Just Because

Ok, back to the cards. I needed some time to come down from my nonvacation so I could get back to creating. And I just have to say that I love, love, love the new Hodgepodge Hardware from SU! in the Occasions mini. The designer label punch is one of my favorite punches and the fact that they made a little...uh, piece of hardware to go with it is just so awesome. It just makes me happy; but then I also worry that the new hph set won't make it into the new catty, so I'm stocking up. All the pieces in this kit are better suited for me than the older kit. I would never use all those little doodads. But that's just me. Well, I'm going to try to keep making other cards to show you people, because if you're anything like me, you bore easily. But at the same time, I'm also making roughly 50 invitations for my elementary school's PTA luncheon, so I'm gonna be busy. Since I get bored, I'm picturing myself taking a break from that and making fun, new stuff.

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Designer Label Punch (SU!), Mixed Messages, Boxes, Bags & Tags (Papertrey), Ink: Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet (Papertrey), Paper: White & Berry Sorbet (Papertrey), Accessories: Hodgepodge Hardware (SU!), brads (MM)

Leaving Las Vegas

Hey there. I realize that in my last post, I didn't make it clear that we were in Vegas while Shawn had the flu. That's probably because I didn't want to broadcast to the world that we weren't home. Anyways, that's why it sucked. Well, I mean it sucked that he had the flu, but it sucked double bad that we were on vacation and he missed the whole. entire. thing. For instance, he missed this:

(Click to enlarge pix)

My dad (isn't he the cutest?!), me & my step-mom,

the spitfire. For the record, yes, this is the one
who suggested Frizzetta. We love him anyway.

And this: As promised, Krista in her glasses. Yeah,

she's still gorgeous. We're inside the Venetian, btw.

And this: The only shot I have of all 3 girls, I think.

Payton. Isn't he just delicious? This is my nephew

and one of the reasons I almost didn't come home. *sigh*

Reason #2. This is Jordan, my other nephew.

Yeah, he's awesome.

So, that's been my week. It's so nice to be home & back in our own beds. And, yes, Shawn is doing much better now. He just needed to be home. Boy, did I miss my stamps. Isn't that sad? Ok, next time you stop by, there should be something crafty to look at.

Spring Break Blues

Hey there. I just wanted to put into writing that the next time Shawn starts to get sick, then swears to me that he's feeling better right before we have plans, I will not be bamboozled, hoodwinked or just plain ol' suckered by his cutie pie-ness and charms. No, really. I won't. Yes, kids, he's got the flu and I'm spending my spring break playing nurse, chauffeur, entertainer and referee. No, it's not really different from any other day in the life of moi, but it's spring break, man! He actually took time off so we could do something fun. Our kids have never all had a week off for spring break before. Oh, well. There's always summer, when it's 100 plus degrees outside.

Love Sweet Blush

Hey there. I love my new toys. This is so funny because this stamp set is called Wedding Day, and the first thing I thought when I heard the name was, 'well, there's one set I won't be getting.' I mean, I'm already married, for crying out loud. All my friends are married and Darien has a quite some time before we have to worry about this with her. Ok, all of you that just snorted and muttered 'yeah, right' under your breath are now on my list. Oh, yeah, I heard you! Anyway, as soon as I saw the flourishes & fancy doohickeys that are in this set, I had to have it. It's just so darn purty!

So there ya have it. Oh, and by the way, for those who were concerned, Tia's feeling much better now. Thanks for caring. Of course, now Shawn's sick. Oh, yeah. He almost never gets sick, but when he does, it's a doozy. So, that's how our spring break begins.

Stamps: Wedding Day (Papertrey), Ink: Palette Noir, Sweet Blush (Papertrey), Paper: Basic Black (SU!), white & Sweet Blush (Papertrey), Accessories: Marvy scallop punches, Sweet Blush twill ribbon (Papertrey)

Thanks, Part Dos!

Ok, this looks better to me. More finished. The scallops aren't just lying there. I really am too anal about these things. This is supposed to be relaxing. *sigh* I just have to really like this card since I have to make a bunch of them. A big thank you to those who have already donated to my team for the walk. Ok, and this is for the people who don't actually read my blog, but just come to look at the pretty pictures. No, I haven't lost my mind by posting the same picture twice. It's different. And look, I made it in other colors.

Ooh, wow. Yes, very nice.

I have pink coming, but I'm waiting for my Papertrey paper. Eeeek! So excited. And yet, so sad. K, that's all you guys get. Tia's home with a fever and I'm just whipped. Yeah, yeah, sick again. Welcome to my life. Oh, yeah. Krista got her glasses today and was honestly surprised that she could see. She hasn't taken them off she likes them so much. Almost fell down the stairs cuz she's still got to adjust to them, but they're great. And so cute. No, there's no picture. This is Krista. She doesn't do pictures. Maybe I can sneak one. If I get all 007 and get one of her, I'll post it for your viewing pleasure.

K, cuz I'm lazy, the supplies are the same as below, just different colors. Aqua Mist, Chocolate Chip, Night of Navy and Certainly Celery. ta-da!

