A Stamper's Diary.............. Pressing On.......

NEW TOYS!!!

2012-01-24T05:00:00.001-05:00

Challenge for today...something new from the Occasions Mini catalog.....NOT HARD, since I had to buy almost the entire catalog I love it so much!! So here I have used my favorite new stamp set from the mini, called Apothecary Art, along with the awesome new embosslit die cuts!! LOVE these!!! And how about that awesome ribbon from the new Salebration catty??? What a great time to order from SU, and get Salebration freebies!!

I just returned from SU Leadership conference in San Antonio, TX.....have you ever been there? I would LOVE to go back and bring my husband someday, what a gorgeous little corner of the good old USA! The famous Riverwalk was right outside our hotel.....a beautiful little wonder world of water and quaint little restaurants......I will long remember where Leadership was THIS year!! Okay, well that's about it for this time, click on my 24/7 button and place an order from the new mini, and get yourself some Salebration freebies!! No better time to place that order!! Happy Stamping everyone!!

The MAKE A CARD FROM A CARD GONE BAD technique.....

2012-01-10T05:00:00.000-05:00

So the SUO blog challenge topic for tonite was use a technique you never tried before. This is my technique. Sit down with a certain technique in your head that you tried, but not in a very long time, because that was also permissable. Make a card, and look at it and say, WHOA, card gone BAD. Ugly, ugly, ugly. Now let's see what I can do to switch directions and make something from this pretty off white pinafore design, but this "technique" part, it has to GO with a capital GO. Start messing around paper piecing some flowers on blushing bride and pear pizazz cardstock. Do some fussy cutting and put them along the bottom of the pinafore, hmmmm.....not too shabby. That looks really really pretty, I like!! Then, come to think of it, what the heck technique is THIS that you never tried before, and girlfriend, you are fresh out of TIME!!! So my technique is make a card out of a card gone BAD....go ahead, it's a fun new technique where you learn to not waste paper, but my former main image, it's just too ugly for words, and it found it's way to the circular file. But this card? Not too shabby, right? The "Make a card from a card gone bad technique" - my very own brand new technique. Go make yourself one, and save a tree!! Happy Stamping, Until next time, Karen

PUNCHIN' TIME.......

2011-12-27T05:00:00.000-05:00

The theme for the SUO challenge today was supposed to be make the focal point of your card a punched image.....hmmm... I sorta made the focal point a bunch of little punched things,,,,,squares to be exact - one inch squares. You need four of the dp, 4 of the early espresso, and 8 of vanilla. Then you cut all but the 4 corner vanilla squares in half from point to point crosswise. Then you start in the middle of SU's grid paper, and make your star by using the lines on the grid paper to keep things straight. Then you trim the edges, you have glued your quilt right down to the grid paper and you just cut the whole thing out. Then choose an embossing folder to run the whole thing thru your big shot and give it the quilted appearance. I used the wallpaper folder here, but the square lattice also works well, and so does the finial press. The first time I made one of these it was with a group of ladies I love from eastern Ohio, we stamped an entire weekend away, and this was the one card that tried our patience. Now after having done it a few times, I think, "Why did it seem so hard that first time???" Anyway- they are pretty fun to make and so cool looking when you get them finished. TRY one, when you feel patient and relaxed. Hopefully you will still feel that way when you are done! Happy Stamping!!! Until next time.....Karen

BIG CHANGES.....

2011-12-13T05:00:00.000-05:00

At our house, we have gone thru big changes in the last few weeks. Our daughter has gone thru some extreme changes in her life, through no fault of her own. I will only say that I keep telling her, "Time heals all wounds, and yes, the flip side of that is Time wounds all heels...." Suffice it to say, my daughter has been badly hurt. So we have two new people living in our house, our daughter and her 2,1/2 year old daughter. Things are a bit rough right now, but I keep telling her, "Joy comes in the morning" - not sure what morning, but one day, some morning, we will all wake up and feel JOY again. For now, we must reach real deep for the PEACE that can be ours as children of God. The PEACE that passes all understanding, and yes, PEACE ON EARTH, GOOD WILL TO MEN. It won't be the merriest of Christmas's at our house, but there is PEACE and there will someday again be JOY. I just know it, and I will pray through it and to it. Say a little prayer for my daughter and grand daughter this Christmas, will you? Thank you, and hug someone you love, and appreciate them, and hold onto them!

WITH THANKSGIVING......

2011-11-15T05:00:00.000-05:00

So the blog challenge for today was a card of thanksgiving. I'm feeling really thankful today. I am trying really hard to rebuild my Stampin'Up! business. It's not like it's fallen apart or anything....in these last 5 years since moving to Ohio, it has amazingly held it's own but the energy I have been able to give it has been challenged by my full time job. It recently became a goal of mine to rebuild. I can grow old with Stampin' UP! I cannot afford to let this business slide. God has been blessing my efforts. I have 4 recruits so far this year, with another waiting to recruit during Saleabration. That's just since July, so I feel pretty happy. Today Jenna and I did a Holiday Bazaar. She was selling some cards, and I was just displaying some, and just looking for exposure. It was a pretty poorly attended bazaar. Maybe 15 people all day stopped long enough to say they stopped. One lady walked up to the table, looked at my display board, turned to me and said, and I quote, "I want to become a consultant, can you help me with that???" Is that not AMAZING????? Like I said, I do believe God planted this goal in my head, and as I am obedient to him, I am pretty sure that was HIM blessing ME!! Happy Thanksgiving everyone, there's always SOMETHING to thank HIM for, but today, I feel especially LOVED and BLESSED. Until next time.......Karen

PLEASANT THOUGHTS......

2011-11-01T05:00:00.000-04:00

Of YOU!! This weekend I had four dear friends come from Eastern Ohio, and we literally stamped the weekend AWAY! One of these friends was one of my first SU customers, a very long time ago.....almost 15 years ago! Her daughter had my very first workshop when I lived in NY, and she lived in Ohio, but gave her daughter an order on her workshop. Thus began a long and wonderful friendship, until this weekend, 14+ years later when I actually talked her into supporting her own habit, oops, I mean HOBBY, and she is signing on as hobby demonstrator!! YAY!!! It's never to late to keep on trying!!! Anyway, it's nice to have stamping friendships with no pressure, where you can just make up stuff as you go along and there are grateful hearts all the way around. I don't think I've ever met a nicer bunch of ladies then Gloria and her stamping buddies. This year it was Gloria, Joanne, Terry and Margo. My mom joined us to round out a nice group of six - so much FUN!! Other years the group was larger, but even though we missed the others, we still had a wonderful weekend of stamping, food, fellowship and just plain FUN!! Thanks ladies!!! I love you all!!! Until next time.....I'll be thinking of YOU!!!!~~~~~

FROZEN LIPS AND LAME IDEAS

2011-10-18T05:00:00.001-04:00

Okay, well just say the word, 3-D, actually that's not even a WORD.....but just say 3-D, and my lips freeze solid. They froze two weeks ago when the challenge was to make a treat holder. First I thought, gee, I could make a CARD, and the treat could be a stick of gum tucked in there.....hmmmm.....please don't say 3-D!!!!! Perish the THOUGHT!!!! So here you have my super simple mini bag here.....The way you make these is to take some dp, and wrap ONE end of a small box just like you were wrapping a gift box. Oh, and first you fold your double sided dp over to make the top cuff thingey. And I didn't like the colors in it so I sorta colored it with tempting turquoise so it would match my wee little good witch. And yes, she is a good witch.....how could anything that cute do anything BAD???? And since I am so not into witches, they have to be GOOD witches at least!!!! And since I am so not into 3-D, you get a cute little good witch sitting on a lame little gift bag....but then who knows, maybe you didn't know how to make one of these, and now you do????? And I hate that kind of candy, but I ate it anyway cuz I had a sweet attack, so now the poor little good witch sits on a lame and empty gift bag....now ain't that sad??? Until next time, keep on stampin!! ;)

STAMP SOME AUTUMN!!

2011-10-04T05:00:00.002-04:00

Fall, the very best time of year!! Here is my SUO blog challenge card, using a leaf image. I made this card by starting out with a full sheet of glossy white cardstock. First I put a pile of baby wipes in a pie plate. Then I made my own stamp pad using reinkers, old olive, pumpkin pie, and more mustard. I used the solid leaf images from Gently Falling and randomly stamped images all over the cardstock and let it dry. Then I stamped on top of those bright images using black stazon and the French Foliage stamp set, again, kind of all random. Lastly I took the word stamp from French Foliage and stamped it over the top of everything else in chocolate chip ink. Then I cut myself a square 4" by 4". I drew an X on the back corner to corner and cut it with the paper cutter. Then I mounted that on a piece of basic black cardstock 4,1/2" square. You can see how I finished it off. I made several sheets of this homemade designer paper and designed several different cards using it. SO MUCH FUN!!! I absolutely LOVE fall, don't you??? Until next time..... Happy Stamping!! Go stamp you some AUTUMN!!~~ Karen

SUNFLOWER SERENADE

2011-09-20T05:00:00.000-04:00

This fall has been really special for my husband and me. Now do you say my husband and ME, or my husband and I? Once a teacher told me you say it the way it would stand alone right - like you wouldn't say special for I, you would say special for me so in this case it's me. Did that teacher give me a bum steer? Anyway, back to the subject at hand. For the past few years my husband was driving truck, and we didn't get to do much in the fall. This year, he got a new job and he's home again. THANK GOD!!! So we have been driving around a lot on weekends like we have always loved to do in the fall since forever, and just "exploring" as Keith has named it for as far back as I can remember. We have seen several sunflower fields. I have never seen that many sunflowers in one place. I am fascinated by sunflowers....the bright yellow color as well as the fact that there is a stem thick enough to hold them up- they just fascinate me for some reason and they are one of my favorite flowers ever. And fall, it's my favorite season too. Just the leaves, the crisp, cool air, a warm sweater (before my hot flash days) and maybe some hot steaming apple cider. We got married in the fall, had two of our kids in the fall, we just love fall!! FALL rocks! And sunflowers, well how can you look at one and doubt that there is a great big God who created them?? Somehow in fall, you get that cozy feeling that all will be right with the world. Until next time, Karen

VINTAGE BLOUSE TUTORIAL

2011-09-14T22:42:00.010-04:00

Hey, how cool is it that the Paper and Pixel's online magazine decided to feature little old ME in their magazine this month??? Pretty Cool I tell ya!!! And how cool is it that that gave me the kick in the rear that I needed to do a THIRD tutorial.....I am getting to be quite the pro at this tutorial stuff, Doh, I take that back, pride cometh before the fall, and heaven knows this is the longest tutorial ever....and I am pressing my luck to get cocky at the beginning - I better wait till I'm finished before I start patting myself on the back, aka, tooting my own horn. Let me get thru this first and actually publish it, and then I may have to celebrate. If I don't wipe out any pictures, I will be so proud of myself! Here we go.....as you can see, this will be a kind of complicated card that you might choose to make once, and then you will say, never, ever, ever, ever again.....because it's not exactly a quick card! I just happened to be wearing a vintagey blouse to church one Sunday and when I should have been paying attention to the sermon, it hit me that making a card like it would be the perfect project for being featured in a magazine and all....gee I think the sermon was on pride......okay, anyway - here I go with the tutorial, say a prayer for me.......here comes steppo uno................................
The first thing you want to do here, is to score a 1/2 piece of 8,1/2x 11 cardstock lengthwise at 6" to make your card front 6"x 4, 1/4. You will need to add a small extension to the back of your card after you finish the front to make the length of the back long enough to match the front. Can I just say that I made this card BEFORE SU came out with their great new scoring tool, or I would not have had to use this lame thing pictured here. Their new scoring tool ROCKS my friends!! But this worked too, when it was all I had. On to the next step....

