I think I am ready to blog...

Whew! I thought August was busy, but I am thinking September has it beat!!! Any way, last time I wrote, I mentioned that I would post pictures of my craft room. Well, I have moved everything in here, but I have not got it quite like the way I want it yet. I am planning to put things on the walls and hide my boxes that are at the moment, under tables and in corners. Argh.... Anyway, I have been busy with swaps, card clubs, stamp a stacks, and preparing for the holidays.


This card is for one of the wedding swaps I am in. I did case the idea from some one I received a card from that was in one the swaps I was recently in. If I knew her name, I would let you know so that I could give her the creit, but she didn't sign her card. She used purples and a winter scene. I changed it up a bit and used pretty in pink, baja breeze and whisper white card stock. I also used the manhattan flower embossing folder with the pretty white satin ribbon. To get this look I ran it through the big shot with the folder. I then cut the top part so it is shorter than the bottom flap of the card. I used my versamarker over the fine lines of the flower sprinkled irredescent ice embossing powder, heated it up with my heating gun. Punched two holes, then tied the ribbon in a bow. I used the Teeny Tiny wishes set for the inner card with baja breeze and whisper white cardstock in the baja breeze ink. I hope the people in the swap will like it as much as I do. Happy Stampin!!!

life this month... whew!!!

Hello all! It has been so long since I last wrote! Sorry about that. This month has been the busiest month I think I have ever had. Lets see, the short version, I have worked at 3 different jobs, I have lost 4 pounds, we are moving into a new house, our new house got robbed, I have cut and did the prep work for a stamp a stack that will have 16 people, and I went to the most beautiful wedding ever! All in one month! Anyway, I am hoping that things wind down a bit in the next few weeks and that I will start really enjoying my new craft space in the new house. We haven't even moved in yet, but the craft room is painted. I am hoping tomorrow that I will be able to decorate it the way I want and situate it the best way I know how. I just can't wait to get into the house. Here is a before picture of the craft room. I will post a picture of the after when it is complete. Happy Stampin!

Workshops workshops workshops.....

Hi there! I just finished a workshop tonight that had 14 attendees! Wow! Can we say "that's a lot of prep work"? I for sure thought it would be a bigger sale workshop, but the end total came to just over $240. Bummer right? I am not as bummed by that as I was in the fact that no body even wanted to host a party off this party at all. I was really hoping to get a few more potential customers from this party, but as hard as I tried, it was to no avail. It did, however turn out to be a smooth workshop and no major things happened and I didn't forget anything. I am hoping to make a few contacts from these group of ladies that did attend tonight and see, if maybe later I could get them to host or to order more. We will see, but in the meantime, I am going to bed. I am wiped out. Have a good night!

Summer days...

This weekend we celebrated my husband's 30th birthday party. We had so much fun in my home town with lots of great food, friends and family, gun shooting, card playing, canoe and kayak racing, softball playing, and hiking. I love summer days! I find myself really loving this summer more than most, maybe because we are back in the same state as our family. Although, I haven't been as active as I usually am in the summer, I must say, it sure was nice this weekend to be outdoors again for the entire weekend. I got to thinking though that I need to be more active and get back into shape again, not the round shape that I am in now, but the healthy like I know that I can be shape. So, my goal is to blog here weekly about my weight loss and hopefully within one year I would like to be at my ideal weight of 135 pounds. I know I can do it, but will you help encourage me along the way?


I recently made this card for a workshop I am doing for my mother in law in two weeks. There is a time and a place and a season for everything, so now is my season to get healthy again and lose this extra weight I have been carrying for far too long. It uses the season of friendship stamp set, pink piroutte, whisper white, and certainly celery cardstock, pretty in pink ribbon, daffodil delight ink, and early espresso ink.

Long time since I last wrote....

It has been awhile since I last posted. I have finally been busy at work again so I have had to learn how to manage less time all over again once I get home. I have been working on a few swap cards and a few workshop cards for the next couple weeks. One I made yesterday uses the motorcycle stamp from the Summer Mini. My husband and I love to ride the Harley, but lately due to time constraints and him working more in the evenings, we really haven't got to go out much this whole summer. Bummer! But, there is still hope for me! Hopefully two weekends from now we will travel around the lower Pennisula of Michigan along the lakeshore of the beautiful Great Lakes. Just the two of us, on the Harley. But anyway, here is the card.

It only uses cardstock and ink. I used Whisper White, Basic Black, and the new Cajun Craze Cardstock. Cajun Craze ink and the motorcycle stamp from the Summer mini.

Hope to post more cards very soon!

No road trip, but remembrance....

Hello again. Well, no road trip for me this past week. On Wednesday last week, the day before I was to leave for the Blue Ridge Parkway, my grandma passed away. So, as soon as I found out, my husband and I left for the east side of Michigan to be with my family and help plan for the funeral. Not only did I get to help decide the music to be played and the flower arrangements, I also got to say her Eulogy. What an honor that was!
My Grandma was a very funny lady and full of spunk. I remember her answering the door with her big Groucho Marx glasses, you know the ones with the big eyebrows and the bi nose. She always saw the best in the situations at hand and she loved to stop and admire nature and colors. Oh how she loved colors! She was a very real Christian lady and often times could be seen witnessing to others that may have not known Christ as their personal saviour.
Although, it is sad that physically she is no longer here with us, it makes my heart leap a thousand times knowing that she is walking with Jesus. One of the songs I picked for her funeral was "In the Garden" and He walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own. How very fitting for Grandma! Grandma, You will be missed, but I truly look forward to the day that I get to walk in that Garden with you.

