All Things Stamped

Yellow and Grey Make Me Happy!

2012-01-07T10:45:00.000-06:00

Another form of creativity that I have always enjoyed is decorating my home with the bargains I find at the Thrift Store. Almost everything in my house is second hand or repurposed. Below are pics of my red dinning room. It served us well for six years but it was time for something different.

Every single thing in this room is pieced together from my thirfty finds and cohesively brought together with a lovely coat of swiss mocha paint. Table $100 at Salvation Army, Buffet $25 yard sale, hutch $100 Grayslake flea market, two sewing cabinets flanking the fire place $25 each from the Volo antique barn, chairs $10 each thift store.

The chandelier was a find at the Rosemont flea market and came with two smaller chandeliers that hang in my foyer and mudroom. All purchased for the sweet price of $40.

Love the colors of this room and how it makes the room feel so much bigger. The splash of yellow scattered about the room really pop with the shades of gray. I love that my brassy chandelier is now a glossy black. That was a bold move and it turned out great!

Picture above the fire place was a Rosemont flea market find $10, vase with flowers thirft store for $2, candle holders are a mix of thrift store and Pottery Barn, clock was from the thrift store for $1 and I blew up a clock face picture and put it inside the glass, bird cage from the Grayslake flea market $2.

The glass candlestick lamps came from the thrift store for $10. I just bought new lampshades from Tuesday Morning for $6 each.

Everything in the new room was in the red room except the end chairs. I found these cool chairs at a thrift store for $50 for the pair. We painted them and reupholstered them. Love these chairs!

Happy decorating!
Denise

posted from Bloggeroid

Getting Crafty

2011-11-27T20:30:00.003-06:00

Have I mentioned that I LOVE Pinterest? Well I do. It is crafty goodness, home decor and recipes (and much much more) on steroids.

Above is the beginning of a project that I found on Pinterest. I love typography and this project really jumped out at me. I was on a quest for magnetic alphabet letters (the kind you stick to the fridge) as they were far cheaper than wooden letters. I finally found them at some random toy store in the mall ...double alphabet plus numbers for $5.99 (rip off ....because if I wasn't looking or wanting these damn things I'd find them by the bag full at the thrift store!)

Love, love, love this shadow box filled with letters that I primed and spray painted satin white. I wrote each of our names on the first letter of our names and added a heart with the date this family was established......1989 is the year we got married. I picked up a three pack of shadow boxes at Michael's for $9.99 and I added a sheet of grey card stock in the background. Then I strategically glued the letters to the cardstock with glue dots.

The end result.....an awesome addition to my mantle. Love it and will be making these as Christmas gifts for friends and family.....for less than $5.00. Can't really put a price on a gift made with love!!!

I did lots of shopping this Thanksgiving weekend and I spent a lot of time at the craft store. Sarah and I decided to do something different this year and give everyone a handmade gift. Tell me what are making and giving this year???

See ya on the blog!
Denise

posted from Bloggeroid

Paper Pumpkin

2011-11-14T08:30:00.001-06:00

Here is my second project utilizing the pages of a book. Yes, I sacrificed a Star Wars paperback book to make this cute little pumpkin. I wish I could take the credit for the idea but.....I must thank the magical world of Pinterest. ( I am so addicted to Pinterest.)

I made this pumpkin bright and early Sunday morning thanks to my most recent bout of insomnia. I decided to look up something on my Pinterest "cool ideas" board and just make something cool. Seriously.....Pinterest will inspire you for days and days.

For full instructions on how to recycle and repurpose a paperback book visit Creature Comforts. It took me about an hour to make but I was distracted watching Oprah so I am not real sure on the time commitment but regardless....it's still a pretty cool idea and looks awesome with my Thanksgiving display. (wouldn't this be a cute apple or pear?)

I am thinking I will continue my crafty week with more projects utilizing the pages from my two books. I would love to see what you are doing as well. Please share a link and show me your recycled pages!

See ya on the Blog!
Denise

posted from Bloggeroid

A "Page" From My Crafty Weekend

2011-11-13T16:03:00.003-06:00

Yeah for me! It actually feels great to do something creative again. I do feel slightly guilty for ruining two books for my projects but I love the end results so I'll get over it. (yes I have a second project but I am going to post it later. Why show off all in one post?)

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my Versafine wasn't dried up either. I did have a few problems such as I couldn't remember where my tools were and I went to buy mono adhesive to find that it isn't called mono adhesive anymore.

I actually managed to use my Big Shot and Sizzix flower die to make my layered flower. I have seen similar looking paper flowers on Pinterest (that link is to Simone's paper flower pins) and wanted to add the layered flower to a card. I used an old book that I got at the thrift store for my flower. I love the back and white on the red card.

I bought the stamp at Archievers a long long time ago and used Versafine black onyx ink.....still my favorite ink. I am not good with instructions and links anymore so forgive me for being so brief. I am just happy to have something posted before Monday.

I have a neglected friend that is going to get this card. (I actually have many neglected friends but I'll have to start slow and reach out one card at a time.) I actually have a ton of half started projects that need to be completed and mailed but if you know anything about me you know I have a problem mailing things too. Anyone else want to do a craft throwdown? I could use the continued motivation!

Thank you Simone for motivating me to do something crafty! I can't wait for you to share your project as I am sure it is awesome!

See ya on the blog!
Denise

posted from Bloggeroid

It's a craft throwdown!

2011-11-12T15:13:00.003-06:00

My friend Simone and I are lacking in the production of crafts and blog posts (me for sure on the blog posts...flashback to 2009 for some real crafty content). So to spur on some accountability (and stupidity on my part) I challenged Simone to a crafty throwdown. Duh!!! What was I thinking? Really.... I think she met Martha Stewart this year and probably has her cell phone on direct dial.

Has anyone seen my studio lately? Yea....my kids found it and took full advantage of my crafty hiatus. Last weekend I found glue tape on the hardwood floors and a piece (full piece of SU cardstock) with the words I <3 JUSTIN BIEBER spelled out in crystal rhinestones and glitter....and don't you know it....brads and Bazzill Bling paper accessorizing the lovely artwork adorning "MY" studio! (I hate Justin Bieber even more than ever. JK...if he is reading this.)

Regardless...."MY" studio has been out of commission for two years and I am ready to get back my crafty mojo. To show you my sincerity I have included pics of my messy studio with a mixture of supplies. There are no rules other than we have to craft something before Monday. How hard can that be? (Shhhh... I can hear your evil laughter!)

Simone....are your ready for a throwdown? (please be gentle and don't kick my ass) This all in good fun! No?

See ya on the blog!
Denise

posted from Bloggeroid

Happy Veteran's Day

2011-11-11T15:46:00.002-06:00

Today, 11-11-11, is my anniversary. I married my Veteran 22 years ago. Hard to believe how fast time flies by when you are busy living life which is exactly what we have been doing. Well not really....working is what we have been doing, running kids around is what we have been doing and slowing down the pace to observe life is what we have NOT been doing! Time to stop and breathe.

Anyway, Bailey (on the left) is wearing the first hat Bill was issued in the Navy and Maddie (on the right) is wearing the last hat he was issued. What an amazing 23 year career that took us from coast to coast, brought us lifelong friendships and awesome memories. Yes, there was heart ache and tears but I am so proud to be the spouse of a Navy Veteran and would do it all over again!

I think I have finally figured out a way to blog from my phone and add pics. My posts might be generic and boring until I find a way to move things around but for now this will give me a chance to get my feet back into the blogging world. I do miss writing and I need a hobby! Being consumed with work life is making my head hurt.

See ya on the blog!
Denise

posted from Bloggeroid

Remember Me?

2011-06-27T09:09:00.001-05:00

I can't believe that I haven't blogged in over two years! Do people even blog anymore?

It took me 20 minutes to figure out how to log into blogger and then I spent an hour reading my 11 drafted posts that I never completed or posted. Thank God because I was for sure not in the right frame of mind when I wrote them and sounded like a total crazy bitch. Anyway, reading those posts not only reminded me of my stamping hobby (and past life) but how much I love writing! It made me laugh because I write the way I talk and the emotions in my posts are true and real to me. It was like I wrote those things yesterday.....not from a two year period in my life.

So much has happened in my life since 2009 that I can't possibly give you a review therefore I need to just pick up where I left off and get back to being creative and sharing it with anyone that still reads this blog. Most of my "groupies" followed me over to Facebook and were able to keep up with my life minus the stamping. Pretty boring if you ask me.

This is a test.....if I can figure it how to blog from my phone I will be back into the Blogger world. I seriously don't have time to do the camera, sd card, light box, staging and all the BS that went into bringing you my amazing creative stamping inspirations. Who am I kidding.... I don't have time to stamp but I know you really came here for my humor and amazing story telling :-) Yes, that was ooooozing with sarcasm and ego.

So....I'm going to hit the publish button. If this phone app works you just might see me here....on the blog!

<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/101/4D63C9E116226920332E762FFF6C36DA.png" /></a>

posted from Bloggeroid

2009-04-06T10:42:00.001-05:00

This blog post is being dedicated to Denise, Mary W, Sherry, Beth and Jacki. Thanks girls for the nice emails and Facebook comments looking for me. Facebook is my new stomping ground as it's easier to micro blog in a few short sentances than to formulate a project and toughts here. I'm not saying that I don't miss my blog and blogging friends.....it's a time thing....and I just haven't figured out how to add blogging back into my juggling act and judging by the crappy photo I have forgotten how to use my camera too.

First the stamping and then I'll get to my crazy life. My stamp room has become the junk epicenter of the household...quite embarassing and I am actually going to show you the before I clean it up video to prove it and it's not pretty. I can honestly say that I have not been stamping....nor can I find anything so that I can stamp.

By the looks of this lame tag it shouldn't be any surprise that I have not been stamping. (That will drop another 10 readers that are looking at this blog for stamping inspiration.) I tried to make the above tag to attach to a get well gift a while back and I couldn't even find which drawer I keep my brads in....nice. I didn't have any mono so I was using that huge industrial tape runner thingy. And sadly....I never mailed the get well gift to the recipient either. (by the way, she's feeling better now.)

I am officially on vacation the rest of the week and my goal this afternoon is to get my stamp room in order so that I may be more crafty, creative and productive. (Sounds like I am taking a Stamping Oath and I need to raise my right hand.) That should have been my Lenten promise instead of giving up Starbucks cause that one isn't going so well.

Ok...brace yourself. Here is my first stamping video ever and just so you know...there is no stamping lesson in this video. I am NOT going to show you anything new, trendy or creative. This is just a bold step into my room full of crap that I never use anymore....the title of my video is....The Unorganized Scrapbooker.

Where's the beach?

2009-01-26T20:15:00.004-06:00

No stamping today. Just a photo from my PAD collection. This is what my deck currently looks like and it just makes me want to escape to the beach forever! I am craving warmth and sunshine like never before. With the low single digit temps and snow that I am sure won't thaw til June makes me crave sand between my toes.

I am having trouble with this Photo A Day (PAD) thing and I am finding that my oh so exciting life is really oh so boring. What the heck am I supposed to be photographing? Any good ideas on how to make my photo taking more meaningful rather than so random and boring? Who the heck wants to scrap about snow and soup? But right now....that's all I have in my hot and cold life.....soup and snow...snow and soup.

Hey, I have some crafty stuff to give away. I have a ton of those tonic punches that I have never used....not my thing....but I am sure they are a great tool for someone else. They were given to me and I have no use for them. I feel some blog candy coming on....oh and I have some JustRite sets to give away too.....lots of them. Sweet. I'll put it together and post it this weekend.

See ya on the blog.

How Time Flies

2009-01-25T20:10:00.002-06:00

Hey there people in blogville. My how time flies these days. So much so that I seem to forget about blogging these days. As I said before I spend most of my time on Facebook because it is faster....more like micro-blogging in sentances rather than paragraphs as I explained to Beth today.

Anyway while I was blog surfing today I came across a post talking about the Project 365 and the blogger asked.... if you could look at old photos what were you doing one year ago? Hmmmm. Well if I look back at my blog posts a year ago I was exstatic to be invited to attend CHA with JustRite. I was off to California and ready to take a huge leap into the craft and hobby industry. A leap that I thought would make all my crafting dreams come true. Wrong.

Fast forward.....it's CHA time again....I am here....thankful, grateful, appreciative, overjoyed..... and any other happy adjective you can stick in here....that I am home, stress free and lovin life. Really....life is good and I am thankful for all the opportunities I have had in my life time. There is nothing I can't do...well except put up with ridiculously stupid people....but who can? So what were you doing a year ago?

I went stamping last night with some friends (Jen, Krista and Ivy) and we laughed all night long. It was so awesome to get crafty for the hell of it. So here is one of the cards I made. Can't show you the rest because they are a personalized gift for someone that reads this blog and then it won't be a surprise. So...you'll just have to wait.

Brrrrr....Baby it's cold outside!

2009-01-17T12:18:00.003-06:00

So the Photo A Day isn't going to work for me. I will take the 356 photos but it won't be one a day as some days I will have to snap more than one to keep up. Regardless it will keep me using my camera and that's the whole point...right....to take more pics?

Here is a lovely pic of me running to the car because it was soooooo fricken cold and of course snowing again. I really don't mind snowy cold weather (couldn't tell by all my bitching this week) but I can't handle painfully cold weather and that is what it was this week.

I never knew that the thermometer in my truck would register below zero digits and indeed it does. When I drove to work the other day it said -14 and with the windchill it was -29...that my friends is what I call PAINFULLY cold!!!

So it's just a quick catch up post today because I have not stamped this week. Too busy with my new job position which I totally love and I am quite confident at the end of the 30 day trial period will be a confirmed permanent position. Everything went well this week and both me and my boss had a good vibe at the end of the week. We had a lot of a-ha moments throughout the week and found that we were very much on the same page....which is always a good thing.

This weekend my baby brother Ryan is coming for a surprise visit...he should be here any minute. I am sooooo excited because I haven't seen him in two years...he lives in south Texas. Why the hell he wants to leave the warmth of Texas to visit us now during a deep freeze is beyond me but I will be happy to see him. According to him...he wants to get drunk and go sledding with me. I should have some interesting pictures for you on Monday. LOL I am not sure how well Martinis and sledding mix but we'll find out soon.

See ya on the blog!

Love You

2009-01-11T09:37:00.004-06:00

Here is a Valentine's Day card I made. As you have probably noticed in my very slow return to stamping....I am going for the simple minimalistic approach. Hey there is no stamping on this card at all. Can I really call myself a stamper? Anyway, this isn't my usual style but the problem is that my studio has been unused for three months and I can't remember which draw holds which stuff. Guess I need to work in there more so I can know what I have in there....which is way too much crap. I think I need to give some stuff away.

So back to the card. I used the new SU red color as the base and the heard were punched out of the new SU pattern paper with the Nesabilites heart dies. The hearts are pop dotted for a 3D look. The love sentiment is a Sizzix die that I have had forever. Oh and the white was embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. The ribbon is my fav....May Arts. Easy peasy. I think I could crank out several more of these for teachers and co-workers.

Today I am cooking and baking for no reason other than I want to try new recipes. I am making this pasta salad that has a tomato lime dressing because it sounded different and yummy, an apple maple bundt cake just cause it looked good in the pic and some split pea soup because I have been making a different soup each week and freezing the left overs.

See ya on the blog!

So much SNOW!

2009-01-10T16:13:00.005-06:00

It has been snowing on and off for two days! I am so glad it's the weekend and I can just stay put. I was driving in a total white out this morning because it was Bailey's First Reconciliation and we were late. I should have confessed that I was swearing all the way to church. We were late and made it just in time for Bailey to be the last confession of the morning.

Then I came home and the boys (Cody and Amy's son TJ) have been sledding and snowmobiling all afternoon. They are going to be like popsicles when they get in the house. I am going to attempt to attach a video of TJ's first time ever driving a snowmobile and you will hear me yelling because he almost tipped over into the bushes. LOL

See ya on the blog!

Smokin and Stampin

2009-01-08T22:32:00.005-06:00

Here is the smokin part of my post....PAD5 is a pic of Bill's cigar collection. Well just one little section of the humidor. I just happen to walk by the humidor and the different shades of brown caught my eye and I grabbed my camera. I just might frame this pic to hang in Bill's future library in the basement. Of course, I'll scrapbook about the cigars too....how they smell so bad and he's only allowed to smoke them in the garage. Blah!

Here is the stampin part of my post....a good luck card that I made for my co-worker that left today. Just something nice to wish her well on her new journey in life. It's also my Random Act of Kindness too because I thought about it and I am acting upon it.By the way, I got the awesome paper from Simone's store Craft Fancy. FYI, I bought it back in October so it is probably on sale now.

I am so happy it's Friday! Bailey is making her first Reconciliation tomorrow and then it's cooking and baking for the rest of the weekend. I have been getting up 30 minnutes early to do the Wii Fit and I have got my exercise in every day. Feels good.

