo excited for a little tropical weather! The last time DH and I were on a major vacation together (we tend to take separate vacations during the summer!) was on our honeymoon 2 1/2 years ago. We went to Cabo San Lucus, Mexico. OMG!!! It was awesome!

Okay, anyways... I thought I would post a pic of my blog's name sake. ;) Here is my sweet cat Daisy aka Crazy Daisy. I found her camped out in our hallway bathroom, laying in the sink! I've seen her do this before, but never found my camera in time to snap her pic! She truely is a goofy, crazy cat and definitely deserves her name as Crazy Daisy!

BTW don't forget to scroll down and post a comment so you can win a handmade Daisy Treat! Maybe I'll even find some other stampin' goodies to throw in the pot to sweeten the deal!

Thanks for stopping by!
HUGS!!!

Pay it Forward gifts and exmple of DAISY TREAT aka BLOG CANDY!!!

2008-02-03T16:15:00.000-06:00

Okay, here are the gifts I came up with for the Pay it Forward game. It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to create, but I finally settled on this. These are actually wood wall hangings for your craft area. I decided to use the word "create" in hopes that it would inspire the recipients when they are in a stampin' rut. :) I hope they like them!

To make these little creations I first went down to my FIL's shop to steal some scrap wood. But when I got down there I totally scored! He was actually mixing up custom stains for a customer and I got the "reject" samples. Not only were they the perfect size they were already sanded!!! I brought the scraps home and painted them with craft paint and sanded the edges of the paint after they were dry. I cut the letters out with my Cricut and used Mod Podge to adhere the desginer paper and the letters. I used tacky glue to attach the ribbon and flower. Oh I should mention that I got those little "saw tooth" picture hangers in the hardware aisle of Wal-Mart and attached those to the back of the wood after I had painted them.
Okay, about that Daisy Treat (aka blog candy). If you post a comment on the previous post you will have a chance to win a hand-made wall hanging like you see in the pics! If I draw your name I will let you decide the color combo and word for your wall hanging! (That way it will match your stamp area or whatever room you have in mind!) So if you are interested scroll down to the previous post to get the details! Thanks for playing along!

SU! Creations and a DAISY TREAT!!!

2008-02-03T12:13:00.000-06:00

Hello Blog Friends! I hope you are having a fabulous weekend! Of course mine is flying by too fast, but it's been very enjoyable! Yesterday morning I had a SU! party. We always have sooo much fun at these! Our group is very talkative with a little touch of crazy ;)! So needless to say we have a good time, especially when we have the parties on Friday nights with drinks! ;) But since I was having a Saturday morning party I decided against he margaritas and went with some yummy Kona coffee that my SIL brought back from Hawaii and bagels from Big Apple Bagels. Yum!

Okay so these are the adorable creations we made yesterday with our SU! demo Jason. (She's just starting her blog so please encourage her!) She is so much fun and always has awesome projects for us to do! She said that she actually had three projects for us, but since we are so talkative we only had time for two of them!

The first one we made is an adorable little treat or gift basket! It was so easy to make too (once she showed us how ;) And I love the pp that we used to make it.

The next one is a little 4x4 card. Don't you love this pp too! We also used the white craft pad to put the polka-dots on the ribbon! I never would of thought of that!

Thanks for the awesome projects Jason!

Okay, on to the DAISY TREAT aka BLOG CANDY!

I need your help! I can't decide what I want to order from SU! So look through your catalog and let me know what I should order! There are so many cool sets in there, I just can't decide! Leave a comment on this post telling me YOUR must have SU! stamp set. I will draw a name Tuesday night and pick a winner to receive a custom hand made gift for your craft area! I'll post an example of the gift later today! Thanks for yor help!

HUGS!!!

Let's see some cards!

2008-01-30T20:54:00.000-06:00

Even though I have had no time to blog the past few weeks, I have done a little stampin'. So here's a quick run down! ;)

First of all I must show you what I received from Barb for the "pay-it-forward" game. How cute is this handmade book?! The paper is absolutely gorgeous and every page has something different on it! Oh, and I must say that I love the ribbon she used, especially the white ribbon! She also sent me an adorable Bella card! Thanks so much Barb!!!

This card is one that I made for my FIL's birthday. If you think it looks familiar, you're right! I used the same materials to make this card as I did my husband's B-day card! All I did was change the sketch. I used on of Beate's sketches for this card.

Okay, this last card is one I made this past weekend to celebrate the end of our week and a half of sub-zero temps!!! Yea!!! However, our break was too short! We had bone chilling temps (like most of you had) last week. Then we made it into the 30's this past weekend and then upper 40's on Monday!!!! It was so awesome. But then our warm weather came to an abrupt halt on Tuesday with white-out snow and wind chills around -25! Ouch!!! That was a change!

I picked up this new DCWV stack (Nana's Nursery- Baby Girl) at Jo's last Friday when I was in Lincoln. Isn't it adorable!!! The stamp is an Autumn Leaves dollar stamp that I picked up at Jo's too.

Okay, well that's it for now! Back to homework for me. :( Is this semester over yet???
Thanks for stopping by! HUGS!!!

A Little Western Flair!

2008-01-14T10:28:00.000-06:00

A few days ago my mom asked me to make a card for her to give to her boyfriend. As soon as she asked me I knew exactly what I was going to use to create my 'masterpiece'! ;) If you are a regular reader of my blog you will remember that my family is full of cowgirls and cowboys! (with the exception of me! ;)

I used the Wanted collection of dp and die cuts from Cosmo Cricket. Isn't it perfect for a western card? I made this card 5x7 so that it would fit the large square die cut that is around my sentiment. I really pondered on this card and wanted to get it "just right"! I ended up using four different patterns of paper, plus the layered cardstock base, and all of those die cuts too! I'm satisfied with the way that it turned out, but I'm still thinking that it could still use a little more embellishment. What do you think?

Well I have LOTS of homework to work on today. Hopefully, I'll have time to finish my Pay it Forward gifts later this afternoon!
Thanks for stopping by!
HUGS!!!

Supplies: SU's!- So Saffron (cardstock), Chocolate Chip (cardstock and ink), and Happy Harmony stamp set, DP and die cuts from Cosmo Cricket's Wanted Collection, clear embossing powder, brad, and paper clip.

My least favorite type of card to make :(

2008-01-12T14:22:00.000-06:00

Sympathy cards are by far my least favorite type of card to make (for obvious reasons). However, I feel that they are also one of the most important types of cards that a stamper ever makes. And quite possibly the most appreciated card that someone receives.

My friend Mandey called me this morning and told me that the father of one of our friends passed away. He was fighting a long hard battle with cancer that ended last night. I have only known this friend for a few years. However, Mandey has been best friends with her since pre-school and is taking it quite hard. So please go over to her blog and give her a cyber-hug!

Well this isn't exactly what I was planning on stamping today, but I wanted to get this card sent right away. Hopefully I'll have more time to stamp later this afternoon.
Thanks for stopping by!!!
HUGS!!!

Supplies: From SU!: So Saffron, Mellow Moss, Bordering Blue, Garden Collage, Best Blossoms, Word Window Punch. Other supplies: clear embossing powder, Staz-on, Versa Mark, Marvy Punches, brass brad, ribbon from Michaels, Prisma Color Pencils.

