Technique Club Friday

The newest round of my technique hostess clubs started yesterday. We have some new faces (Welcome!) and some regular stampers, too (Welcome back!). We learned three new techniques. I hope everyone enjoyed learning something new!

The first card demonstrates Pastel Embossing. Yes, I know I showed that last week with my downlines. But I created a different card for this class. I was very inspired my ladydian on Splitcoast. She used the SU! Sunflower set and used it in a One Sheet Wonder. I think hers is just beautiful. So, I attempted to make something similar. I changed the color combo from hers and made my own layout. I chose the colors from the SU! Color Wheel. That is one tool I can say honestly that I use it every day. So, it's Elegant Eggplant (yeah, go figure...purple. LOL.), Summer Sun, and Basic Black CS.

Next, the technique is Blurred Vision using the Doodle This and Petals and Paisleys stamp sets. I completely CASED this beauty from the ultimate teacher, Ms. Beate Johns. Here's her card. I thought the cocoa on chocolate gave an interesting, cool effect. The blurred vision technique is really cool and easy, too.

Finally, we did faux wood. I showed this card to my 4.5 yr old and he said "It looks like a barn". I'll take that as a compliment, thank you very much. See even a 4.5 yr old can tell it looks like wood. Of course, he's never actually been to a real life barn but that's okay. Good 'ole TV! :o So, I used my Best of Cluck set to make a thank you card. Remember one of my recent posts (if anyone is out there????), I *NEED* birthday and thank yous! I used the circle punches to create a window on the front of the card and the chicks are stamped instead on a piece of WW. Also, I stamped the CUTE little chick in the inside, bottom corner. She's cute!

Another faux scallop punch idea

Here's another tutorial on how to do a scallop circle. All you need is the slit punch and a circle cutter, like Coluzzle or the CM circle cutter.

Sarah and the Stampstars!

Got the word window punch? Then scallops are yours!

So many of you have asked me about the scalloped punches I've used on some cards. Here's the downside to them... they're PRICEY ($20 just for one giga), they're HEAVY, they take up lots of space, AND they're hard to find.

Want another solution? Look what I found here... GENIUS, I tell you, sheer genius!

GinaK's Scalloped Ovals & Circles with SU! Word Window Punch

What a versatile little punch that SU! Word Window is. All I can say is WOW! Some really crafty people out there!

Using up cut cardstock...

Remember that special occasion class I had a few weeks ago? Well, I'm still making up the leftover cards from it. But here's what happened... my mom was here this weekend for Easter (SLEETING during the Easter Egg hunt in SUNNY AUSTIN, TX ... WHAT?). Anyway, while she was here, I was telling her about my blog and various other things, like the Colin Cowie gifts-ready-to-go thing. I realized I only had 1 gift box of cards left (I originally packaged up 5... see my blog entry about Colin Cowie). So, I decided to box up some more. I mean, it seems like I'm stamping all the time. I probably have enough to make up some boxes. Right. So, yea, been stamping like a crazy woman. Birthday cards? No. Thank you cards? Uh, no. WHAT HAVE I BEEN MAKING? I dunno. Not b'day and thank yous. DOH. That's what I want to give in the boxes. So, last night, I decided that of those 12 designs that I have still to finish making up the spare cut cardstock, I will make b'day and thank yous from them instead of the intended special occasion. Except for some of them because I do actually need cards like the pregnant lady ones, etc. but really how many wedding/anniversary cards does one person really need in her stash? Bring on the birthday cards and the thank yous. I made up 26 cards last night, I think, from some of the leftovers (almost done with those! it will be good to put away all those stamps and inks and such). The 26 are of four designs.

The first uses my new Green Thumb stamps from PaperTrey, Ink were cute! It's one of my first adventures into acrylic stamps. Not sure what I think about th. I thought the strawberriesem yet. Anyway, I now have a few thanks you. Colors are real red, glorious green ink on whisper white cs, basic black cs, and real red cs.