I got some great news at work...it's sort of a promotion. Sort of because I get to test run the new position to see if I like it and if so then I will be the Executive Admin Assistant to the Executive Vice President...and still do my Marketing job too with the aid of an Admin Assistant. Shwooo...that's a mouth full and I am sure a bit confusing to you. I am confident all will be fine and this will be a permanent thing in the near future. I already have an excellent working relationship with the EVP as he was my boss for Marketing and not much should change with the added responsibilites of being his full time assistant. I am excited and just gotta say...I LOVE my job. (Sorry if you are sick of hearing it because I am not sick of saying it.)

See ya on the blog!

Happy Birthday Amy

2009-01-07T19:02:00.004-06:00

I have no stamping to show you today. Feel free to skip past the explanation of my PAD4. But before I start I have to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend Amy. Today is her real USA birthday but she lives in Guam which is 15 hours ahead of us so she celebrated yesterday which was the 7th in Guam. Love you and miss you lots Amy!

This lovely bowl of fruit is sitting on my kitchen table. I just liked the colors and the way the fruit was stacked in the Longaberger basket and the contrast against the black table. Also, I discovered that I actually like Fuji apples. Shut up! I know.

At work we have a large basket of apples on the table for the customers. They looked so yummy yesterday and I don't know what came over me but I tried one and loved it. What's the big flippin deal you ask? Um....I do not eat fruit. I can't stand the texture of it or the flavor of most fruits.....esp bananas and berries. However, if I am eating fruit flavored candy I will only eat the red ones which are usually cherry. Go figure....I freely admit I am a dorkabella.

Thanks for sticking around for that very unexciting post. Tomorrow I will have a card to show you because I am acting on another Random Act of Kindness for a co-worker that is leaving us on Friday. Plus I started working on my Valentine's Day cards already. Wow...I amazed myself too.

See ya on the blog!

Go Jump in the Lake

2009-01-06T18:49:00.003-06:00

Here is the card I made for Mary and I gave her the towel too (It's the SU beach towel in the background that I have had forever...unused of course.) This is also my Random Act of Kindness too. Something I thought of doing and actually acted upon it.

I dug through the pile of stamps stacked on my floor (Bill is putting up my new shelf this weekend) and I was looking for something beachy. But then I came across this stamp and thought it was appropriate for the occasion....jumping in Lake Michigan on New Year's Day.

This is a simple card with a few layers, ribbon and brads. I stamped the image with Versa Fine Sepia and colored it with my watercolor crayons. Such shock...I know....I colored! I already explained to Mary that she is very special because she got a colored card from me. I HATE coloring and rarely do it. There aren't that many colored cards floating around in this world from me. So if you have one you better cherish it. LOL

This photo is also my PAD3. It's a two for one....a random pic and it's actually stamping related. You don't really come here for the stamping do you?

Gotta run. I am baking bread again and it's almost my turn on the Wii. Yes, I have to get in line with the kids or I won't get a turn.

Wii Are Addicted!

2009-01-04T14:30:00.003-06:00

Here is my Photo A Day #2 (PAD2 for short). This is what we have been doing since Christmas Eve.....playing the Nintendo Wii (pronounced WE for those of you challenged gamers). This pic cracks me up because Cody and Maddie are playing a fierce game of Playground Soccer. If you heard them from the other room you would think they are beating the crap out of each other but they are really having fun. Love it.

You can see a portion of my new couch in the left of the pic, my green Pottery Barn stacked tables that I got 50% off, my new olive green curtains and the new 50 inch TV and Ikea stand. (BTW, I paid cash for it all...thank God.) Speaking of Ikea, I have been a long time reader of the Ikea Hacker blog where they take Ikea products and repurpose them by combining and building with other Ikea products. My TV stand is actually two Ikea stands stacked on top of each other so I could get double shelves and the TV higher up and more at eye level. Only cost me $140 which is a far cry from the $600 stand I almost purchased from the Navy Exchange.

Today is the last day of Christmas break and I need to get back into the routine of real life....organized chaos is how I like to think of it. Back to the morning rush of getting to school two minutes before the bell rings and trying to remember all the backpacks and lunches. But tomorrow I won't be scrambling at 5:45 pm to figure out what is for dinner because I planned 6 weeks of dinner menus with a coordinating shopping list. How's that for organized chaos!?! And I nominated Bill (my awesome husband) to be the keeper of the coupons.

BTW, I am heavily relying on my non-procrastinating husband to keep me on track with all my great ideas on how to become debt free. That's how it works in the family....I am the great thinker and he is the great doer. The problem occurs when the thinker and doer aren't thinking and doing at the same time. Did you follow that?

Ok off to work on my Random Act of Kindness for the week. I decided that since my co-worker Mary jumped into freezing cold Lake Michigan on New Year's Day it's not too late to congratulate her with the beach towel that I had intended on giving her before the jump. I have a SU beach towel that I am going to present her with a handmade card. Oh my....I said it...a handmade card. So that means I have to actually walk into the studio and use something in that room to get creative. Hmmmm....can I do it? We'll see cause I just might have to document it with a pic.

See you on the blog!

Photo A Day

2009-01-03T19:18:00.003-06:00

Since I haven't been stamping or blogging lately I have gotten back into cooking, budgeting and couponing....all things necessary to take care of a family of six which is my main priority in life.

What better way to combine a scrapbooking hobby with my daily life than to participate in the Photo A Day challenge....or as I have seen on Cathy's Z's blog....Project 365. But since I am on a debt diet and using what I have in my studio I will not be purchasing the Project 365 Kit. But I will be using Stacy Julian's 40 Photos in 4 hours template in the December Issue of Simply Scrapbooking. (I got a subscription compliments of Jen. Thanks!)

Anyway, I know I am a few days late starting the challenge but here is my day one photo and I'll make up the other two days later. Today I spent the day searching for recipes online and surfing blogville to find new friends (not that I don't like you guys anymore). I was so incredibly impressed with myself for making these Crusty French Bread Baguette's. OMG....they look and smell like they were fresh from a bakery. I also made a crockpot full of Beef Barley Vegetable Soup. (I doctor up the recipe on the side of the Barley box.)

I convinced my daughter Sarah to participate in the Project 365 as well. She has a great eye when it comes to taking pics and catching the moment. I think she is going to start a photo blog too. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks to everyone that welcomed me back. It's nice to be missed. I think I am going to do something crafty before I go to bed.

See ya on the blog!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T10:17:00.009-06:00

Happy 2009 to everyone! I am totally looking forward to ending 2008 and moving on with a much happier and healthier 2009.

As the subtitle of this blog says, Stamping with a Slash of Chatting. Um yeah....neither have been going on in my life. Basically, I have not stamped or chatted since I quit JustRite back in October. Life happens and priorities are brought to the forefront and my eyes were opened that my life was totally out of balance. It was time for a much needed break and reality check.

So what have I been doing? Spending time with my neglected family and my best friends in the whole world. I did blog a bit in November that Amy came here from Guam for a two week visit. So I asked Jen, Beth and Mary to come over for a girls night "in" and we had a feast of Chicago foods. It was so awesome to see everyone together and just sit and chit chat about everything and of course lots of giggles and laughs.

Life wouldn't be complete with out some bumps in the road and I have had my fair share with my teenage son. Without getting into too many personal details I will just say therapy, therapy and more therapy. We have along road to go and after many tears and many more prayers I just hope that he will come around and get that we care about him and only want what is best for him. And no this is not drug or alcohol related.....teenage know-it-all-ism is a huge factor here.

Going to work each day is a sanity saver. I have unofficially started working full time. I just have a lot of marketing project on the horizon and don't mind putting in the extra time. It'a great feeling to know that I do the marketing for a community bank....of all places in this economy.....that has a billion dollars in assets and was recently ranked #1 by the FDIC. People ask me all the time if we are in trouble and we are definiately not part of any economic crisis. As a matter of fact, we are growing and hiring. Yes, when people are losing their jobs daily and banks are closing left and right my bank is hiring and secure. I've said a million times here and I'll say it again....I love my job.

So that is a briefing of what I have been doing up til now. And now......I have been addicted to the Wii game system. OMG....I have played so much that my body has been sore since Christmas eve. But it is a great kind of hurting. LOL Jen has come over and we now have her addicted to Rock Band and We Cheer. So much so that we gathered "the band" at her mom's house last night and jammed all night long. Sooooo much fun.

We also have the Wii fit and I have the high record on the Ski Long Jump and Super Hula. After the kids go to bed I play and bust into a sweat. It's great exercise and I am totally addicted. Hopefully it will help me lose some weight and win the Biggest Loser competition at work. We are doing it for 12 weeks and we pay each week if we lose, maintain or gain. Winner will get the pot of money at the end of the 12 weeks. I hope to lose 20-30 pounds and I'll be happy.

And finally, my New Years resolution is to get back to stamping and blogging. I have eliminated all the clutter from my life and now have time to get back to some fun things that I like to do which will also coincide with my other resolution.....acting upon my kind thoughts....performing Random Act of Kindness. What does that mean? Well I am always thinking about doing kind deeds and just never act upon them. Like my co-worker Mary is jumping into Lake Michigan today and I thought about giving her a beach towel and of course didn't do it. Just little gestures of kindness that run through my head and never happen because I am too busy and too forgetful.

Oh....one more resolution.... Bill and I are going on a debt diet. I have been reading all these blogs and newpaper articles about cutting back and living within your means. Needs over wants is the goal for us. Only spending money on needs which should be much easier now because I was able to pretty much fulfill all my wants for the house over the last few months...and paid cash for my kitchen remodeling and new living room furniture. I don't need any craft supplies and I am an avid collector of papers and all things stamping, scrapbooking and die cutting. I just want to use up what I have and scrapbook!!!

So you are all caught up on my oh so exciting life. Thanks to all of those that have been emailing me and checking in on me. I figured Beth was the only person that read this blog and cared about my personal life crap. Apparently, others like to read my soap opera too and don't just look for the cards and pics.

I have been on Facebook too if anyone is looking for me on the internet. Ah....Facebook....the place you can say what you want and not be under the microscope of certain eyes and easier to figure out who is not my "friend".

Happy New Year and see you on the blog!

Happy Anniversary to Me!

2008-11-11T17:06:00.005-06:00

Today is my 19th wedding anniversary and I know and will never dispute that I have the most wonderful husband in the world that unbelievably spoils me rotten. Really.

So we went to the city this weekend with Amy and Darrell and in the parking garage the levels were named after the months. Bill noticed that on the wall it said floor eleven was named November....which is our anniversary.....November 11th. So of course we had Amy take this picture of us.So today Amy came over with this picture in an awesome red glass frame as an anniversary gift. I love it and love that thoughtful girl that I am soooooo going to miss.

My wonderful husband gave me a Coach purse, a beautiful bouquet of flowers and the new G1 phone which is the T-Mobile version of the iPhone which is AWESOME! I am such a techno-geek and now I am totally hooked up 24/7.

Ok so I have mentioned Amy on my blog a million times. Who is the infamous Amy? For those of you that have been reading my blog since my Yahoo 360 days know that she is my Navy friend that I met in Florida. She and I had an instant bond from the day we met (we were neighbors in housing). She is Bailey's God Mother and on paper the God Mother of all four of my children (long story).

Anyway, I have not seen Amy in 6 years because when we left for Chicago she went to Cuba and now she is in Guam.....can she get any farther away?!!? OMG. But she will be back in the states permanently in about a year. I wonder if I can convince this island girl to move to the Windy City? Wishful thinking.

So here is a picture of Amy all bundled up and ready for a trip to the city.

Oh and I forgot the most important thing....Amy was here for her son's graduation from Navy bootcamp. It was my first graduation ceremony and it was awesome! But I'll upload those pics later.

We are off for our anniversary dinner and final dinner with Amy and Darrell (ok...I forgot to mention Darrell is her husband and I am excited to see Darrell too....love ya D). We are off to Ron of Japan for dinner....YUM!

See ya on the blog!

Craft Fancy Demo and Life

2008-10-11T00:14:00.003-05:00

Hello....I am still here and if you want visible proof stop by Craft Fancy in Arlington Heights, IL on Saturday October 11th. I'll be doing a JustRite demo from 11-3. (No I am not working for JustRite any longer but committed to this demo months ago and didn't want to leave Simone in a jam.....for those enquiring minds that wanted to know why on Earth I would be doing this demo....there you have it.)

On the homefront.....Maddie (my 8 year old that broke both her wrists back in June) broke her left ring finger which required many many trips to the doctor because she broke it right along the growth plate. You know the growth plate that determines if your bones will continue to grow...yeah that one. Well, they can't tell if her finger will continue to grow so we must wait it out and only time will tell if her nickname will be stubby. Amy said it could be a positive thing in life....no matter what size diamond she has it is going to look huge on her little finger. LOL

Speaking of Amy.....she is going to be here in Chicago in less than a month! OMG....I absolutely can't believe it. I have not seen my dear friend since I lived in Florida almost 6 years ago. Since then she has moved to Cuba and then Guam. All I can say is that girl is going to freeeeeze her toes off the first week of November. But we have already determined that you don't need toes when eating your way through Chicago. We have our food tour mapped out already.....Gino's East Pizza, Chicago dogs, Carson's ribs, Garretts popcorn, Fannie May candy and we'll wash it all down with some martinis.

I got a raise at work and an awesome welcome back to my regular 5 days a week schedule.....I LOVE my job at the bank! How many times have I said that on this blog? I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to follow my heart with the JustRite gig but sooooo incredibly happy that I did not give up the bank completely. Really, I wake up and enjoy going to work, I enjoy what I do and I enjoy the people I work with (all 70 of them) every single day because I feel valued, needed and appreciated....what more could a person ask for on a daily basis? Right.....a sense of accomplishment and that you have contributed to something good too.

Oh one more thing for those that keep emailing me and asking......Lord NO that is not me writing the JustRite blog anymore. I have no idea what is up with the blog, I don't know why the feed has changed, I don't know what is being written or who is writing the crap you are complaining about. Although I did get a good chuckle when one person asked if I was on drugs because my writing style had taken on a new and odd personality that doesn't know how to write complete and coherent sentances....LOL.....is my writing style that obvious that people noticed things have changed on that blog? I suggest writing to customer service if you want to complain but doubt you will get far. Honestly, I haven't looked at it since I resigned so I am totally clueless and could really care less. Sorry.

What was I thinking?

2008-09-15T22:00:00.005-05:00

Wow....I am totally overwhelmed and humbled by the tons of emails and comments of support I have received. Thank you is not enough to tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time in your busy day to shower me with your kindness.

Really....I am good. Sometimes things don't work out and there is a reason and I am a firm believer there is a reason for everything....good and bad.

So for today....I am sending myself this card. LOL

I know.....doesn't everyone need to hear this sentiment some time in their life? I should have sent myself this card months ago.

Love the SU papers, love this sentiment and love the fact that I still have some blog readers. Surprised after that long detour that anyone is still reading. Thanks for sticking around.

Life is good...really.

2008-09-14T23:08:00.005-05:00

I am currently rearranging my life, my blog and my stamp room! Lots of trash being taken out of all areas. Life is good and it feels wonderful to be back here on my own blog.

Physically I have lost weight due to stress. Had a migraine head ache for two days this last week. Suddenly it all went away and I feel sooooo great!

Mentally I was completely burned out and so frustrated trying to understand the actions of certain people in my life. But suddenly when other people within the circle started talking and opening up it all made sense.

Spiritually I momentarily lost sight of me and felt like I lost myself. "People treat you the way you allow them to treat you" is a quote that gave me the courage to draw the line and not allow myself to be used as a stepping stone for someone else's ego.

I closed the door to walk away and surprisingly three other opportunities are already knocking on my door.....life is good...really. I should have followed my gut instincts months ago when the red flags were waving right in front of my face. Lesson learned.

I know most of you have no clue what I am babbling about but for those of you that do....thanks for the support. It just feels so good to be back here on my own blog and getting back to my own life without all the drama.

See ya on the blog....THIS blog!

Clinton Dissed on the Kiss

2008-09-01T21:53:00.003-05:00

I know...two posts in one day...can you stand it? Really I am posting this video of Bill Clinton missing the kiss. Every time I watch Hillary turning her back to him and Bill kissing her hair it cracks me up. I can't stop laughing watching this video. What is even more funny is she kisses Obama instead.

Hello....it's me....are you there?

2008-09-01T14:56:00.003-05:00

Isn't this what they call an Oxymoron? The Organized Scrapbooker sitting on a pile of papers in my office. Well that is where I am and what I have been doing....buried under stamping stuff, work stuff and life.

About two weeks before Cody came home from Texas his dog, Lou Lou, died. It was so hard to call him and tell him because Lou Lou has been his dog since he was two years old. For 15 years she was part of our family and it's odd not having her greet us at the door. She was a great dog and the kids all miss her.

After that my Aunt arrived for a two week visit from New Jersey. The girls finished up summer camp. Sarah started high school as a Freshman and Cody is a Junior. Maddie and Bailey finally went back to school and we now have the beginning of daily routine in our lives. Now if only Bailey could remember where she put her lunch box, back pack and shoes in the morning all would be wonderful. {She is my disorganized child.}

Both of my jobs are overwhelmingly busy at the moment. Check out the JustRite Stampin Champion contest and you'll see what I am talking about.
And this post is turning into a big whine fest. So here is a card I made for Amy....cause she just got turned onto Martinis {can you believe that } and I am sooooooo excited because my dear sweet friend is coming to visit me all the way from Guam.