Back to School! :(

2008-01-08T19:03:00.000-06:00

Today was my first day back to school... Christmas break was way too short!!!

I already know that this is going to be a super busy semester! I'm taking my last set of methods classes. So that means that this will be my last semester of regular classes before I student teach next fall! Yea!!!! I'm almost done!!!

I had to buy my books today, which is never fun. :( Does this pile of books look like $400? Nope, I didn't think so either!(notice that I even bought four used books and the bottom two books are "Instructor Packets" that were only $5 each) And the sad thing is, I'm still not done buying all of the books that I will need for my classes this semester! Ahhhhh! Oh how I wish I could spend my book money on new stamp sets! How awesome would that be? :)

Well, no time for stamping tonight, I already have homework to do. Tomorrow's not looking much better either, I'm substitute teaching at the YMCA preschool tomorrow. I love the students there, so it should be lots of fun! Maybe I'll get some stampin' time in tomorrow night! Thanks for stopping by!!!

HUGS!!!

Birthday Wishes!!!

2008-01-07T15:18:00.001-06:00

I made this card especially for my DH. Today is his 27th birthday!!! Happy Birthday Andy! I love you!!!

He absolutely loves to hunt and fish, so I decided to go with an "outdoorsy" theme. I don't have a lot of stamps that are appropriate for guys, so I wasn't for sure what kind of card I was going to make for Andy. Then I remembered that I had picked up some stickers by Karen Foster called "Hunting Season"! Perfect!!! So that's where the image on the tag came from. I mounted the tag on SU's! Always Artichoke and Really Rust. I also used SU's! Pine Bough wheel and the sentiment is from their Sincere Salutations set. The designer paper is from Cosmo Cricket's "Wanted Collection", I think that it adds to the "outdoorsy" theme quite nicely. I also did a little distressing on the tag and the Really Rust paper with the brads. Oh yeah, I also clear embossed the sentiment, tag edges, and the torn Really Rust paper. I like the added dimension that this gives the card.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot I got my inspiration from this card on Charmaine's blog! Thanks Charmaine!!!

Well, gotta go! We are having some friends over tonight for pizza and DQ ice cream cake. Yummy! I need to do the dishes and make sure their isn't a bunch of cat hair on our couch!!! LOL!!! Ahhh, the joys of pets!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!
HUGS!!!

You Make My Heart Flutter!

2008-01-07T10:46:00.000-06:00

Here's another Valentine's Day card that I made using the same set of designer paper that I found in the "Dollar Spot" at Target. I really like the designs of the paper, but I just wish that it was a better quality. It's really thin and a little harder to work with than other designer paper. But, the price was right! Twelve sheets for a buck! You can't beat that!!!
I used my Petal Plus Set from Stampendous to make my little butterfly. I then mounted him on some of the paper that came in the same pack from Target. I "dotted" around him with my white gel pen and then gave him some sparkle with some Stickles. I then faux stitched around the edge with a red calligraphy pen from Marvy Uchida and then finished it off with some ribbon. I printed the sentiment directly on the cardstock using my pc.
Thanks for stopping by! I should have another post later this afternoon, so make sure and check back!
HUGS!!!

Lovin' Those New Lizzie Anne Designs Stamps!!!

2008-01-06T22:49:00.000-06:00

Well, I just attended my first ever release party over on SCS for Lizzie Anne Designs! It was so much fun! If you haven't checked out their new stamps you definitely should. They are amazing! I want them all!!! But, I have to be good and save money for our Hawaii trip. I'll have to narrow it down to one or two MUST HAVE sets! Which will be very hard! Do you have a new favorite Lizzie Anne Designs set? If you do let me know, maybe it will help me decide which ones to order!

Something different

2008-01-05T15:13:00.000-06:00

I decided that I needed to expand my horizons and make something different, instead of just another card. So I pondered for awhile and remembered a little note pad my MIL had made a long time ago. (I think she even made it pre-blog!) So that's how I came up with this idea. I also thought that it would be fun to include a matching pen, so that the set would be complete!

To make sure that the note pad would stay together, I used that red sticky tape to tape down the post-its and the layered paper to the cardstock base. I also used eyelets to attach the ribbon for the pen. I just made a little loop and then tied the ribbon off in the back. The last thing that I need to do is get some of that magnetic tape and attach it to the back of the cardstock so I can hang it on the fridge. Then it will be complete!

I hope that you are enjoying your weekend! Thanks for stopping by! HUGS!!!

Supplies: SU's! Purely Pomegranate & Wild Wasabi, ribbon, eyelets, white gel pen, pp from the "Dollar Spot" @ Target, and $1 stamp from Michael's.

Sweetpea

2008-01-04T21:35:00.000-06:00

Hello dear blog friends! Well, it's Friday night... DH ditched me to go over to a friends house and play PS3. So I'm in my flannel jammies, having a glass of wine, and stampin'. Is that lame for a Friday night? Nah... ;)

Anyways, here is a little Valentine's Day card that I made using some designer paper and coordinating chipboard stickers that I found in the "Dollar Spot" at Target. All I did was add some ribbon and a heart brad to finish the card off. I guess I'm still in the "keeping it simple" mode!

Thanks for stopping by this Friday night!

HUGS!!!

Another simple card

2008-01-03T19:24:00.000-06:00

This is a simple little card that I whipped up today to send to some friends that are going on vacation with us in March. Did I tell you we were going to Hawaii to visit my DH's sister?

We bought our plane tickets clear back in August because they were SO cheap. We were really excited that we got such a great deal! But our excitement was short lived because about a month and a half ago we got an e-mail from the airline saying that our flights were cancelled and that we needed to book new flights! Ugh!!!
We were really frustrated because we knew we wouldn't be able to find tickets for that price again!
Well, it must have been our lucky day when our friend was scoping out prices and found tickets on the same days that we were originally flying on, with better departure and arrival times, and a $100 cheaper than our first ones!!! How lucky are we?!!! Of course he snagged those up fast, and we officially were going to Hawaii again! Yea!!!
Anyways, I had to mail our friends the money for our tickets today since he was the one that purchased them on-line. So I thought that it would be fun to put the check in a festive card. Hence the palm trees and the "vacation" stamp.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have time to make a card that isn't quite so simple! ;)
Thanks for stopping by! HUGS!!!

Supplies: Palm tree dollar stamp from Michael's, "vacation" stamp from Clearly Wordsworth, prisma color pencils, and Whisper White & Wild Wasabi cardstock from SU!

simplify

2008-01-02T17:32:00.001-06:00

Hello friends! I hope you have enjoyed the 2nd day in 2008! Can you believe it? Where does the time go? I spent the 2nd day in '08 packing away Christmas decorations and Christmas trees. I love having my Christmas trees up, but I'm always ready to take them down after the 1st and regain "space" in our home again. So while I was taking down all of our decorations I decided that I needed to "simplify" our home. Not only pack away the holiday stuff but also get rid of the junk, stuff, stored items, knick-knacks, or whatever else you want to call them, and make room for the stuff that we really love and want to look at. I'm very sentimental, so this is going to be a challenge for me to "edit" the stuff in our home. But it's one of my resolutions so I know I can do it. I'm going to join Flylady again, hopefully that will help keep me motivated to let go of all of the stuff I just have stored away in boxes and totes. (If you haven't heard of Flylady go check her out!)