The next two cards use the SU! Doodle This stamp set from the spring mini catalog. You know, I went to Starbucks today (another obsession of mine!) and I noticed they have a bunch of spring stuff (coasters, mugs, etc.) with doodles on them and some look like this large flower from Doodle This. Go figure. I knew doodles were in but if Starbucks has them... then they must REALLY be in. I used the aquapainter and the reinkers to color the flowers. Also, there is glitter all around the flower.

And finally, I had a 3 or 4 leftover grandma baby shower invites from my son's preschool teacher's shower. Of course, I already had stamped "it's a shower" across the bottom. So, I covered that up and made some "Welcome baby" cards. I had everything else already cut and stamped (the giraffe), I just had to put it all together.

Now, I have a few thank you and birthday cards. I'll keep most of those for my stash since I was completely out. But I need to concentrate on making some more of those for my gift boxes!

What do you send "HER"?

Oh my goodness... What kind of card can you send to the ultimate stamper? ACK! My upline, Jenn's best friend, is none other than the famous, Beate (rhymes with miata), over on SCS. Beate is the stamping guru. She writes most of the tutorials on splitcoast and well she's just plain awesome. You can find her blog here. Anyway, when I became a demonstrator under Jenn, Beate emailed me and welcomed me aboard and told me that I had the bestest upline ever. She also told me that not only did I have a great mom (Jenn), I know have her as my Aunt! WOHOO! Can you freakin' believe that?

Yesterday, was Beate's birthday. And I missed it. However, I'm still going to send her a card. Better late than never, right? But coming up with the ultimate card was more challenging than I thought. You know how I usually stamp a bunch of whatever I'm stamping? Well, last night, I kept throwing out card after card because it just wasn't right. How can I even compare to her? Well, after I realized that I can't. I decided to be clever. Beate used to live in San Antonio but now she's in Florida. So, I made her a card to remind her of Texas. The first couple of designs were BORING and very manly. Pffft.... Beate should get a really girly card but how do you make TEXAS girly? Well, here's what I came up with. PLEASE tell me what you think!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to you and yours. We have had some VERY STRANGE weather here for Easter. It was just in the 70s and 80s early this week then yesterday we had SLEET! WHAT? Hello? Very odd. Our egg hunting happened indoors! I hope your Easter was memorable!

Friday night, I had my first of what hopes to be a monthly meeting with my downlines. We made one card with a cool technique, I showed them some tricks and tips for using some of SU!'s products, and we talked a little about the business. Mainly we talked and visited and oh, ate.

The colors I picked for the card we did came straight from a challenge over on Splitcoast. It's on the demo forum. To participate in the challenge, you must make a card with current SU! stuff, pick one of two layouts, and one of three color combos. I picked the color combo that was most spring-like and the layout that fit the technique I wanted to use. I ended up doing the card twice, same colors and layout, just different order of the colors. So, tell me which one you like! The color combo that I had to use is Gable Green, Pixie Pink, and Lavender Lace. I used black for the technique. The challenge says you can use any neutral.

The technique is called Pastel Embossing. I had never tried it before but I think I like it. It makes the image pop off the page. Here are my 2 cards. I showed my husband both of them and he picked the gable green one. After staring at them for a while, I like that one the best.

Flock

And no I don't mean the "of Seagulls" kind. Aside: My husband is very musically inclined. My oldest son is too. He practically came out moving to music. Anyway, I am not musically inclined, whatsoever. So, when I get a song in my head, I only get like 3 words of the song and maybe a "la la la" or something. And now, after SO many years of knowing me, my very talented husband can tell me what song it is that's in my head from the 3 words and la la la. I have never been one to remember names of bands, let alone song titles. Sad. Really. One day, I had this song in my head and again only the first 5 words. I'm driving the 4 year-old to school and tell him about it. He SINGS the first part of the song. WHAT? How does he know that? It wasn't even a kid song. PFFT. Yea, so you should be impressed that I "even" know that there is a band name Flock of Seagulls.