Using the Established Elegance SU stamp set, stamp the small flower using black Stazon ink in rows up the blouse front. I do this by first stamping one row off the edge of each side. then I stamp one in the middle that will eventually be covered by the button panel, but it just helps me to then eyeball the middle of each side and stamp another row of flowers, so in the end you have 5 rows, the middle one which you will cover up with the button panel, so don't waste your precious time coloring it, you are already going to spend at least 10 hours making this puppy so spare yourself coloring that middle panel and get moving!! You don't have all night!! Moving right along.....

From that same stamp set, use the swirl stamp and stamp some crumb cake swirls in the middle of each row of flowers. On to the next step - you are doing fantastic, you only have about 50 more steps to go!! Start thinking of someone REALLY special to give your card to, come on, you cannot go thru this much trouble for just ANYONE!! Next picture please.....

Color your flowers using the Marker Layering technique shown a few entries down on my blog...it's one of the other two tutorials I have ever done in my entire life....but it was only a couple of weeks ago, or maybe a month, so I am improving on tutorial frequency. This is a pretty rocking tutorial if I do say so myself, and I've gotten tons of positive feedback on it from all kinds of stampers.....DOH, I need to keep that bragging in check.....what with pride coming before the fall.....and I am not even 1/2 done with this tutorial so I can't get cocky YET......anyway, if you feel like your coloring is all one dimensional and kindergartenerish, you may want to give my tutorial a try....marker layering is an awesome technique.....and get coloring because this dang blouse has a ton of weeny flowers and it could take all night, and remember, leave the one row in the middle blank, no coloring.....get moving if you want to finish this BEFORE your mother's next birthday!!

Oh geez I just about had a heart attack cuz this picture got moved way down and I thot I deleted my whole rest of the tutorial but PHEW! Here it is, next step....OH, first the colors I used to color - SU watercolor markers, for flowers, Bashful Blue, Baja Breeze and Marina Mist - for leaves, Pear Pizazz and Lucky Limeaid. I then highlighted each flower with white gel pen. Now this pic to your left now- the button panel - Cut strips of crumb cake cs, 1/2" by 5,1/2" and 1,1/2 " x 5,1/2". Run them thru the Big Shot with the Square Lattice folder. Move on down to the next picture, you are GETTING THERE....hang in, it won't be much longer now.....do you need to take nourishment? Have you been working for several hours now?????

I cut a piece of Marina Mist cs for layering between the crumb cake strips for my button panel. The measurements for the Marina Mist piece are 1,1/8 x 5,1/2. Come on, you are probably at least half way there, keep on keepin' on..........

On the top strip of crumb cake for your button panel, turn it over to the back side after running it thru the Big Shot and place two strips the whole length of sticky strip. Do not use any other adhesive as it will not hold. Sticky strip will hold your kid to a wall, so it's good for this type of heavy duty hold power. Besides, this is your button panel and we don't want anyone popping their buttons, though I might pop mine if I make it all the way thru this tutorial!! Move on down to the next picture please, you are so done with this one!

Remove the sticky strip one side at a time and take vanilla seam binding and pleat it all the way down the length of your card for the appearance of a pretty ruffle on your vintage blouse. Again, only sticky strip will hold these pleats for the long haul.

I layered my strips as shown in this picture to form my button panel, leaving enough at the bottom to fold under and make a nice edge at the bottom. I took 4 buttons and threaded SU's narrow organdy ribbon thru them to look like thread, well actually to look like skinny ribbon, cuz it does not look like thread. WHATever....I then attached my buttons with glue dots, several on each button. Looking purdy....huh? DOH, no pride till this is DONE!!

Using crumb cake cs, and the TOP NOTE die from SU, I ran one through the Big Shot. How did we live before the Big Shot? How did we stamp before the Big Shot? Remember those annoying metal plates and dry embossing pen thingeys, and you would want to scream just dry embossing a flower or two? Oh Mr. Big Shot, I surely do love YOU!! Anyway, run one thru. Then adhere it to a piece of Marina Mist cs, and cut carefully around your Top Note form to make a border as shown in the picture. Now FOLD your Top Note piece in half the long way and adhere it with our faithful sticky strip to the top of your blouse. I'm not gonna say it's lookin' good, (but it is) I think I AM Jan Tink, that's what I think!! I like her style! ;) Moving right along.....

Okay, I know you are exhausted at this point but you are almost there. Take the tiny tag punch from SU, and the Tiny Tag Stamp set, (2 of my favs which I keep right near me at all times) and make a little tag that says, Friends, unless of course you ARE making this for your mom cuz she's the only one on earth you feel is WORTHY of how long it took you to MAKE this card...and in that case you can use LOVE, or 4YOU, or one of those other stamps in that set....Place a pearl bling at the tip of your tag and adhere it to your blouse. Make yourself a huge honkin' bow from the vanilla seam binding for the top of your blouse. I used three pieces of seam binding and tied them together in a bow. A bow can never be too big, just remember that. Okay, you are on the HOME STRETCH now, one more push here and you are DONE!!

Finish off the inside of your card by extending the back bottom piece and covering the turned under edge of the button panel. Again I used sticky strip. You can never use too much sticky strip. This card will last longer then the blouse I was wearing that Sunday cuz it has so much sticky strip on it....(that is that Sunday that I designed this card) when I should have been listening to the sermon on pride!! Because now that I am just about done............

I can feel the cocky attitude coming back because after all, this is a pretty rockin' little card, don't you think? And it came out of my own little head, with no help from anyone. And come to think of it, I have also completed my THIRD tutorial here....all by lonesome......can I just be obnoxious and tell you how proud this computer challenged 50+ person feels right now!! ??? I got all the way thru this, and I hope YOU did TOO! I hope you made yourself a sweet vintage blouse, and I hope you have energy for the rest of your day, too!! I know this isn't one you will be using for a swap card or anything, (unless you really don't like yourself) but I hope you make one for someone really special, as for me, I decided to make this for someone really special.....and that someone, is ME!! Happy stamping y'all, until next time......keep on stampin' and don't stampdream in church, yes, that's the moral to this story!!

BRAND NEW Ribbons and Bows.....OH MY!!!

2011-09-06T05:00:00.002-04:00

Wow!! The challenge this week was to use brandie new ribbon and use it to make ribbons and bows in a way we do not usually use ribbon! Well I am the big fat honkin' bow QUEEN!! So thankfully, my DDIL Jenna paid attention to the recent ribbon rose tutorial on SCS and she taught us how to make these adorable roses at our last downline meeting. She made a card that had this same basic layout but different colors, one larger rose, and no bow at the top. Now, you know me, I had to add the big fat honkin' bow at the top!! After all, this challenge is all about ribbons and bows!! Is it not???? I used the brand new velvet stitched ribbon and the brand new cherry cobbler quilted satin ribbon too! Maybe I will do a tutorial on my blog in the future to show how easy peasy it is to make these adorable roses!! I had to tear myself away from my big gigantic project right now, which is swapping our master bedroom for my stamp studio! How about a husband who is not only willing but completely helps this to happen?? I love that man! Even if it WAS mostly so I would stop begging for the 2 car garage!! BWAHAHAHA.... Happy Tuesday everyone!! Happy Stamping!!! Soon I will be stamping instead of just swapping rooms!! YAY!!! Until next time.........

WEDDING INVITATIONS X4......

2011-08-16T05:00:00.001-04:00

Being a Stampin'Up! demonstrator meant making your kids wedding invitations was a given!! A no-brainer!! A must do!! And for each kid, it was a different situation. When I made Jen's she picked out several images she loved and told me exactly what she wanted, which was embossing in silver on vellum and a tiny silver cord tied in a tiny silver bow.....easy peasy....and we whacked them out with a little help from our friends and they were beautiful! Then Bekah got engaged, and I made 42 samples before she fell in love with one!! I told her that if THIS one didn't sing to her, (#42) then we would settle because it sang to me!!! We had an assembly line with her new inlaws- it was a fun time of celebration making these very involved not so easy peasy beauties! My son was next, and Jenna and I decided one Sunday afternoon to get er done, and a few hours later we had some beautiful fall wedding invites all whacked out!! Then last but not least was my daughter Bethany, who said, "You just make it Mama, whatever you make I will love!" So I made what I had in mind and she said, "I don't really like that so much Mama" - LOL, but I asked her what she had in mind and we ended up with an invite that looked very much like my sample here but was made with an older set called and of course I am having brain freeze right now and can't think of the name, but it was a gorgeous big set that looked something like Elements of Style and we made BEAUTIFUL wedding invites for a 4th time. Of course there were nieces and friends and others I have made along the way, but there was a sadness when I made the last one for my own child....now I can look forward to making them for the grand daughters one day, but hopefully, not anytime SOON!!! :) Until next time........

2011-08-09T05:00:00.000-04:00

SUO Blog challenge today- Our favorite NEW stamp set, (accent on the NEW just in case my Elements of Style set is in earshot....) But I DO DO DO love this stamp set!!! Just below this I did the tutorial on Marker Layering with this same stamp set. This is a variation of marker layering. With this one, I used watercolor cardstock and so I used blender pens to move the color out and everything else is pretty much the same. However, I did use a bashful blue marker for highlighting around the outside of the image instead of just coloring a light shadow with sahara sand. This gives it a different look, but one I also love. If you try this with plain cardstock, it tears, but the watercolor cs will stand up to a hurricane I think. I dab a tiny touch of blue and then in a circular motion I spread it out using a blender pen. Coloring is such great therapy. Don't you think? Happy Tuesday everyone!! Have a workshop so you can get this great new hostess set!!!! You will wonder how you ever stamped without it!! Until next time, Karen

IT'S A TUTORIAL!! MARKER LAYERING!!

2011-08-01T19:54:00.017-04:00

Okay, finally, I am actually doing a tutorial on the technique I call Marker Layering. I made that up myself. Big deal, right? This is only my second tutorial of this kind. So bear with me, and I hope I don't delete any necessary steps. I tend to delete pictures, so if I get to the end without deleting, it will be no small miracle. Here I am showing you the finished card first and then I will show you how I made the main panel. I am in love with this new hostess only set from SU, it's just my new favorite, and I think Elements of Style is feeling jealous, but it's my old favorite. :) Okay, on to step one. Well I guess I have to keep typing to move the next picture down....here goes....

First here is what you need to start - An outline stamp, a Black Stazon Pad, and here I used Very Vanilla Cardstock cut into an oval shape with my big shot. The Stazon ink is very important so your markers don't run together. Nothing worse then when the black bleeds into the pink. NOT pretty. So stamp your image in black and let it dry.

You will now need to pull out those great SU markers. I use several shades of the same color for each picture. The main colors in my card are pink and green. So I am using Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride, and Regal Rose for my pinks. Later I decided I wanted to punch it up one more time so I used a tad of Melon Mambo...but when I took this picture I was not anticipating that so that marker is missing. Just pretend it's there. I'm no tutorial genius. :) For greens, I used Pear Pizazz, Wild Wasabi and Old Olive.

The first step is to color each petal of the flower the lightest pink, Pink Pirouette. Just one coat of ink, don't go over and over it, just once, lightly. You can see how plain that looks, and that is where a lot of people stop with coloring, but it's pretty boring and one dimensional. This is random, but I really don't like Pretty in Pink. It reminds me of Pepto Bismal, or Ralphie's bunny pajamas in The Christmas Story...but Pink Pirouette is perfection for a soft, light pink. Don't use Pretty in Pink. Well I guess you can if you LIKE it. Anyway, just apply that first coat of ink all the way out to the end of the petal.