So in honor of my New Year resolution I made this simple card. It seriously took me two minutes tops to make this card, and most of that time was spent picking out the stamp and ink color! I know it's nothing special, but I like the simplicity of it! ;)

Thanks for stopping by!!! HUGS!!!

Supplies: (all from SU!) Whisper White cardstock, Rose Red & Basic Black ink, Paint Print stamp set. Sentiment was printed on my PC

CHEERS! to a new year!!!

2008-01-01T14:45:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a fabulous ending to

2007 and a glorious start to 2008, no matter how you celebrated! We had a small get together with four of our closest friends last night, Jon & Mandey and Chad & Karmen. I made a bunch of food, we had drinks, and we played Guitar Hero until the wee hours of the morning! Jon and Mandey spent the night here, so they wouldn't have to worry about traveling home last night.

So now Mandey and I are "hunkered down" in my craft room (still in our jammies) stampin' up a storm! I think stampin' in your jammies is a pretty good way to start a new year! Don't you?

To make this card I used pp from DCWV's The Glitter Stack, SU's! Whisper White, Basic Black, Going Grey, and In Any Event stamp set. I also used their detailed embossing powder to stamp the image. I printed the sentiment on my computer. I added some extra glitter to the glasses with my stickles and then finished the card with some black ribbon, silver brad and my date stamp.

Thanks for stopping by today! HUGS!!!

Another Cricut & Cuttlebug card!

2007-12-28T15:47:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-12-27T20:08:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-12-27T13:23:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-12-20T22:45:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-12-05T13:54:00.000-06:00

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!!!

2007-12-05T11:39:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-12-04T22:12:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-12-04T20:57:00.001-06:00

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? ;)

2007-12-02T16:30:00.000-06:00

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

2007-12-01T19:51:00.000-06:00

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!"

2007-11-28T13:31:00.001-06:00

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!

2007-11-26T14:48:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-11-25T17:55:00.000-06:00

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!!!

2007-11-23T09:05:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-11-16T16:47:00.000-06:00

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)

2007-11-15T19:43:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-10-21T15:15:00.000-05:00

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!!!

2007-09-26T18:58:00.001-05:00

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...

2007-09-24T09:47:00.000-05:00

"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!

2007-09-14T16:48:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-09-09T20:30:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-08-26T10:24:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-08-08T21:07:00.000-05:00

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! :/

2007-08-08T10:55:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-08-07T13:45:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-08-07T13:32:00.002-05:00

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!!!

2007-07-26T14:05:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-07-25T14:53:00.000-05:00

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!!!

2007-07-23T14:56:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-07-18T14:57:00.000-05:00

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?

2007-07-16T19:27:00.001-05:00

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!

2007-07-16T10:15:00.001-05:00

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!

2007-07-11T10:01:00.000-05:00

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)

2007-07-09T14:44:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-06-23T15:49:00.000-05:00

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!

The lucky winner is...

2007-06-22T13:57:00.000-05:00

Ooops! I almost forgot to draw a winner! My minds been consumed with our bathroom remodel! The plumber installed the tub/shower yesterday and my FIL is working on the sheet rock today! I'm so excited, hopefully it'll be done soon!

Anyways... Thanks goes out to everyone who posted their wish list! You have given me sooo many great ideas! I'm leaning towards Bellas & Fellas, (can you believe that I don't have any of these yet!), those awesome Marvy punches, and prismacolor pencils. Of course there is soooo much more that I want, but I should pace myself! ;)

I used random.org to help pick the lucky winner!
And... the lucky winner is Flossie from Flossie's Follies! This is what she said...
"Happy Birthday, early, I am also a July baby, I would have to put the new SU Pick a Petal Stamp Set on my wish list."

Congratulations to you! Please send me an e-mail (the link is under my pic) with your address so I can get these Daisy Treats out to you! Thanks to everyone who played along and happy stamping to you!

It's been awhile!!!

2007-06-20T16:42:00.000-05:00

Wow! I can't believe that my last post was last Friday!!! I'm a slacker!!!
Well, I do have a couple fun things to share with you. These first two cards are ones that we made at our Stampin' Up Club on Saturday. I think that they are both super cute. I really love the Cool Caribbean card! Our demonstrator basically gave us the template and told us to do whatever we wanted with it! My card ended up with a few "extras" to help hide my mistakes!! ;) But, you would never know it right?!!
This other adorable card is one that I got in the mail from Charmaine this Monday. Thank you Charmaine!!! Charmaine won one of my bracelets, and this was my thank-you card! Not only did I get this awesome card, but I got these super cute stamps from Studio G and a clear block!!! How cool is that?! I feel that this thank-you gift is better than the bracelet I sent her! :)
Well I hope everyone is enjoying there Wednesday! (Where has the week gone?) Thanks for looking and happy stamping! BTW don't forget to leave a comment for Daisy Treats! I'll be picking a lucky winner Friday morning!

It's time for Daisy Treats!!!! (aka Blog Candy)

2007-06-15T14:11:00.000-05:00

Okay, I want to know who's been sitting at their computer all morning and clicking the refresh button on my blog! ;) Just kidding!!! But, I am surprised at how fast I made it to 5000 hits!!! Thank you so much for taking interest in my blog and leaving sweet comments on all of my creations and also on the random pics I tend to post! ;)

Like I have mentioned before these Daisy Treats are a combo celebration for having 5000 hits, the 4th of July (my fav holiday), and my 25th b-day (7/3)! Even though my b-day and the 4th are still a couple weeks away I decided to celebrate them now, because I know I'll be super busy as it gets closer to the holiday weekend!

I was going to do a patriotic theme for my Daisy Treats in honor of the 4th (flag stamps, red, white, and blue ribbon, patriotic pp, etc., but I decided that wouldn't be fair to my friends up north in Canada and any other people from other countries! So in order to make these Daisy Treats appealing to everyone I dropped the theme and went with just lots of fun bright summer things!

I'm having problems deciding what I want for my b-day (I'll probably end up buying myself presents ;)! There is so much cool stuff out there. And, I'm sure there is also lots of fun stamp things that I don't even know about!!! So... I'm hoping that you will be able to help me decided! This is what you need to do to have a chance to win these Daisy Treats. Simply post a comment telling me what is on your current wish list! It can be anything from pp, stamp sets, embossing folders, etc! Any thing your heart desires, I want to know about it! I will draw the lucky winner next Friday (6/22). That gives you a whole entire week to think about your wish list!

Thanks for playing along and good luck!

Okay the good stuff...(and who knows, maybe some more surprises will be added!)
From DCWV
-The Glitter mat Stack
From Target
-Patterned Paper Pack
-Punch out Pack
-2 flower punches
-3 pack of "Take Out" boxes
-Flower brads
From Making Memories
-Rub-on Wordage "Sweet Memories"
-Woven Ribbon "Sun-soaked"
From K & Company
-"Stitched Sentiments" rubber stamp set
From EK Success
-Keeepsake Wallet Album
From the Paper Studio
-Jumbo round brads
From Paperbilites
-Acrylic Labels
From Stickopotamus
-Sticker Collage "Dragon Flies"
and last but not least a cute little "birthday" stamp that I got at Hobby Lobby.

Hello Friends!