Thanks So Very Much

Alrighty. First, I wanna say that I do like this card, but after I put it all together, I thought of something that would've made it better. But I was in a hurry & didn't really have time to take it apart. I thought piercing holes in the black scallop so that the Spring Moss would show thru would make it just a weency bit better. So, for all the future cards like this, that's what I'm gonna do. When I make them, I'll post at least one so you can see the difference. And I will be making them. Of course they're gonna be different colors. Wouldn't want me getting bored now would we? This is going to be my official "Thank you" card for people who make donations to the National MS Society for the MS Walk I'm doing in May. I've done it every year since I was diagnosed and it's really a lot of fun. I put a link for my walk page over my picture at the top of this page, for those that are curious. This card, btw, is for my father-in-law, who was the first person to donate on my page. Yay!

Oh, and I got that whole picture sizing thing figured out. When I resize them, I just don't resize them quite so small. duh. Thank goodness for Shawn, or who knows what this poor blog would look like. No, seriously people, when you see him, thank him.

That's it for now. Ooh, except this. Look what I can do:

And this, kids, I did without his help. Impressive, huh?

Stamps: Out on a Limb, Borders & Corners (Papertrey), Ink: Spring Moss (Papertrey), Palette Noir, Paper: Basic Black (SU!), Spring Moss & white(Papertrey), Accessories: Cuttlebug folder, Spring Moss ribbon, Marvy scallop punches, circle punch (SU!)

Mother of the Year - Not

First, just a quick note about this card. I thought I'd post it quick before I realized I don't like it. It's one of those things where I am just so pleased with myself for doing something different, but then am just kinda unsure about it because I've stepped out of my comfort zone. I like my comfort zone. It's so comfortable. I think maybe I'm lost cuz there's no pink or brown in it. Oh, well. [Oh, yeah. I also totally stole this layout from Nichole's blog. Ya gotta scroll waaaaay down. Ok, read on.]

Now, on to the latest happenings here in adventureland. You know how when your kids are in school and they have those vision & hearing screenings? Well, this is my 10th year at my girls' elementary school (wow!) and for the last couple of years I've volunteered at these things off and on, but mostly being a supportive cheerleader for my friends who are always there (hey, Ang!) Anyway, they've always just been something to do, not something to do with me. So at this last screening, I find out that the eye guy recommends Krista (of course, it has to be Krista) for glasses. Okie dokie. So I took her in and you know how they say, "read the top line"? I don't know how many lines it was before she could actually read one, but my heart was breaking. I had no idea that my child couldn't see. What kind of mother am I? But I did ask her when the doctor was done how she's made it this long without being able to see? And the doctor said, "what does she have to compare it to? she can see, she just didn't know she could see better." Good point. Takes away some of the sting, but still. The good thing is she wasn't upset about needing glasses and she picked out some really cute frames. Of course, because it is Krista, we had to get the super-amazing-indestructible-fire-resistant-gps-enabled glasses so when she loses them, sits on them, or throws them away (or mom accidentally washes them, like the chocolate kisses I just gave a good cleaning) we can immediately find them. Aren't kids great?

Stamps: Beautiful Blooms, Women of Life (Papertrey), Jumbo Swirly wheel (SU!), Ink: Palette Prussian blue, Paper: Aqua Mist (Papertrey), Night of Navy (SU!), Accessories: scallop scissors, Marvy scallop punches, Sakura glaze pen, tiny hole punchy guy

I Love Me Some Pomegranate

You may have picked up on that. And I found some brads the exact same color! Oh, should I not tell you that when I haven't used them yet? Well, I'll try to use them soon. Doodlebug makes brads the same color, 'cept they call theirs black cherry. So cool! I would leave you guys a link, but I don't want you guys to buy them all up. ha! Just kidding. I get stuff like that from All That Scraps. Awesome site. Ok, can you see in the picture that I have an embossed line bordering my flowers? Well, this is what happened. People are doing this all over the place, but they're using a Scor-Pal or a Scor-It to make their pretty little lines. Now, I would buy one of those, but just like I say with everything else that I refuse to buy, "that's stampin' money!" So, I just use my scoring blade on my cutter. Good enough! There are also little glittery dots in the middle of the flowers. I'll have to figure out how to make the picture bigger when you click on it so you can see these fine little details. If anybody using blogger can tell me how to do this, lemme know. It's just one of those things I've never really bothered to figure out. Maybe one day...

Stamps: Out on a Limb (Papertrey), Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip (SU!), Paper: Papertrey white, Purely Pomegranate (SU!), Accessories: Marvy oval scallop punch, Stardust Stickles

Springy Moss

Hey kids. So it took me a little while to come up with something decent. But, it is a color you haven't seen me use before, which is what I promised. I actually had something else in mind, but unfortunately that didn't work out so well. It was pretty much a disaster. I'd post it for you (to give you a chuckle), but I couldn't even finish what I was working on, cuz it was just all kinds of wrong. So we have this instead. This is Papertrey's other color Nichole released this month, called Spring Moss. It's a very strange color, magical even. When I first got it, I didn't really like it, to be honest. It looked like a mossy-beige. Kinda blah. But when you put it next to this purple, it becomes kinda lime-y. It's growing on me and I'm glad I decided to try it. She did a side-by-side comparison with some other colors, if you want a better idea of what I'm talking about (just scroll up a bit). Now I've gotta go play some more and see what else this kooky color does.

Stamps: Out On A Limb (Papertrey), Ink: Spring Moss (Papertrey), Lavender Lace, Chocolate Chip (SU!), Paper: White & Spring Moss (Papertrey), Lavender Lace (SU!), Accessories: oval punches (SU!), Spring Moss twill ribbon (Papertrey), Red Stardust gelly roll pen (trust me, you can tell in person those flowers are dotted with red)