Here comes the magic now.....apply a second coat of marker using the next lightest color, which in this case is Blushing Bride. I am going to wear sack cloth and ashes for a full month when this IN color is discontinued. After that I will wear black every day for the rest of my life. This color is the extreme opposite of Pretty in Pink. It makes me think of soft roses, and baby blankets. It's so perfect. So start at the bottom with this color and go out, BUT NOT ALL THE WAY...making sure you leave some of the Pink Pirouette there on it's own. If you get carried away and color the whole thing, you just wrecked it and you should start over, no offense. :)

Now come in with some Regal Rose but just a tiny weeny tiny bit at the base of each petal. Don't cover up all of the blushing bride, (heaven's NO!) If you look closely at this shot here on the left, (click on it gets as big as your HEAD) you can see that left to right, flower number one has only the first pink, pink pirouette, while flower number two has all THREE pinks and flower number three has only the first two. (are you still WITH me??)You can see how much prettier that middle flower is with the three pinks all layered on to each petal! But remember, I decided it needed one more PUNCH....so..........

Here I added in the Melon Mambo, and if THAT color doesn't wake you up, check your pulse, you might just be dead! WOW Melon Mambo is WHOA.....PINK....HELLO, you better LIKE PINK if you use MELON MAMBO!!! (so I just use a TOUCH, a DOT, a TAD, a TEENY TINY BIT, at the base of each flower, and when you do this you will see the magic, how each time you add a darker shade at the base, the whole thing comes ALIVE!! Stay with me now, it should have only taken you about four hours to color all those layers on each little petal,,,,,stick with me,,,,,we are making progress!! It's time to add some GREENERY!!! So purty! Ain't that purty?

So basically now do the very same thing with the greens, start out with Pear Pizazz. Add some shading with the Wild Wasabi, and then just a TOUCH of Old Olive, that OLD FAITHFUL OLIVE. Gotta LOVE OLD OLIVE....right? Okay, we aren't finished yet but we are getting there, slow but sure!! If you wanna do this for a swap card, make sure you design it with only ONE FLOWER!!! (or you will HATE me!!) I love to color, but NOT SWAP CARDS, not the SAME THING, OVER, and OVER, and OVER, and OVER, Mercy ME that's SO BORING!!! BUT doing this once, a piece of CAKE!!! Okay, and, moving right along.........the next thing you want to do is...........

Go around each and every flower and leave with a small shadow of Sahara Sand, it will wake the WHOLE THING UP! So pretty.....now look, ain't that pretty????? Oh man, I love that look......(geez, I am starting to sound like Jan Tink here....but I do love this technique and yes, sometimes I do love some of my own cards....I mean why else would I keep on making them otherwise???) Okay, so do that all the way around your posies........

Here's a shot of all the markers I used in this picture.....I already named them so I'm not gonna name them again, you can just scroll up, okay? Oh alright, just to be nice, Pink Pirouette to Blushing Bride to Regal Rose to Melon Mambo on the flowers, Pear Pizazz to Wild Wasabi to Old Olive on the leaves, with a shadow of Sahara Sand........and then one more thing to punch the whole thing up,,,,you just KNOW I had to use my old FAVORITE......

WHITE GEL PEN!!!!!!! IT'S NOT FINISHED TILL YOU PUT A FEW DOTS OF WHITE GEL PEN HERE AND THERE....AND SEE HOW IT ALSO ADDS DIMENSION? THEN, LAST BUT NOT LEAST, I SPONGED THE EDGES WITH BLUSHING BRIDE INK WITH SOME SAHARA SAND INK ON TOP LEAVING THE CENTER ALONE SO IT SORT OF POPS OFF THE PAGE FOR YOU!!! I AM SO DARN EXCITED RIGHT NOW- I DID THIS WHOLE TUTORIAL AND THE ONLY PICTURE I DELETED WAS ONE I DELETED ON PURPOSE CUZ IT WAS SO SIMILAR TO THE ONE BEFORE IT I THOUGHT IT WAS REDUNDANT. Okay, enough with the capital letters. I ain't getting TOO excited until this puppy is launched and all the pictures are still IN it.....I have such a tough time not wiping stuff out....I stand amazed at myself....oh go easy there girlfriend, Pride cometh before the fall......I'm gonna stop blabbing and try to get outta here with pictures intact........can you believe I did SUCH a good job and I finally, finally, finally did this tutorial I said I was going to do for a long, long, long time...I did it!!! I am so happy with ME just now!!!! Go do some marker layering, honestly, it's the BOMB!! Until next time...........Karen PS, If you are seeing this before FRIDAY, the 5th of August.....I will be hostessing a Dirty Dozen Challenge featuring this technique...go play!!! If you aren't a member of SCS, become one!! ;) It's a virtual stamper heaven!! Okay, this is really the end....I'm a little wound up here.....doing the happy dance, I did it!!! (this never happens, a blog entry with no wipe outs....) Happy Day everyone!

GET WELL WISHES.....

2011-07-26T05:00:00.000-04:00

Get Well cards were the theme this week for our SU ONLY Blog challenge. I don't know why I don't make more Get Well cards, because every time you turn around you need one. I had started this card as a possible swap card for Convention, and then when the time actually came I decided it was nuts to give a card away with this many tiny pearls on it......and I sorta tossed it aside with no sentiment on it yet. :) So last night at the 11th hour, when I remembered with a near panic attack that Get Well cards were the theme this week for the SU ONLY Blog Challenge, I went tearing through my stuff.......and found this card and it was a GWCWTH!!!! (get well card waiting to happen) YAY!!!!! I have been so strung out playing catch up since I got back from Convention, all I could think of was THANK GOD that HE cares about the little things for us. It's not earth shattering, but it sure was a happy surprise for me!! One of these days I will stop flying by the seat of my pants through life....but I might be just a tad bored when that happens!! Happy Tuesday everyone! Until next time, Karen

HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT MY GRANDCHILDREN?

2011-07-12T05:00:00.000-04:00

Well, first off, they are ALL grand DAUGHTERS. That's right, SEVEN grand DAUGHTERS. So if I'm asked to make a "kid" card, you just KNOW it's gonna be GIRLIE!!!! My oldest grand daughters are Madyson and Chloe, who our family was blessed with when our daughter Bethany married our wonderful son-in-law Brian, who had Madyson and Chloe. So they were INSTANT grand daughters and they are beautiful and sweet girls who have added much JOY to our lives. Tovah was our firstborn of biological grand daughters. Tovah is a dark, curly haired beauty who is now SIX years old. She is full of life, she has a strong character, she is sweet as she can be, and we love her to pieces. Tovah dreams of being a ballerina veterinarian. Next born was Layla Page, who is now SIX too. Layla has curly blond hair and a smile that will lighten your load and quicken your step. She is picture perfect and precious. Layla loves crafting, she loves school, and she loves LIFE! Layla is adorable! Then along came Lami, sister to Tovah. Lami is adorable....she is just precious, she loves babies, animals, ballet, and her Snow White costume. I think she would wear it 24/7 if her parents let her. Lami is FIVE and as cute as a button. Next Layla had a baby sister named Brooklyn Sophia. Brookie is the cutest little girl....she has blond hair and big blue eyes, and is usually sporting a coy little smile. Brookie is TWO and a HALF(almost) Brookie loves babies, and Brookie loves PEOPLE!! She will make you feel special everytime!! Three months after Brookie was born, our youngest daughter had Olivia Lou. Olivia Lou is so dog-gone cute....she is just TWO and she is a very BUSY little two year old. She has an adorable smile and a happy countenance. Livvy loves DORA, and dogs, and babies. So that rounds out our little crop of grand daughters. All I can say, is how did we ever get thru our days without them??? Thank GOD for little GIRLS!!!! Until next time.....

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

2011-06-28T05:00:00.000-04:00

ANNIVERSARIES TODAY, are something to be celebrated! In this day and age where every OTHER marriage ends in divorce, we surely should make a big deal out of anniversaries!! I tend to not celebrate them enough, not sure why, maybe because we have a big family and there are birthdays, and Christmas, etc, etc, etc, and if I started celebrating all anniversaries with a gift, well, you get the picture. But when I think about it, a card would and should do it!! It's a time to reflect on marriage, and the longevity thing!! We tried to instill in our kids, make sure you choose wisely, because divorce should not be an option you entertain. Now of course, that is in a perfect world, and some marriages end in divorce for warranted reasons. But we should go in to marriage realizing how seriously GOD takes it, so that when we come to rough waters, which we WILL, we can weather the storm, pulling TOGETHER to get thru those tough times. After 37 years with the same man, I can honestly say that if I had it to do all over again, yes, I would choose the same guy. Just some thoughts on being in it for the long haul. So let's celebrate the milestones of marriage!! Happy Anniversary everyone! Until next time......

WONDERFUL WEDDINGS......

2011-06-14T05:00:00.000-04:00

The theme this week for our SUO Challenge, is weddings! How appropriate for me!! I just went to a wedding yesterday! One of our long time family friends, favorite family friends.....the youngest child got married. Yes, I remember watching Mike Smith and my Mike (Barber) make sand castles together every summer at York Beach in Maine when they were wee ones. I remember years and years of fun with the Smiths.....so getting together after kids have all grown and have kids of their own, was lots of fun. Seeing in my minds eye, this family with four sons as they used to be, and then seeing four men standing before us....just one of those moments when you have to take a deep breath or you will cry. There is so much JOY in a wedding, right? A beautiful bride, and a handsome groom, and all seems right with the world!! Congratulations Mike and Lindsey- may the Lord bless you with years of JOY and HAPPINESS,,,,until you watch your own kids build sand castles at the beach.....and then you turn around for a moment, and they have become adults with children of their own. Ain't life GRAND???

LIFE IS HARD.....

2011-05-31T05:00:00.001-04:00

Time for a masculine card, and this stamp just seemed appropriate - You Mean the World 2 me...... because even after 36 years my husband does mean the world to me. The last few weeks have been a time of true reflection on what really matters, as we have watched miles of our country just wiped right out by tornadoes. My son-in-law and his friend Blake, who happen to be the pastors at our church took a trip to Joplin, just to see what they could do to help for a couple of days. They took lots of video footage and it was part of church on Sunday. Incredible stuff. People just stripped bare of all belongings, and just thrilled when they could say we are all alive and that's what matters. Of course some were not able to say that. Jon said he stood in the yard of one family and was told where bodies of family members were found, lifeless. A thirteen month old child......the child's mom. Hard stuff to get your head around. And yet we know that none of this takes our God by surprise. He is still in control, and He is still good. A very dear person in my life lost a child this week in a totally separate incident. Life is hard. Sometimes there are just no easy answers. Sometimes we have to say, I trust you God even when I do not understand, and hold on tight. Sometimes that's all we can do. And we can lift these loved ones up in prayer and ask God to wrap HIS everlasting arms of love around them, and squeeze them really, really tight. Until next time, Karen

April Showers Bring May Flowers......

2011-05-17T05:00:00.000-04:00

Anyone who knows me at ALL, and my stamping style, knows that this week, I was doing the happy dance when I HAD to stamp flowers....I will ALWAYS choose flowers over anything else... so being told I HAVE to stamp flowers is like being told I HAVE to eat DOVE DARK CHOCOLATE OR ELSE!! Such punishment is not hard to take!! HOWEVER, the first flower card I made last night was a total dud....and I stayed up way to late making it....and then I hated it! So this is card #2, and I like it a lot better. :) You win some, you lose some, even flowers!! ;) I colored this using what I call "marker layering" - would anyone want me to do a tutorial on this technique soon? It's really so easy, and I think comes out looking not too shabby! These great flowers are available in the brand new mini catalog. You can go straight there and SHOP if you want them by the button on the sidebar!! SO pretty!!! So, flowers.....can we do them again next time??? EVERY TIME???? Happy Tuesday everyone!!! Until next time, Karen

CAN YOU FIND THE BUTTERFLY???

