Spring Flowers

I made this card a few weeks ago when I first got the stamp set. I have gotten better with the stamps since I made it, but I still love the colors and simplicity so I thought I would share.

On Mother's Day, my MIL got me a bouquet of spring flowers. I loved them! Such pretty colors and they live much longer than roses do. A couple of days later I moved them to the kitchen counter for more sunlight. The next morning, I noticed that the vase was drying in the sink. What happened to my flowers?!!! Turns out that my dear husband thought that I put the flowers on the counter because they were dead. Never mind that they didn't look the least bit dead!!! So anytime I get the chance, I tease him about the pretty spring flowers that used to be!

I had a fantastic trip and I am looking foward to getting back to stamping!

A purse that doesn't break the bank...

I can't believe how much money you can spend on a purse! I would NEVER pay what some are willing to pay! First, I really don't care what is "in." I have my own style and feel no need to copy the in crowd. Also, I am afraid of commitment. I like to change purses when I see something cute. When you pay hundreds of dollars on a purse, you can't just get a new one a few months later! That being said, I bought a purse that was much more than I wanted to spend. But it is gorgeous!!! Meet Big Buddha...

It is big enough for my usual purse stuff plus my camera and kindle. And it still doesn't feel stuffed. And it is soooo soft! It is my new best friend.

So, you ask, what does this have to do with stamping? I made a cute purse from paper! And it definatly will not break the bank!

Isn't it cute?! I used this template. And it opens up too. I filled it with these notecards...

I made this special treasure for a friend. She moved to Nashville over a year ago and I am flying out there to see her tomorrow!!! I am so excited!

Setting the house on fire in the name of stamping

So I was using a glue gun today to make the flowers on my card when the glue gun suddenly burst into flames! I screamed and jumped a mile. Luckily I was wise enough to unplug it and the fire died down. The only damage are some blisters. It could have been far worse. But I was right in the middle of making my card and I needed hot glue to finish. So I actually run to Wal-Mart to grab a new one. What do you suppose are the odds of two of my glue guns catching on fire?

The good news.....I think the card came out nice!
I love the little ribbon flowers! I have been wanting to make these for some time now.

So was it worth the fire?

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Where oh where has my mind gone?

I am having one heck of a scatter brained day! And I mean more than the usual!

Today two of the kiddos had water days at school. I did a terrible job getting them ready! Kid #1: No towel or sunscreen. Kid #2: No towel, sunscreen, water bottle, sand pail, backpack or clothes to go over her swimsuit. Plus, she was wearing her sister's swimsuit and so half of her bum was sticking out! Water day was a big fail for mommy!!!

Then, this afternoon- I got all the way to the kids' school (15 minute drive) only to realize that I took the wrong vehicle! A super small car does not cut it when picking up 6 kids! I had to make a 30 minute round trip to get the right car.

I think I should just call it a day and go to bed before I cause anymore havoc!

Now on to the stamping....
I made this card at least a week ado and it is a CASE of one that I found on Splitcoast. And being the scatter brain that I am, I didn't not save the link so I could share who made the original :(

I am off to search for my mind. Let me know if you spot it.

Finally....

I finally finished the gifts for teacher appreciation week (which was last week)! It took me forever! I actually made 4. And after working on them for nearly a week, I finish and wouldn't you know it? I forgot to send them to school with the kids! Ha! They have waited this long, so what's another few days!

I do like the way they turned out! (But note to self- you don't want to make these next year. Once is enough!)

It is also finally Friday! The kids will be gome in a few minutes and we can start our weekend of fun with some swimming!

Good News Email!

I was running around on Monday like a chicken with my head cut off- when I got the best email! Cards Magazine wants to publish one of my cards in their October issue! I am so excited. I have had 3 other cards published- but it has been a long time. I am especially proud since I have only gotten back to stamping for about a month. Now I know many of you are getting published every month and are not all that impressed with this. But I don't get published often and so you can't rain on my parade!

The card I am showing you today is one of the first cards I made after my long break. I CASED it from Kristina Werner. Of course, he card is way better than mine! I miss the times when Kristina worked for Stampin' Up! but I still love her stamping style.

This was a super hard card for me to photograph. I punched a circle in the front and added 3D butterflies to the inside.


I am still working on the teacher gifts. But I took a break and spent about 10 hours (so far) working on pictures, videos and scrapbooks for my twins' Kindergarten graduation. I am already getting a bit emotional. I am a cry baby when it comes to this sentimental stuff. So back to my work.....

I may be a tad biased.....

....but my kids are the cutest kids EVER!

I have lots of really fun pictures from this portrait session. They take forever to load to this blog so if you want to see them check out this link.