What I do mean is that SU! used to sell this stuff called flock. It came in Whisper White and some brown color. I think this was at least 3 years ago, way before I became a demonstrator. So, of course I HAD to have some (I'm a proud graduate of the Jenn Balcer school of hoarders!). I have the white. And until this week, it had never been opened. I remember buying it and wanting to try it on bunnies or something like that. Well, here it is DAYS before Easter. I LOVE the stuff. I wish we sold it. I even googled for it and it comes in all sorts of colors. But really, I need to use what I have first. So, what is it? It's like shavings of fabric or something. It's fuzzy. It makes the bunny fuzzy. Think of those cards you've bought at the store that have some texture to the image (maybe a flower or bunny or teddy bear, etc.). All you have to do is use glue (2 way glue or heat and stick) and sprinkle it on, then smoosh it for good measure.

I had to try it out and I liked it so much that I made 20 Easter cards. Why only make one?
I also used my new Reverse Dots (for my very strange polka dot addiction that's going on right now) Background from Cornish Heritage Farms. I really need to get them out in the mail today if I hope to get them there before Sunday!

I did 5 different colors - all soft subtles:

Pretty In Pink,



Barely Banana,



Bashful Blue,




Almost Amethyst,


and Certainly Celery.



I used the Bunny Hugs set from the Spring Mini.

I'm not a pink person.

Plain and simple. Not. a. pink. person. Or a turquoise person. I'm talking about not wearing these colors. Ever. I think I used to wear them but not so much. Anyway, that not wearing those colors thing, of course, has bled over into the world of stamping. And well, Jenn, my fabulous upline, is a Turquoise (and pink) person. So, through her own way, she has opened my eyes to the possibility that these colors won't actually bite me. I still proclaim that I'm a purple, green, blue person. (Translate as Amethyst (or Tanzanite), Emerald, and Sapphire!!!)

So, back to stamping. It's my friend, Michelle, birthday today. And by now, you all know that when I stamp, I stamp a bunch of things at once and keep a stash going. If I didn't, I would never have a card to send because I can never just sit down 5 minutes before going somewhere and make a card. I know people that do this. Or then there are those people that plan ahead and make the ONE unique card for someone days in advance of needing it. I'm not one of those people. But Michelle has been stamping with me from the very beginning. And although she hasn't been stamping much lately (because she has a sweet infant at home), she still needed to get a card that wasn't part of the stash (she probably has the same stash at her house!).

Now, Michelle, she is a PINK person. And she wears it well. And many of her cards are some form of the pink family (hey, she likes Turquoise too... I'm beginning to see a pattern here). Michelle likes SPARKLE! So, what better stamp set than Totally Cool. I put dazzling diamonds glitter everywhere and added a little bling to the sparkle-y purse. The card is Pink Passion with a layer of Basic Black. The black is dry embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.

Anyway, Michelle, Happy Birthday. May it sparkle as much as you do.

A tisket, a tasket, ... an Easter Basket?

How about 18 of them?

I realized today around 11am that all the stuff I had for the kids at my son's preschool for Easter would have to go to school tomorrow instead of Thursday. The Easter festivities for his class got bumped up a day earlier due to some scheduling conflicts with some other kids. Anyway, at 11am today... OH MY! So, many thoughts went through my head including the scrap the whole idea one. But persistence prevails yet again. I made one quick template basket to see how hard it was. Then I wheeled and cut for 18. Then tonight I put them all together. Quite easy actually. The hardest part (and this is not a lie!) is getting the bleeping Easter grass in the basket. SHEESH. That's stuff is wild!

My friend, Amy, picked up the cute "Fun Dough" at the $ spot at Target a while back for me. It fits just perfectly!

The Easter baskets are made with Barely Banana cardstock and I used the Bunny Hugs set and the Petals Jumbo Wheel.

Whew. Glad that project is done. NOTHING like the last minute. And there is no reason I couldn't have made these 2 weeks ago!

Where or where did March go?