2011-05-03T05:00:00.000-04:00

Kind of tiny, my wee little butterfly....can you see it? I made this card for a good friend of mine at work, for her husband to give her for Mother's Day and he's surprising her with a big stamp order for Mother's Day. I tried to make a nice basic card for her so she can use it as an idea,,,and then I ordered this great stamp set for her, and the wonderful wings embosslit....among all kinds of other great stuff! And I don't "think" she looks at my blog...I hope!! That was so fun to pick out for a friend and spend someone elses money! ;) I basically just colored this with the layered marker technique, I just named that technique. :) It's just what it sounds like, but I just might do a tutorial soon, as I get so many questions on how I color using markers and blender pens. I love this flower stamp...it's so darn cute. Anyway, I am getting joy thinking about my friend receiving stamp stuff for Mother's Day. It took me really 3 years to get her actually going with stamping....and I'm so proud of her because she is now designing her own cards and enjoying it!! I've been telling her for 3 years she will forget all about puzzles if she just tries stamping, and she finally caught the bug....yay!! Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mothers out there! Who knew the indiscribable joy and yet the deep pain that being a mom brings....??? Life is never the same,,,,right? Until next time.......

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY.....

2011-04-19T05:00:00.001-04:00

The SU only blog challenge for this week is to make any Mother's Day card.....so I chose this great new set to be released in May. Wow- this one is really, really fun to watercolor!! I use what I call marker layering when I watercolor an image like this. I lay down a little bit of the color, in this case poppy parade and then in a circular movement I use a blender pen to spread the color out to the outer edge. Then I keep layering more and more marker into the center of my image, making sure to blend, but leave the outside lighter. Then I lay down an even darker color at the base of each petal, in this case, Riding Hood Red. This is my favorite technique in the whole entire world. I can fall asleep watercoloring, but when I do the results aren't quite as crisp. ;) I hope you like my BOLD Mother's Day card.....with that great striped gg ribbon I use every "once in a blue moon".....and that is the understatement of the year!!!! Happy Stamping everyone!! Until next time......

SOMEBUNNY ANSWERED YOUR PRAYERS.....

2011-04-05T05:00:00.000-04:00

As I chose a PET to stamp with my SU collection, I was sadly in need of more stamps!!! I don't have any of the current dog or cat sets. Being a Golden Retriever owner, I don't want another doggie stamp, it feels like cheating on Luca.....and I am NOT a cat lover. I am not even a cat liker. I am not even a cat appreciater. So I looked through my vast collection of 85 percent flowers..., and I found this adorable bunny. And it brought back memories of our two pet rabbits that we had when our kids were little. We raised our kids in a 1200 square foot apartment on the grounds of the Africa Inland Mission and one of the rules was NO DOGS ALLOWED. In later years, we begged and begged and were finally able to get our first Golden Retriever. But years before that when our kids were little we went thru gerbils, guinea pigs, turtles, basically anything that could be contained. Bethany even had a pet snail once. But our kids kept praying for a rabbit because we kept saying no- that they poop too much and don't make good pets. Well one day, our kids shrieked with JOY when a gorgeous lop earred bunnie just appeared on the lawn in front of our apartment. It was clearly a pet that had gotten left on the lawn, and it was gorgeous. Much begging followed, and we finally caved, and that bunnie became like part of our family. It was one of the first times that our kids saw tangible answers to their very own prayers, and how could we tell them that was NOT an answer to their prayers??? Seemed pretty clear to us. :) Later, when it died, we got another pet bunnie and we named it Precious. Good times, and happy memories. However, I was right, they do poop too much. Happy Tuesday everyone, and Happy Stamping! Until next time.....

Happy Birthday Friend!~

2011-03-22T05:00:00.000-04:00

The SUO challenge blog challenge for today was anything birthday. I love this big cupcake stamp. I used my Big Shot and embossing folders, along with a crimper to make my cupcake paper really look official. :) Wasn't that brilliant? I used pearls and seam binding and rosettes to give it a vintage look. I was really under the wire tonite, as I usually make this card days ahead and tonite I could not since I was away for the weekend. The pressure was on to come up with something quickly. I also posted to the color challenge on Splitcoast where I had to make a sample using the challenge colors, and THAT was a challenge too. Sometimes you just stamp and the cards pop out and you love them, and other times you make, remake, and remake again. Such a night had I. I am defeated. :) Ready to lay my head down on the pillow and dream of days where mojo is plentiful. Not today. Oh well, it is what it is. Until next time, happy stamping everyone!!

A BLAST FROM MY STAMPIN'UP PAST.....

2011-03-08T05:00:00.000-05:00

This week our challenge for the SUO blog, was to create something from our favorite discontinued set. I really don't have a favorite, I have a multiplicity of favorite sets. Every year I go into mourning for a while after they discontinue sets... and so I chose ONE of my favorite all time sets, this 2 step tulip. Since I was on a blast from the SU past role, I decided to also style my card around a style that was my old go to at the time this set was in it's prime. I use to constantly use this layout at workshops with new stampers. So simple, yet I think it has a wow factor. Especially when used with a great set like this one, which I ask you why did they have to discontinue this great set,,,,and why dont' they come out with more totally awesome 2 step flower sets like they used to have? Boo hoo, watercolor garden, watercolor garden 2, DD hydrangea, and dd sunflower, just to name a few of my favorites......boo hoo hoo hoo. So it was fun to take a walk down memory lane and use this old set, in this old style, with a brand new color, Poppy Parade to wake the whole thing up!! Because Poppy Parade, could wake the dead!! LOVE this color!! That's my blast from the past for today! So take out those old stamp set, blow the dust off, and make a good old fashioned card today!! Happy Stamping everyone!!

I LOVE SHABBY CHIC....

2011-02-22T05:00:00.000-05:00

I quickly decided that my favorite Saleabration set is Sweet Summer and I sorta overlooked this Bliss set.....but once I started to play with it, it's a close 2nd for me....I totally LOVE that big stamp I used as background here. :) SWEET!! So last week I felt like I cheated because when I got my card all done which was supposed to feature a wheel, you could hardly even SEE the wheel. Well this time, I am suffering MAJOR guilt - look at those pearl stick pins I stuck in there on my card that was made especially for the SU ONLY blog.....yikes- I blew it again!! CONTRABAND! Sorry everyone!! But anyway, it's not really such a big deal. I say get over it. Next time I'll do better. :) I still like this card. :) CONTRABAND OR NO CONTRABAND. It wouldn't be an issue except that I made it for the SUO CHALLENGE BLOG....duh. oh well, isn't perfection wonderful???? Happy Stamping everyone!!

WHEEL YOU PLEASE BE SERIOUS????

2011-02-08T05:00:00.000-05:00

I am here to tell ya, I used a wheel on this card. After all, the CHALLENGE for our SUO blog was to USE A WHEEL. And I used a wheel! I started out with vanilla cardstock and I ran the vintage wheel all over it with versamark ink. Then I colored it softly using the pastels. Then I stamped some images from Nature Walk right on top of the softly colored Vintage wheel images using black stazon ink. Then I stamped the bird on a piece of cardstock vellum and colored him with SU markers from behind. Then I adhered the bird onto my vintage background, and it looked pretty awesome with the images and vintage wheel showing thru the vellum, and then I stamped a few bees on top of that....so when you see this card in person, alot is going on but it's all good. Except in the PICTURE, you can't see the vintage wheel very well. Which was the whole bloomin' POINT. But honestly, I did use a wheel on my card. I really did, you just have to believe me. It's there. Look closer. It really is, I mean it, seriously, it's there. Happy Stamping everyone!! Until next time......

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

2011-01-25T05:00:00.002-05:00

I know, it's early but our SUO blog challenge for this week is a valentine....gotta give you time to case if you want to! I have really enjoyed this red glitter paper for Christmas AND Valentine's Day. A little bit goes a long way, but it's so WOW! I also love these dp's from SU, with all the little polka dot papers......cool stuff!! I've been thinking about my Valentine a lot these days. What a steady, even keeled, good man I married 37 years ago. I am so loving watching him acclamate himself to this brand new job at the hospital. After watching him downright miserable for the past two years truck driving, it's so nice to see him go off to work with a smile on his face and come home every night and the smile is still there. So nice to have another person in the house when I come home at night. So nice to have someone keeping the other side of the bed warm every night. So nice to have someone shoveling the snow, and taking out the garbage, and helping do dishes, and cooking....and someone to watch a movie with on a Friday night, go out to dinner with...and the list goes on. All things I once took for granted, they are a gift after the last 3 years of separation due to the truck driving. It's nice to marry your best friend when you are really still a kid....and wake up 37 years later, and he's still the one! I try not to take him for granted, but to wake up each day and be thankful to be married to my best friend. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!~ Until next time, tell someone you love them!~

Yah Baby......

2011-01-11T05:00:00.003-05:00

So it was to be a baby card today......love baby cards, and I naturally gravitate toward baby GIRL cards.....(any wonder with SEVEN grand daughters??) Anyway- I made this with that great new embossing folder in the SU mini catalog.....Love.it!! The stamp set, Teddies and Trains, some watercolor cardstock, some markers and blender pens, some Pretty in Pink dp, some of my favorite ribbon some faux stitching and pearls.....pretty easy peasy!! Thanks to all of you for your comments and messages to tell me you are inspired by my blog. If you are ever so moved, I am always thrilled to receive orders and you can click on my SU website right on this blog and it will take you directly to where you can order thru me. YIPPEE, if you place an order, and ask me - I will send you a card....how's that??? Well our kids are gone, on their trek to the islands in the Indian Ocean for 3,1/2 years. I am just now beginning to look human again.....my eyes were so swollen I could hardly open them....but you know what? Time heals all wounds....and as the days unfold the Lord gives perfect peace that they are right where they are supposed to be, and all is well with my soul!! :) A scripture I keep coming back to is actually a song I used to sing - He gave me, beauty for ashes, the oil of JOY for mourning, the garment of praise, for the spirit of heaviness, that we might be trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that HE might be glorified. So I praise HIM, for all HE has done for me, and the spirit of heaviness goes away and is replaced by HIS perfect peace, and JOY in my heart. Until next time.......Karen

2010-12-28T05:00:00.000-05:00

Here is my BLING card.....this card was made with the emboss resist technique. The main image panel started with whisper white cardstock. I stamped using the marker directly on the back of the stamp. Then I colored in some detail and then colored over the whole thing with a versamarker. I embossed with clear powder and a heat tool. After that I colored on the trees a little with the versamarker again and used some white embossing powder to add snow to the trees. Next I smeared baja breeze ink over top of the entire image for the sky. Lastly, I stamped the snowflakes and then smeared white craft ink on the ground for snowfall. This card only took a total of 17 hours to make. (not really) I also added glitter and bling. The bling shows up much better in real life. I only took 42 pictures and this was the best I could do. It's been a rough night. ;) Of course to top off my frustration I went with this tear your hair out border.....over all, this card was a blast to make!! :) Anyway, if you want to make one of these, just make ONE for someone you really love. Definetley do not make it for a swap card. Happy New Year everyone!! I know for me, watching my husband head off to work everyday in his scrubs, and come home every night.....its enough to make my new year very happy!! God is good all the time, all the time GOD IS GOOD!! Until next time........Karen

HAPPY, HAPPY, JOY, JOY!!!