This has been the perfect Mother's Day. I had a date night with the hubby last night. He took me shopping!! This morning they all made me breakfast and gave me flowers and super cute hand made cards. Then I got to go to the salon for a sassy hair do. And finally, we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner! I am tired and full. But I am going to pick up my stamps right now and get inky! I hope that you all had a special Mother's Day and that you are also getting some time to do those things you love.

Welcome Spring?

It was 100 degrees today and we spent the afternoon in the pool. (Which is why I have a sunburn tonight.) And so I have to laugh at this card...I made it a few weeks ago. Spring only lasts 2 weeks around here. I missed the window of opportunity to post it and send it to someone!

The stamp is from Papertrey Ink and everything else is SU!

I have spent the past 3 days working on making teacher gifts. I intended to bring them in this week for teacher appreciation week. But I ran out of the red sticky tape! I guess I will just have to appreciate the teachers next week! But seriously, next year when I want to make elaborate teacher gifts for 4 sets of teachers- someone pinch me. 3D paper crafts take me forever. Oh well. They are super cute and I will post as soon as I find some sticky tape.

I probably won't have time to post this weekend. Tomorrow is dance class, Mother's Day lunch with my in laws and date night. And I am getting my hair done and going out with my kiddos on Sunday. So happy Mother's Day!

Live, Laugh & Love

Just a quick post with another one of the cards that I made at Diana's class. I love simple so this is perfect for me.

I am tired, sunburned and subbing again tomorrow. I am calling it an early night. But I did place an order for some new stamps and I can't wait to play with new goodies!

New card with old supplies

I was organizing some supplies and I found this circle scallop card. I can't remember what SU! called them. But I LOVED them when they came out. Even though the colors (Groovy Guava and some kind of blue sky color) retired, I couldn't get rid of these. When I found them, I was giddy excited and HAD to make a card right that moment. The organizing took a back burner!

I am missing my stamping time while substituting! It is a good thing that I made tons of cards last week!

Forget Paris

I loved the movie Forget Paris. I laugh until I am in tears every single time I watch it.

So this is another card from the 10/10/20 class I took last week. It is very simple but so pretty. And it will be the perfect card for my dear friend who was a french teacher. Now I just have to remember to send it.....in January. No problem.

So I am substituting in the class that I student taught in. It is kinda weird going back but a fun weird. It will just take up some of my stamping and blogging time this week. We shall see....

You crack me up

We were all cracking up here- thanks to the dog! The kids spent time coloring hard boiled eggs this afternoon. They were diligent and very careful. The eggs looked great. So we head out to grab a quick dinner. When we came back- there were only 4 eggs left in the carton. I was perplexed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a purple egg sitting in the grass right outside the door. The darn dog got the eggs!!! He ate 7 hard boiled eggs (shell and all). Yuck!!! And he is a small dog! I have banished him to the backyard for tonight. I don't want multi color poo in the house!

I have a simple Easter card for ya....

I colored the chicks with some copic markers. I am still not too good with those things. But, from time to time, I have fun pretending I am an artist.

Happy stamping!

Easter Basket

I have an Easter card for you tonight. I LOVE holidays. But Easter cards? I don't send them- so I don't make many. But I saw a cute Easter basket card on Andrea Walford's blog that I had to CASE.

Of course hers is far better. I loved her eggs, but was far to lazy to make them. Maybe next year. Ha Ha! I did add some Easter grass and a fun flower. The pies were part of the basket die so that made it real easy. Have you noticed that I can't stop making these flowers? I am addicted.

I thought I would share something that is not stamp oriented. I am an avid coupon shopper. I never shop without a stack of coupons and a well mapped out list. I have been doing this for over a year and I have saved my family thousands of dollars! Our grocery budget before couponing was $115 per week. (This did not include health and beauty products.) Now my budget is $30-$40 per week and this includes absolutely everything! For a family of 6! Who wouldn't want to save that kind of money?! It has allowed us to do more fun family activities. So do you coupon? Are you crazy like the couponers on the new TLC Extreme Couponing show? I am not crazy like they are but it is fun to watch. Do you want to coupon? Check THIS site out. Click on the beginners tab and get started!

Sorry for the commercial break. Back to your regulary scheduled show tommorow!

Never too old.....

to be goofy!

This is one of the 10 cards that I made at my upline's 10/10/20 class on Monday. She is super talented so you best take time to check out her blog. You'll be sorry if you don't!

When I saw this card I thought "This one is so ME." I love the colors and the simple layout. Plus, I got lots of practice using the stamp-a-ma-jig thingy. That thing used to drive me crazy. I got rid of mine! But after a little separation, I can see being friends again.