Ok....not really....she is coming here to see her son graduate from bootcamp and I just happen to live 10 minutes from Naval Station Great Lakes. Come November I am going to need several martinis with my friend who I have not seen since I left Florida 6 years ago!!!

See ya on the blog!
Denise

CHA Link

2008-07-29T22:09:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to give a shout out to my sweet friend Ivy who sent me this pic today and the link to her CHA pics that she uploaded in her blog gallery.

OMG....Ivy has some of the best CHA product pics I have seen and you really need to take a peek. She has a great eye and loves many many things...as we all do. Thanks Ivy!

I have been busy painting and doing a "while you were out"on Cody's room. He is going to be so shocked and so in love with his bedroom when he comes home from Texas. Every boy dreams of a football room and I think I made that dream come true! I'll show you pics once we are all done.

See ya on the blog!

More CHA stuff

2008-07-26T22:02:00.005-05:00

Thanks for the comments about posting pics of products and not people. Well, I did post pics of people the other day but there were so many other people that I met but didn't have a chance to get a pic taken with them. Like my sweet friend Gina K stopped by, Emily "The" Stamping Bella sat and listened to my infomercial with her sweet side kick Nicki, I saw Jen Balcer, Kurtis and Daven walk by the booth {I've never met them but recognized them and would have enjoyed a chit chat}. I had a quick convo with Tim Holtz but no pic. Ok...over all I feel weird asking for pics with people....like I am a stalker...LOL...but it is exciting to be in company with such incredibly talented people.

Ok...more booth and product pics.

I am really sorry but I think this was taken at the Maya Road booth. I was just walking by and this little bucket of flowers caught my eye so I snapped a pic.
OMG...more Glitz. I LOVE these strands of rhinestone Gems! I actually won a pack at Mark Montano's give away at his booth. I stood next to Taylor...it's always good to stand next to the tall girl. LOL...I think she got a glue stick from Scotch.
We R Memory Keepers had a great line of Christmas paper that I think will go so well with the JustRite Christmas Ensemble. Snapped a pic to remember them in a few months when it is time to get started on Christmas cards.

Karen Foster has a great set of baking papers that are going to go with the JustRite Baking Ensemble. Really keep your eyes open for this paper line....I can't wait to get it for Christmas gifts and holiday baking. More Karen Foster Christmas Baking papers. I am so dead serious when I say that this is going to perfectly match the JustRite Baking Ensemble. It's totally on my "must have" list.

Ok...off to do some Facebook. Yes, I have joined the Facebook crowd and I am still trying to learn about it. Sadly, my kids are the ones that are geeking out my site with the flair and stuff. If you want to be my Facebook Friend you have to tell me who you are in the message cause I won't accept anyone that I don't know. Safety first. LOL Like I am not totally exposing myself here on the blog. I am a dorkabella...I know.

See ya on the blog!

My CHA Favs

2008-07-24T16:53:00.006-05:00

Since I spent the majority of my time working at CHA I was only able to sneak away for a a few minutes at and I just snapped pics of the companies that I wanted to remember. I didn't really have time to get in for a close look but these companies definately caught my attention.

American Crafts had walls and walls of thickers. OMG...I was so in heaven just standing there and looking at all the thickers. Thickers are my new addiction and I want them all.
BossKut is a new company that has dies just like Quickutz. I really liked their images and they had sentiments...normal sentiments that I would get a lot of use out of. BTW, I only walked past the Quickutz booth during set up and saw the new fonts....very cool. Jen went back and said there are 8x8 sheets of dies too.
I think Jenni Bowlin is the talk of the town and her booth was to die for. I didn't take any close ups as I was in total awe and forgot I even had my camera with me. She had the cutest booth set up and I loved her bingo cards and the vintage feel of her booth and all her products. I don't own anything from Jenni Bowlin....yet...but it won't be long before she is on my shelves.
Glitz Design was by far my absolute favorite booth. OMG....I literally stood there with my mouth wide open. They had these strands of rhinestone gems in every color that could be used as page borders or cut for smaller projects. They had shiney vinyl looking rub ons and the most awesome display set up. I totally wanted everything in their booth. Gosh what I wouldn't do to be on the Sizzix Design Team. As you know, I have always been a Sizzix girl at heart and this is just the Halloween stuff they have coming out. They have a whole Hello Kitty line too. I am not into that but it was cute. There were so many dies introduced and the Christmas stuff was awesome too.
Look at this cute Halloween display at Sizzix. I love their booth and did visit a few times just cause I can't resist.

Ok...that's all for now. There are other things that I loved too but I am sure you have seen it on other blogs as well. This is just what popped out at me.

See ya on the blog!

Hello From CHA

2008-07-18T22:58:00.006-05:00

Hello from CHA. Oh my what a long day but so much fun. The JustRite Booth is very busy....a good kind of busy...and lots of fun. Just thought I would share some pictures with you. So cool that the show is opened by the Shannon Rovers bag piping their way down each aisle of the floor. It made me cry because we had a member of the Shannon Rovers play bagpipes at my Dad's funeral.

Here is Michelle Wooderson from the blog Mish Mash. Michelle was our first Guest Designer at the JustRite Booth. Isn't she just the cutest girl ever? She was so sweet and had a great recipe card project at her table.I really enjoyed having Michelle at our booth...she really is a sweet girl.

Here is the wonderful Wendy Smedley. As soon as I saw her walking by the booth I had to thank her for her wonderful book "The Organized Scrapbooker". Then she was nice enough to come listen to my JustRite infomercial and she took lots of notes too. I would love to see what Wendy could do with a monogram stamper!

This is Mark Montano from the TV show While You Were Out and 10 Years Younger. He is our neighbor at CHA and he is pusing his new book "The Big Ass Book of Crafts". For real...that is the true title. LOL He is so nice to pose with me for a picture....and he has a great sense of humor...funny guy.

Ok...there's my rockstar pics of the day. I will have more tomorrow as it will be super duper busy tomorrow. Oh and I am on the look out with Donna Downey...I need a picture with her and me wearing my DD camera bag. {Yeah, I am a dorkabella.}

See ya on the blog!

The Rest of the JustRite Story

2008-07-13T10:27:00.005-05:00

Hello there...it's time for my once a week blog post. I wish I had time to blog more for myself but right now life is crazy busy and I will be so happy when things slow down in about another week.

Yesterday, we had Sarah's graduation party or get together with some friends. It should have been Bailey's birthday party as it was mostly little kids. But we get to do it all over again in a few weeks for Bailey's birthday.

Cody is in Texas having a great time and I miss him bunches. I have been sending him letters and cards with little prizes inside...like a Burger King gift card. I really hope he takes these five weeks to reflect and grow and mature and know how much he has made me sick with worry the last 3 months. OMG, teenage growing pains hurt so bad...esp for me! He is a great kid and I just want to get past this stage of life quickly.

Anyway, onto the stamping stuff...which is why you are really here! So this is a quick view of some of the things I have been working on at JustRite. We have been introducing lots and lots of new products ....something like 32 pieces all together and each new product needs a sample made for the packaging and for the CHA display.

This grouping is what made it onto the Chique Stamper (oval stamper) product packaging. So every time you see the Chique Stamper Kit you will see my Maddie's cute little smile on the box! How cool is that?

Speaking of cool.....have you been watching the JustRite blog sneak peeks? Do you not just love the new fonts and that Harmony Rectangle Stamper?! I can not wait to get that Harmony stamper and make my own sentiments and phrases with all the new fonts. That is the beauty of the JustRite products....everything is interchangeable and works together. One stamper can be used a million ways....my kind of stamper.

I am so excited about our guest designer schedule too. Michelle Wooderson is going to be a guest designer on Friday and Taylor Van Bruggen will be a guest designer on Saturday. Not to mention Sharon Johnson and some of the Flourishs girls will also be guest designers throughout the weekend. We have a lot of cool stuff planned for the three day event and I know on Monday I will be ready to collapse.

See you on the blog...in a week!

Smile

2008-07-06T23:54:00.006-05:00

Although my nice long weekend has come to an end I am still smiling. I got a lot accomplished and I was actually able to give my brain a rest. It has seriously been on overload for weeks now and it was nice to just get off the computer and not stamp a single thing all weekend long.

My family appreciated me sitting on the deck, reading magazines and just being present. Then it hit me....I am working so much that I am not present I am just here. Not good. Things are about to change bright and early tomorrow morning.

Anyway, I have been scrapbooking a lot lately and that has just totally got my juices flowing. I literally dreamed a sketch last night and woke up thinking about it and wrote it down...color combo and all. Guess what....I do dream in color....SU colors.

Here is a super quick 8x8 layout of Maddie that I made last week and I will eventually turn it into a larger layout and add some journaling too....after CHA...shhhhh....it's a sneak peek {the oval smile sentiment}. I love this face and her sweet and innocent smile. Little do you know that this girl is one little "firecracker" and is constantly on the go. Yes, this is the one that just had two fractured wrists....if that tells you anything. So to catch her laying on the trampoline with this sweet face was definately worth snapping a pic.

Ok the clock just struck twelve and I am up one hour and thirty minutes past the time that I promised myself I would go to bed and I still have my last load of laundry to fold. Yes, laundry is still my real life.

See ya on the blog!

Happy Birthday America!

2008-07-04T10:12:00.004-05:00

Happy 4th of July! Here is my 4th of July fact that I like to share because it's not something I learned in school....I learned it when I was homeschooling my kids. Thomas Jefferson died on the 4th of July 50 years to the day of the signing of the Declaration of Independance. John Adams who was his political rival and good friend Also dies on the same day. It is rumored that is last words were....Thomas Jefferson lives on...not knowing that Jefferson had died that morning. So there you have the history lesson of the day and what a GREAT day it is to be an American.

My goodness things are so busy around here and everything that I have been working on is all CHA stuff that I can't show you yet. However, starting on Monday I get to give sneek peaks so you won't have to wait too much longer. For now I am going to post my American Girl Scrapbook page that I made last year. You might have saw it already and if not well....here it is again.

Also, my dear sweet friend Amy lives in Guam and I have known her since I lived in Florida 8 years ago....time flies. We immediately clicked and used to stamp the nights away til 2:00 am. It's not often that you make a Navy friend that you keep in touch with and Amy is my one that I will always be in touch with....she's Bailey's God Mother.

Anyway, the last time I saw her son TJ he was around 12 years old and now as you will see in this video TJ is all grown up! {Amy stop reading this now cause you are just going to start crying....again.}

I love this video because Darrell, Amy's husband, is an active duty Gunner's Mate Cheif {which is what my husband retired as three years ago} and Darrell is doing the official swearing in of TJ as he joins the Navy! OMG....I cry like a baby every time I see this because it is such an honor for a Father to do this for his only son.

Amy made me laugh so hard the other night because Darrell told TJ that bootcamp will be a breeze because he has been living in Darrell's bootcamp for the last 18 years. TJ told Amy his greatest please in life so far is that Darrell had to salute TJ at the end of the ceremony. Tooooo funny! Anyway, TJ will be coming here to Chicago this fall for bootcamp and I am so excited because that means Amy will be here for graduation! Yeah....I miss her so much!

So when you watch this video be thankful for your freedom because it is people like TJ and Darrell that work and live to ensure that you have the right to be an American. Hope you have a wonderful day and safe celebrations too!

See ya on the blog!

Craft Fancy and a Rockstar!

2008-06-29T20:46:00.005-05:00

As you know, I spent the day going a JustRite demo at the new store Craft Fancy in Arlington Heights. Soooooo much fun...thank you Simone(left in the pic). Let's just say SOLD OUT.

Even more exciting is that I spent the afternoon with Michele Kovack (right in the pic) from the blog Thoughts of a Cardmaking Scrapbooker AND today's Featured Stamper on SCS. Talk about a Rockstar...wow! Michele is so sweet in person and it was wonderful to spend the day with her. Although, she is probably tired of hearing my speech over and over in her head. LOL Maybe Michele should be a JustRite Guest Blogger.....what do you think?

Speaking of JustRite...as if I have stopped talking about it yet.....there is a blog candy contest right now for all three Accessory Kits. All you have to do is subscribe to the daily feed that will email blog updated right to your email box. Head on over to the JustRite Stampers blog for more details. Tell everyone!!!

Ok...tomorrow I will show you some of the scrapbook pages that I made yesterday. I made 15 pages in one night! My inspiration....Simple Scrapbooks. Ahhhhhh....simple is good.

See ya on the blog!

Attention Chicagoans

2008-06-25T17:11:00.006-05:00

Hello my fellow Chicagoans! Did you hear that there's a new scrapbook store in town....Craft Fancy in Arlington Heights! Yahoooo! Simone Collins has partnered to open a new store and if you look at their blog it is fully loaded with every possible papercrafting goodie you could imagine. (Oh my wallet hurts already just looking at the pics.)

Those goodies include JustRite Stampers and I will be there this Sunday, June 29th at 1:00 pm doing a live infomercial with the Large Monogram Stamper. Oh and if that doesn't drag you out of the house on a Sunday afternoon maybe the temptation of a sneak peek with get you there. Yes, I will be giving a sneak peek of our new Sonnet Centers that will be released in July at Summer CHA. You're gonna love them and want them and use them on every project you make.

Ok back to our regularly scheduled Kraft paper program. Yes, I still have some of my Kraft paper binge to show you but this time I am just going to show it all at once and get it out of my system. Plus, I am sure you are tired of it by now.

This first card is for my boss Jill and I used the From the Desk of border. I made it with her monogram which by the way is her first name (J), maiden name (T) and last name (H). In the new product packaging JustRite Stampers has now included a mini idea book/catty filled with tips and Monogram Etiquette has it's own section. Very helpful.

The next project was totally inspired by this awesome pocket card tutorial by Michelle Wooderson. She had some great tips for sewing on your cards which is totally addicting. This is a pocket card and the I Heart You sentiment was created on my JustRite wooden block. The heart is a Marvy punch.

Finally, this last project was just a simple creation of my own using the Small Monogram Stamper without a border. Ah.....I do love that green satin ribbon. I went to get more at Mike's and it was gone! Ohhhh the agony of backorders. I'll survive...maybe.

Off to get back to my CHA samples.
See ya on the blog!

Thanks

2008-06-22T16:41:00.005-05:00

Nope....I am not done with the Kraft paper and butterfly creations. However, I did skip the American Crafts paper on this one. I used my DCWV textured papers on this card as I love the look of textured papers.

The white flower is made with DCWV chipboard that is pre-covered with the textured paper. I picked that up at Archiver's a long time ago. The "thanks" sentiment was made with white DCWV textured paper and cut with a Cuttlebug die from the Olivia alphabet. (I added the flower and and yellow brad to cover up a mistake...shhhhh....I accidentally tore the letter "s" when I ran it through the Xyron.) The yellow paper is DCWV textured note cards that I picked up at Mike's the other day. The note cards already come with the scalloped edge...which is a bonus in my book!

Here is a close up of my chipboard flower. I used my Small Monogram Stamper and Small Letter Set to create the sentiment and then I punched the butterfly with my Martha Stewart punch and added it to the center of the flower.

I spent part of my day organizing some more of my studio. I am telling you that book The Organized Scrapbooker is addicting...makes me want to clean my studio...what's up with that? Honeslty, I can say that since I started implementing some of the changes I am much more efficient as I know where to go immediately for the supplies rather than digging around in my piles. Oh, don't get me wrong...I still have piles but they are smaller and more organized too.

Anyway, I purchased 6 photo boxes at Jo's yesterday (on sale for $1.50) and I labeled each box for my cards. That way I can mail them to people instead of just keeping them! My new thought process is to get my cards sorted into these boxes and then actually mail them to people on the SCS Blogger RAK list. It's always nice to get a surprise in the mail....no? And it will give my girl's a nice project to do while I am at work tomorrow. Busy work for them means the less my house will be trashed while I am gone. LOL

Alright, off to make dinner and maybe scrapbook a page or two. Can't remember the last time I scarpbooked...so sad!

See ya on the blog!

Cupcakes...YUM!

2008-06-21T12:22:00.004-05:00

Who doesn't love a big chocolatey cupcake? Ok....I know that there is someone out there that doesn't like them but I personally think that this one looks cute and yummy.

I have been on the watch for these silicone cupcake holder since I saw them at winter CHA. They are made by Wilton and come in a pack of 12 (six yellow and six pink). They are so darn cute and look like little flowers.

Anyway, I made the cupcake picks personalized by using my JustRite Small Letter Set and my JustRite Small Monogram Stamper. I know that I said in a previous post that I was intimidated by those tiny letters but just let me clairfy that I am now officially ADDICTED and LOVE those tiny letters. Oh my goodness....I love being able to create my own sentiments that coordinate with whatever project I am working on....cupcakes or cards....totally creative freedom with those tiny letters.