2010-12-14T05:00:00.000-05:00

Well it's blog challenge week again! This time, our challenge, should we decide to accept it, was to create a card using Very Vanilla, More Mustard, and Bravo Burgandy, and to include dry embossing in our design. To say what I think of these colors....well, I LOVE Very Vanilla, and More Mustard has it's place, but me and Bravo Burgandy, we don't get along very well. So this truly was a challenge, and I am pretty pleased with the outcome. Just a simple little Christmas card but I like it! I embossed the bulbs with the Bravo Burgandy craft stampin' spot and clear powder. I used the Square Lattice and Wallpaper folders with my Big Shot. I used the Tiny Tags set and punch for my sentiment. Hope you like my simple card! NOW TO CATCH YOU UP TO SPEED WITH KEITH'S JOB SITUATION, I want to say thank you to everyone who wrote or commented to encourage us in our time of leaning on the everlasting arms! One day while at work I got into a conversation with one of my favorite patients and somehow one thing led to another and I was telling him that Keith was out of work, as it related to things he was telling me. The next thing I knew he was telling me he could get him a job where he works at Good Samaritan Hospital as a Materials Distribution Technician, (sounds GOOD, right??) Seriously??? Long story short, he really meant it!! Keith starts his new job December 20th!! It's in the same ballpark with the kind of logistics stuff he did in New York for 23 years at Africa Inland Mission, so I ask you, HOW COOL IS THAT??? All in all he will have been out of work less then 2 months. He will now live a normal life, come home at night like normal people do, work a normal amount of hours, go to the doctor when he needs to, mow the lawn and shovel the snow in the evening, join a Bible Study if he wants to, keep me company when the grand children and children leave in January, watch tv if he wants to, sleep in his own bed everynight....we are praising God and giving HIM the glory for taking us out of a very painful situation and moving us into what looks like it will be his dream job. GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME, ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD!!! Thanks to all of you who prayed with us! Until next time.........keep on leanin' on those everlasting arms!

2010-11-30T05:00:00.001-05:00

Okay, I S-T-R-E-S-S over simple cards... and I mean STRESS!!!!! I think it is way harder to come up with a WOW simple card then one that takes an hour and a half to make.....so am I thrilled with this card? Nope....but it's okay. The hardest part was getting a decent picture of it, for some unknown reason. I think it's the huge honkin' bow's position which is like so big it's like an umbrella big enough for a family of four to picnic under in a hurricane and nothing gets wet......but anyway, it was very hard to get a good picture of. I took at least 42. I'm done with this one. So done. But it's true, if you pick a card like this, you won't hate stamping after you make 100 of them! But some of my usual cards, you will hate stamping, and you will hate life after making 100 of them!! So choose something simple, but make sure if you choose THIS one, you make a wee bit smaller bow so you can get it into an envelope....and kids won't like play with your Christmas card and hurt a sibling with it or something......me and my ridiculous bows......Have fun making your 100's!!! Until next time.......

THE EVERLASTING ARMS....

2010-11-22T19:52:00.010-05:00

So I have been thinking a lot lately about what is important in life. We moved here to Ohio from a mission where we worked for 23 years. Keith and I both had 4 weeks vacation every year, 20 sick days, 2 personal days, and hours that were sweet. When I came here as I have shared many times, I started working for a dentist and now I am Office Manager, and I get 2 weeks vacation, no sick time, but my hours are still pretty sweet, albeit many. Keith however, took up truck driving 3 years ago. We went from having desks side by side for 23 years to not seeing eachother for weeks at a time. The last job he had promised he would be home almost every night, but alas, many promises are broken. It reached a point where he was leaving us on Monday morning every week at about 4 AM and we would not see him again many times till half way thru the next Saturday. It just got to be more then we could handle. I watched his personality almost change. In 37 years of marriage I can only think of one time when he was that depressed and it was as a result of meds he was taking for pneumonia. One night my daughter Jen and I got talking after he went to bed on a Sunday night. We came to the conclusion that no money was worth his mental and physical health so we went upstairs, woke him up and told him we wanted him to give his 2 week notice, and that God would take care of us. At his job he was "encouraged" to drive more hours then were legal, and he was driving trucks that were not fit to be on the road. It felt pretty clear to us, that by having him quit, we would be honoring God because of those conditions. So Keith is now out of work, looking for a job, and in my heart of hearts, I feel peaceful and sure that God has a special job for him somewhere. One where he will be able to come home at night and live a normal life. Sometimes I feel myself getting a bit panicky, knowing that the savings will run out pretty quick and that I do not really make enough for us to make it. But I am so sure in my heart that we did the right thing that I usually quickly bounce back to realizing that God is in HIS heaven, watching out for us and loving us more then we can imagine. I am amazed at the level of peace I feel. I have spent so much of my life worrying about stuff that hasnt' happened. I am really trying to give this thing, which is bigger then me, over to God and just rest in HIM. He promises to meet our needs, and unlike Keith's old bosses, HE KEEPS HIS PROMISES. And meanwhile, Keith's personality has returned. He is enjoying life again....I get my clothes ironed in the morning, my car warmed up on cold mornings, a home cooked meal every night, errands run during the day....things cleaned and spruced up around the house.....and I am thinking I wish we COULD make it on my incomes....SU and the dental office!! I could get used to this real fast!! Sometimes you just gotta step out there and take a risk, trusting God to see you thru. Sometimes you gotta take that step of faith and believe that HE who does not slumber nor sleep will not let your foot slip. I love and serve a God who promises to meet my needs, according to his riches in Christ Jesus. You can find me leaning,,,,on the everlasting arms....because I truly believe and know in my heart that underneath and all around, are the everlasting arms!! Happy Thanksgiving everyone, we truly have so much to be thankful for!! God bless you, everyone!!

Marmalade Glazed Turkey?? SERIOUSLY???

2010-11-16T05:00:00.001-05:00

So the SUO DT challenge for this week was Thanksgiving tablesettings,,,,,almost made my lips freeze when I read it...until I decided I could make up a fake menu and decorate it with stamps...Okay, so who really makes Marmalade Glazed Turkey with Cornbread Stuffing? I have all I can do to get that sucker in the oven early enough to be cooked by the time everyone is half starved without glazing it with marmalade first!! And who on earth really starts the meal off with Butternut Squash and Apple Soup??? Martha Stewart? Paula Dean? Maybe Rachel Ray? But common folks like me??? I think I'm doing something because we actually use cloth napkins!! And it's like real turkey, not like a Smart One or a Lean Cuisine!! Pumpkin Cheesecake, RIGHT.....like back in NY when I lived near a COSTCO! But now? Help mom, can YOU make the pies???? Jennifer, can YOU MAKE THE PIES??? I do set the table real purdy, but china??? I don't own any...this pitcher below comes from my most fancy dish set and the one my table will be set with for Thanksgiving. And we will be in our cozy dining room with a reduced number of our family there....since it's the in laws turn for Thanksgiving this year.....BUT that means we are all together for Christmas this year, and for that, I could not be more thankful. I am thankful for a cozy house with pretty pottery dishes and cloth napkins, and we will even take the good glassware out. I am thankful for 4 children with lovable spouses and 7 grand daughters who are the light of my life. I am thankful for a husband who remains my best friend after all these years. I am thankful that my mom lives close enough to celebrate with us now. And you know what? If we have plain old mashed potatoes instead of smashed ones with roasted garlic, and plain old turkey instead of one all rubbed up with jelly.....it just does not matter. I may never be Susy Homemaker, but the food will be yummy, (my family usually tries to keep me OUT of the kitchen) and the company will be lovely......and I will give thanks to HIM, the one from whom all blessings flow. But every once in a while it's fun to dream and imagine I was the type who actually had the house all decorated for Thanksgiving and not the one who has sorry looking pumpkins still out on the front porch from Halloween.....but hey, this is who I am, and the truth is, though I sometimes dream of having a perfectly kept and decorated house, I'd rather be stamping!! Even phony menus are more fun then no stamping at all! So this year, don't sweat it if your table would not make Martha Stewart proud. Just relax, be with the ones you love, and be happy being you! That's what I intend to do!! God Bless you all!!!

"Give me ONE MORE NIGHT......"

2010-11-02T05:13:00.000-04:00

So why do turkeys look so happy, anyway? It's Thanksgiving eve and this guy looks happy to me....little does he know what awaits him.... so sad.....but anyway, isn't he cute? I kind of drew a big fat blank when the challenge was "punch art" - I have never been one to come up with all that cute stuff made out of punches....and if anything my comfort zone would take me to a wreath of some kind.....but I sent my small flower punch to NY for the next Backwards Workshop with my NY/NJ customers.....hmmm.......things that make ya go hmmmmm..........I already used the owl punch on this challenge blog so didn't want to do a repeat....and my sweet daughter in law Jenna happened to hear me lamenting over wanting a cool idea for punch art and she said she had been playing with the Scallop Circle punch with my grand daughter Layla, and she came up with a pretty cute turkey, all on her own. I adjusted it just a little, to make it my own, but here it is, a pretty cute little guy. This fence was also her idea....it's made from the Pinking Hearts Border punch.....and then the pumpkins from smallest Oval punch - I've just seen them around. I also used the Scallop Border punch for the grass, and a simple circle punch for the moon. The entire turkey is made from the Scallop Circle punch...so cool!! Most of the wings are made from pieces of it - you cut the scallop circle in half and then cut the scallops out individually and layer them. Isn't he cute? Jenna to the rescue!! Thanks Jenna!! But the poor turkey, his name is William. Don't you feel really sorry for him? Ignorance is bliss. If he knew what his future held he would not look so happy. He would be saying in a loud voice, "Give me ONE MORE NIGHT!!" Anyway, when we see him again he'll be keeping company with stuffing, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce. So sad......... Such is life............. Until next time...........

A LITTLE WHITE LIE.....

2010-10-19T05:00:00.002-04:00

Oh my WORD,,,,I have NEVER been so FRUSTRATED posting a blog post in my LIFE!!!!! I had this all done, and my friend Ilina sent me an email telling me step by step how to make it post when I am on a business trip the day it's supposed to post......(it involved changing settings, etc.) and I did all that and then went ahead and posted it by accident so had to delete and start over!! arghhhh........ ANYWAY........back to the subject at hand.....would YOU believe I cut out all those cute little quilt squares by hand, 3/4" x 3/4"??? I didn't think so.....so I'm not gonna lie to ya, I did not realize that SU had discontinued that punch until one of my friends pointed it out to me....and my card was all loaded on the Yahoo site and ready to go for Tuesday.....so if YOU want to make this same exact card, you may just have to hand cut them all!! (LOL, harhar) If not, you can always use the smallest square punch we have now and have your quilt squares a bit larger. Here's how. Take some graph paper, I use SU's big graph pad and glue the squares down completely and securely on all edges. The graph paper will give your quilt more body and also help you to keep the design straight which tends to be the hardest part! Then use the Big Shot and cut the quilt out using the Top Note Die. Then put the entire piece through the Big Shot again using your favorite embossing folder. I love to use Petals a Plenty for a worn quilt look, but any embossing folder will give it a quilted look. That's pretty much it!! I used SU's new Deck the Walls designer paper and their brand new SEAM BINDING to make my bow. LOVE that stuff!!!! NEED MORE!!!!! I also used the Bells and Boughs Stamp set for the words and a Tags embosslit for the tag. Add their great new pearl bling and there you have it, a Christmas Quilt!! Hope you like it!! Now if this thing actually posts on the morning it is supposed to, you can thank my sweet young and beautiful friend Ilina....and if it doesn't, well, it just means I didn't follow the directions correctly, and if that happens, what else is new?? Happy Stamping everyone! See you next time!!