The saying makes me think about my impending 30th birthday in July. When you are 16- 30 seems ancient. You think that by that age you will be wearing depends, using a walker and checking into the nursing home. Now that I am a few months from turning 30- I think 30 is young!!! And I intend to be goofy on my birthday. We will be in Disneyland with the kids! That always makes me feels young!

Enough blabbering. My DVR is full of good shows that are calling my name!

Troublemaker

I made a 3x3 card a few nights ago. I thought it was simple and cute. I wanted to post it- but I could NOT get a good picture. I tried different lighting, different times of the day, different backdrops, etc... Still no good!!! After about 50 different pics, I decided to give up and just show you the best of the batch. Then the darn picture wouldn't load on to my blog! I finally have the card to show. But keep in mind that it is much prettier in person!

I just love making these fun crumpled up flowers.

Everything is SU! except the sentiment. It is from a set by Papertrey. I love their little sentiments with cute fonts.

Ok, I best publish the post before the pictures disappear! Happy stamping!

I may be going batty!

Right after I got sick in October, my hubby started joking that I had a "broken brain." The week after I got out of the hospital I insisted on going to the pumpkin patch. (Apparently, I had asked about the pumpkin patch repeatedly while in ICU. But I cannot confirm that.) While we were at the pumpkin patch, Scott took a picture of me holding a sign that said "Gone Batty." It seemed appropriate! There is a point to all this. When you see my card, you may think that I really have gone batty.....

Yes, I made a Halloween card. It is not a card I had saved from October. I really sat down and made this a few nights ago. I do have my reasons (beyond just a broken brain). And I hope to share my reasons another time soon. It's a cliff hanger!

Sweet & Simple

Just a clean and simple card for you today.....

I couldn't get the pictures to turn out the way I wanted but I am too lazy to retake them! Speaking of pictures- Almost all of the pictures on my blog are not loading. I don't know how to fix it. Does anyone have any ideas?

I am off to have dinner with my hubby. We are having brownies. That's it. And I am not joking. :)

Sending a Smile Across the Miles

As you may have noticed, I haven't stamped in ages! Between my health, school, student teaching and family- stamping was put on the back burner. So sad! But I am so excited to be back! I am done with school and an official certified teacher. I have been stamping all week and enjoying myself so much! Here is a card that I made (with the help of my 4 year old). It is a hybrid Stampin' Up! and Papertrey card. The stamp set and a couple of the buttons are Papertrey. The paper, ink and the yellow button are Stampin' Up!

I want to thank you. I had so many of you send emails to let me know that they missed me and were praying for my health. It is hard to believe how much people you have never met care about you! I have always loved that about stamping. It is like we have our own club and the secret hand shake is the thud of a stamp on an ink pad.

The only thing changing about my blog is that I have decided to give up my Stampin' Up! demonstrator status. I LOVE the products and the company. But I have come to realize that I like to stamp so much more than selling. Workshops and classes made it impossible to just stamp for fun. I loved my business, but I am ready to move on. The good news for you is that I will have more time to stamp for my blog. :)

Enough talking.......go stamp!

Gone Batty

I LOVE this Halloween card! It helps that the stamper is one of the most talented artists that I know! And it just so happens that she is my upline too! You have to check out Diana's blog.....and be prepared to be in awe!

First, I LOVE the textured background. I am just on a texture kick lately. And then I love the little pops of color that add so much! I especially love the little light! I am not positive, but I am guessing that she made it by sticking the eraser end of a pencil in the ink and then onto the stamped image. Cute!

Are you ready for Halloween? The 6 of us have our costumes! And I think we are picking one up for the dog too! So my husband and I are going as Fred and Wilma. My son is going as an astronaut. The twins are going as a rock star and a cheerleader. And the youngest is going as a Ladybug. They also have to dress up for a literacy parade at school. So Kyler will be Ralph S. Mouse. Danika is going to be Angelina Ballerina. Makenzie is going to be Pinkalicious. So as you might guess...we have costume pieces all over the place!!!! Anyone got a creative costume?

For Your Viewing Pleasure......

I absolutly LOVE making Halloween projects. So you can imagine my disapointment about not being quite ready to stamp yet and it is already October 21st! But since I have to host a Kindergarten Halloween party next week, I WILL stamp soon! I insist that they have cute, hand made treats!

Since I haven't been stamping, I decided to show you some amazing cards I got in a demonstrator Holiday Mini swap quite a while ago. Today's card is amazing!!!! It was made by Barbara Pirk.

I love how she blended the various colors to create the sky. And you probably can't see in the picture, but just about all the black is embossed.

I love how it is a 3d card. So unique!

The Kindergarteners will definatly NOT be receiving cards like this!!!

Thanks for stopping by.