Okay, so I know it's April. But it's barely April. I could say that I just didn't get around to posting my March Bumper Card until now. But that's not exactly the truth. I am only getting around to posting it now because I only just finished them yesterday (yes, finished March bumper cards on April 2nd!). So, hmm... what happened to March? Has anyone seen it? It seemed to have flown by and I think I missed some of it. So, yes, April 2nd and I got 25 bumper cards in the mail. I started making them on March 31st, does that count? :P

I used the new Petals jumbo wheel. I love the jumbo wheels. They make things go quicker. And they're pretty... well, most of them. I really should use them more often.

The card is Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, and Whisper White. I did faux stitching on the bottom with the SU! Signo White Gel Pen (that is the best white pen I've ever seen in my many years of crafting, scrapping, and stamping. It's just so smooth!). I did the paper piercing with the SU! tool kit. That's the new file folder punch with an A Muse stamp, "Just Because".

Check your mail today... Maybe some of you will get one! Just because.

Special Occassion Card Buffet Class

My first card buffet class was last Thursday (the same day as the Grandma shower!). I think it went pretty well. Here's how it worked... for $10, everyone came and made 5 cards. Then after those 5, if they wanted any more, it was a $1 per card. There were 12 designs to pick from. That is what I call overkill... It was supposed to be, maybe 8 designs. But I got so wrapped up in making the designs up that I kept on going! And I kept on coming up with new occasions that I needed a card for. In the end I was still 4 occasions short of my full list but that's okay. I'll save those for another time. These were non-birthday and non-thank you cards. The idea behind the buffet is that not everyone needs a bunch of baby cards or get well, etc. but they might want more than one wedding card, etc. They got to decide how many and which ones. Much different than a stamp-a-stack. Also, I'm proud to say these are all my designs and I didn't CASE any of them from anywhere. That must be a record for me! Anyway, in no particular order (but the Pregnancy and the Get Well are my favorites!):



1) Sympathy - Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, WW, Fine Lace, Close as a Memory







2) General Congrats - Really Rust, Creamy Caramel, Naturals Ivory, Matey Jumbo Wheel, Amazing to Zany







3) Get Well - Summer Sun, Basic Black, WW, Print Pattern, Farm Fever









4) Wedding - Real Red, Basic Black, WW, Happily Ever After










5) Happy Anniversary - Real Red, Creamy Caramel, AYC3, Loving Hearts







6) Girl Baby - Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana, WW, Baby Talk










7) Boy Baby - Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, WW, Baby Talk









8) Pregnancy - Petals Designer Paper, Swell News





9) General Baby (like for a shower) - Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal, I'm Here, Mini Mates, Handprint wheel









10) Thinking of you - Orchid Opulence, Rose Red, Doodle This





11) Welcome to the Neighborhood/New Home - Cool Carribean, Marigold Morning, WW, Right at Home, Eclectic Backgrounds











12) Hang in there - Pixie Pink, Close to Cocoa, Barely Banana, Ruff Day











So, what do you think? I cut enough card stock for 10 of each. So, now I have to make up the rest and add it to my stash! YAY! I so needed some of these cards. Almost all of the color combos came from the handy, dandy SU! Color Wheel. I love that tool. I think I'm color challenged without it!

The frame for the boys

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, 4 generations, I made a frame for Pressley and the men in her life. Here it is. See the previous post for the details on it.

4 generations!

Okay, so are you completely tired of me talking about this shower? I'm sure you are. The shower was today. And it was FABULOUS. She got so much stuff. Most of the class pitched in for a group gift (which I ended getting a gift card to Babies R Us). She wanted a pack-n-play for her house but one of the moms gave her a gently used one, which she was happy to receive. I gave her a glider rocking chair and ottoman last week. I had 2 and I am done with one of them. That way she can rock her sweet granddaughter. Anyway, the kids were SO funny about the shower. They had a blast! Many of the families got individual gifts as well as contributing to the group gift so it was extra special! Anyway, one of the moms told the kids (16 4 and 5 year olds!) that at adult baby showers, it is customary to OOH and AAH after every gift is open. Boy, do they catch on quickly! HA!