OH THE PRESSURE OF IT ALL.......

2010-10-04T17:50:00.000-04:00

All I can really do is STAMP. When it comes to taking good pictures, I have taught myself and improved a LOT. Good old Picasa III. BUT, when it comes to downloading or uploading or whatever the process is, I am one lame dame. Please take note - the new catalog has finally appeared on my blog. It only took me 3 months!! How pathetic is that??? I ask you!!?? I still remember the first time I blogged without my niece looking over my shoulder, it was like a trip through the land of very large rodents for me......here I am blogging all by myself. HOWEVER, the whole schedule this to go up at some time tomorrow- it ain't happenin'. I will save it as a draft and get up at that magical hour of 5:00 am and make sure the darn thing goes up when and where it's supposed to this time!! Anyway.....this card is a vintage creation, so lots of tearing and sponging and dirtying things up....I used the stamp set "Peaceful Season" from the new mini....mostly because it's the only one I HAVE so far since my order is due Thursday, (another wonderful example of impeccable timing on my part....)and I used the Big Shot, wallpaper ef, oval dies, 1/2" circle for the scallops, the music wheel, markers, the stamp set Tiny Tags and the Tiny Tag punch, Vintage Brads, white gel pen, Black Stazon ink - a versarmarker and clear powder and heat tool so I could emboss the holly and then roll stamp on over it and sponge on over it....black satin ribbon, eyelet border punch, rhinestone bling, sponges and crumb cake ink for aging.....and I think that about does it!! Do you know how to do the emboss resist technique? You stamp and color just the way you want your main image, (the holly in this case) I drew some on top with a black marker for definition, and then I colored over the holly with a versamarker and then sprinkled clear powder on, embossed, and there you have it - emboss resist because now you can let an elephant stand on top of it or let you dog chew on it...(okay, well maybe not the dog thing) but that embossing is a mask and you can stamp on top now!! Have fun with this technique - I sure do!! And Happy Tuesday everyone, and when you see things like current catalogs on my blog, and new posts, and even posts that appear when they are supposed to, don't take them for granted!!! This little pea brain is working overtime to make all this happen just for you!! Until next time, share some technology with someone over 50 - they will LOVE you for it!! Blessings on ya!!

MOTHER, I'D RATHER DO IT MYSELF!!!

2010-10-03T20:03:00.001-04:00

I have made a really important decision. Mother, I'd rather do it myself....is going to be my new motto. I am so darn blog challenged that yes, it's OCTOBER and I FINALLY got the new catalog uploaded to my blog...and with some wonderful step by step instructions from one of my sweet downline, Ilina Crouse, (who also happens to be an awesome stamper...)I was successful in getting it onto my blog ALL BY MYSELF.....and THEN, while I was AT IT, I also FINALLY successfully downloaded the emblem or badge or whatever you call it from the design team I am on with other SU demonstrators.....AND an old award I had laying around that I didn't know how to download, or upload, or what-ever.....it's now all on the side of my blog and Mother, I did it all by myself!!!! My smart alec son-in-law said, "Tell us again, did you do it all by yourself???" The younger generation just does not understand how jazzed we over 50's can get when we actually pull something of this magnitude off by ourselves!! Anyway, I thought I would clarify what this whole design team thing is about. We were not chosen by Stampin'Up! to be on a design team for them. We were chosen by Cindy Coutts, who is a demonstrator herself, and she started a blog for SU challenges only, (which you can NOW REACH by pressing the icon to your left which I downloaded, uploaded, pasted, whatever in there all by myself, did I mention that already??) You can play in these challenges along with us, and we just design some cards for your enjoyment and then present the challenge, and you come back to your blog for card details,,,which are not my forte, but I try. I blab, I don't instruct. :) Every other Tuesday we will bring a challenge and samples your way. Watch for a post this Tuesday!! Okay, so I've been thinking lately what a person of rituals I am. Darn Darn, Darn, I just wiped out a card....oh well, 3 cards today, not 4. Unless of course I manage to wipe out another one before I get thru this. Anyway- back to rituals....do you ever play that dumb game where you say if the shredder at work stops before I shred everything, something terrible is going to happen? Like you'll

break your mother's back or something? Sorta like you can't step on the cracks in the sidewalk? Well I was thinking how sometimes when I am enduring my morning torture routine on the eliptical machine, (I've lost 10 pounds and several inches in the last 5 weeks) I will pretend that I am running from something that is going to land on me and crush me, like a giant tree, or some such thing.....and it will make me keep on going when I just wanna be off that thing and done. But then, when I really want to get my best mileage or time or whatever, if I just pretend that I am running from that same thing that is about to fall on top of me, but I am holding one of my grand daughters in my arms.....I get a spurt of energy that takes me thru to the end and I forget my pain. Isn't that kind of a cool principle? Love is such a powerful emotion.....know what I mean? I would throw myself in front of a train for any one of these precious girls. And since the middle of August we have had five of our seven right around us, like within 3 miles of our house, 5 grand daughters, 6 years old and under!! Friday night I babysat all 5 by myself!! It sorta happened by accident. I told Mike and Jenna I would babysit Layla and Brooklyn cuz it was Jenna's BD and they were going out. Okay, two, no problem. Then Davis and Jen said can we borrow your pickup and run to Ikea for some stuff and possibly leave the girls, we'll be right back and I said, sure,,,,they'll be back before I get Layla and Brooklyn, NOT, so now I have Tovah, Lami, Layla and Brooklyn all at one time. The three older girls had what I think was their first fight while I was trying to feed Brooklyn, and all of the sudden there is a knock at the door and it's Bekah and Jon, with Olivia in arms....and I say how nice, did you come for a visit? (seeing HELP on the horizon here) and they say, "No, Jen said we could drop off Olivia and she would watch her because we're meeting some people from church..." Ahh.....so you think I can handle FIVE, eh???? Guess what?? I could! I did!! Bekah and Jon kept saying we can't do this to you and I was like, Go, I can handle it - it's fine, it won't be long, etc etc etc, then after they left I was like, "what was i thinking???" It was okay!! I was only a little bit rattled by the time Jen and Davis arrived back home, with multitudes of apologies when they saw Olivia and realized I was alone with 5!! It was okay, these days are numbered...

I won't be privileged enough to have all five around me after mid January for a very long time. Jen, Davis, Tovah and Elami will head for some islands off of Africa for 3 years.....and I will think back to the night I had all 5 by myself and I will wish, wish, wish with all my heart and all my might that I could have them all back again......I know I will! So bring it on!! Precious days for precious memories. Precious girls,,,,,and yes, I think I could run 100 miles an hour to miss that tree for one of these precious girls. So if you notice that all of my cards are girlie cards.....it's hard not to think girls around my house!! Girls rock!! Grand daughters make the world go round!! Anyway - I will keep plugging away on my eliptical and I have promised myself that when I reach my goal this time I am NOT going to let myself put that 20 back on AGAIN.....I am going to try to change my lifestyle, keep exercising, eating right, etc.....and make THAT a ritual!! Thanks for listening to my blab.....keep on stampin.....keep on telling those ones around you how much you love them, and thanking God for every opportunity to be around them - even if it means babysitting for 5 - 6 and under by yourself!! Mother, I'd rather do it myself!! Until next time......

YOUR MISSION, SHOULD YOU DECIDE TO ACCEPT.....

2010-09-21T08:00:00.001-04:00

WEEK TWO OF OUR DESIGN TEAM FOR SU!!! CAN I JUST SAY I AM SO TECHNOLOGICALLY CHALLENGED THAT THIS DUMB THING WAS SUPPOSED TO POST AT 5:OO AM, THE POSTING SCHEDULE SAID, STILLS SAYS IT WOULD, WILL, DID....AND IT DIDN'T??? I AM LOOKING FOR SOMEONE OUT THERE WHO COULD GIVE ME SOME HELP WITH MY BLOG...LIKE HAS ANYONE HAPPENED TO NOTICE I STILL HAVE LAST YEARS CATALOG UP??? AM I A LOSER OR WHAT?? I HAVE SPENT LONG AMOUNTS OF TIME TRYING TO CHANGE IT....TO NO AVAIL. JUST LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO MIGHT WANT SOME STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO DO ANYTHING YOU SEE ON THIS BLOG.....WATERCOLOR? BLACK MAGIC? WHATEVER!! IN EXCHANGE FOR SOME HELP, PLEASE - HELP- UGH!! WHY DOES MY POST SAY WILL POST AT 5:00 AM, 9/21/10, AND THEN DOES NOT?????IS IT ME OR IS IT THEM??? ANYWAY, IT WAS A BIG SHOT CHALLENGE THIS TIME, AND I USED MY NEW OWL PUNCH, AND MY BIG SHOT DIE OF LITTLE LEAVES, MY TEXTURE PLATE OF WOOD GRAIN AND MY LATTICE EMBOSSING FOLDER FOR EVEN MORE TEXTURE!! SO FUN!! I LOVE THESE LITTLE OWLS.....AND THEY JUST MAKE ME THINK OF WHOOOOOO LOVES YA BABY? WHICH I SEEM TO SAY A LOT THESE DAYS AS I PRACTICALLY SMOTHER 5 LITTLE GIRLS WITH KISSES......WHO LOVES YA BABY???? (BY THE WAY THIS BLOG POST WENT UP, NOBODY LOVES LITTLE OLD ME, SO EXCUSE ME NOW WHILE I GO EAT SOME WORMS!!!!) NOW WATCH THE OTHER ONE POST SINCE I TOTALLY REDID THIS THING!! HAPPY TUESDAY EVERYONE!! Y'ALL COME BACK NOW, EVERY TWO WEEKS AT LEAST, YA HEAR???

2010-09-06T08:55:00.000-04:00

DESIGN TEAM BOUND...

2010-09-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

It's TRUE!! I am on a DESIGN TEAM!! I have said no when approached up until now to honor my contract with SU, but here is an SU DESIGN TEAM....started by my friend Cindy Coutts from SCS......and she asked me to be on it!!! TALK ABOUT MAKING MY DAY!!! And to all of my friends who don't say HELLO when they greet me anymore, but rather, "UPDATE YOUR BLOG" you'll be happy to know that it will be updated at least every other week now!!Our first assignment was a fall card. I made this card using the Autumn Harvest stamp set. I stamped it on watercolor paper and colored it using markers and blenders. I used to use stamp pads and blenders but I have found that by using markers and blenders I don't over wet the cardstock and I am much happier with the intensity of color. On a typical card like this I would use more then one shade of the same color to blend and get that variation of intensity. Experiment!! It's so fun!! Who needs copics!!?? You can achieve the same results with SU markers!! I used my favorite lattice folder and the paper piercing kit for details. I used Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze, Whisper White and Basic Black along with the imperative watercolor cardstock. I cut out the images after smearing some color where I didn't want it, and then decided I liked the cut out effect. Hope you like it too!! Of course I topped it off with the wide striped gg ribbon, which I cannot stay away from!! So this is the beginning, I promise to post in between with the usual ramblings about life. But I will actually be telling you how I make some of my cards now.....since that is the whole point of being on this team!! I am really looking forward to it. To all of you who sent me such beautiful comments on my last post, a huge and heartfelt thank you!! Right now, my son and his wife moved out and moved one street over with 2 grand daughters and my daughter and son in law who were in the Congo moved in with their two daughters and will be with us for the next 5 glorious months...and that has kept me very busy!!!! What a huge blessing to have FIVE of our SEVEN grand daughters within 7 minutes of our house, because Olivia Lou, the youngest one, lives about 7 minutes away!! And maybe the other two will come for Christmas from Minnesota......one can dream!! So, in closing, I will say again, "Did I tell you I get to be on a DESIGN TEAM????" Happy Stamping everyone!!