Anyway, if you want to see the rest of my cupcake project, get all the extra details and some close up pics of the coordinating card you are going to have to click on over to the JustRite Stampers blog as I am today's guest {wink}.

Oh and thanks for all the comments and emails about my letter writing deployment days. Yes, I really did hand write letters to my husband and he saved them all. I have a huge box full of deployment letters tucked away in my closet. One day I will sit and read them all but I have to put them in order first......that's a lot of letters!

See ya on the blog!

I {heart} You

2008-06-20T21:21:00.005-05:00

Here is another card from my Kraft paper collection and yes, I am still using that American Crafts paper too. I even went back to Mike's and picked up more plus the coordinating papers too. Looks like I'll be getting creative this weekend! I have really been wanting to do some scrapbooking lately....thanks to that Wendy Smedly book. BTW, did you see that she commented on my blog? I feel like a Rock Star just popped in for a visit and I had a mild brush with fame. Ha Ha. Hopefully, I'll get a real face to face with her at CHA. Wendy...come see me at the JustRite booth!

Here is a close up of the sentiment I{heart}You that I made with my JustRite Large Monogram Stamper. I used my Times New Roman font and added a heart that was punched with my green Marvy heart punch. I used Brillance red ink for the border {which by the way goes so well with this paper} and the center I colored with the SU Tempting Turquoise marker. Again, I added my new favorite celery satin ribbon. I am totally addicted to that ribbon that I picked up at Mike's.

So who is going to be the lucky recipient of this card? My son Cody will get it while he is in Texas for five weeks! He is going to visit my brother and while he is gone I plan to write to him every day like I used to do for Bill while he was on deployment. One time I wrote 193 letter to Bill....that was before the email era. Gosh that makes me sound so OLD!

When I was a young Navy wife we didn't have email and we had to write real handwritten letters. Sometimes it took 30 days for the letter to get to him and sometimes they would arrive out of order and then the stories in my letters didn't make sense. So I numbered all my letters so he could sit at mail call and put all his letters in order before he would open them. Just a little useless info to share with all of you. LOL

See ya on the blog!

That Darn Butterfly....Again!

2008-06-17T13:46:00.003-05:00

Here is another card from my Kraft paper collection. Of course, it has my Martha butterfly on it again. Not sure why I like that little guy so much as I am not really into butterflies. But it add a cuteness factor to the card....I like him.

This is again a 4.25 square card base of Kraft cardstock. The pattern paper is from American Crafts and I will definately be going back to Mike's for more plus the coordianating papers too. It has so many different colors in it and it matches so well with the Kraft cardstock.

Ok....back to the card. The yellow is a 5x5 scalloped notecard from DCWV that I cut down. It is textrued paper with a white core which is awesome for embossing folders as you can sand the paper and add some dimension by showing the white core.

Ok....back to the card. The circle copper tag is from Stampin Up and I just love it with this pattern paper. The copper is really a nice accent to the colors in the pattern paper. I have the matching copper brads and used them on another card I will show you tomorrow.

Ok....back to the card. The celery satin ribbon is to die for and cheap. I picked it up and Mike's and will be picking up more when I get my pattern paper refill. I love the width of this ribbon and the color is so neutral and looks great with the Kraft cardstock.

Finally.....I used turquoise staples on the ribbon to just add some texture and bling. Oh and the sentiment is from Stampin Up and I used Versafine Sepia ink...love it.

Did you see Dawn's video tutorial on the JustRite blog today? Gotta love it. She is so sweet and creative too!

See ya on the blog.

My New Addictions

2008-06-16T19:05:00.003-05:00

I spent Sunday afternoon making cards with my new addictions. 1) Kraft paper 2) Martha Stewart butterfly punch 3) Yellow DCWV textured paper 4) celery satin ribbon.

OMG....wait til you see all the cards I made with my new favorite thing. I can't show you everything at once so I'll just have to share a little at a time.

This is a 4.25 square card with a kraft cardstock as the base. I punched the squares with my SU punch and matted them on pumpkin pie cardstock. The turquoise squares are the flip side of the polka dot American Crafts paper...love it.... gotta get more of it. The flower was punched with the small green Marvy flower punch, the center circle punched with a SU circle punch and a copper brad finish it off. Of course you know the butterfly is from Martha. The green satin ribbon is attached using a turquoise staple.

So did you see who the first Guest Blogger is over at JustRite Stampers? Go take a lookie and give her some love in the comment section.

See ya on the blog!

Many Thanks!

2008-06-14T10:49:00.004-05:00

Hello...yes.....I have become one of those annoying once a week bloggers. Sorry to all those that have sent me emails wondering if I fell off the face of the Earth. No, I am still here just working for my gas money.

Speaking of gas money, have I told you how much I LOVE my job at the bank?! Last week we were all greeted with a wonderful surprise in the form of a $500 check. The check was accompanied by a letter that basically said gas prices in Chicago were the highest in the country (I just paid $4.20 the other day) and that the Chairman of the Board wanted to help ease the burden of our travels to and from work! Needless to say, it was a HUGE suprise that brought people to tears. Really, it was unbelievable to have such generosity given to all 70 employees.

Even though I called the Chairman of the Board at home to say thank you and to tell her what perfect timing her surprise was I still made her a card. This is the card that I made with my new Martha Stewart butterfly punch. The thanks sentiment was punched with a Cuttlebug die from the Olivia alphabet. The flower was made with the SU circle and scallop punches. All pattern papers are from SU.

Thank you to those that asked about Maddie's arm. She is doing really well and is adjusting to having limited use of her arms. Bailey has stepped up to the plate and become her assistant. Very cute.

Ok I am off to spend my weekend doing lots of stuff....cleaning, shopping, organizing, and celebrating Father's Day.

See ya on the blog!

Double Doozie

2008-06-08T08:10:00.002-05:00

Thursday evening Maddie and Bailey were told they had 15 minutes of reading time before it was lights out. Instead of reading they decided to make up a game of tossing coins onto each other's bed. Maddie was on the top bunk and leaned into her toss a little too much. She went over the railing head first and used her hands to break her fall.

She ended up with a huge bump on the head and fractured both of her wrists. What a way to start summer vacation! Just another day in my crazy life.

Today I am organizing my office....it's a huge mess....and no I did not take any before pics. But I'll be more than happy to share some after pics later today. I have been inspired after reading the book The Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker. It's a good book with lots of cool ideas.

I was able to be creative this week. If you want a sneak peek at Bill's Father's Day present hop on over to the JustRite Blog and get all the details.

See ya on the blog!

Happy Graduation Day!

2008-06-07T10:29:00.007-05:00

Last night Sarah graduated from the 8th grade. It was very emotional for me as usual I cried. I am a big baby at any event my kids participate in and it's not limited to special occassions....I'll cry at a volleyball game or church. I just get overwhelmed with the moment which is a good thing I guess it shows that I am fully present and taking it all in.

Anyway, the ceremony was beautiful and I'll post some graduation pics later. But for now here is the pic of the card that I made her. That Large JustRite Monogram Stamper is so perfect for personalizing any card. I was able to add the name of the school and the year using the small letters.

I have to be honest and tell you that I was a bit intimidated at first using thos small letters because they are so tiny but I am honestly addicted to those small letters. I have made a list of sentiments that I want to use for future cards. They are so versatile and a must have for your JustRite collection. I am really thinking that I need two sets of the small letters....told you I was addicted to those tiny letters. Oh the endless possibilites.

The base of the card is white with a layer of brilliant blue and I used the Nestabilities to cut my circle and scallop layers. I added some sheer organdy ribbon and accented with three brads. I kept the whole card very simple so she could add it to her scrapbook as an accent on the page.

Since I had my wood block loaded with those small letters I stamped off a dozen of the sentiments to make cards for the graduation parties she was invited to and for my teacher thank you cards as well. I am definately getting my use out of this personalized sentiment.

RAK from Tammy

2008-06-05T22:35:00.005-05:00

Thank you Tammy for the beautiful RAK. It was such a nice surprise to come home last week and get an nice goodie in the mail.

Please visit Tammy at the blog Stamp With Tammy. Check out the incredible teacher gift card tin she made. I am in LOVE with it. What a great idea....I have added it to my files for a future day when I have nothing to do...yeah when is that going to happen?

BTW, here is a random bit of SU trivia. Did you know the sentiment on this card was made by the one and only Kristina Werner? Yep it's true....watch the video if you don't believe me.

Teeny Tiny BFF's

2008-06-01T23:14:00.005-05:00

I can't believe I haven't blogged in a week. That's what happens when you have two paying jobs, one volunteer job, four kids and a husband. Ahhhh....life is great! Thanks for coming back to see me.

I had this cute idea running through my head but the thought of using those Teeny Tiny JustRite Letter didn't appeal to me. (They are really called small letter set but they are so small you need to use tweezers to hold them.)However, now that I tried it and saw that it really wasn't that bad after all and I LOVE how my photo holder turned out too! Just a little tip...once you get all the letters on stamp a lot of the image so you don't have to do it ever again. I am going to make some cards with the extras that I stamped and give them to my daughter Madison (on the left) to send to her friend (on the right) who moved away last year. Now they are pen pals. We are going to send this photo holder to her friend too. It is a jumbo clothes pin that I covered with SEI pattern papers. I tied some ribbon around it and added the monogram with a pop dot. The layers were cut with my Nestabilities circle and scallop dies. OMG...I love those things! I am so addicted to Nestabilites and NEVER use my Marvy punches anymore. Can't wait to get the ovals and rectangles next. Oh the possibilites are endless and so worth the price I paid for them too. I got mine at PaperTrey Ink.

If you would like to see the rest of my pink and green projects click on over to the JustRite Blog . Lots more ideas swirling through my head that I'll share during the week.

See ya on the blog!

Happy Memorial Day

2008-05-26T21:01:00.003-05:00

I know it's late in the day and my extended weekend has come to an end. But Memorial Day is more than just a day off of work. It's a day to reflect on those that have lost their lives serving this wonderful county...America!

Bill's cousin Matthew Holly lost his life in Iraq a few years ago. He was an only child and just 21 years old. I didn't know him well....the last time we saw him was almost 16 years ago. It makes me sad to think that his mom and dad will never get to hold him or tell him I love you or see his smiling face. It makes me sad that they will never see him get married and they will never be grandparents. It makes me hug my kids a little tighter and it makes me more thankful for people that gave everything (and those that still do so every day) so I can live the blessed life that I live. Thank you.

In honor of my husband who is a 23 year Navy veteran, I wanted to post my all time favorite video....my Bill's retirement video accompanied by my all time favorite Michael Buble song...Home. For those of you that have seen it already feel free to skip it. As for me, I could watch it every day of my life and cry every single time....just cause I lived it....and I remember how hard it was at the time, I remember what my family has sacraficed much more what my husband has sacraficed yet what an honor it was too.

See ya on the blog!

7 Things About Me

2008-05-24T15:29:00.004-05:00

Sorry I have no projects to share with you right now. I am super busy working on some "Top Secret" stuff. I'll be back later with something scrapbooking related....I have scrapbook fever since I went to Archiver's this morning. But for now...enjoy these 7 ramdom and wierd things about me.

7 Things Game
The Rules for 7 Things

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog. Heather tagged me along time ago and I totally forgot! Sorry.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog; some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

My 7 facts:

I am really bad at Math...and I work at a bank. Thank God I don't work any where near the money! LOL

I go to Starbucks a minimum of twice a week and I always get the same drink....Grande, Non-Fat, No Whip Mocha.

I am not an animal lover but we have two dogs, two cats and 12 fish. The kids are responsible for their care...not me.

I had my first martini ever New Years Eve 2004. Until then I never really drank alcoholic beverages (other than high school when I wasn't legal...yikes) and now I am a Cosmo Girl when the occassion presents itself.

Almost everything in my home (except craft supplies and food) is purchased from a garage sale, thrift store or flea market. I am a total bargin hunter and love the thrill of finding a good deal.

I do not like fruit! YUCK!!! Esp bananas....OMG...that just gags me thinking about it. I would never EVER walk into the kitchen and think hmmmmm....I am really craving an apple. No fruit for me but I'll eat any veggie you put on my plate. YUM.

If I eat anything fruit flavored it has to be red. Jolly Ranchers, Licorice, Jelly Beans, Starbursts...you get the point.

There ya have it. Yeah, I am a Dorkabella...I know. Have a great weekend and I will tag anyone that cares to play along.

See ya on the blog!

My Guitar Hero

2008-05-22T17:46:00.004-05:00

Was that not the BEST American Idol ever? I was so impressed with the whole show. It was like being at the Grammy's without any awards...just the entertainement part all night long. I esp LOVED the David Cook Guitar Hero commercial....that was my favorite part of the night. I rewinded the DVR three times to watch it...very fun. For those of you that didn't see it....take a lookie below.

Ok and not that stamping time has been interrupted don't forget to head on over the the JustRite Stampers Blog and enter for a chance to win a Large monmogram stamper and all three accessory kits! Very cool.

See ya on the blog!

JustRite Blog Candy

2008-05-20T20:35:00.009-05:00

I am here....just been sick the last few days.....but I am here I don't know what is up with me but I have all the signs and symptoms of the flu but not throwing up....not that I am complaining.... but I just wish I would get sick and get it over with. Every time I think I am feeling better it's back to bed for me.

Thank goodness for my wireless laptop because I was able to work from bed today! I finalized the JustRite stampers blog and guess what?? We have some awesome blog candy to give away to celebrate our Grand Opening! Whaoooooo...new job for me equals free stamps for you and who doesn't like free stamps...right?

Head on over to the JustRite Stampers blog at http://www.justritestampers.blogspot.com/ and enter for the blog candy give away. Oh and make sure you tell all your friends to visit too.

**American Idol** What about that American Idol finale? I was all ready for David Cook to pull out the big guns and get the job done and he did...but David Archuleta pulled out the bigger guns and blew him away. It was awesome and I can't wait for tomorrow night.

Ok...enough....that just suck the rest of the energy out of me. Off to take a shower and back to bed.

See ya on the blog!

Personalized Travel Mug

2008-05-13T21:49:00.007-05:00

Here is another Father's Day gift and it is monogrammed with my large JustRite monogram stamper. Except this time I spelled out the word Dad and stamped the sentiment "wonderful" above it.

This is a travel coffee mug from Starbucks that Bill gave me for my birthday. I forgot about it and found it on my shelf and thought...hmmmm...I can monogram that. LOL That's my new mantra in life....I can monogram that!

The bottom of the cup unscrews and I used the paper insert as a pattern and traced it onto the pattern paper. I found these two coordinating papers in my stash.....don't know the name. I think they came in a pack from Costco that I split with Jen.

Anyway, if you look closely you will see that I sewed the pattern papers together. Yes, so proud of myself for that one! Not only do I want to monogram everything but now I wasnt to sew everything as well. Go figure.

**American Idol** The other night, Wednesday to be specific, I had to go out and get a haircut...I was desperate....even with it being American Idol elimination night I figured all would be well with being recorded. Um...nope....not with Bill home alone with the remote.

I have never in my entire life met a man that is a remote-tard but my husband is not like the sterotypical couch potato husband. No....he doesn't know what buttons to push and can barely navigate his way from the Discovery Channel to the History Channel......and apparently Wednesday tonight he doesn't know how to find Fox either. I have no idea what he did but he said he watched the ending and saw that it was being recorded but nope....no American Idol in the playlist. So I totally missed Syesha going home! UGH....life will go on...I know. You can bet next week.....I will be in charge of the remote.

See ya on the blog!

Monogrammed Paperweight

2008-05-13T21:48:00.004-05:00

I made this paper weight for my boss at the bank. We have a running joke going because he does have a paper weight on his desk but whenever I put something on his desk I move the paper weight onto my pile and say "this is the important to do pile". He keeps saying he is going to get me my own paper weight but I made my own instead and I used his initals.

I purchased the paperweight from an online store called Photo Weights. They offer a large variety of shapes and sizes. This particular paperweight is called the Round Paperweight and it measures 2.50 inches.

I used my Large JustRite Monogram Stamper with the circle border ring and the Special Occassion font from the accessory kit. Then I used the Nestabilities circle dies to cut out the monogram and the black mat. I used a larger size die to cut the blue circle. The paperweight came with a cardboard backing that fits snuggly within the recessed area on the underside of the paperweight. It also came with a black felt backing that is sticky on the inside which holds the monogram with in the recessed area in place and provides a soft backing to prevent the paperweight from scratching the desk.

Although I did make this for my boss it would make a great personalized Father's Day gift. I'll be back tomorrow with another monogram Father's Day gift....I know...what a surprise...it's monogrammed! LOL.....I am so predictable these days.

See ya on the blog!

Sew Determined!

2008-05-12T16:31:00.005-05:00

I am sooooo determined to sew with thread on a card. I have mastered the faux sew technique but I really want to do it with thread and zig zags and all those cool stitches.

I was going to get the Janome sewing machine that everyone is raving about but then I ran across this Kenmore baby at Sears on clearance for $48. It weighs less than five pounds, it is half the size of a regular sewing machine and LOOK at all those stitch options!