2007-06-15T10:43:00.000-05:00

Hello stamping Friends!!! I hope everyone is enjoying their day! It's going to be a hot one here in NE!!! But, that's okay I'll take the heat and sunshine any day!
Okay, here's the card that I made yesterday and refused to post a pic of it until I had good lighting! (Like my creations are actually that important or amazing!
This is one of those fun little cards that Donna aka "CraftingCrazy" makes. I just love this design! For more information on how to make these go to my MIL's blog.
To make this card I used some pp and embellishments that I got at Target from their "Dollar Spot". I also used, SU's Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, and Confetti Cream card stock. I used the "hello" from SU's Fun w/ Shapes set and the little flower is from their Little Pieces set.
Thanks for looking! I'm almost to 5000 hits maybe blog candy later today!!! ;)

Gloomy day in NE & Blog candy VERY soon!

2007-06-14T17:10:00.000-05:00

Okay... I did do some stamping today, but have decided to wait until tomorrow to post a pic. It's been cloudy all day here, which does not work well for photography! I just hate posting "dark" pics of my creations! So hopefully we'll have some sunshine tomorrow!

I also hate posting with out any pics to share. So I decided to put this random pic of Ber in here! I took this pic last night. He's so funny he really does sleep like this all the time! And if you had any questions if we had a male or female dog they should be answered now!!! LOL!!! (I would of put that little red "censored" sign on this pic if I knew how!)

I also wanted to remind you that I will be offering blog candy when I reach 5000 hits! I'm almost there so make sure to check back often! This blog candy will be a combo celebration of reaching 5000 hits, the 4th of July (my favorite holiday), and my 25th b-day (July 3rd)! Whooo, that's a lot to celebrate! Thanks for looking!

Check out this awesome RAK!!!

2007-06-13T17:13:00.000-05:00

I got this RAK yesterday in the mail! I was so surprised and was not expecting it at all! This awesome card was created by Donna aka "CraftingCrazy". Donna and my MIL have been swapping cards and doing one-on-one challenges for quite some time now.

After seeing a similar card that Donna had sent to my MIL I knew that I had to make one myself and commented that I couldn't wait to see it in real life! Well, Donna read my comment and sent one to me! Isn't this just awesome!!! I love this design soooo much! Thank you Donna!!!

Well I haven't had time to make anything today. I've been "running" all over today! Took Ber to the groomers early this morning and then I had to go to Yankton, SD (an hour away) to pick up our new sink for the new bathroom! After that I had to run over to Vermillion, SD to pick up boat parts for my FIL! Good thing they knew what I needed, because I was pretty clueless!!! LOL! Oh... and I got my eyebrows waxed! Ouch! Men have it sooo easy! Don't they?!

Well I better go. Andy and our friend Jon are putting down cement board in the bathroom so we can tile. And, I have the important job of being their "go for"!!! LOL! Oh.. GTG Andy's calling my name! Thanks for looking!

An afternoon of stampin'...

2007-06-12T20:24:00.000-05:00

Today was great! I spent the afternoon stamping with my friend Mandey. And, I finally got a chance to play with my new stamps that I won! Even though I spent the entire afternoon stamping I didn't get very many cards made! Maybe I'm out of practice or maybe we just talked too much? ;)
I did spend some time getting some more cards gathered to send to Debbi so she can send them off to the troops. I had quite a few card fronts, so I adhered them onto a white base card so that they would be usable. I hope to make some more cards for her before I send them off. Right now I have a little over 20 made.

These are the two cards that I made today. I really like how the blue card turned out, but I'm not crazy about the butterfly card. Oh well, you can't love them all! Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Bird stamp by Rhonna Farrer, M's butterfly $1 stamp and ribbon, HB stamp by Stampabilities, pp by DCWV "The Glitter Stack", SU's Ballet Blue, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, and So Very stamp set.

Look what I won!

2007-06-12T10:44:00.001-05:00

I got this cute little card and these two stamps in the mail Saturday! I won the mini blog candy drawing at Thoughts of a Cardmaking Scrapbooker! Isn't this card just the cutest!? I especially love how Michele colored the image and used embossing powder for the sand! Thanks again Michele!!!

Well better get back to cleaning my stamp room so I can "dirty it up" again! I hope to have a long day of stamping!!! Check back for new posts! Happy Stamping!

Just a quick note...

2007-06-09T19:03:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted anything for a few days. My Grandma is visiting and I've been doing things with her (mostly shopping;)! I did make her a bracelet today, so I guess I've been a little creative! She's asked me to make some cards for her to take home (sympathy, birthday, etc.) so I should have some new posts tomorrow! Thanks for checking in! BTW don't forget that their is major blog candy coming VERY soon!

Red, White, & Blue!!!

2007-06-06T09:38:00.000-05:00

I thought that I should post a patriotic card to go along with my patriotic blog! (My blog transformation for the 4th of July isn't quite complete yet, but hopefully soon!)

My fabulous MIL surprised me with this American stamp, 4th of July stamp, and pp from Achievers! Isn't she the best?! She also surprised me with other stamps, paper, and ribbon! I swear she got more stuff for me then she did herself!

Last Saturday my friend Mandey and I hit up a "stamping" garage sale! I swear it was like walking into a Stampin' Up store! I ended up buying a bag of wheels (21 to be exact) for $20!!! What a deal! I always wanted to try the wheels, but always found something else in the catalog to spend my money on! When I told my MIL about this great deal, she gave me her wheel handle, another wheel, and two ink cartridges for the wheels! She also stopped by this garage sale later in the day and picked up three SU stamp sets for me and my friend Mandey! I'm tellin' ya' she is soooooo generous!!!

I used one of these wheels to create the star background on the red cardstock. It's really subtle, but it was just what the card needed. I also used a glitter pen to color in the stars and white stripes on the stamp! Thanks for looking! Happy stamping!

Ooooops!

2007-06-06T08:04:00.000-05:00

Okay, if you took the time to read my long drawn-out demo story I have a correction! In the pic of the two guys removing our tub... Andy is on the left and Jon is on the right! Oooops! Don't even know my own husband!! ;)

DEMO!!!

2007-06-04T10:14:00.000-05:00

When Andy and I bought our home a few years ago we had big plans for just about every room! One thing that we wanted to do was re-do the hall bathroom and put a tub/shower combo in there. Right now it only has a tub w/ no shower. The only shower in the house is in our master bathroom (there use to be one in the basement, but we are refinishing the basement too and haven't got it back in yet). So as you can imagine the bathroom is kinda' hectic when we have guests.

Well, our friends from Wyoming are coming back for the 4th of July, so that means we could possibly have six people fighting over one shower for about five days!!! No thanks!!! So Andy agreed that we could put in the tub/shower combo before the 4th and then finish the remodel w/ new sink, lighting, cabinets, tile, etc. after the holiday.

Well I wanted to make sure that this project got started so I volunteered to take off the tile around the tub! I don't think Andy really thought that I would do it, because he was pretty surprised to find my friend Mandey and I in full demo mode when he got back from fishing with our friend Jon (Mandey's husband). By the time they got home we had the tile off and the carpet ripped up! Yep, I said "carpet" YUCK! Who would put carpet in a bathroom?! Andy also said that the sheet rock around the tub needed to come down. So Mandey and I ripped that out too! After that the boys had to figure out how to get the cast iron tub out of the bathroom! They guessed that this baby weighed about 500lbs!!! Poor guys!!! Anyways... the project that started out being a simple tub replacement turned into a full remodel!!! Yeaaaaaa! We ended up demoing the whole bathroom and plan on getting everything done by the end of the month! I got to pick out counter tops, tile, paint, and everything else that goes along with a bathroom yesterday. My father-in-law is also building me a custom cabinet for our sink! I'm so excited that we are finally getting a new bathroom!