He Will Wipe all TEARS away......

2010-06-08T20:43:00.000-04:00

For me, the last few months have been rough. For me? Well, for me and my friends. I can start out by saying that all my test results turned out normal. I'm normal.....such a relief!! I just have to go back one more time to have the polyp removed and then as long as it's clear, I am home free. Ahhhh...I can say now, God is so good. But what about when things don't go so good? Remember when I first moved to Ohio and would blog about not having any friends? Well I prayed and asked God for friends, and He blessed me with several in Ohio. One of the first friends HE blessed me with when I moved here was my friend Susie. Susie was a joy to know...she was one of those people that remembered more details about what was going on in your life then you remembered yourself and would ask you each time she saw you how things were, naming things in particular that you had talked about the last time you saw eachother. When I first moved here, I saw quite a bit of Susie but she and her sweet husband Scott got involved in some ministry at our church that kept them pretty busy and our lives kind of went in different directions. Every once in a while we still got together, and I just loved Susie so much. Well Susie had some clinical depression going on behind the scenes that she hid very well, and about two months ago, she could not face the pain anymore and she took her own life. HEARTBREAKER. Dear Susie, if you only knew what an encouragement you were to other people....if you only knew. She left behind the love of her life, who has only just begun to process the pain. Susie is so missed, and so loved, by so many. So God, why did that have to happen? Why didn't you heal sweet Susie??? Then
another friend I was blessed with was Mary Ann. Mary Ann was another one of those people who always, and I mean ALWAYS put others above herself.
She was one of the most selfless people I have ever known. We shared the worry factor and would pray for eachother to be strong in that area. I loved Mary Ann, so much. I looked up to her so much. I treasured every moment I had with her. A year ago Mary Ann was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer. She lived about a year and finally went to be with her Lord and Saviour a few weeks ago. Again, why Lord, why? She was so loved, so needed, such a laborer for HIS kingdom. So hard to understand. Why didn't you heal her Lord?? I am being blatantly honest here, I have spent many hours wrestling with that very question. Mary Ann left a loving husband, loving children and grandchildren and extended family and friends like me who loved her deeply. I cannot pretend to understand. Then another one of my friends will go un named. But circumstances of life sort of sabotaged our friendship. What was just a budding friendship could not withstand the storms of life, and so I find myself without that friendship as well- through no fault of my own. Life is so hard sometimes. I have also wrestled with this one, but you can't force things to heal or force people to feel better about the way things turn out sometimes. You have to trust God, and let go. Last weekend I got word that the husband of one of my very dear friends from New York/New Jersey died of a massive heart attack, way too soon. My dear friend is widowed at a young age, and her husband was her best friend. Why Lord? So it's been a few months of hard WHYS for me....and of course I come back to knowing I need to trust in a God who sees the right side of the tapestry HE is weaving, when I can only see the back side with all the knots and loose ends. None of this takes God by surprise. And I do take comfort in picturing Susie and Mary Ann and Roger all in the everlasting arms, out of pain and into peace. There's an old song that says something to the affect of "This world is not my home, I'm just a passin thru" - and that truth has been driven home to me in new ways in the last few months. We really need to hold on loosely to the things of this earth, and instead we need to be laying up for ourselves treasure in heaven, where our reward is real. It's been an exercise in faith for me to count it all joy....so hard to do. I remember when I first moved here Mary Ann was the first friend I brought with me to see my house before we bought it. She asked the realtor questions I never thought of. A while after that, we had dinner together and then we went over and sort of broke and entered into my daughter and son in laws house when it was still under construction. We were like little kids, climbing up into their house where we knew we didn't belong and checking it out. Then - both of us being directionally challenged we tried for over 1/2 an hour to find the house I live in now which we were buying - which is only 7 minutes and 2 turns or so away from Jon and Bekah's house, but it got so late we had to give up our mission because we had driven everywhere and all around, but never found it which seems so comical to me now. I remember thinking that Mary Ann would be my forever friend in Ohio....I just felt like we were instant kindred spirits. I have cried so many tears - feeling like that got snuffed out way, way, way too soon. One day, God will wipe away every tear. Isn't that a comforting thought? I will see Mary Ann again one day, and Susie and Roger too. What a day of rejoicing that will be!! We cannot hope to understand everything that happens this side of heaven, but one day we will understand. One day we will stand before HIM face to face and we can ask questions like the best 3 year old on earth. All the whys will make sense. The Bible promises, HE will wipe away every tear. That is a promise I hold on tight to. I hope you have enjoyed these cards, which were ones I made as tributes to these people I loved , and still love. Remember, when we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see JESUS, we'll sing and shout the victory!! Hang your hat on that one, HE WILL WIPE AWAY EVERY TEAR!!!!
Until next time,

BIOPSIES, ULTRASOUNDS AND SHINGLES....OH MY!!

2010-05-11T21:08:00.001-04:00

Okay, all ye faint of heart......exit now. Because I am about to pour my heart out to my diary once again. If you aren't of the female gender, you may want to exit too. If you choose not to, you'll see why. First of all, I had some "issues" of the kind you don't want to see in a lady after she has gone thru the "change of life" which basically means your youth is slipping away. So I did what every sensible lady does, and walked, no actually ran to the gynecologist. You know, for the last five years I have had inner arguments with the voice in my head, too busy, too dreadful, too expensive, too dreadful, etc. But when you get "symptoms" somehow you make time, real fast. So off I went. And my new doctor who I like very much said, " Hmmmmm.....don't I recognize you from somewhere?" Not exactly what you want to hear from your gynecologist. Wanted to be kind of incognito but turns out he had seen me in the building, since our dental office occupies nearby. Next he says he does not like what he sees in my chart. Best thing - an ultrasound, the kind where they "go in". ugh. So that was the first humilation. You go into this little room and this sweet young lady kind of dresses what looks like a nightclub in what looks like a condom, and then smiles sweetly and says, "Do you want to insert this or should I?" Uh........give me that thing. YIKES....the tortures that await the lady with the dreaded symptoms are many and unimaginable. Are you kidding me??? Then the doctor comes in and says we have a "finding". Okay, define "finding". What on earth did you FIND up there???? Oh, we can't tell you that, you will need to go and have an endometrial biopsy and talk to your doctor.
Oh my, that sounds like FUN. Can you please tell me anything about what you found?? Cuz it felt like you were digging for gold, was it gold??? No, you need to talk to your doctor. The lady in the room who had actually dug for the gold told me when the insensitive doctor left that it looked like just a polyp, but the only way to know for sure is to do the dreaded biopsy. OKAY, but before that go for a mammography, cuz heaven knows you are not supposed to wait 7 years since the last one. Oh and aren't those just a walk in the park too? Isn't that fun too??? Putting that part of your human anatomy on a cold shelf and then squishing it till all you can think of are words you could get arrested for saying????? And then she says to me, our doctor likes us to get a bit of your belly up there on that table too......oh gee, no sweat,,,,,let me just put it up there for you......are you kidding me??????? Then you wait days for the results of your tests.......and go on dreading the biopsy all that time. Go on line and google endometrial biopsy before getting one, but only if you really loathe yourself. Wanna be scared to death?? Well just try that, go ahead.
Okay, so the day comes and you go for the dreaded test. First I ask the nurse, "Does this hurt as much as everyone says?" - "Oh, no, it's a little crampy, but it's not really pain. I have never had one, but it's not really pain" Oh gee, thanks, so convincing. Then she proceeds to take out some tools that look like they could snake the entire plumbing system in my house and lay them on the table. Then they take your blood pressure and say, "150 over 80, wow, are you nervous or something?" "Who, ME, NERVOUS? WHY, WHY WOULD I BE NERVOUS? JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE ABOUT TO GO AFTER MY TONSILS THRU THE OPPOSITE END??? JUST BECAUSE THAT STRAW AND CLEAVERS THERE DON'T LOOK THAT USER FRIENDLY?? NAH....I'M
NOT NERVOUS....MAYBE WE CAN DO THIS TWICE IT LOOKS LIKE SO MUCH FUN...." And then it happens.....the doc comes in, and you lay there thinking, "Okay, so this does kind of hurt.....I sorta call this pain....yah, this feels alot like pain.....and the sweet doctor looks up over the drape and says, "How you doin' Karen?" and I say, "Uh, no, the question is HOW ARE YOU DOIN??? How much longer you gonna be UP there????" "Almost done, almost done....."and then it's over and you remember that you can actually breathe if you just draw breath in and let it out. "Okay, as soon as we get the results back we will be removing the polyp if that is in fact what it is....as soon as we know there is no cancer in the lining.....and Karen you did so well with this biopsy that we can do that "procedure" right here in my office, because now I see you can handle it" Oh JOY.....I can't wait.....I love those stirrups, I love this place.....it's always nice to have something to look forward to......."AND thru all of this frolic and fun, I have had the SHINGLES......and they are lots' o fun too....and I am feeling like a car that is beginning to fall apart. Anyway, about another anxious week and then I will know what I already know in my heart of hearts and that is that that darn polyp is nothing and I went thru all of this for naught.......but it keeps you humble to go thru stuff like this every once in a while. I hope it's another 7 years
at least for me!! So these cards along the way, I forget that some people actually explain their artwork on their blogs but if you have any questions, ask away - I'll be happy to share....this one on the left is from the Patty Bennett tutorial - reinker roses....so fun!! I have had SO MUCH FUN THIS WEEK...FUN.....FUN....FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, I just thought I had to share some of this great experience I have had in the last few weeks....biopsies, ultrasounds and shingles....OH MY! Until next time.....Ain't life GRAND????

SPREAD A LITTLE SUNSHINE......

2010-05-01T09:47:00.001-04:00

Hello my stamping friends! This morning when I opened my email, I received an email that made me do the happy dance.....Denise Kasanda passed me THE SUNSHINE AWARD!! First I did the happy dance, and then I slinked down in my chair because......that means I have to pass it on!! Which I would LOVE to do if I knew the first thing about HOW to DO that!!!!! To my left let me first say a word or two about this card and then I will continue lamenting about my lame computer skills.....but first - this card is Black Magic which was also known as the old chalkboard technique - if you go way way down onto the 2nd page of my blog entries,,,I have a tutorial on Black Magic with a White Twist - basically I stamp solid more or less images in white craft ink on any color cardstock and I used SU's watercolor pencils to color and shade them. I used to use the old pure colored pencils but when they were discontinued last year I decided to try the watercolor pencils and much to my delight they work even better since you can get them a whole lot sharper (with SU's pencil sharpener)so.......use two colors and lay down the lighter color first and then shade on top with the darker color. Sometimes to achieve dimension I use the light color very lightly, then shade it with that same color bearing down a bit harder and then I put the darker color on top and shade again. After that is completed, I just highlight with a white gel pen. VOILA!! The white gel pen makes the whole thing POP!! This card above is made with SU's new set Watercolor Trio.......it's one of the BEST sets for Black Magic EVAH!!!! If you read my blog, and need an SU demonstrator - please use the link on the side to go directly to my SU website and place an order!! :) Better yet, if you want to recruit......you co do that too!!! I have been so grateful for orders I have received from people who say they were inspired by my blog or SCS gallery....thank you all soooooo much!! Okay- now, on to my SUNSHINE AWARD.....I have finally figured out how to GET those awards ONTO my BLAB/BLOG, but how to pass them on is still a mystery to me!! I know WHO I want to pass it on to - because recently I became a member of a brand new little group of friends and we call ourselves THE PAPER DOLLS.... it was started because we all wanted to make sure that SOMEONE ANYONE was actually READING our BLOGS....or in my case, BLAB/BLOG. I think from here on out I will refer to mine as a BLABLOG. Yah, that's kinda catchy.....cuz I do more blabbing then anything else. So here is my shiney new award.....
How cool is this??? Denise told me I inspire others with my BLABLOG. And I think I have it more so I can pour my heart out then I do so I can share my stamping! I have never regretted the name I gave it - A Stamper's Diary, pressing on......because truly I use it as a diary, often reading back and thinking hey, do I really want to put that out there?? But I do. So here are 12 ladies who have inspired me with their blogs, my PAPER DOLL friends, my cyber friends....or SOME of them....because I have made so many friends on SCS...but here are my PAPER DOLL friends - who I am passing the SUNSHINE AWARD to cuz each of them have added some brand new SUNSHINE to my life!!