Tah Dah! Here is the card I made today. It's really hard to see the stitching in this pic but I really did patch the pieces together inside the frame using scraps from my wedding project.

I had an extra letter "c" monogram that I made with my JustRite small monogram stamper so I decided to stamp the sentiment "cherish" on the gray pattern paper. In the top left corner I added three rhinestones just cause it looked a little boring and too heavy on the right side of the card.

The frame is made from DCWV black textured chipboard that I ran through the Big Shot using a Sizzix frame die. I really love the frame....I need to use it more often...esp in scrapbooking. Well that would require me to scrapbook more than once a year. Add it to my "To Do" list.

Ok...I have some really cool projects that I am working on right now. Can't wait to show you my cool Father's Day gift....and it's monogrammed too....suprise!

See ya on the blog!

So Very Blessed

2008-05-10T09:16:00.003-05:00

**Warning** This post is totally not stamping related so feel free to click away if you are't interested. Here are some pics for my friend Amy in Guam...wish you were here!

Maddie made her First Communion last Saturday. Here is a pic of her that I absolutely love! She just looks so sweet and innocent....I never want to lose this vision in my memory and I have it captured on film forever.

Thursday the First Communicants got to wear their clothes to school and the entire student body did a May Crowning procession and laid flowers at Mary's feet in honor of Mother's Day.

Then Sarah (my eighth grader) was chosen to crown Mary which is a big honor. After the ceremony was over the Principal thanked everyone for participating and then said to Sarah.....Sarah you were chosen to crown Mary because we think you exhibit the Catholic Christian values set forth by Mary, you have a kind loving spirit that you show on a daily basis to your fellow classmates, and we think that you are an example to all. We hope that you will forever remember this special occassion because it truely is an honor to be selected.

OMG, talk about crying off my make up in church! Then the Assistant Principal came to me and said, congratulations you are a wonderful mother and you have rasied some wonderful children. Again, come the tears, as I just spent then entire service on my knees asking for guidance, patience and help on being a better mother.....and praying for my son to allow the Holy Spirit to enter and guide him through this trying period of his teenage adolescent life.

See ya on the blog!

Wedding Love Notes

2008-05-08T20:54:00.004-05:00

I am so proud of myself for making this Love Note Wedding Favor. I got the idea for the purse from Angie at Chic N Scratch. She has a wonderful tutorial on how to make this adorable purse from a 12x12 sheet of pattern paper.

The floral pattern paper is from American Crafts and it is shades of gray on the floral side and then solid gray on the opposite site. The stripe paper is from DCWV.

I attached some wedding ribbon on the handles and attached them with light pink rhinestone brads in the center of a white flower.

The sentiment "Love Notes" was made with Cuttlebug alphabet dies and I used some satin silver ribbon with white polka dots to add some texture to the base of the purse.

Inside the purse I filled it with monogramed note cards. The purse is meant to be placed at each table and guests are to write advice "love notes" to the bride and groom. My love note says... always give good night kisses and hugs.

If I had time I would have made a full set of cards and then used the Bind It All to make a book with the cards. Or the couple could use them to make a scrapbook and include pictures of the guests that wrote the note.

It's kind of hard to see but I did make a beaded pen that coordinates with the note cards. I used Dawn's Beaded Pen video tutorial. The only thing I did differently was I beaded the entire pen rather than just a strip of sticky tape swirled around the pen....I went bead crazy and did it all.

I also included a monogramed pocket card that could be used as a thank you card. I used my Small JustRite monogram Stamper for the letter "C" monogram on all my cards. I also used my SU circle punches and scalloped circle punch.

Are you sick of my monogramming obsession? I just love the elegance of the monogram....esp for weddings. This set will be on display at the Stationary Show in New York.

Ok...hope this makes up for my lame week of blogging. Thanks for coming back and visiting. Life is finally slowing down and I can't wait for Mother's Day.......a day to relax!
See ya on the blog!

Make Mine a Double

2008-05-07T17:14:00.004-05:00

So I am two days late with my Cinco De Mayo card but Margaritas are good any day of the week!

Again, life is super duper busy and I am treading water right now trying to keep up with it all. Not only is my personal life busy but so is my stampin life as well. I am making a ton of stuff for a Stationary Show in New York.

Today is Sarah's birthday....OMG my baby girl is now 14 years old! Yikes. I took her out to lunch today and let her play hookie from school for the afternoon....it's our tradition. She spent the afternoon working with me and doing some filing so at least she was learning some sort of skills outside of the classroom.

**Stampin Stuff** This is a 4x4 white card base with a layer of barely banana and some green polka dot pattern paper {a scrap from my stash and I don't know the maker} and some stripe paper that I scalloped with my SU slot punch {same story...it's a scrap...no name}. The sheer green polka dot ribbon is from May Arts.

The image and sentiment are from Amuse and it is stamped with Versafine black ink. I colored the image with an aquapainter and highlighted it with Sakura stardust pens...makes it look like there is sugar on the rim of the glass...yum!

Love this card....love this sentiment...fits my life perfectly right now! Gotta go squeeze some limes.

See ya on the blog!

Hola Amigas

2008-05-05T15:58:00.005-05:00

Happy Cinco De Mayo! Sorry for my absence the last few day....YIKES....my life is in super duper overload at the moment.

Sarah made her confirmation last weekend, Maddie made her First Communion this past weekend, Sarah's birthday party is this coming weekend, Graduation is in a few weeks and of course we can't leave out the emotional mental breakdown I am having due to my know it all 16 year old son and his girlfriend.....did I mention I can't stand 16 year old girls?!? UGH!!!! I just feel so drained and tired.

Posts without pics are so boring so I am including this pic of a weeping Angel. It's the angel that sits atop of our family plot at the cemetery. Don't be creeped out....it's actually quite beautiful and peaceful there....and one of my favorite places to visit when I need to meditate and get a grip. Unfortunately, I don't have time in my life to make a cemetery run this week so I am going to just close my eyes tonight, plug in the iPod and pray the Rosary. God give me strength, patience and guidance is all I ask.

Thanks for letting me dump here....just need to vent and take a deep breath. {Ahhhhhh}. Sorry for this downer of a post. I'll be back later with something creative.

See ya on the blog!

Old School Stampin

2008-05-01T13:33:00.008-05:00

Get ready to go back in time for some Old School Stamping. When I was little stampin girl {in the pic is the 1997-1998 SU catty} I knew nothing about stamping other than I had a desire to be creative and knew that I could have fun with this "hobby" {which later turned into an obsession but I don't really need to admit that publicly...do I?}

My best friend Jen was, and still is, my biggest enabler. I will never forget when she called the Stampin Up lady {I think it was Wendy Hudson} and the convo went something like this:

Wendy: Hello
Jen: Hi my name is Jennifer and I just saw your SU catalog, and I really like it, and I really want to have a party, and this is just really cool, and I really want to have a party, and this is something that I can totally get into, and OMG am I scaring you?
Wendy: LOL...what date were you thinking about?

The rest is history. Jen booked a party, signed up to be a demo that night and has been an enabler ever since.

Fast forward to present day, when I did my Spring Fever Challenge I asked the participants to challenge me. With this particular challenge I was able to combine two challenges.

Jacki's challenge: Get your pencils out girly! I'm a nice challenger. Just color a tulip if you have one.

Melissa's Challenge: My challenge for you: think back to when you first started stamping. What were the first few materials you had? Use ONLY those to create a card. Have fun and let me see what you come up with!

So this is what I had back in my beginner days. My first stamp set was Nice and Easy Notes and I still have it...so old school.

Back in the day we didn't use background papers ....we created our own background by stamping tone on tone and usually used the main image for the background {so original} and so old school.

Back in the day we used Mulberry papers for texture and layering and I can't believe that in all my paper hoarding stash I still have Mulberry papers! Yes, that hairy looking thing that looks like something the cat choked up on my card is purple Mulberry papers. Back in the day the torn look was very popular for adding texture....so old school.

Back in the day we used eyelets and set them with a hammer and awl. Oh my...how did my family endure that loud hammering while I was busy getting creative late into the night. There was no such thing as a Cropodile....so old school.

Back in the day I only had ONE punch and it was a Creative Memories corner rounder. I still have that punch but now that I have such a huge variety of punches it rarely gets used. Besides...corner rounding is so old school now with all those fancy corner punches.

Back in the day we had wide organdy ribbon in every color of the rainbow. We even had rainbow colored organdy ribbon. Yea.....so old school.

Back in the day I had 4 markers and chalk that I used to color and shadow because that is what Wendy Hudson taught me at Jen's party. Who ever thought that I would need 48 markers that cost over $120? Well ,now there is colored pencils with gamsol and Copics. SU markers are ....yep...sooooo old school.

Back in the day I had to rely on the Stampin Up catty for ideas. I remember when I studied that catty, drooled over the pages, dreamed that I would ever be as good as those sample creators and make a wishlist a mile long because I really wanted everything in that book.

Then came along Splitcoast Stampers and well the catty.....it's NOT old school. I still drool, dream and make a wish list a mile long but I do think that my true stamping abilities have improved since I was a stampin little girl back in the day.

I think I need to go redeem myself and make another card with this set and show you that I have evolved and can make something much better. This card really is scarey and I would NEVER send it to anyone....ok maybe Jen or Amy just because they would laugh and appreciate my old school stampin.

See ya on the blog!

JustRite Wedding Day

2008-04-29T11:06:00.006-05:00

**Edited** Tomorrow is the last day for FREE shipping at The Stamp Castle. When checking out you need to enter the code DENISE for free shipping. This is applied to continental US orders only.

Here is another Wedding Day set I have created with my Large JustRite Monogram Stamper. I didn't have a punch that worked well with the large monogramer so I opted to put it on a square {got the idea from Sharon Johnson's awesome card set}.

Anyway, I am now the proud owner of the Nestabilities circle and scallop set which fit perfectly. I just have to take the time to learn the Big Shot sandwiching secret and I am all set.

**Stampin Stuff** The card on the right is inspired by Jen Del Muro's sketch challenge it is also CASED from Ivy's card found here. I love Jen's sketches and hope to play more often. I wrapped the candle with coordinating papers and ribbon and attached a matching monogram as well.

The card and candle monogram were created using the letters and borders from the Special Occasions set. The small place card was created using the number and border from the Damask set.

Have a wondeful day and tomorrow I will come back with something that isn't monogrammed! Promise....I have a purple card to show you and it has a tulip too {Shhhh...don't tell Jacki}.

Good grief....could I have anymore links in this post? OK one more....love this blog

See you on the blog!

You Light Up My Life

2008-04-27T18:22:00.006-05:00

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. I have been busy organizing, stamping, re-organizing, stamping and and re-organizing again. Oh and throw in a snotty teenager, several loads of laundry, some yard work and a big fat head ache and then you have a view of my real life. Fun.

I am still playing around with my Photo Studio in a Box. Today I tried it with the black background. Not sure if I like it....kind of makes my card look like it's floating in mid-air.

**Stampin Stuff** The card base is SU Vanilla and the sentiment is one that I made myself {yes I made the sentiment stamp with my JustRite Imagebox Professional System <--------click here to watch a step by step tutorial}. Anyway, I made the sentiment to go with this chandelier Sizzix die that I have had but don't use enough because I didn't have a coordinating sentiment... but I do now. The black organdy ribbon is from SU and the beautiful charm is from a broken Pottery Barn candle holder. I salvaged the crystals as I thought they would make great card charms and they are perfect with my die cut and sentiment.

**Random Blogging** I got my very first Paper Trey Ink order this week. I got the entire circle Nestabilities set....including scallops. Now I just have to figure out how to make them work in my Big Shot. I also bought the new release Pond Life..I am in love with that cute turtle.

Oh geeeshhh....I hate animal stamps...I forgot. LOL Well actually let me clarify that statement, I hate animal stamps that have animals doing human behaviors...such as riding a bike, drinking coffee, watching TV and etc...you get the idea.

I also got Out on a Limb and Wedding Favors. I adore the cards I have seen with Out on a Limb and the Wedding Favors set I need for JustRite card samples I am making for the Stationary Show next month. We have a wedding theme going and I thought these little sentiment would work well with the monogram stampers.

Ok...off to visit Jen's mom. She is recovering well and is finally off the ventilator. Yeah! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers...it has been very scarey the last three weeks.

See ya on the blog!

Happy Mother's Day

2008-04-25T16:52:00.004-05:00

Here is another card using my Small JustRite Monogram Stamper. I really like these soft spring colors together. All of these papers are from a SU Simply Scrappin kit.

Again, I used some of a SU Simply Scrappin Kit and some of the stickers to make this card. I used the green pattern paper layered on the card base and a pink scalloped sticker with three silver brads for accent. The top yellow layer has a SU sentiment stamped in Versafine Sephia ink and accented with white sheer polka dot ribbon from May Arts.

I punched the wasabi paper with a round scallop punch and layered my monogram "M" that was stamped in close to cocoa ink.

Just thought you might like to know that the JustRite Stampers new and improved WEB site is up and running. Please be kind and know that it is still a work in progress and there are kinks to work out as it is with any new WEB site. We hope that you will come back often for a visit as we will be conitnually adding projects to the gallery, providing educational materials and a new blog.

Speaking of the JustRite Design Gallery , I have three of my cards in the gallery and I am soooooo very lucky to be in such great company with Debbie Olson and Sharon Johnson who have also provided BEAUTIFUL samples for our gallery. More will be added next week.

See you on the blog!

Simple Elegance for Mom

2008-04-23T20:45:00.004-05:00

Here is a Mother's Day card I made for the JustRite Gallery. This is such a simple and elegant card....I like those kind of cards. Simple is always a good thing.

**Stampin Stuff** The black card base is cut for a vertical layout. I added a layer of striped SU patter paper that is soooooo old. I remember being pregnant with Bailey when I bought it after the Las Vegas convention...um Bailey is almost 7 now. {Yes, I hoard paper too.}

Then I added a layer of floral toile paper that was scalloped on the edge. I adhered some black velvet May Arts ribbon around the card base. The monogram was stamped with my small JustRite monogram stamper. I used my SU circle punches and mounted it with a pop dot.

Elegant and easy....oh and simple too.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting me!

See ya on the blog.

Smile

2008-04-22T18:37:00.002-05:00

Thanks for your kind comments on my home made stamps. I don't have anything to show you today with my stamps. Actually, today's cards is a non-stamping card.

I have been dying to do this layout challenge for Jen Del Muro's Sketch For You To Try. I have seen so many cute cards with this layout so I have been thinking of ways to use it.

I found these kit papers from Stampin Up in one of my many piles. Every embellishment on the card is a sticker. Pretty cool for a quick and easy card. I think it literally took less than five minutes. Can't get much easier with an awesome layout and pretty stickers.

I mounted the yellow flower with a pop dot and accented the blue flower with a pink flower sticker. Think I might go back and add some stickles to the center of the flowers for some sparkle.

Now I have to get organized so I can finish my projects for work and crank out First Communion invitations.

See ya on the blog!

Stef's Challenge and a Coupon

2008-04-20T14:15:00.007-05:00

First off...sorry my pics look so whited out. I am still learning how to operate the Photo Studio in a Box. You would think it would be simple...and it is...I just have to get my lights properly adjusted to my liking. This was actually one of the first pics I took...not bad but it is so bright that I lost the detail on the cards. You can barely see that I used a Cuttlebug folder on this card.

So a few weeks back Stefanie from the blog Ingenious Inkling participated in my Spring Fever Challenge. On the last day the participants got to challenge me. Here are Stefanie's challenge rules: my challenge to you is to make a purple card set using your Just Rite Stampers.

As you can see this is more than a set of cards because this is part of a wedding sample I am doing for a Stationary Show coming up in May. There is a card monogramed with the couple's initial. Then I made a book to go at each table so guests can write love notes or marital advice. Then I made a place card with the #8 and finally I made a mini favor tin with the couple's initial.

**Stampin Stuff** The card base is eggplant with a layer of purple pattern paper (sorry no name). The white strip of paper was embossed using the Cuttlebug Textile folder. The monogram was stamped using the small JustRite Monogram stamper (currently called c-30 DIY Monogram stamper). This size monogramer fits perfectly with the SU circle punches and scallop punch. I should receive my Nestabilities order tomorrow from Paper Trey and I hear that the circles fit the small and large monogramers perfectly....I can't wait to try it out.

The mini book was made from coasters that I covered with the pattern paper. I added white pages inside and again the monogram on the outside. I made this book with the Bind It All and I just have to say that I love that thing! Soooooo flippin cool and I am not sure Jen will ever get it back from me. Anyway, I am going to try Dawn's Beaded Pen Tutorial and make a matching pen to go with the book.

**FREE Shipping Code** My friend JoAnne at The Stamp Castle carries all of the JustRite products that I use and talk about here. She is offering FREE shipping to anyone in the continental United States for the rest of April. When you are checking out and want to get free shipping you have to enter the code DENISE in the Promotional Code Box. Feel free to share this shipping code with your friends.