Thanks for listening to my ramble and hopefully I'll be posting pics of our new bathroom in a few weeks!!!

Here's some pics for your entertainment! (click on them to enlarge)

This is a before... notice the icky carpet and tiny tub!!!

Another before... notice the nasty "disco" light fixtures and the ugly sink. You can't see in the pic but the sink is a faux marble with gold glitter!!!! (I won't be missing this sink or light!!!)

Here's Mandey and I in action!

Just posing for the camera! Mandey is such a goof ball!!! You would never know it from this pic, but she is gorgeous! She actually just started her own blog "Who knew... Creativity!" you should check it out and see a "real" pic of her!

The boys taking out the 500lb tub! (Andy on the right, Jon on the left)

And the after pic!!! (Yep, that's Crazy Daisy snooping around. She only drinks running water out of the bathtub (this is one of the many reasons why she is "Crazy Daisy"). Needless to say she's upset about the demo!)

Old pic of Daisy...

Celebrating you!!!

2007-05-31T13:02:00.000-05:00

Yea, the sun is finally out!!! It's been raining here all week! It's rained so much in this area that neighboring towns were filling up sand bags yesterday! Luckily, the water levels have gone down and there's not a whole lot of damage. I'm so glad that we weren't effected like they were!

I made this card late last night. I was trying for that "heavy embellished" look, but I didn't quite get there! Oh well, I think it still turned out cute!

I hope that you enjoy your day where ever you are! I'm going out to enjoy the sunshine!!! Happy stamping and thanks for looking!!!

BTW- I just realized that I'm going to break through to over 4000 hits soon! That means that I will be at 5000 in no time! So I'm going to start putting together some Daisy Treats (aka blog candy) to celebrate when I reach 5000 hits! I think I might combine the celebrating of 5000 hits with my birthday (7/3). So that means I'll have to make the Daisy Treat EXTRA good! Keep checking back you won't want to miss it!!!

Supplies- SU's Ruby Red, So Saffron, Mixed Greetings, Rhonna Farrer's-Flowers, ribbon by Bobbin Ribbon, Scalloped punch, circle punches, brads, pp by SEI

I was tagged!

2007-05-30T20:54:00.000-05:00

I was tagged by Michele and Nancy today! I have to answer these using only one word! I'll try, but I guarantee nothing!!! ;)

Yourself: goofy
Your Partner: serious
Your Hair: long
Your Mother: unique
Your Father: gone
Your Favorite Item: my diamonds
Your Dream Last Night: crazy
Your Favorite Drink: cherry coke
Your Dream Car: Lexus
Dream Home: on the beach
The Room You Are In: office/stamp room
Where You Want to be in Ten Years: with Andy
Who You Hung Out With Last Night: Andy
You’re Not: a morning person
One of Your Wish List Items: i-pod (Andy and I share one, I want my own!)
The Last Thing You Did: made earrings to match my bracelet from the tutorial
You Are Wearing: gym clothes
Your Favorite Weather: hot
Last Thing You Ate: supper (yep, from the midwest... it's supper ;)
Your Life: fun
Your Mood: tired
Your Best Friend: Crazy!!!
What Are You Thinking About Right Now: Bingo!!! (I'm playing w/ Mandey tomorrow night!)
Your Car: Grand Prix
What Are You Doing At The Moment: typing... duh
Relationship Status: married
What Is On Your TV: stupid show that Andy is watching ;)
What Is The Weather Like: cool (I'm ready for the HOT stuff!)
When Is The Last Time You Laughed: today

Okay so now I get to tag some people!
I'll tag...
Pam (my MIL)
Barb
Irene

Beading Tutorial

2007-05-30T17:35:00.000-05:00

Well as requested here it is... If you have any questions please let me know! Also, If you have any tips or suggestions please feel free to post them! I'm a beginner myself! I hope that this helps you out!!! Thanks so much for looking!!! (I'll be back to cards tomorrow! ;)

Supplies needed: Needle nose pliers, Cutting pliers, Jewelery wire, crimp beads, Hook of some kind, Charm, Jump hoop if needed for charm, and desired beads.

Cut the desired length of jewelry wire with the cutting pliers. (This one is about 10.5 inches) String the bar part of the clasp onto the wire, leave about one inch of wire on the end.

Slide on two crimp beads so that they cover both pieces of the wire.

Making sure that the crimp beads are close to the bar, crimp them using the needle nose pliers.

If your charm doesn't have a jump hoop on it, place one on it. Use the pliers to separate the hoop and to squeeze it back together once the jump hoop is on the charm.

Slide on your first bead (this keeps the charm in place) and then slide on your charm.

String on the beads in the desired pattern and to the desired length.

When the desired length is reached, string on two crimp beads and the other part of the clasp.

Lace the end of the wire back through the crimp beads and about the first 3/4 - 1" of the other beads. (After I have the end laced through, I check the length. If the bracelet is too long or short you can take the wire back out and add or remove beads as needed.)

After the wire is pulled through crimp the last two beads with the needle nosed pliers.

After you crimp the beads take the cutting pliers and cut off the exposed wire.

That's all there is to it! Now you try it!!!

Happy Wednesday! (what's left of it)

2007-05-30T16:47:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is having a great week so far and enjoyed their long weekend! If you didn't have a long weekend I hope you enjoyed the short one that you had!

We spent the weekend grilling and fishing with friends and family. It was a lot of fun! I wouldn't call myself a "fisherwoman" though. Andy had to bait my hook and take off any fish that I caught!!! What can I say I'm a "girl"!!! ;)

This is the card that I made this afternoon. I'm not for sure where the inspiration for this card came from. It's not my favorite card but it does get my vote for "unusual". Hopefully it will stir up some new ideas or inspiration for you!

I have had received questions about "beading". I'm a beginner myself, but I will be posting a simple tutorial later this evening on how to make your own bracelets. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies- Swirls-Rhonna Farrer, SU's Happy Harmony, Silver & Hologram Highlights embossing powder, silver wire, gemstones by Hero Arts

I didn't have silver paper, so I used embossed white paper instead.

Who won???

2007-05-26T12:19:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone that participated in my Daisy Treat give away! You are definitely a bunch of crafty ladies!!! I really enjoyed reading about your other hobbies!
Since I was feeling generous I decided to draw two names!!! The other bracelet that I am giving away is made of the same color of beads, but instead of a sand dollar charm it has a sea shell charm.

I used random.org to choose the two lucky winners, and they are.... Charmaine and Nancy!!!
This is what they had to say...

Charmaine- "Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, I would LOVE a Jami original bracelet! :) I also love to crochet and use those Nifty Knitters. I haven't done much of that lately, but when I first started crocheting, EVERYBODY in my family had a new pair of slippers! Too funny!"