So, I have two more presents to share with you that I made. Yes, I know, I went CRAZY for this shower. BUT it is SO much fun! One is a wall hanging that celebrates the four generations of ladies in this family. It is made out of chipboard coasters and uses the Paisley Designer Paper from the SU! Spring Mini. Fabulous colors! The sayings under each picture spot are "me", "me and my mom", "me and my grandma", "me and my great grandma". I did the writing on the vellum on the computer and printed it out. I tied all four coasters together with grosgrain ribbon. And used the pewter hodgepodge kit to put hangers at the top.

Well, I couldn't very well leave out the men, could I? I made a picture frame to sit on a desk or table for the pictures with dad and grandpa. I used the same paper but the more manly, stripes. These coasters are put together using little hinges I got from Starlitstudio's ebay store. She is the greatest, btw. She's a Splitcoast regular and I'd like to call her a friend! Okay, well, the camera is in the car. I'll upload the picture tomorrow.

Standard baby shower gift works everytime!

So, again, personalized stuff... important to me. You know, I had a very small but very busy embroidery business right before I found SU! I got burned out with all the orders I had to do on Christmas Eve and decided only to just do it for myself. Anyway, I started that business by word of mouth and made lots and lots of personalized stuff for myself and others. It was fun. I still have the sewing machine but I don't do it much... that would be time *away* from stamping! LOL! Anyway, here's my standard gift for baby showers. I like to give 10-25 very simple white cards with the child's name on it and footprints from the SU! retired set, Cuddles and Tickles to use as thank yous or whatever. Every new mom seems to love having them - don't have to go to the store to buy some thank yous or don't really have time to make their own! I completely get that. So, while they're not very detailed, they are very functional! And do you know how many of these I've received back in the mail? How FUN! The card has the baby's name and footprints and the envelopes have the footprints and "tickled pink" from Amuse stamps (love their fonts on their words!)

My dear, sweet, FABULOUSLY TALENTED, upline (and friend), Jenn Balcer, is notorious for picking up frames here and there on clearance, stashing them for a long time (so long that no one will ever be able to duplicate her work because they can't find the frames! - believe I know!). Anyway, then she pulls one out, decorates it all fancy and stuff and then gives it away - Hey Jenn, how come you haven't sent me one, yet? :P

Anyway, I went through a phase (or should I say craze) a while back where I was searching high and low for a great deal on frames. Now, in my craft room rehaul... I am finding them all :(. OOPS. Thanks Jenn. Now, I am the one pulling them out of *my* stash to make something clever.

First, here is the original frame. Found at Target last fall for $3.98, I think. It's a 8x10 white metal frame that is kinda shadow-box like (it has a bit of depth to it... not much but it's nice). The picture opening is 4x6. AND the back had a protective covering over it so it wouldn't get scratched. Pretty good for $4, right? The mat was very summer-y.

I showed it to my husband before I "fixed" it and said "take a look at this". He said nothing. I think he thought I did this to the mat. Jenn probably likes the colors! But they're not me. You probably know that by now.

Did I mention that I got two of them? As I do stuff for this baby shower, I realize that I keep leaving people out. The great grandmother (the original Pressley) will be there. I thought it would be nice to give her something, too. So, I made her one as well.

The great grandma one is Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip. The Grandma one is Celery and Apricot. I am really pleased how these turned out.

Good thing I had to follow in Jenn's footsteps. Oh, and my stamp room has 3 fewer frames (includes the name frame) now! Baby steps...

Remember my Colin Cowie entry?

I sold one of those boxes of cards to one of the preschool teachers today. She loved her b'day present so much that she wanted to give it to someone else! How cool is that? That made me smile today.