See ya on the blog!

Home Made Stamps Part 2

2008-04-20T11:55:00.001-05:00

As you may know, I recently took a job with JustRite Stampers. They make an awesome Monogram Stamper that allows you to change out the letters and customize your monograms. What you might not know is that they make other great products.

Yesterday I showed you some stamps I made with the Imagebox Professional System which currently sells for $399. The professional system allows you to mass produce sheets of stamps for personal use or to sell at stores, craft fairs or Etsy...it's up to you.

At this time we do not have the Imagebox Professional System on our WEB site because we are making a new WEB site and everything will be up in the next week or so. If you want more information on the Imagebox Professional System let me know and I can get some product information in the mail to you.

But what if you don't want to mass produce stamps and you just want to take your own hand drawn image and turn it into a stamp? What if you want to make your own sentiments on the computer and turn them into a stamp? It is possible and today I am going to talk about the Clear Stamp Making Kit (currently called the Home Stamp Kit) which retails for $149.

This stamp kit provides you with all the necessary software, tools and supplies to make clear stamps from your home studio {or basement, or kitchen, or spare bedroom}. I recently made this flower stamp with a negative image provided by JustRite. But you could use any of your own artwork including photographs to make your own stamps.

In this pic you can see that the stamp looks yellow and well....it is a tint of yellow. The yellowness comes from the type of polymer being used which allows you to make stamps with a 60 watt lightbulb in your desklamp. It does not affect the quality of your stamp nor does it mean you have a bad stamp. Also, I left the Versafine Sephia ink on the stamp for picture taking purposes so you could better see the image. I am sure that is also contributing to the yellowness or dirty looking stamp.

The entire stamp making process can be done in approximately 30 minutes and does not require a Chemistry major either. It is simple enough for me to do in my kitchen. If you would like to see the step by step process in action you can watch this Craft TV Weekly video.

I'll be back later with my monogram set that Stefanie challenged me to make during the Spring Fever Challenge.

See ya on the blog!

Home Made Stamps

2008-04-19T14:51:00.000-05:00

Wow...have I been SUPER busy with work and life in general. I am very excited to show you my card today because I made the stamps used in this project. Yes you read that right...I literally made these clear stamps with my JustRite Imagebox Professional System. This is a stamp making system that provides you the option of mass producing stamps right from your home. You can sell these stamps at stores, craft fairs or on Etsy....your options are only limited by your imagination.

I created this particular sentiment on my computer using Photoshop Elements and the butterflies are from negatives that were provided to me by JustRite.

Have you ever wished you had a certain sentiment in a larger or smaller size? When I made this sentiment I made it in three sizes so that it would fit in the small SU circle and scallop punches, the Marvy scallop punches and the Nestabilities circle set.

**Stampin Stuff** The black card base measures 4.25 x 6. The butterflies were stamped with Versafine Black ink and watercolored with an aquapainter using SU Pumpkin Pie, Only Orange and Apricot inks and Tempting Turquois and Cool Carribean inks for the blue butterfly. I personally don't own any Copics but I bet they would be awesome for blending and shading the colorful butterflies.

I sponged the edges with Pumpkin Pie ink and matted it on Pumpkin Pie paper. I layered it over the turquois polka dot paper that was in my scrap pile...sorry no name. The sentiment is stamped on a copper tag and mounted with a pop dot.

As you can see in the close up pic I cut out and layered the butterflies so it looks like they are flying. The 3-D effect on this card is really cool if I do say so myself.

See ya on the blog!

Life Is Good @ 53

2008-04-17T21:35:00.004-05:00

OMG! I have been trying to post to my blog for 3 days and could not get my pictures to upload. I was getting so frustrated because I have actually been working on lots of cool stuff to share with you. I do believe that is now Bloggers turn to have probs since Typepad had their round of troubles a few weeks ago. OK...hope this works.

Yesterday was my boss' 53rd birthday....I am quite sure he will appreciate me broadcasting that on the internet. Anyway, here is the card I made for him with my new stamp set...I love the new set Text and Texture and it is a double mount set....six stamps on three blocks.

**Stampin Stuff** The card base is white with a layer of wasabi that I stamped with the dot background and wasbi ink. {I need to stock up on wasabi stuff before it is retired. I love that color} I stamped the sentiment in wasabi ink onto white paper. It is matted on pumpkin pie where I added a strip of polka dot pattern paper.

I added three copper brads and the @ symbol is from my Cuttlebug Olivia alphabet die. It is on a copper tag and mounted with a pop dot. Inside I added the number 53 from my Cuttlebug Red Tag Sale alphabet die.

**Prayer Update** Jen's mom is slowly improving and I wanted to say thank you so much for the prayers. I went to visit her last Sunday and I was so thrilled that she recognized me and smiled at me. She mouthed "I love you". It was good to see her smile and I could totally read her mind just by looking in her eyes. {She was saying get this F***** tube out of my throat.....LOL....at least when I said that is what I believed she was saying she vigorously nodded her head in agreement.}

Then the game of charades started and I totally lost my psychic connection with her because I thought she was saying boobs, then we gave her pen and paper and she attempted to write somethings that looked like bees, then we asked if it rhymed with boobs. She pointed to the chair so I told Jen to sit down...she wanted us to sit in the chair. The more we tried the worse it got.

After 30 minutes of guessing we finally figured out she was asking me to get Jen's brother a booster chair for his kids to ride in his car. So I said....why the hell didn't she say car seat? Ummmm.....she gave me the finger. LOL....she is on the road to recovery. Soooooo happy to be flipped off by Jen's mom. LOL

**FYI** For those that participated in my Spring Fever Challenge.....don't hate me.....I know.....I still have your prizes her. I have been so unbelievably crazy busy and I will get them in the mail next week. And......I know that I still have to finish posting the challenges you gave me. I did do them all...just have to post them amongst the millions of other things on my "To Do List".

See you on the blog!

Sunday PMS Check

2008-04-13T19:15:00.003-05:00

It's Sunday....and I am sad that tomorrow is Monday...back to work. Not that I don't like work....I LOVE my job and the people I work with are wonderful. I actually enjoy going to work at the bank and I feel sorry for anyone that dreads going to work.

It's just that weekends are my time to catch up and I don't feel like I have caught up this weekend. Still have laundry to do and haven't made my dinner menu for the week. {That is my attempt at organized chaos around here...no one will starve.}

I am posting an old card because I haven't had time to take photos of my wedding set that I have been working on. I'll get to it later tonight...hopefully! I did get the Photo Studio In a Box today so I can take nice blogable pics for JustRite. Can't wait to test it out this week.

**Stampin Stuff** I love these colors. The coordinating papers are from Sandy Lion and I just bought some more this weekend cause I ran out. So springy and happy. This is such an easy card because it is a 4x4 white base with squares layered on top of some Bazzill Bling blue textured paper. The Marvy scallop circle punch is used to create my circle focal image. The image is the flower from In Full Bloom that I stamped with Versafine Black ink and colored with my watercolor crayons.

**Sunday PMS Check**

Physical Well Being- For some reason, I started having Heart Palpatations this week. I haven't had any since January so I am guessing it the current stress in my life affecting me.
Mental Well Being- My brain has been on overload but nothing that a good cry and Starbucks can't fix.
Spiritual Well Being- Lots of prayers this week for Jen's mom. Live every day as if it was your last....what more can I say...she is critically ill and only God knows the plan. There is a reason, there is a lesson and we can only wait for His guidance and love to lead us through it.

I am off to the hospital for a visit and to keep Jen company. This is really hard for her and she is doing a great job not letting it show.

See ya on the blog!

Awards and Thank Yous

2008-04-12T09:33:00.003-05:00

As I was going through my daily Google Reader favs I about fell out of my chair when Julie Buhler listed me on her blog for the "You Make My Day" award. Talk about flattering because Julie has been one of my stamping heros since she started blogging and she totally makes my day...every day. I love her style and she has a great blog called Paper Pleasing Ideas. Thanks Julie.

Also, Kelly over at Crafting Creatively sent me this award a week ago and I totally forgot to post it. {Sorry Kelly} It is really hard to do things like this because I read over 150 blogs due to the fact that they are soooooo talented. I have seen lots of people with this award so I am probably giving them an extra award...but it's ok...they still inspire me.

So I am going to combine my two awards and choose five people that Make My Day and deserve the Arte Y Pico Award.

There are 5 rules attached to this and they are:

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone. Kelly's Blog can be found here.

3)Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and the link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) To show these rules.The 5 blogs that I choose are:

Debbie Olson Thinking Inking
Amy Tsuruta Tsuruta Designs
Dawn Griffith Dawn's Stampin Thoughts
Shannan Tuebner Pink Tulle with Feathers
Ana Wohlfahrt Inkastamp

Have a wonderful day and I'll be back later with some Wedding inspirations. See ya on the blog!

JustRite Mom

2008-04-11T16:06:00.003-05:00

Just a quick card before I run off to play volleyball. What fun...I'll take some pics of Beth serving it up for Team Mom!

**Stampin Stuff** Card base is brown Bazzil Bling paper. The mustard layer is textured DCWV paper. The jumbo flower is a Cuttlebug folder and I sanded the paper to show the white core and make the flower pop.

The center of the flower was monogramed with my JustRite Monogram Stamp using the Damask border. I loaded the ink pad up with SU Chocolate Chip ink. I punched it with my two SU circle punches.

The striped pattern paper is from a pack of DCWV. The tag was made with a Cuttlebug die and attached with some hardware and May Arts sheer brown polka dot ribbon.

See ya on the blog!

My Simple Pleasure

2008-04-09T22:18:00.004-05:00

I can't wait for flip flop season to get here! I spend my days in heels and my feet yearn for kooshy flip flops. Really, I have over 10 pairs of flip flops in my closet just waiting for warmer weather. I am not calling for summer...I just want Spring to hurry up and get here.

**Stampin Stuff** The only thing stamped on this card is the A Muse sentiment. The pattern paper is from SU along with the Blush Blossom card base. The flip flopped feet are from a Cuttlebug die and I am not sure if you can see it but there is a tiny rhinestone on the strap of the flip flop.

**Prayers** Thanks to all of you that have left a comment or sent me an email about Jen's mom. I talked with Jen this morning and there was nothing new to report. I am sure she will have something to tell me tomorrow morning. Please keep her family in your prayers.

See you on the blog!

Prayers Needed

2008-04-08T23:44:00.002-05:00

Sorry for my absence. Please take a moment to say a prayer for Jen's mom. She is really sick and has been in ICU since Friday. I don't want to go into all the details but she thought she had the flu and it was determined to be much worse than the flu.

I have a ton of cards but none photographed. I'll try to get something up here tomorrow. In the mean time, say a prayer and visit some of my blogger friends listed to the left in my blogroll.

See you on the blog!

Sunday PMS Check

2008-04-06T22:12:00.000-05:00

It's Sunday and it's been a while since I did a PMS check. For those of you new to my blog, as a New Year's resolution I started doing a weekly check of my Physical well being, my Mental well being and my Spiritual well being {PMS} and it just kind of stuck. If you don't really care just skip past it and check out my card for today.

**PMS Check**

Physical Well Being- Today's weather was so motivating to get moving! I am so ready to plug in my iPod and hit the pavement walking. Who knows how long it is going to take for me to build up to my hour walk and 12 flights of stairs but I'll do it. Just have to have plenty more snowless days.
Mental Well Being- Last week was a busy and stressful week for me. Thanks to Amy and Beth for being my sounding boards and of course for their infinate wisdom. I'll quote Beth "People that think they know it all act that way because they don't know much of anything."
Spiritaul Well Being- Lots of inner reflecting this past week. Lots of praying this past week. Lots of putting the Law of Attraction to work this past week. All is good and I am grateful for my blessings.

Today would have been my dad's 63rd birthday. It's hard to believe he passed away almost three years ago. I know this will sound creepy to some people but one of my favorite places to visit is the cemetery. My dad is buried right across the street from Lake Michigan in a very old cemetery that is going to be declared a historical marker. The old stones are huge and unbelievably beautiful. I like to just walk and look at the history there while soaking in the sun and listening to the waves hit the shore. It has to be one of the most beautiful and peaceful places on Earth and it's hard to remember that it is surrounded by the hustle and bustle of Chicago. I don't go there often as I should but when I do go I always leave with peace and tranquilty filling my soul. Love you Dad.

**Stampin Stuff** I totally CASED one of Ivy's cards from my Spring Fever Challenge. She did callenge me to case a card of her's and I will do it later probably this one again with her rules implemented. But for now this is is the card that I LOVE and felt the urge to CASE. I only wish I had some big wide satin ribbon for my card. Sarah calls this my Starbucks ribbon...hmmm what would make her think that? LOL

Yes, that is the coveted Swiss Dot Cuttlebug folder that I used on this card. Totally freaked out when I walked into Jo's and found all the new embossing folders. I also used multiple floral dies to create my side panel of flowers. The paper is Bazzil Bling which gives it that sheen. I added some crystals to the center of some of my flowers.

Inside the card I stamped this sentiment from Penny Black with Versafine Sephia ink. I love this sentiment....picked it up at Archiver's a few months back during a playdate with Jen.

Ok...I am off to bed early...which means before 2 am for me. I am trying to be a morning person. Yeah...wish me luck.

See ya on the blog!

Keri's Challenge Card

2008-04-05T22:08:00.000-05:00

Hello...yes I am still alive. My goodness this was one crazy busy week and I am just now having a moment to get on the computer.

Lots of meetings all week and get to meet my other team member for JustRite. Lots of things in the works and I will be very busy getting my tasks taken care of....lots of fun.

Today was volleyball tournament day for Cody. Oh I love me some high school volleyball. It was so intense....esp with Cody being the tallest on the team. His jjob is to block and it kills me when something gets past him. He's 6'4" and that is not including when he has his arms up in the air.

Thanks to everyone that voted on my last challenge card. 95% of you said that I met the challenge. That's cool. I am still not overly fond of the colors I had to use but it worked for the challenge and I tried something different.

This card was Krafty Keri Lou's challenge for me. Here are her rules: My challenge for you is to do a card for a MAN using only dark green and brown colors! Have fun!

Well the challenge was finding some dark green paper in my stash. That's not a normal color that I keep in my stash. I only had a piece of avacado colored paper....it's hard to see but I matted the pattern paper band onto the green paper. The base of the card is brown craft and I layered some brown Bazzil Bling paper which is giving it that sheen. The pattern paper is from a pack of SU papers. The ribbon was in my scrap pile. I used more of the Bazzil Bling paper to punch out the letter for the word "Dad" using my Sizzix Circus alphabet dies. I actually pulled out my hodgepodge hardware and used an antique brass frame and stamped the sentiment in brown Versafine Sephia ink.

If you would like to vote on this challenge card you need to come directly to my blog to see the poll at the top of the page. I will try to post another card tomorrow night but right now I am working on a really cool scrapbook. If the weather is as awesome tomorrow as it was today I will probably finish up taking pics of the girls for my book.

See you on the blog!

Challenge from Karen

2008-04-01T20:30:00.000-05:00

Thanks for voting on my last card. 63% said I met the challenge and loved my card but I still think I will do it over since the rules said no flowers and the birdie has flowers on it's body.

For those of you that are reading this through Google Reader you will have to click to my blog to see the voting poll at the top of the page. Feel free to be honest when you vote as I can't tell who is voting.

This next challenge is from Karen at Karen's Kreations. Here are her rules: My challenge for you is to create a card using your least favorite color family, a flower stamp, and no ribbon! That's right, no ribbon at all. But I want it to be a beautiful card. Let's see what you can do.

Do you see a common theme amongst these challenges? NO RIBBON!

Well Karen, besides the color orange my least favorite colors apparently are bravo burgundy and sage shadow. I say that because I have two full packs of these papers in my paper rack and I hardly ever use them. So then I was trying to figure out what papers I have to go with those colors and I came across this Daisy D's polka dot paper which perfectly matches.

I used the script background stamp and then stamped the flowers from Happy Harmony as my focal point. The sentiments on the card and in the layered circle are both from the Happy Harmony set as well. I have to say that this is one of my all time favorite Stampin Up sets. This card layout was definately inspired by this beautiful card Lisa Silver made at Silver Stamping.

**America Idol** OMG....Michael Johns is so flippin HOT! I loved his song tonight. Sadly, I think it is time for Ramiele to go home. I really like her but she just hasn't stepped up to the plate lately. So there is my AI two cents.

See you on the blog!

Challenge from Marla

2008-03-31T16:58:00.001-05:00

Here is my next challenge card from the Spring Fever challenge. Marla challenged me to make a Mother's Day card that incorporated her mom's favorite color {orange} which happens to be one of my least favorite colors. Needless to say, that was the challenging part for me.

As I was reviewing the challenge it said no flowers on the card at all. Umm....I didn't use any flower pattern paper, or Primas but...I just realized that the bird has flowers on it's body. Ooooops. I might have to do this challenge over again...you can vote and tell me if it is a do over.