Nancy- "OMG I am so in love with this bracelet! If I win, I promise to wear it daily!!!Besides papercrafting I also enjoy a little crochetting... I'm a beginner so I don't do much, but I do enjoy it when I do it. "

Congratulations to both of you!!! E-mail me your address and I'll get these little creations out to you. Also, if you have a preference on which charm you would prefer let me know. I can't guarantee that you'll get that one, but I'll try!!!

It's the little things... (scroll down for blog candy)

2007-05-24T14:44:00.000-05:00

"It's the little things that make life big." This has to be one of my favorite sayings!!! So when I saw this set clear back during sell-a-bration I had to get it!!! But, believe it or not this is the first time I've ever used it!!! I got so much stuff during sell-a-bration I never got around to it! Plus I've been getting a lot of fun toys from other stores lately, like this Rhonna Farrer set! This set is called Swirls and I love it!!! It's so fun!!! This card is really simple, but I liked how it turned out.

I hope you are having a great afternoon in your stamp room, laundry room, kitchen, work, or where ever else you may be!!! Thanks for looking and don't forget to enter for a chance to win my "blog candy of a different kind"!!!

Blog candy of a different kind!!!

2007-05-23T16:47:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I'm in BIG trouble!!! I'm obsessed with beads right now!!!

Let me tell you a story... I was at Hobby Lobby on Monday to get some more jewelry supplies, before I knew it my basket was starting to get really heavy!!! It's like the packages just jumped in themselves! I can't explain it!!! I finally had to tell myself to "walk away", so being the strong will powered person I am ;), I walked away from the bead aisle. But, do you know where I ended up? Yep, that's right the paper crafts aisle!!! Ahhhhh, like I said I'm in BIG TROUBLE!!! Now there's two places I HAVE to check out when I got to Hobby Lobby!!!

Okay, so since I've been spending just as much time with my beads as I have been with my stamps lately, I thought that it was only fair that you got in on the action! So I'm offering up a Daisy Treat of a different kind!!! My May session summer class will be ending this Friday!!! Yippeeee!!! So I'm celebrating by giving away this bracelet that I made today! The colors of the beads are kinda' Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, and Bashful Blue.

To have a chance to win this little creation post a comment telling me about any other hobbies that you have besides paper crafting, if you just paper craft that's fine too! I'll post the winning comment this Saturday around noon! There's not much time... post now!!!

New Hobby!!! ;)

2007-05-20T11:50:00.000-05:00

Well, I started a new hobby this weekend!!! Like I needed another thing to spend my time and money on!!! ;) I've been wanting to try and make my own bracelets for a really long time. So this weekend I finally made the trip to Hobby Lobby and got the supplies. I really didn't know where to start so I just studied a bracelet that my friend Mandey gave to me. This really helped me a lot. It gave me an idea on where to place the charm and how many crimp beads to use.
For this bracelet I just wanted a fun random pattern. So after every third colored bead I placed a silver bead. I think it turned out really cute and I can't wait to make another one!!!

P.S. The colors look a little funny in the pic, but they really do go well together!

Grandma's Scrapbook

2007-05-18T14:30:00.000-05:00

This is a scrapbook that I started for my Grandma awhile ago. It was part of her thank-you gift for helping with the planning of our wedding. I didn't have time to finish it before the "Big Day", but she loved what I had completed so far. She loved seeing the old pictures of her and my Grandpa especially since he passed away in 2003. Well, I've decided that it is LONG past due to finish this for her, so I've started working on it again. This is my first and only scrapbook that I've tried to do. My scrapping isn't the best and I would love any suggestions that you have to offer!

This scrapbook is of old black and white pictures that are of my Grandparents when they first started dating, their wedding picture, pictures of their kids when they were younger, etc. I have plans to scrap other pictures from their first years of marriage, 35th wedding anniversary, and 50th wedding anniversary.

The page that I just completed today is of my Mom and my Uncle Roger. They made big news when they were born because they were the first set of twins to ever be born in that hospital! My Grandma still had the newspaper clipping of the story that was published. I scanned the actual clipping and included that in the page. If you read the newspaper clipping and thought that their was a miss print about the ages of my other three uncles you are wrong! ;) My Grandma had five kids in four years and three of those kids in one year!!! Yep that's right she had the twins when my uncle Jerry was only ten months old!!! Another funny tid-bit is that my uncle Jerry was born on my uncle Ken's birthday. So out of five kids only my uncle Alvin had his own birthday which is July 4th!!! I've asked my Grandma if it was hard to raise that many children when they were so close in age... She said that she didn't have any problems and loved being a mother! Personally I don't know how she did it!!!

These are pics of pages that I had already completed. Thanks for looking!!!

Quick and easy card!

2007-05-16T13:38:00.000-05:00

I was checking out our local Target's "Dollar Spot" when I came across this package of cards and envelopes. The cards are pretty plain but I thought that they had potential. The cards are like patterned cardstock only a lot cheaper!!! You get eight cards and envelopes for only a buck! They had a couple different designs plus "card making kits" in coordinating designs! I picked up a card making kit that I plan on experimenting with soon! You should check out your Target!

Congrats Graduates!!!

2007-05-16T13:17:00.000-05:00

I helped my friend Mandey make these graduation cards last Thursday night. (I've been stamping, just not posting!) We wanted a simple design that we could customize for each card. We did each card in the graduate's school colors and we also put the schools initials down the side of the card. And of course we circled the graduation date on the stamp from SU's Office Accoutrement set. Since the card base was black we lined the inside of the card with colored cardstock and stamped "congrats graduate". I cased one of my MIL's cards for this design! Thanks Pam!!!

Shane's Wish!!!

2007-05-09T19:14:00.000-05:00

I read about this story at Nancy's Creative Mess... This is what Nancy posted on her blog.

"I'm sure many of you have heard about this already, but I am appealing to everyone to help out this little boy. This is not a hoax. Shane is a 7 year old boy from Ontario Canada who will be turning 8 on the 30th of May. Shane was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when he was only five. His wish is to break the world record of birthday cards received.

Take a look at his website... and do your part in putting a smile on Shane's face! Send your card... have your kids make cards... encourage your family and friends to send cards. Ask the teachers and daycare providers to do a craft project to make cards for Shane... get creative and have some fun!"

Let's work together and make this happen for Shane!!!

A little something for you...

2007-05-09T17:23:00.000-05:00

I've been dieing to try this "Five in one template box" ever since I saw it on Charmaine's blog Oodabug Alley. So at our last stamp club night I ordered the Five in one envelope template. I thought that it would be a lot harder to make, but it was actually really easy. It was probably so easy because I didn't really stamp anything! The only thing that I stamped is the sentiment! I used three coordinating papers for the box and left it at that! I guess I'm kinda' lazy today! Plus I don't have a lot of time. I have to start on a paper for my summer class. Andy is also getting home tonight, so I need to clean! Does anyone else "forget" to do the dishes when their significant other is gone! ;) He wasn't suppose to get home until Friday night, but he got an early flight out since they finished early! Yea!!!! He's been in Sacramento this week for work. He's been gone a lot lately so I'm excited that he's coming home early! Well the dishes are calling my name!!!! Happy stamping to you!

Supplies: pp from SEI- Winnie's Walls, stamp from Stampabilities, silver spiral paper clip, Cream organdy ribbon from Michael's, SU's Ruby Red, Certainly Celery, and envelope template.