Very little advice

I was trying to come up with a catchy title for this book I made for the baby shower. I ended up with "advice from little people" but it really should be called "little advice" since they really isn't any advice in there! I asked all the parents to ask their kids 3 questions for our soon-to-be-grandma teacher: 1) What is a good name for the baby? 2) What is the greatest thing about grandparents? 3) What should you do when the baby cries? Talk about funny answers! Anyway, I decided to put all the answers in a book and give it to her. Well, of course, I had to "make" the book. I used SU's new 5x5 chipboard book in the Spring Mini. I think I'll have to stock up on these. I know I'm going to use them for the end of school teacher gifts! Anyway, I decorated it using the new hole punch that is also in the Spring Mini (to get the paper exactly on the cover). I covered both front and back of both covers with the new SU! Petals & Paisleys Designer Paper. I need more of that, too! On the first page, I stamped "find joy in the little things" - it seems SO appropriate. The big flower on the front makes me SO happy. I got that at Target, I think. I love the way this little book turned out!

Grandma baby shower

The grandma baby shower for my son's preschool teacher is this week. I've been working on some of her gifts. Here's a little background information. Ms. Jo Anne (the teacher) has three grown boys. Her first grandbaby will be a GIRL. She'll be here in a few weeks. Ms. Jo Anne is so thrilled! Ms. Jo Anne's mother is here visiting from Minnesota and her name is Pressley. How cool and hip is that for a name. Ms. Pressley visited the classroom last week and leave it to MY son to ask her how old she is. She's a young 84 years old! Well, this first grandbaby will be named Pressley. Isn't that fabulous? I especially love the fact that she (the baby) is being named after someone that is still living. That is such the tribute. And well, I think the name is pretty fun, too.

As many of you know, my name is not all that common here in the states. And it's spelled a little differently than the common way to spell it back in India. My spelling is "Geeta" and the more common is "Gita". Anyway, being born here and growing up in Canada and Texas, LOTS of people had trouble saying and spelling my name. So, when we had kids, we had some simple rules about picking names - they had to be pretty unique, one syllable, easy to pronounce, and easy to spell. We pretty much stuck with that for both boys. Anyway, after all of this blabbing, what's the point? Names. Names are very important to me. I always try to give a personalized gift whenever there is an unusual name. You don't know how many turnstyle things with personalized name items I've turned (like license plates, keychains, pencils, etc. - you know what I mean) at every amusement park, craft store, etc. looking for my name (this was when I was little, of course). You know how many I found? Zero. One time in Mexico, my dad got me a personalized ring that they carved right there. I still have it. Problem is it's made out of brass and turns my finger green. Ew!. While at Disney, I got my oldest boy one (passing the tradition down) but his is sterling silver... no green for him.

So, back to the name thing... I think people like to see their name on stuff. I made Pressley (her middle name is going to be Ava btw, I think that's cool too) a name frame for her room (at her parents house - so not such a great gift for the grandma... but I'm working on that, too). Her room is primary colors (can you believe that? It's a GIRL and they're using primary colors! She should be decked out in PURPLE! Sheesh! Of course, this is from a mom of TWO boys and everything we have is Primary Colors. Maybe that's why my stamp room is Purple!). The "primary" primary color is Yellow. I went with Summer Sun and not Yo Yo Yellow because Yo Yo is just plain awful (IMHO). Can you imagine looking at Yo Yo for any extended length of time. I didn't want to blind the child. Summer Sun, Real Red, Brilliant Blue, Whisper White CS, Doodle This stamp set (love this.), Warm Words, Amazing to Zany, and Headline Alphabet. And then some embellishments.

I hope they all like it. To me, it's fun to get stuff with my name on it. What do you think? Do you have an unusual name?

Found my stampin' mojo...

It's good to be stamping again. I have a ton of projects to do this week so hopefully I update the blog again. Last week, I had a hard time getting started after vacation. I felt like I lost my "stampin' mojo"( as my friend, Michelle, would say!)

The last hostess club for this round was Friday night. As usual, we did 3 cards and learned 3 new techniques: Rock n Roll, No-tie bow (not Taebo, Lori! :P), Bleach.