Tomorrow is my first full day of being an employee for JustRite Stampers. Whoooooo. Not that I haven't been working already...it's kind of impossible to not do research and other stuff when my mind has endless questions and possibilites randomly popping into it regularly. This whole week is going to be filled with JustRite stamping goodness. I will get to meet the other members of our team and get things moving along. Very exciting.

See ya on the blog!

Spring Fever Challenge Winner

2008-03-30T19:05:00.003-05:00

Thanks for voting on my poll question. Shwoooooo, 100% of the votes said that I met Trish's challenge rules and 100% of you loved the card too. Yeah....I like it too. In the future, I'll have you vote on all my challenges. I am open for some constructive criticizm. BTW, when you vote it doesn't tell me any info about you...it's totally anonymous so be honest.

If you have been following the Spring Fever Challenge all last week then you are probably on the edge of your seat waiting for me to announce the winner of the Grand Prize Basket. {ok...maybe just the thirteen participants are on the edge of their seats}

Here are the prizes I put in the basket all while cleaning out my studio:

K and Company paper assortment
Versafine black ink pad
Hero Arts clear stamps
May Arts ribbon assortment
Embellishments and bling assortment

And the winner is number 1o. Well who the heck is number 10 you ask? I took the comments from challenge one and wrote them in the order people posted their link. The number 1o on my list is Melissa. Congratulations and thanks for playing!! Please email me your address so I can get your package in the mail.

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:10
Timestamp: 2008-03-30 22:11:06 UTC

I also need a mailing address for Trish and Ivy for winning the bonus challenges. Karen already sent me her address.

See you on the blog!

Just Me and Gina K

2008-03-30T17:11:00.004-05:00

Today I went to the Rubber Stamper Expo in Milwaukee, Wi and guess who I got to meet? Yes, in that fuzzy pic below is me and the one and only Miss Gina K who is just as sweet in person as she is online. Ok and just for the record I am not a giant....really I am 5'6" and a size 14/16. Gina on the other hand is itty bitty teeny weeny which makes me look like ginormous in this crappy pic but I am sharing it anyway...she's a stamping, blogging rockstar and I got her autograph! {Look below} LOL...yeah I am being a Dorkabella right now...I know.

It was so funny because all I said was Hello and before I could introduce myself she jumped up and hugged me and said Hi Denise...I read your blog and I of course said that I read her blog. It was so nice to put a real person with the blog.

I am such a lucky girl cause I got a one on one tutorial {well not really, my kids were watching and others wandered into the booth but I like to believe it was just for me} on Mineral Spirits. Here is the little froggy she colored and gave to my daughter Bailey....she wants to frame it and put it up in her room now. LOL

So I never knew that Mineral Spirits were so easy. I just figured what a pain the butt to gather the pencils, the mineral spirits and the stumps but really it was no big deal and it turned out great. I went back to the booth before I left to say good bye and to buy my Mineral Spirits but Gina was on break....so Bye Gina and thanks for the tutorial.

Gina made me laugh because she commented on how she is a long time reader of my blog and how I can put a humorous spin on things in my every day life such as the visit from Granny last year. It cracked me up because she said she couldn't get to her computer fast enough to read the next installment of what my mother in law was up to during her looooooong visit last year. She even wanted to know when Granny was coming back!!! Ack...I don't think I could survive another visit....nor would my house survive.

Anyway, it was totally worth the 40 minute drive up past the "Cheddar Curtain" as my husband likes to refer to anything in Wisconsin. I got to meet Gina K, scored at the Sizzix booth with some of the new releases at 40% off, picked up some more sassy sarcastic sentiments {my new addiction}, picked up the coolest TLC albums {I got family, friends and a blank one to alter}.

I'll be back later with the winner from my Spring Fever Challenge.
See ya on the blog!

Challenge From Trish

2008-03-29T16:00:00.001-05:00

Hey, I just learned how to put a poll up on my blog. After reading about this card make sure you scroll up to vote. Just for the fun of it.

For those of you just joining me, I hosted a
Spring Fever Challenge and on the last day I allowed the particpants to challenge me. Very fun.

This first one is from Trish D and she was sure to make it difficult. I have to make an odd card that includes 7 papers, 5 embellishments, 3 stamps and 1 ink color. The hardest rule...NO RIBBON! That was the part that killed me because I have ribbon on just about every single card I make.

**Check My Work**

Odd card...hmmm...this is an odd 5x5 shape.
For the 7 papers I used 1 barely banana as the base + 1 wild wasabi for the mat + 5 different pattern papers = 7 papers used.
For the 5 embellishments I used a felt word (celebrate), 3 brads, and an embellished tag with the number 8
For the three stamps I used the words Happy, Birthday, Friend from three different stamp sets
For the ink I used wild wasabi
And finally...you do not see any ribbon on this card...and I like it.

Thanks for playing Trish and thanks for the challenge. Now I challenge all of you to make Trish's challenge card and post a link here for all to see.

See you on the blog!

Thank You

2008-03-28T23:29:00.005-05:00

Scroll down to see the pics.

OMG...you guys are so incredibly kind. Thanks for all your wonderful words, gratitude and love you left me in the comments. This was a lot of fun and I too enjoyed the challenge week.

And let me tell you this.....holy cow..... your challenges are so AWESOME and so very creative. You are really going to put my skills to the test. This should be very interesting because I rarely color, I rarely use buttons, I rarely make a manly card, I rarely use orange on a card {except last week}, I rarely heat emboss {do I still own a heat gun?}, I have to pull out a tulip stamp from deep storage, I have to find an old card to alter, I have to go back to my stamping basics, I have to find some paisley papers, I have to make a card with 7 different papers on a single card and my goodness I have to CASE a card off of the very super-duper talented IvyPink....just to mention a few of the things expected of me. Oh and let's not forget that Amy challenged me to clean off my desk....that one is the hardest of them all.

I am so totally up for the challenge and this will be fun for you to put me through the test. Since you are so bummed that the challenge has ended why not join me in doing each other's challenges. I will post my version of the challenge card and then you can play along at your leisure....I don't think I can do another 13 days of daily cards but I'll try. FYI...I already did my first challenge and I'll post it tomorrow.

Ok...so all week my techno challenged friend Amy {She is off living in a far far away land called Guam...love you and miss you Amy} participated in the challenges but emailed me her cards every day because she doesn't have a blog or gallery to post them in. So I am going to post them all here for you to see and feel free to comment and leave her some love here. FYI....I love the Scottie dog card {my fav}.

See you on the blog!

Spring Fever Challenge Day 5

2008-03-27T20:28:00.007-05:00

You girls ROCK! I loved all your tag cards and the creativity that you put into incorporating all the required steps. Thank you so much for participating...I really enjoyed it. This has been a lot of fun for me and I hope for you too. So sad that today is the last day of the challenge but I am sure there will be more in the future.

For those of you that haven't played but watched from a distance leave a comment today and I'll let you know when we do the next challenge week.

**Q and A** 1) Coconut Hershey Kisses are a seasonal item at Easter time only. I have seen them at Walmart and Target. If you are lucky you might find some left over. 2) The silverware stamp was purchased from The Paper Source. 3) Yes, I will show you a pic of my studio....once it is completely cleaned up and in presentable order.

Congrats to Karen for being the first to post a link in the comments both yesterday and today. An assortment of accessories and bling will be added to the prize basket today.

**Day 6 Challenge Rules** Today you get to create a monogram card with your own initials...one, two or three intials will be acceptable. 1) Make a monogram card using stamps, stickers or die cuts for the letters of the monogram 2) You must use your favorite color paper for the card base and any pattern papers 3) You must use ribbon on your card 4) You must use some sort of scallop on your card...scallop circle punch, scallop trim, I'll even accept ric rac ribbon or paper scalloped with scissors {get creative}. 4) When you post your link in the comments leave a challenge for me...now is your chance to get even and see if I can pull it off. Get creative with your challenge for me. I pretty much have almost every form of tool and accessory if that helps you think of something hard. I am up for the challenge.

**Bonus** First person to post a link gets a prize in the mail from me. Oh and if you post your card on your blog include a link to my blog so everyone that visits can see all the entries.

**Challenge Rules** The challenge is open to anyone that wants to participate and you may submit multiple entries as long as you incorporate the daily task and follow the rules posted below.

You must do all 5 daily challenges Monday thru Friday

You must post a comment with a link to your card by midnight central time (no exceptions) for each challenge every day, it doesn't matter where you post the card just send me a link before midnight

You must follow the daily challenge rules posted on my blog

Winner will be announced Sunday, March 30th

Spring Fever Challenge 4

2008-03-26T23:45:00.000-05:00

It's already day 4 of the Spring Fever Challenge. Are you having fun yet? As you can see each day has progressively become more challenging....hence the reason it is called a challenge. I think everyone commented about how I made the last one more difficult....Jen even emailed me at work to complain. LOL. This one is easier...I promise.

Today's prize is a set of clear stamps that I got from the Hero Arts booth at CHA. If you need some more inspiration check out this cute card Beate received as a RAK from Anne.

**Day 4 Challenge** Tag...your it! 1) Your card must contain a tag somewhere in the design. Any size...big or small. Any shape....round, square, rectangle. 2) Your card must contain the color red somewhere in the design...any shade of red. 3) Your card must have some sort of bling in the design...anything shiney will count as bling....brads, eyelets, rhinestones, stickles, glitter...all counts as bling. 4) When you post a link in the comments you must tell me these three things 1) favorite color 2) favorite song 3) favorite candy. Don't forget to post your answers in the comments with your link.

And just to be fair here are my answers 1) Favorite color - Red and Green 2) Favorite Song -Home by Michael Buble 3) Favorite Candy - Hershey's Coconut Kisses.

**Bonus** First person to post a link gets a prize in the mail from me. Oh and if you post your card on your blog include a link to my blog so everyone that visits can see all the entries.

**Challenge Rules** The challenge is open to anyone that wants to participate and you may submit multiple entries as long as you incorporate the daily task and follow the rules posted below.

You must do all 5 daily challenges Monday thru Friday
You must post a comment with a link to your card by midnight central time (no exceptions) for each challenge every day, it doesn't matter where you post the card just send me a link before midnight
You must follow the daily challenge rules posted on my blog
Winner will be announced Sunday, March 30th

Spring Fever Challenge Day 3

2008-03-26T00:01:00.004-05:00

Loved all your black and white cards. So creative which is the whole purpose of these challenges....to get those creastive juices flowing...and to clean up my studio. However, at this rate we could be doing challenges for the next year before I get my studio cleaned up.

Congrats to Ivy for being the first person to post a link in the comments.

The day three challenge was inspired by a card that I saw on Laurie Schmidlin's blog Just Give Me Stamps! I thought it was so cool that she decorated the inside and outside of the card.

**Day 3 Challenge Rules** Today you get to make a card that doesn't fold in half....it is what I like to call a Funky Fold. 1) It can be any size card but can not fold in half 2) It must be decorated on the inside and outside 3) You must spell out a word using stickers, thickers, die cuts or alphabet stamps 4) It has to have polka dots. The prize going into the basket today is an assortment of K and Company pattern papers (my fav) and some DCWV chipboard (another fav of mine).

**Bonus** First person to post a link gets a prize in the mail from me. Oh and if you post your card on your blog include a link to my blog so everyone that visits can see all the entries.

**Challenge Rules** The challenge is open to anyone that wants to participate and you may submit multiple entries as long as you incorporate the daily task and follow the rules posted below.

You must do all 5 daily challenges Monday thru Friday
You must post a comment with a link to your card by midnight central time (no exceptions) for each challenge every day, it doesn't matter where you post the card just send me a link before midnight
You must follow the daily challenge rules posted on my blogWinner will be announced Sunday, March 30th

Spring Fever Challenge Day 2

2008-03-25T00:01:00.007-05:00

You girls rock! Thanks to everyone that is playing along. Your bird cards are amazing!!! I love them all.

lf you are just joining the Spring Fever Challenge you are not eligible for the Grand Prize Basket because you have to do all 5 Challenges. However, you are eligible for the daily prize if you are the first person to post a card link.

Congrats to Trish D for being first to post a link on Day 1.

The Day 2 challenge is a bit more challenging for me because I am not a CAS (Clean and Simple) stamper. But I was totally inspired by a card that Amy Tsuruta posted on her blog and this is what I came up with as a thank you for a mom at school. She organized our Mostaccioli Dinner so the Grazi stamp was totally appropriate for this card.

**Day 2 Challenge Rules** Make sure you read carefully and follow the directions. 1) Create a 4x4 black and white card 2) NO PATTERN papers 3) black ink only 4) Use any stamps. The prize that is going into the basket today is a Versafine Black Onyx stamp pad (my fav).

**Bonus** First person to post a link gets a prize in the mail from me. Oh and if you post your card on your blog include a link to my blog so everyone that visits can see all the entries.

**Challenge Rules** The challenge is open to anyone that wants to participate and you may submit multiple entries as long as you incorporate the daily task and follow the rules posted below.

You must do all 5 daily challenges Monday thru Friday
You must post a comment with a link to your card by midnight central time (no exceptions) for each challenge every day, it doesn't matter where you post the card just send me a link before midnight
You must follow the daily challenge rules posted on my blogWinner will be announced Sunday, March 30th

Spring Fever Challenge Day 1

2008-03-24T05:00:00.009-05:00

**Edited** Yes, you can email your pic if you don' t have a blog or online gallery but I have to get it before midnight. Make sure you do everything in the daily instructionss too! Read carefully to incorporate all the required items.

The rules are posted at the end of this post as a reminder. Make sure you read EVERYTHING and pay attentinon to the daily rules! The prize that goes into the basket today will be a sample bag of my favorite May Arts Ribbons.

**Day 1 Challenge** Spring is late....again and I miss the tweeting of baby birds. Create a card that has a bird image on it. It can be a stamped bird, embossed bird, or a bird in the pattern paper just find a bird, Get {creative} here and use any kind of bird....if it has feathers it's a bird. Your card must also have at least one layer and some ribbon.

**Bonus**The first person to post a link in the comments will recieve a special treat in the mail.

**The Rules** The challenge is open to anyone that wants to participate and you may submit multiple entries as long as you incorporate the daily task and follow the rules posted below.

You must do all 5 daily challenges Monday thru Friday

You must post a comment with a link to your card by midnight central time (no exceptions) for each challenge every day, it doesn't matter where you post the card just send me a link before midnight

You must follow the daily challenge rules posted on my blog
Winner will be announced Sunday, March 30th

Good Morning Jesus

2008-03-23T13:10:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to drop in and say Happy Easter to my cyber friends. This is a partial pic of my cross collection that is at the landing of my stairway. I have crosses from around the world including Bethlehem. I also have rosaries from around the world too which include one that I made in 7th grade and one that was made out of the roses from my dad's funeral. The kids each have their favorite rosaries as well.

Anyway, this is what I see each day as I come down to start my day and it is a daily reminder to be thankful for the blessings in my life.

Yesterday, Bailey walked to the landing and said, "Nobody say anything while I stand here and pray for Grandpa". I thought that was so sweet of her.

My kids have dubbed it "The Holy Wall" and it makes me happy that they see it as part of their day too. I heard Maddie walking down the stairs one day and said "Good Morning Jesus".

Today is supposed to be my Sunday PMS check but I will just say that life is good and I am thankful for everything in my life.

Celebrate You and Spring Fever Challenge

2008-03-19T22:22:00.007-05:00

Took a quick trip this weekend to a cool scrapbook store. They had everything you could think of and many awesome products to choose from. They had Quickutz too but no Cuttlebug or Sizzix dies...darn.

But I did find some nice birthday and Easter papers from Heidi Grace. Not sure if you can see it but some of the birthday candles on this paper are shiney because they are clear embossed. Adds some texture and shine to the background.

The image was stamped with Versafine black...of course....and colored with SU watercolor crayons. I used Sakura stardust gel pens to add some sparkles and highlights.

I used May Arts ribbon, a SU scallop circle punch and two silver brads to accent this 4x4 card. I really like the 4x4 size...perfect for a quick birthday card.

**Spring Fever Challenge** Every year, right around Easter I get a severe case of Spring Fever. The symptoms are a strong desire to clean and organize my house. This year is no exception to the rule. Starting on Monday I will post a daily challenge and post the prize for the day that will be added to the Grand Prize basket.

The catch...of course there is a catch.....you have to do all of the 5 challenges to qualify for the prize package. What's the prize package? Lots of stuff that I will gather from my studio as I attempt to rid myself of this Spring Fever. (stamps, papers, ribbons, brads, flowers, etc.) Get your creative juices flowing and tell everyone to check in on Monday morning for the first Challenge.

Here are the rules and the challenge is open to anyone that wants to participate:

You must do all 5 daily challenges Monday thru Friday
You must post a comment with a link to your card by midnight central time (no exceptions), it doesn't matter where you post the card just send me a link before midnight
You must follow the daily challenge rules posted on my blog

That's it.....easy peasy. Any questions just comment or send me an email. Get your stampin mojo ready by Monday.

A is for Amy

2008-03-18T16:25:00.007-05:00

Just have a few minutes to post a quick card before I leave for Cody's volleyball game. Yeah!!! I love volleyball....so exciting.