As promised... the Cowboys!

2007-05-07T21:34:00.000-05:00

Wow what a weekend!!! I am sooooooo tired!!! Hopefully, I'll get some stamping done after class tomorrow!!! So check back for new cards! ;)

Well, the weather in Nebraska has been crazy lately! Lots of rain and storms, and Saturday was no exception!!! We didn't leave for the ranch (which is 2 1/2 hrs. away) until 3:00p.m Saturday afternoon. The entire state was covered with "sketchy" weather and storms. So... we thought that we would be smart and leave later to avoid the storms. Our friends Jon and Mandey went with us, and we took two vehicles since we were hauling some stuff back. So... Andy and Jon were in Andy's truck and Mandey and I were in my car. We were doing good, just ran into some rain a few times, but no big deal. That's until we hit Newport which is ten miles south of the ranch. It was so weird, as soon as we got there it started to down pour!!! I'm talking cats & dogs!!! It was really hard to see, but we kept going. Then the hail started coming down!!! First, it was just pea size hail but then it turned to golf ball sized hail and it was still down pouring!!! I couldn't see a car length in front of me!!! So, I had Mandey call Andy to tell him that I was pulling over to stop. When she got him on the phone he said to "HURRY UP!!!", there was a tornado south of Newport coming our way at 45mph!!! Thank God someone was responsible and turned on the radio!!! So with that said, we were off!!! I am so thankful that I have driven that stretch of highway at least a million times!!! Because, at 70mph in a down pour with hail, you can't see much!!! I was gripping the wheel so tight that my hands started to hurt!!! By the time we got to the ranch it had stopped raining and we learned that the storm was going east of us. Thank goodness!!! My family's ranch was taken out by a tornado in 1992, and that is one thing that we don't want to experience again!!! But after all, we do live in "Tornado Alley"!!!

Sunday turned out to be a great day except for the nasty Nebraska winds. If you have ever been here you know what I'm talking about!!! This state is so flat their is nothing to stop it or slow it down!!! Okay... now I'll explain what we did on Sunday. First of all, I have to say that this is part of the culture and business in "ranch country". It is NOT done to be mean or cruel. If you feel that it is cruel, I respect your opinion and hope that you try to understand the purpose of this process and procedure. Now with that said...

We call this a "Branding Party". This is because tons of friends and neighbors show up to help just because it is the "right thing" to do. We ended up with at least 30 people helping. First we rounded up the cattle and took them to a corner of a pasture that had a temporary corral and shoot. After we got all the cattle in the corral we sorted of the cows from the calves. We first put the cows through the shoot so we could vaccinate them. After the cows were finished it was time to start working the calves. The guys on horses would rope the calves and bring them out of the corral. The guys that were on foot would then grab the calves and hold them down so that they could receive vaccinations and get branded. After that, the calves were let go and went back to their mothers. It was a quick and simple process! After the branding everyone went back to the house for food and drinks, this is where the "party" part comes in!!! ;) Unfortunately we couldn't stay for the party part :( Andy had to leave this morning at 4:00 a.m. for yet another business trip so we wanted to get home early! Poor guy was so tired and sun-burnt!!! Oh well there's always next year!!!

Click on the pics to enlarge them. If you have ever seen a rodeo, a lot of this will look familiar. After all this is how rodeos started....
If you have any comments or questions please let me know!!! Thanks for looking!!!

Picture #1- This is Jodi (my little sister) catching the horses Sunday morning. You have to take along a bucket of grain so that they will come to you so that you can put on a halter. This is her horse Duchess. I was riding Duchess during the round-up. She must have been having a bad day because she tried to buck me off in the morning and tried to buck Jodi off in the afternoon!!!

Picture #2- The guys are sorting the cows away from the calves. The cows in this picture are Black Angus if you see any red ones in other pics they are Herefords.

Picture #3- This is the shoot that the cows went through and got their vaccinations. The red part "catches" them and hold them in their until someone pulls the lever to release them.

Picture #4- Just one of the cowboys roping a calf!

Picture #5- The guys on horses are keeping the back legs tight with the rope while the other guys are holding down the front legs. There are also a couple guys going around branding while other guys are doing the vaccinations.

Picture #6- This is of Jodi branding one of her own calves!

FYI- Going to the Ranch!

2007-05-05T01:22:00.000-05:00

Well it's 1:30 in the morning!!! What am I doing up so late??? Well our friends just left... we usually get together Friday nights for dinner and a friendly game of poker! We use to go out together on Friday nights for dinner and drinks, but then we realized how expensive that was!!! We decided that we could make dinner for half the price and have ten times more fun at home! That's how "Poker Club" got started! ;) It's not really a club it's just Andy, myself and our friends Jon and Mandey. We take turns hosting. Everyone puts in $5 and we play until the end. I'm not very good at all. I'm still learning how to play. But, tonight I was holding my own for awhile. I came so close to winning, but finally just went "all in". Maybe next time...

Sorry I didn't post anything today! I was too busy playing with my blog! I added a guest book, music, and tetris (this is for my own enjoyment ;)! So please scroll down and sign!!! I won't be posting anything this weekend either. We are going to my family's ranch to help brand cattle!

Every spring we have to brand the calves that were born during February and March. It's a lot of work, but friends and neighbors always help out so it goes fairly quick. I usually stay in the house with my Grandma and help cook. We're planning on at least twenty people, so we'll have plenty of food to make! I am hoping to get out and take some pics of the branding to share with you all. This year we are not using a cattle shoot to brand. We are branding the "old fashioned" way. The guys are going to "wrestle" the calves to the ground, hold them there, and then brand them. This might sound cruel to some of you, but it's how it's done. Trust me... the calves are fine afterwords. Plus during branding they receive shots to keep them healthy and protect them from common diseases. So... if you want to see pictures of REAL cowboys and a REAL ranch check back on Sunday or Monday! Hope you have a great weekend!

And the envelope please.....

2007-05-04T12:17:00.000-05:00

Well the big day is finally here, we get to find out who won the Daisy Treat! I finished my finals yesterday, and I'm pretty sure I aced all of them! Wooo Whooo! Okay, let's move onto the good stuff....
First of all, THANK YOU for participating in my first ever Daisy Treat giveaway!!! I had so much fun reading all of your comments and stories!!! If you weren't the lucky winner, don't be discouraged! I'm going to have plenty of other reasons to "celebrate" this summer, so you'll get another chance to win very soon! I used random.org to choose the lucky number....13!!!!
Kathy over at Kathy's Kreations said...

"Good Luck on your finals. My favorite part of summer is the July 4th Party at my house each year. we lounge in the pool and we get to see the fire works from there. this year I have a new addition..we put a hot tub in. I am sure that all my friends will enjoy this on the 4th"

Congratulations Kathy!!! Please send me your address so I can get this Daisy Treat to you!!! (You can use the "e-mail me" link below my picture.)
Thanks again for playing along!!!

You still have a chance to win!!!

2007-05-03T13:08:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to remind you that the Daisy Treat is still up for grabs! If you haven't left a comment on that post yet make sure to scroll down and check it out! I'll draw a random number tomorrow around 12:00p.m (CST) Good luck to you!!!

Happy!