Here are the cards:

Rock n Roll uses the SU! Wild About You set, Weathered Background, Lavendar Lace CS, Apricot Appeal CS, Certainly Celery CS, Whisper White CS, and Apricot grosgrain ribbon. Isn't that lion cute? I think I'm really starting to like Apricot - it's a shock to me since I've never been a yellow person!

No-tie bow uses the SU! Spring Garden set, Cool Carribean CS,
Marigold Morning (starting to love this color too - and it's going away soon :( ), Whisper White, Sponge, 1/8" hole punch, and Mustard grosgrain. How can you go wrong with Spring Garden? The tulips are always so pretty no matter what color you do them in! My friend, Michelle, sent me a card last week with this set. It's somewhat similar but not the same and she did hers in Gable Green and Regal Rose. Very pretty.

And finally, the bleach card. Now, most of you know that I don't "dress" up much. You know it's that previous life as an engineer - jeans or shorts and t-shirts (like college!) but I do try to look half-way decent for my workshops. But Friday night, I wore my "paint the house, clean the closets, stay - at - home - and - don't - let - anyone - see - me" t-shirt for the workshop. WHY? Well, because I am a bleach magnet! I can get bleach on me just by looking at the Clorox bottle. Seriously! Practically every brand new shirt I got would immediately get bleach on it. Mind you, I don't even use bleach when doing laundry so how does it happen??? Anyway, I just knew that I'd get it on me so I wore the old shirt. So, this card uses the SU! set Polka Dots and Paisley (from the Spring Mini), the Paisley background, Happy Everything, Tempting Turquoise CS, Taken with Teal CS, Cameo Coral CS (I never use this color!), Certainly Celery CS, the same color markers, Basic Black, and the new file folder punch. The bleach is on the turquoise CS.

So, I'm back at it. I think I found my mojo again...

Score!

You never know what you'll find...

Remember that wedding I had to go to the night before Disney? At the reception, there were little thank you gifts (yummy pralines) wrapped in tissue paper with a ribbon and this cool charm hanging from them. I was more excited about the charm then I was about the pralines! Everyone at the table gave me theirs! Now, I need to make something cool with them. You just never know what you'll find. Keep your eyes open!

Vacation is over....

Hey everyone! Did you think I got lost?

It was Spring Break here last week and my family and I went to Disney World! Yes, we did take our 1 year old and the 4 1/2 year old with us. We really wanted to take our oldest son before he leaves that "he's in awe of everything" stage. I think he'll always love Disney but *we* wanted to experience his reaction at this age. Some say he won't remember it. He might not but he does have an awesome memory. Anyway, our 1 year-old (weird to say that he's one!), was an absolute angel. He didn't nap hardly at all. Maybe a 10 minute nap all day and then we yanked him out of the stroller onto the next ride, movie, attraction. He never cried about it at all. He just went with the flow. I don't know why I am surprised about that. He's done that pretty much all his life. My husband that he was substituting food for sleep. It worked pretty well. Disney was AWESOME, as Disney always is. But more importantly, my family had quality family time. It was absolutely perfect and I wish it didn't have to end. Everyday we commented on how truly blessed we are to have such a loving, sweet family.

So, to answer your question... no, I'm not lost. Just didn't want to stop vacationing. My husband gets his 2 month sabbatical this summer. I can't wait for that. This weekend, we will celebrate the 18th anniversary of our first date (mind you, we knew each other a bit longer than that). Our 10 year wedding anniversary is in May. And of all that time, we haven't been apart that much. We lived in different cities for 3 years while we were dating but we saw each other every weekend for 3 years except TWO. We've done EVERYTHING together - undergraduate, graduate school, work together, taken fun classes like ceramics and ballroom dancing and now we have 2 very sweet boys. My life is complete.

Okay, sorry for all the sappiness... but I truly am blessed and very happy with my life.

As for stamping, yes, I am back at it. Last night, I made 24 of those baby shower invites that I was working on before Spring Break. You can see the picture in the previous post.

Oh and my room organization... well, it's a bit on hold. I gotta get some time to finish that!