This is a monogramed card I made for my friend Amy who live far far away on a far away island called Guam. {Sigh} I can't wait for that girl to get back to the continental USA. Geeesh. I haven't seen her since I left Florida 4 years ago.

Anyway, this is a monogramed card made with my Just Rite monogram stamper. It is sooooo cool. I have some other projects that I have been working on but my main focus has been "a" cards for a set I am making for Amy. Trust me....there is more than the letter "a" in the monogram set. LOL

The Twill ribbon is from May Arts. The flower is from my flower stash...I have no idea what brand. The solid paper is SU and the plaid was a scrap on my desk. Quick and easy card.

See ya on the blog later after the game.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2008-03-17T17:58:00.004-05:00

Here is a card that was inspired by a card I saw on Nichole Heady's blog {Capture the Moment}. This is a great way to use multiple coordinating scraps of paper.

I used my square punch and matted the 4 squares onto a strip of vanilla paper.

In the first card the flower is from Making Memories and it is secured with a mirrored flower and green glitter brad.

The second card has a double layer flower made from a Cuttlebug die. It is has a silver brad in the center and it is mounted with a pop dot.

The sentiment is stamped with Versafine black ink....of course.

Always and a Challenge

2008-03-16T21:53:00.006-05:00

Ok...I am back with a card this time. I went to Jen's SU party Friday night. I picked up my order from the last show she did and I got this set called Always.

Like I have said a million times, I am not into animals but I do love this bird. It goes well with this MOD paper too.

I made a lot of cards today using this new set. It reminds me of Spring....and goes well with my Spring Fever.

**Stampin Stuff** It's pretty basic here. I used Versafine Black ink for the image and letter "a". I used the scallop circle punch and a black safety pink to attach it to my May Arts Ribbon. The safety pin is definately one of my "go to" items. I don't like using those jump ring thingys....too much work and I am a lazy stamper...if you haven't figured that out yet.

**Challenge** I need to get motivated and start scrapbooking again. I can't even remember the last time I scrapped. Anyway, Simone from the blog Daily Dose of Spazz has another blog called Scrap Your Crap. LOL....don't you just love that name...very creative. Anyway, she offers a weekly challenge to get you using your scrap crap that you have been hoarding forever. This week's Challenge is to use your Primas and Heidi Swap flowers and use lots of them....not just one. Hmmmmm.....I think I can do this challenge.

Love this idea. I think I need to come up with some sort of challenge for my blog. Any ideas. I'd be willing to give away some of my 200,000,000 SU sets...really...no I really don' thave 200 million sets (more like 200) but I'd be willing to give some away rather than keep them here taking up space on the shelf, floor, table, desk and Jen's garage (don't ask). Are you up for free used SU stamps? Leave me a comment and if there is enough interest I'll post a challenge on Wednesday.

See ya on the blog!

Sunday PMS Check

2008-03-16T21:25:00.003-05:00

It' Sunday and that means time for a PMS check. Sorry I don't have any card pics for you at the moment. I stamped, made cards and worked on the mountain of laundry all day today. I went to load the pics I took onto laptop and my memory card won't work. Hmmmph! After I post this I will go and re-take the pics.

**Sunday PMS Check**

Physical Well Being - I have Spring Fever. It happens every year about this time. I clean my house and have a strong desire to go for a walk. Unfortunately, I cleaned all weekend but resisted the urge to walk the neighborhood.
Mental Well Being - Just say no. I keep saying that over and over in my head. No I don't want to be PTO President next year. Heck...I can't...I will be working two jobs and it's mentally not possible. Just say no.
Spiritual Well Being - I am attempting to read the Oprah Book.... A New Earth. It's about recognizing your Ego...the little voice in your head that talks to you all the time. It is a hard read...I will say that. I find myself re-reading a lot but I am getting something out of it. Who knows if I am "awakening" to the purpose of my life but I am getting some education out of it.

See ya on the blog in a few with some pics

Life Interrupted

2008-03-15T11:28:00.003-05:00

Hi there....I am still around but I has been sick at the beginning of the week and then yesterday ended the week with a trip to see Romeo and Juliet at Navy Pier in the morning and then I went to Jen's for a stamping party. Yeah....I didn't do any stamping, talked all night, paid for a Quickutz order, and paid for a SU order. Wow...I spent over $200 and did nothing but talk. Great night.

Anyway, today is Spring Cleaning day and then I can stamp! Yeah.....my office will be cleaned and ready for some serious creativity. So I will return later...much later....with something.

See ya on the blog!

Tagged, Tagged, Tagged and Tagged Again

2008-03-11T23:02:00.010-05:00

I got smacked...I mean tagged three times....ooops four times. I do like to play but I hate being the tagger. I know it's lame but by the time I get around to being tagged everyone else has already done it and then I am the kid on the playground continually running around in circles chasing myself. So please just play along.

Oh better yet...I am going to tag Kelly who is a brand new blogger and she needs some visitors. So go visit Kelly....give her some time to post some weird stuff about herself....then go visit her at Crafting Creatively. Hmmmm...there I tagged someone. Oh and then I am going to tag Lara cause she doesn't blog enough. Her last entry was random things and I know she can come up with 7 more. There...now I have tagged two people and I am tired.

The rules of the game:• Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.•

Shannon, a new blogger that I found through the SCS Blog Forum, tagged me and then I was tagged by Taya. Oh and Jacki and Amy think I am pretty darn special too....thanks so much girls...very sweet to include me and sharing the love!

So I thought I would play along because there isn't enough useless infromation about me on the internet and once again.....my life is just so darn exciting you can't get enough of it...right? Feel free to skip this...you won't hurt my feelings. So here are my 7 Weird Random facts about me....otherwise known as Deniseisms as my husband says.

My favorite color used to be purple and as teenager. I had a purple bedroom, with purple carpet and a purple phone.
I like to eat Wavy Lays chips and pretzels together in the same mouthful.
I got married when I was 19 and I am still happily married after 18 years. {Is that weird?}
All 4 of my children were born in different states from coast to coast...thanks to the Navy.
I miss the TV show Dog the Bounty Hunter.
When I pump gas I have to end on a full dollar amount...no change.
Whenever Bill and I eat cake he scrapes off the frosting and gives it to me. {That's not weird...that's true love.}

There ya go....I am not weird....just a Dorkabella. See ya on the blog!

I Cherish You

2008-03-11T19:47:00.007-05:00

Thank you very much for all your kind comments. I am overwhelmed by the comments and emails I have received about my Just Rite Stampers announcement. It is going to be so much fun.....and yes I will be giving away some stamps to celebrate! I am waiting for my shipment.

**Stampin Stuff** I made this card at Ivy's SU party. This one was designed by Ivy and I think it is called a belt card....not sure if there is a name for it....but that is what it reminds me of. The vertical flap opens up and then the white flap opens up. LOL....great explanation...huh? I should just take a picture of the card open and I wouldn't be babbling on how to describe it!

**American Idol** I must print a retraction here and apologize for my Chikezie comments because tonight he was amazing and I even liked Amanda tonight too. I did not like David Hernandez {the lying male stripper that said he wished he knew how to dance and said his last job was at a pizza place.um...I have never been to a pizza place where the waiter is naked and dancing....they don't do that at Chuck E Cheese...duh} or the country girl....I can't remember her name.....oh Sarah just told me....Christy Lee Cook.

See you on the blog!

Sunday PMS Check and Mail Call

2008-03-09T17:20:00.005-05:00

FYI.....before I start let me explain why I do a Sunday PMS check. I started it a long time ago on my old blog as a New Year's Resolution and it just sort of stuck and people tell me that they like it. {Or they are just being nice.}

The PMS stands for Physical, Mental and Spiritaul well being. I almost peed my pants last week when Ivy commented that she finally figured it out because her thoughts were....man she sure does PMS a lot. LOL

It's just a way for me to stay accountable....to myself and you my imaginary friends.

**PMS Check***

Physical Well Being- Today have been so achey all over. I think I am getting the flu....even my hair hurts as well as every bone and joint in my body. Yuck!
Mental Well Being- I am finally over the mental torture of keeping my Just Rite secret. I have been thinking and praying about it a lot the last few weeks. It was hard to figure out what to do because my family comes first and I didn't want to take on any responsibilities that would interfer with my kids. I enjoy working and having the flexability to be there for them when I need to be. Just Rite is allowing me to work from home with is a good thing. I am very happy with the plan we were able to work out.
Spiritual- I was supposed to incorporate morning prayer at school into my Lenten promise but that hasn't happened. I was able to stay away from Starbucks but I am totally looking forward to my first Mocha on my way home from Easter mass.

**Mail Call** I have had lots of questions coming in throught the comments and emails so I thought I would answer them here. Oh and my mailbox is one that I made last year as a baby gift filled with onesies, socks and binkies.

Yes, I will be responsible for the Just Rite blog and new WEB site that we are creating. Yes, I am going to get paid to blog....amongst many other things. Isn't that cool? Who knew my gift of gabbing would pay off. LOL....my SCS name is imchatty so I must live up to the name.
The Just Rite monogram kit is sold at Archiver's and local stamp/scrapbook stores around the country. Ask your local store if they would like to get it for you. You can also google Just Rite Stampers and there are lots of online stores that also carry it amongst the other products in our line.
Yes, I will keep this blog. This is my personal blog where I get to babble on about important things in my life like American Idol, PMS and my kids doing stupid stuff. The Just Rite blog will be all about our products, tutorials and guest designers....totally professional and business but still interesting, fun and educational.....as it should be.

OK...I am off to take a nap and hopefully find some stampin energy to get my cards done for the upcoming week. I usually stamp on the weekend and show you the creations all through the week. I doubt you want pics of me snoozing or folding laundry...not fun.

See ya on the blog!

Just Rite Stampers

2008-03-07T21:39:00.005-06:00

Sorry to keep you waiting....if you were really waiting on the edge of your seat for my big announcement....here it is. I was hired by Just Rite Stampers to do some Marketing which will include Blogging, WEB site management and event coordination for CHA!!! Is that not so darn exciting?!?

What is even more exciting is how this totally fell into my lap. I had never sought out to find another job. (Yes, I get to work from home and still keep my bank job. For those of you that have been with me for a while you know all about my bank job.)

I made cards for a friend who showed them to her friend who happens to be married to the owner of Just Rite Stampers. Long story short....he liked my cards, liked my thoughts and opinions, liked my suggestions, paid for me to go to CHA in Anaheim, Ca, and offered me a job. Talk about dream come true. I have been given the opportunity to take my hobby to the next level and join the Craft and Hobby industry in a professional capacity. {Law of Attraction in action here.}

I am so excited to be a member of the Just Rite team. We are going to be doing a make-over of the company and all sorts of really cool things. I love the products Just Rite has to offer and I am thrilled with the potential of growth within their entire product line. You are going to freak out when I show you how to make your own clear stamps from home. YES, Just Rite sells a kit that gives you everything you need to take your own designs right off your computer and make them in to clear stamps...all with a 60 watt lightbulb in your office...amongst other things that are provided in the kit.

So the moral of the story.....you never know who is going to recieve one of your hand stamped cards. It doesn't require obsessing over design teams and getting published to make your mark on the stamping world.

See you on the blog!

All Paper...One Stamp

2008-03-06T19:31:00.003-06:00

I cheated on this card.....the only stamping is the tiny friend sentiment which by the way is my most used sentiment from the Noteworthy set.

**Stampin Stuff** The pattern paper is from a pack that I split with Jen. I think it was the Wild Asparagus pack from Costco....don't quote me on that. The card base is pumpkin pie and the blue strip is another piece from the Costco pack. The circle medalion was cut out of the pattern paper. You can't see it in the pic but I added some bling around the middle circle.

The ribbon is twill from May Arts. Is there anything better than May Arts?.....Um...no....not in my opinion at least. For what it's worth.

**Random Blogging** I have a super awesome BIG announcement but you'll have to wait til tomorrow night. Sorry...I am not prepared to give the details JUST RITE at the moment. {wink}

**American Idol** Crushing!! Only one of my predictions came through....Luke went home. Oh the misery of having to watch Amanda and Chikieze another round. Well I want the final two to be Michael Johns and David Archulata.

See ya on the blog!

Happy Birthday To You From Me

2008-03-04T19:47:00.004-06:00

Here is a card that I made for a co-worker. I picked up the paper this weekend....I am loving anything with polka dots.

**Stampin Stuff** The card base is old olive with a layer of polka dot paper and a strip of birthday papers on the left that was mounted on a scrap of textured DCWV pink paper.

The large orange oval is left over from the card in my previous post. The sizzix scallop oval die also cuts out the center of the oval and leaves the scallop frame. This oval is DCWV chipboard.

The flower is from a cuttlebug die and I added a silver brad. The sentiment is actually made up of three parts....happy...birthday...to you from me.... from two different sets. I tied on some sheer ribbon with ric rac along the edge. Added three brads in the corner as well. Easy peasy.

**American Idol** Time for Luke and Chikezie to go home. I am still lovin Michael Johns and David Archulata.

A is for Amber

2008-03-03T16:43:00.004-06:00

Here is another monogramed card I made for my cousin Amber. The card base is white with a layer of DCWV textured paper. I love that paper because it has a white core and the texture adds so much to a card.

The scalloped frame is made with my new Sizzix die that I got for 40% off at Jo's this weekend. The chipboard is from the DCWV pack that was also 40% off. Yes, you can buy chipboard already covered with textured paper. Love it!

The pattern paper matches the DCWV papers perfectly. Every color in my spring pack of solid textured papers match every color in the pattern paper. Lots of possibilites there.

I used my SU scallop punch for the monogram. The monogram was stamped with my new Just Rite DIY Monogram Kit. I love this kit because you can change the monogram and personalize anything. There are two sets and this one comes with 3 interchangeable borders and the entire alphabet and it is self-inking. Oh and the ink tray came empty so I could fill it with the ink of my choice. This one I filled with SU Chocolate Chip ink. I also have the larger monogram set that comes in the box with two alphabets and 4 interchangable rings. Lots of possibilities here.

Geesh this post is turning into an infomercial. I need to get paid for all of these product endorsements

See you on the blog!

Fabulous

2008-03-02T17:52:00.004-06:00

This card is totally inspired by Amy at Tsuruta Designs. She has a chandelier stamp and I happen to have a Sizzlet die of a chandelier. It was only a matter of time before I found the perfect sentiment to go with it.

**Stampin Stuff** The ingredients are obvious but I'll post it anyway so I have some verbiage on this post. The card base is black and with a layer of white. The chandelier is a Sizzlet die with black paper and the sentiment is from Bubble Queen and it is stamped in versafine black...I use nothing else for my black ink. Love it.

Oh and this is a 4x4 card. I love that size and the simplicity and elegance of this card. I think I am giong to make it into a birthday card and inside it will read...and 29 again! LOL....I am so funny I crack myself up. Ha!

Sarah and I spent the day stampin and hanging out. Love days like this....nothing to do but get creative oh and do some laundry.....yeah how could I ever forget that fun part of my life.

I went shopping way toooooo much this weekend. I totally have a dose of Spring Fever coming on and Spring is no where near the Chicago area. More snow is called for tomorrow but the malls are full of spring colors and the most awesome SHOES!!! I can't wait to get some new shoes and a pedicure too.

Ok see ya on the blog!

Sunday PMS Check

2008-03-02T08:55:00.002-06:00

I am going to do my PMS check early so I can come back later with some stampin. I did a little shopping at Jo's Friday night and got some goodies to play with. I have been itching to do some creative stuff but.....laundry first. Yikes.

**PMS Check**

Physical Wellness- Last week I made the bold statement that I was happy with my body just as is.....yeah....I should have refrained from that statement after the Girl Scout cookies arrived. LOL....no really I am ok with being me just the way I am need to put more focus on what I love about me rather than what I don't like about me.
Mental Wellness- Procrastination is my enemy. Today I am going to complete a project that has been driving me nuts. If I just do it I won't think about it DAILY!!! What the hell is up with that.
Spiritual Wellness- we went to mass last night and the Gospel was the story of Jesus giving a blind man sight. In retrospect, we are all blind to some degree and opening your eyes is deeply connected to opening your heart and mind. Of course, I am reading the Oprah book choice A New Earth which is focused on being more conscience and recognizing your ego....it's an awakening process.....the blind shall see. It's a hard read for me and I find myself reading things repeatedly but I do get it....I think. Anyone else readig it? Love to hear your comments.

Be back later with some stampin stuff. Oh and there is a little video of Michael Buble. I read that he will be in Milwaukee in April......maybe I'll get to go again. Twice in one year. {Big Sighs}

Rick Who?

2008-02-28T19:10:00.004-06:00

OMG.....I am posting this for Ivy who left me a comment that she has NO IDEA who Rick Springfield is!!! LOL..... that makes me feel sooooo old considering Ivy was probably born in 1984....which would be the year I graduated from 8th grade and I was in full swing RS obsession. Ok....click away Ivy and be prepared to get schooled on an 80's icon.