Going on a road trip...

I am counting down the hours until Thursday morning. What is going on on Thursday you ask? I am going on a motorcycle trip with my husband, my favorite Sister in law and my brother in law. We are leaving on Thursday to first ride 740 miles to Front Royal Virginia and over the weekend we will make our way down the Blueridge Parkway eventually ending in Gatlinburg TN. Ooh I am so excited about this trip. The four us get along so well and I know we will have a great time! I will post pictures when I get home. I am not only looking forward to relaxing a bit, spending time with them, but also I can't wait to see the beautiful scenery that everyone keeps talking about. Well, I have a few things to do tonight, so I should get going. See you when I get back next week. In honor of this trip, I made this motorcycle card for my sister in law Kristin. Items used are: Whisper white and basic black and Pixie Pink Cardstock. Motorcycle stamp from the Summer mini, Teeny Tiny wishes stamp set. Basic Black ink. Itty bitty pucnh, word window, and modern label punch. whisper white 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon. Pixie pink marker. And the Itty bitty buttons also from the summer mini. She just loved the pink Harley!

It finally came....

On Thursday I was patiently waiting for my new catalog to come via UPS. Well, actually I was growing increasingly impatient as the evening went on. But the guy in brown did finally get here. That night I had already made plans with my sister in law so that I could bring the new IBC to her place so we could look at it together. So I only got to look at it for about 10 minutes by myself before I had to rush over to her place. Together we oohed and ahhed over all the new colors and how great the new catty demonstrated them. I kept finding more and more stamps sets that I can't wait to get, especially some of the new Christmas stamps. I will have to wait a while on that one. Maybe I will just pick up an extra weekend at work so that I can have a few extra dollars to get me some more goodies. I can't wait to use some of the new colors. Well, I off to get ready to go have dinner and watch movies with some friends with my love, Ben. Have a blessed and warm day!


This is the card I made for my dad and my dad in law. Both guys love the grill so how fitting is the stamp set King of the grill for them?

Supplies used: modern label and word window punch; kraft, real red, and chocolate chip cardstock, real red brads from the bold brights brads, close to cocoa ink, and the king of the grill stamp set from the Summer mini. The lattice square embossing is what I did the Creamy caramel with.

I am trying to be patient....

I am sitting here waiting for my Stampin Up Order to get here. It is supposed to be here today through the UPS. I am trying really hard to be patient, but the more the time goes by, the less impatient I am becoming. God is showing me a little more about patience lately, but of all the days to test me??? The day my new 2010 catalog is supposed to come, the UPS guy still hasn't shown up. I keep looking out my window in hopes he gets here, but still no big truck in my driveway. I should go and do something so that I won't be thinking about it at all. But, what if I miss him, or what he has dropped the box off at my steps and I didn't know he came yet, or what if he got a speeding ticket and he is delayed because he was hurrying to get my goodies for me? Help me to accept when he gets here, no matter if it is later than normal. Help me to be content with this too. Here I just talked about being content and feeling blessed. Well, I am trying to be patiently content, just sometimes it is easier said than done!

Here is a card I made the other day for July fourth. I love spending time with family on Independence day so I usually send out a bunch of July 4th cards. In my family, we have all grown up to be very patriotic. What better day to celebrate it than Independence day? I love the summer picnics, the summer games, the summer laughter, and just the overall summer happiness. When I think of July 4th with my family I think of hot dogs, lots of hot dogs...lots of ketchup on slightly burnt hotdogs. So I knew that the chef guy from the Voila set would be perfect for this special occasion.



Supplies used:
Kraft, real Red, Not quite Navy , and Very Vanilla Cardstock
Large star punch
Voila and Voila To go stamp sets
Close to Cocoa ink
Real Red ink
Real Red 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon
Red white and blue jumbo wheel

Just thinking to myself and wondering what if????

Hello everyone. I was at work today thinking about my life and how I have changed a lot in the last ten years. The things I once thought I had to have aren't that important to me now. The things I love now used to be things I never ever thought I would like this much. So I got thinking, what if???
What if I continued to be an active soccer and softball player, what if I continued with Physical Therapy school, what if I had move half way across the world, what if I had got married to the other guy?
Well, the list goes on and on. But then I was reminded of the life I do have and how I truly feel blessed to have it. Sure, I might not have become the world traveler that I once thought I would be, or the physically fit girl I was at the age of 18, or became a Physical Therapist....but I really am starting to see that I do have what I want now and I am really learning to be content. Sure, I have 50 extra pounds to lose because I no longer play soccer to stay active, but I am still a strong woman. I may not be as fast as I once was, but I can still move and get up and go for a walk if I chose and appreciate nature even more. Maybe I didn't marry that one guy. You know what? That is a huge blessing right there! I love my husband more now than what I loved him at our wedding day. Trust me, I loved him more than I ever thought possible for a human to love on the day, but our love for each other now has more depth and understanding and acceptance than we both could have imagined on our wedding day.
God has blessed me with so much and has allowed me to really accept my life as it is now, here and in the present. What better is there than that? True acceptance of one's own life is pretty powerful stuff for me. So, although I had some what if questions, I like the "what is" a little more.....



I made this card with the manhatten floral embossing folder and used the vellum paper. I placed it on the certainly celery cardstock. I then put it on Tempting Turquoise cardstock and tied it with T.T. ribbon. I then stamped it with the love you much stamp set from the well scripted stamp set. I will be giving this card to my husband just to say how much I love him and how grateful I am to be with him in the here and now.