MIA!

Okay, so I've gone missing for a while, haven't I?

Sickness had plagued our household starting last Thursday until yesterday (Wed). ALL three boys in this house were sick. YUCK! What else... oh yea, nephew had a birthday (turned 6!), husband had a birthday (turned ??), and my dear, sweet baby boy turned ONE yesterday. Between the sickness, birthdays, and trying to get ready for Spring Break, I, as you know, decided to *start* organizing my stamp room. So, that's where I've been. Oh, yea, and we got a new dishwasher! YAY! That's just a happy thing for me to think about. Yes, it's quiet but it *actually* cleans the dishes! What an accomplishment! Did I mention that I went to Target EVERY day this week?

Many of you have asked to see my stamp room. Well, it's not done yet and I don't want to reveal a half-done project! So, when I get to it (it might still be awhile! :(), I'll post the pictures. It's amazing how much stuff I have. Sheesh. Interestingly enough, I found in one of my craft boxes from when back when, my 1st embossing kit. My dad got it for me when I was in college, I think. Who knew I'd like card-making/stamping so many years later. I guess maybe he did. But then he did know me incredibly well. He's the reason I became an engineer. He thought I'd like it.

Anyway, so tonight, I started to organize yet a bit more (it takes forever to organize if you can only do it in 10-15 min increments!). Then I thought I'd take a break and stamp a bit. I have a ton to stamp and I really should get started.

I am throwing my son's preschool teacher a baby shower after Spring Break. Well, not a baby shower for her. She's not pregnant. Her son's wife is. She'll be a grandma for the first time. So, we're giving her a grandma shower... from the kids. I have so much to do! First the invitations! Problem *was* that I was obsessing way to much about it. I couldn't decide on what set to use... first problem... then what colors and what layout. I did come up with something and I made a prototype tonight. The great thing is that after I did it I moved on to the next card and it sat for a while. When I picked it up again, I really liked it. I hope she likes it too!

We're going to a wedding on Saturday and I need a card. So, I started to use the Doodle That set. OOH, I love it! I started with white craft on black. LOVE IT. Then I decided I didn't like it for a wedding card. So, I made a generic card. Not thrilled with the result but it's okay.

Finally, the wedding card. I wanted SIMPLE and elegant. Nothing is more elegant than black and white. Well, I think weddings should have color, too... not just black and white. So, I threw in some red. Very simple and no frills. No ribbon, nothing. Inside greeting is also in white and says "Congratulations .... Wishing two wonderful people one wonderful life."

So, I may have been MIA and I may still be, who knows? What's that saying? Can't wait until vacation is over so I can rest?

My hands hurt!

It's all Jenn's fault (see Jenn Balcer's blog link to the right). She "updated" her stamp room. I've been thinking about organizing mine. She just made me think about it more.

You may remember that we closed in my open game room last year (when I was pregnant! - uh, no "we" didn't do it - we hired someone) and I got cabinets and a desktop and lots of drawers built, too.

Here's the sad part... my baby will turn one this next week. Know what that means? That means my stamp room is one also! AND I haven't unpacked half the boxes of junk, er craft stuff, etc. yet. There are boxes and boxes of stuff lining up two of the four walls. The room is just a disaster. And that doesn't make me feel very happy about it.

So, Jenn... on on of her walls, she has this cube system (3 drawers, 4 drawers, glass doors, etc.) that looks pretty nice. They are from Target. Wednesday night after the boys went to bed, I went to Target to check them out. I came home with 12 cubes (4 different styles). Well, here it is Friday night, and I, myself, put together 12 cubes!

So, my hands hurt from holding the heavy drill/screwdriver thing. But they look sharp. No, they're not in place yet - that would require moving those previously mentioned boxes first! ACK!.

I'm not sure when I'll get to organizing because the next 2 weeks are a bit busy around here, but I"m itching to do so. I'll post pictures when I get to it. I'll have to stamp first though - I've got stuff I need to make!

Anyway, that's where I've been!