2007-05-02T13:28:00.000-05:00

Today is a happy day! I finished my last "real" final this morning! I have two other finals tomorrow, but they are more of a "show up & participate" type of final. I usually don't have "real" finals in my classes. There are usually big presentations and portfolios that we have to do that make up the bulk of our grade. So, it's usually really stressful right before finals, but when finals week starts it's a breeze!

So...since I don't have anything to study for, I've been playing with my pp from My Mind's Eye. The series that I have is Magnolia. I love this stuff!!! The patterns and colors are awesome! I wish I had more time to play this afternoon, but I have to go to work soon. :(

But... I'll be back (say it w/ an Arnold accent ;)

Supplies: pp from My Mind's Eye, glitter pen, glitter embossing powder, jewel brad, SU organdy ribbon, word window punch, SU's All About U stamp set.

Happy May Day!!!

2007-05-01T10:37:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is enjoying the first day of May!!! I'm so excited that the warm months are finally here!!!

For those of you who don't know, I work for a before and after school program through our local YMCA. So, I went to work this morning at 6:30, got home about 8:30, put my jammy pants back on and went to my stamp room!!! How pathetic am I??? ;)

I've been dieing to use my new Flowers set by Rhonna Farrer! My AWESOME MIL got this for me last week! I came home from a VERY LONG night class last Tuesday and found this set on my kitchen counter with a sweet note attached from my MIL!! It was a "just because" gift!!! She is so sweet and awesome!!! I was planning on playing with this cool set until my "beauty" appointment @ 1:00 this afternoon (getting my hair cut & eyebrows done, ouch!!!) but my AWESOME FIL just dropped of my Stampin' Up order from my MIL's party! So now I have even more fun stuff to play with! Not only did he drop of my order, but he also took our dog for a run! Andy's on another business trip (he's in WI this time) so my FIL knew Ber wouldn't be getting a lot of outside time today! Don't I have the best in-laws ever!!! I wish everyone could be so lucky!

Supplies- pp Magnolia- by My Mind's Eye, Flowers by Rhonna Farrer, My Friend- dollar stamp from M's, SU's Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise, and Pumpkin Pie, and mini brads.

Who wants a Daisy Treat???

2007-04-30T12:23:00.000-05:00

As promised, here's your opportunity for a Daisy Treat! (a.k.a blog candy) This particular Daisy Treat is a clear stamp set from Rhonna Farrer called Word Art.

As many of you know, I am a student majoring in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education. Well... this is finals week and I'm so excited to be nearing the finish line of another semester! Even though I'll start one of my summer classes next Monday :( I'm still anxious to get the summer season started! I LOVE summer, it is my favorite time of the year! I love grilling with family and friends, picking fresh vegetables from my garden, going fishing, or just laying out soaking up some sun! But, I have to say my favorite part of summer is the 4th of July!!! I've always loved this holiday! We always do so much with friends and family during the week of the 4th. My friend's dad is the pyrotechnician for the HUGE fireworks we have at Skyview Lake. The name of their organization is Big Bang Boom! They put on an AWESOME show!!! So since we're family friends we get front row VIP seats right by the fireworks! I'm tellin' ya were so close you can feel the heat!!! This is the highlight of the weekend for me! We also go to our local country radio station's outdoor concert! And of course this is also a great time especially when it's on my birthday (July 3rd). And needless to say there are countless barbecues during the week and maybe a fishing trip too!

Well I could go on and on about how much I love summer and especially the 4th of July, but now it's your turn. So to celebrate the end of the semester and start of sumer I'm offering you the chance to win this awesome Daisy Treat!!! In order to have an opportunity to win this yummy Daisy Treat you need to post a comment describing your favorite part of summer! That's all you have to do! I'll draw a random number this Friday afternoon (5/4) and post the winning comment! Good luck!!!

Dirty Toes!!!

2007-04-28T18:22:00.000-05:00

What a beautiful day! It was absolutely gorgeous!!! I had to take advantage of this great weather and spend my day outside! Andy and I went to Earl May's this morning and bought all of the plants and seeds for the garden!!! I spent all afternoon with my toes in the dirt planting tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, sweet peppers, jalapeno peppers, cucumbers, onions, and cilantro. I also planted flowers in the two HUGE pots we have on the deck. Tomorrow I plan on planting some more flowers in the front yard! I can't wait until everything starts blooming and growing! I love fresh garden vegetables! YUMMY!!!

I did spend a little time and money ;) on stamp stuff today. I made a run to Hobby Lobby to pick up some patterned paper. I got the Far East Mat Stack from DCWV and a 12x12 pack of the Magnolia series from My Mind's Eye. I got the Far East paper to make Andy some "suitcase cards" (see previous post) for his trip to China this summer. I have been eyeing the Magnolia paper for a long time and finally decided to cave in and get it! I love the bright fun designs in this series! I can't wait to use it! I also went to Wal-Mart and picked up some Daisy Treats (a.k.a blog candy)! You'll have to come back for a chance to win! I'll be posting very soon!!!!

Hope you also had a great day and enjoyed some nice weather!!

What a week!

2007-04-27T13:26:00.000-05:00

This was the last week of regular classes!!!! Yea!!! :) But of course, it's been really busy. I had my finals in my two night classes this week and I'll have the rest of my finals next week.

Andy has also been gone part of this week so I've had to pick up on the stuff that he normally does. Like taking Ber out in the morning!!! It seems that all of those little things add up to a lot of time! He left for Chicago Wednesday morning and was suppose to get home late Thursday night. He called me last night and said that his flight was delayed, then he called me again and said that it was delayed even more, finally he called and said that his flight was canceled and that he couldn't fly out until Friday morning! Poor guy had to spend the night at Chicago O'Hare!!! I've never had to spend the night in the airport, but I imagine it can't be much fun! His flight ended up getting delayed one more time this morning, but he's finally on his way home!!

Every time Andy leaves on a trip I always sneak a note or card into his suitcase. I don't know why I still try to be sneaky because I've been doing this for a few years now! I'm sure he expects to find something in there! But anyways, I still always do it. This is the card that he found in his suitcase for this trip. If I knew that his trip was going to last an extra day I would of thrown in another pair of boxers too!!! ;)

Whoa! Two cards posted in one day!!!

2007-04-23T17:58:00.000-05:00

I am so excited!!! Today I finished my last two presentations at school! (say it w/ me)WOOOOOOOO WHOOOOOOO!!! And... I got home early from class, because my friend that I car pool with didn't have her last class! So with my extra time, I went to the grocery store (I've been putting this off for a while;) and I made these two cards! I kinda' struggled with them, but I figured that is because I haven't been stamping a lot lately. So to fix this problem I just figured I will have to stamp more often!!! ;)

Yesterday I went to the $ store to get some things for one of my presentations. While I was browsing around I spotted the "Muchas Gracias" stamp! What are the chances! I was so excited! I think this stamp is so cute! It's not a very high quality stamp, but I figured I would get a dollars worth of enjoyment out of it! ;)

I finally used my "Big Deal Alphabet" set from SU to make the pink card. I got this set to use when I finally get around to scrap booking our honeymoon. But, until then I'll just have to use it for cards! Do you ever do that? Make big plans for something that you buy and then never get around to using it for that purpose! ;) This is probably why the supplies in our scrap rooms grow at an exponential rate!!!

Thanks for stopping by and happy stamping to you!!!