1.) Betty
2.) Julia
3.) Vicki

4.) Anne
5.) Joanne
6.) Mary
7.) Edna
8.) Franci
9.) Bonnie
10.) Peggy
11.) Wanda
12.) Cathleen
SUNSHINE AWARDS TO ALL OF YOU FUN LADIES!! NOW IF I CAN JUST FIGURE OUT HOW TO LINK YOUR NAMES TO YOUR BLOGS....HMMMMMMM...
Well that's it for this time.....I am now going to try to get some help to actually make those names LINKS to my Paper Doll friends blogs.....but for now, trust me, this is an accomplishment in itself......Happy Weekend to all, and until next time Happy Stamping!!

HOME SWEET OHIO HOME

2010-04-10T01:13:00.001-04:00

Okay, so lately, I've been thinking alot about how much I appreciate my home. Tonite the inspiration challenge was to be inspired by your home state, either where you grew up or where you live now, and this was easy for me, I had to say, I am inspired by where I live now. Keith and I moved to Ohio almost 4 years ago. We lived in New York just north of Manhatten for 23 years and we were stateside missionaries for the Africa Inland Mission. It was a wonderful place to raise our family, and a wonderful place to call home. We made friendships there that are so deep, I fear we will never get to that same level with anyone here in Ohio. But when we left, it was time to leave. We were ready to buy a home and settle down, and to pray other members of our family would migrate to Ohio with us and the Biggs family. So we went house hunting one day in May 4 years ago....and I fell head over heals in love
with the very first house we looked at. The real estate agent was having a hard time getting the lock box open, and I always say, This house had me on the porch. The lovely porch swing, pretty flowers all around the front and sides of the yard, and Melissa sent us to tour the back yard while she figured out the lock box. One look at the large deck, shaded back yard, fence for Luca, and shut up! A hot tub.....I was G-O-N-E!!! My husband on the other hand was not so easily persuaded. He said, "Honey the house is 100 years old!! Think about it!!" and I said, "Look at it this way, some of the junk they throw together these days would never MAKE it 100 years!!" (good answer, huh?) To make a long story short, about 35 houses and one month later, we put an offer on my
dream house....and the good Lord BLESSED us with the house of my DREAMS!! Is it huge? No....but it's almost twice the size of the apartment we raised 4 kids in.....but is it the perfect size for us? YES!! And does it have an awesome stamp room? YES!! What else matters??? All I know is that for 23 years, not owning our own home was one of the sacrifices we felt God was asking us to make and for that time, it was good and right and perfect. We just never thought God would say that the time was now for us to own a home. So some folks probably take their homes for granted, but Keith and I do not. We love this big white house with the sweet front porch and lazy porch swing.....and flowers all around. The former owners loved flowers and obviously knew a lot more about how to plant so they bloom all spring and summer then we do. The flowers start in April and bloom till September!
So for me, it was easy to pick which home to take my inspiration from. We have a detached garage with an alley behind it. Everyday on my way to work, I take the long way around the house and block so I can drive by the front of my house and just breathe a silent prayer every morning that says Thank you LORD for giving me the desire of my heart.....Thank you for blessing me with this beautiful white house, that I love with all my heart. So many times when I walk thru my door at night, I just feel like this house reaches out and hugs me and says WELCOME HOME. I hope you have enjoyed these illustrations along the way.....emboss resist, black magic and the first one is watercolored using pads and brush. This final card is the card
I made for the inspiration challenge tonite. Right now all along the rock garden in my front yard there are beautiful flowers, some that I don't even know the name of....but they sing to me all day long. The ones out right now are beautiful hues of pinks and purples. I think someone could offer me a mansion, and I would say no, I will keep the house God gave me....the white house with the lazy front porch swing and the flowers all around it. Since the time we moved in, others of our kids have moved this way...... God is good, and He really does delight in giving us what we want, deep down in our hearts. I will always take the long way around, and gaze at my pretty house and breathe my prayer of gratitude.....this much I know!! Until next time, remember to count your blessings!!

Blackberries and Blog Awards.....

2010-01-21T21:42:00.000-05:00

Okay, so why did I think that just because I now can efficiently download blog awards...that I would know what to bloomin DO with a BLACKBERRY??? The unadulterated success, the heady feel of meeting the challenge of actually downloading my FIRST, and now.... check it out....SECOND blog award.... Yes, there are TWO now.....my head got bigger then it should have.....and I went phone shopping around that same time. NOT a GOOD COMBINATION!! My kids, specifically Bethany and Michael and their spouses, Brian and Jenna had been telling us we needed to get blackberries so we could all instant msg eachother. Okay- more on this later while I quick tell you how I made the above card....which was made with SU's new set called ELEMENTS OF STYLE which they gave us at Leadership when we thought we had opened all of our presents...YIPPEE I love this set and all THREE cards in this post were made with it.....Anyway,,,I stamped the image in black stazon ink on white cardstock and then I used markers to layer and blend color. Then after it was all colored the way I wanted it, I covered all of the coloring with a versamarker. Then I put clear powder on top and clear embossed. Next I took stampin' sponges and smeared the bashful blue on top - VOILA!! That's all she wrote. Okay - back to the story at hand. When I went to Leadership my friend Tinabeana took my phone charger home.....I texted her from the airport as my phone was taking it's last breath...."Did you by any chance take my charger home with you???" To which she replied, "I don't think so honey...." Famous last
words.....She did. So when I got home I thought about the fact that my phone was old, and it was cool when I got it new, but lately I had not felt so cool with it. So what would make me cool??? Listen to my kids and spring for a blackberry.... YES- that would make me COOL again. So Keith and I were off to the Verizon store....shopping for blackberries which is a lot like giving a child a computer and actually they would probably have a lot better idea what to do with it then Keith and I did!! I have to say, I was a pretty fast texter on my old phone. NOW, it takes me 20 minutes to find out where to even send a text and 20 more to pull up the right person!! This card to the left, made with the same great new stamp set only done in black and white....and cut out and raised up...with a red ribbon to punch it UP!! Okay,,,so after acting like we knew what we were talking about sort of, we purchased Storm 2 blackberries. Buy one get one free. Now is the time. Only after 2 weeks now, I am only texting at about 5 words per hour. I have to study it for four hours everytime I want to send a text to someonew new.....I know how to TALK on the phone but i have no idea how to use the speaker phone,,,which kept turning itself on and off tonite as I was talking to a friend. ugh. so frustrating!!! Okay, so the first or second night or both that we had them......yes.....oh my.....we were going to instant msg our kids.... 6 way....we could all talk to eachother....wow.....The other night my daughter Bethany texted me to say, " R u watching American Idol?" and I sweetly replied, "This is how lobng it took me to figureouwhy my ozkochewas buzzong" Oh yes, makes sense to me......My son says "Goodnight, Love you" and I reply, "Goodboggy, love you too." These are actual conversations we had on our blackberries.....It is so doggone frustrating......and I just YEARN to have my old trusty uncool phone back.
I'm thinkin like maybe I could carry the blackberry around so everyone THINKS I am cool....but when I want to make an actual phone call, or send an actual text, I could use my own phone if Tina ever sends my charger back......that would be cool - or at least the appearance of cool....hmmmmm........gotta think on that one. Cool is not all it's cracked up to be. Do you like this 3rd card to my left?? Do you think I love this new stamp set which will be available in May?? Well.....I am thinking that I really am cool.....after all, I downloaded not one but TWO blog awards and got them in the right place.....so hey.....that's cool enough maybe, eh??? Thank God for the blackberry 30 day money back guarantee.....I am hanging in to see if I need to take Verizon up on that one or not.....maybe blog awards are as cool as it's gonna get for me for a while....oh well, until then, It's time for me to go to bed....Until next time.....Goodboggy everyone!!

TIME TO TOOT MY OWN HORN.........

2010-01-03T12:00:00.003-05:00

When I was little, I always remember my mom saying, "Hey, don't toot your own horn, nobody likes a braggart..." - not sure what necessitated her saying that, but I learned from a young age not to brag so FORGIVE ME BECAUSE I AM ABOUT TO BOAST, BRAG, TOOT MY OWN HORN AND SHOUT FROM THE ROOFTOPS ABOUT SOMETHING I AM JUST SO PROUD OF MYSELF FOR THAT I CANNOT HELP MYSELF....(sorry mom) TODAY......TODAY,,,,YES, JUST THIS MORNING AS IN LIK 1/2 HOUR AGO.....I WAS NOMINATED FOR A BLOG AWARD. LEST YOU THINK THAT IS WHAT I AM BRAGGING ABOUT IT IS NOT. In actuality, I know that is nothing to really brag about as these awards are commonly shared among bloggers.....no....what I am BRAGGING ABOUT IS THAT I MANAGED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME TO GET THAT ADORABLE LITTLE AWARD FROM HER BLOG TO MINE!! I EXCECUTED THIS PROCEDURE AFTER MUCH STUDYING AND CAREFUL PLANNING AND A WHOLE LOTTA LUCK!! YOU SHOULD HAVE HEARD ME WHEN THAT LITTLE AWARD SHOWED UP ON MY BLOG RIGHT WHERE MY

PICTURE USUALLY IS!! Had I not figured out how to move it down I would have LEFT IT THERE!!!! I actually moved the award to the right place on my blog!!! MY HUSBAND THOUGHT WE WON THE LOTTERY I YELLED SO LOUD WITH JOY!! He even came over to give me a hug because he could see something had brought me great JOY!! Anyway- for all you computer geeks out there, I can stamp, but I CANNOT do these simplest of computer things without great frustration and usually without success!! I probably will never be able to do it again, but hey, I did it once!!! Please don't be jealous of me all the rest of you computer losers like me.....just rejoice with me!! Okay, about that card we just went by.....I posted it on SCS yesterday and alot of people said Wow, another black magic card, and it is NOT black magic. That is emboss resist. The way you do that is you stamp the flowers on your white card stock circle. Color them however you want to color them. Now paint them with a versamarker and clear emboss. Now they are masked and you can stamp on top of them, or you can smear ink over them, (gable green in this case) and draw some white gel pen accents on top. Michelle Z did this with me a couple of years ago and I use it constantly now - it's almost as addicting as Black Magic!! So try it and have fun and let me know if you have any questions!! I promise to do a tutorial on it one of these days.....I promise.
Now here is a card that I created as a take on the featured stamper of the week over on SCS - mine is different but I used her beautiful layout... you can see this if you click on the side of my blog and hop on over to SCS and see my gallery and her card is linked to mine there. I love to watercolor and sometimes I am happy with my results and sometimes not so much. This time I was happy!! Anyway - back to the subject at hand about me not being able to download stuff and what do you think my next problem is?? The thing that goes along with getting one of those awards is passing it ON!!! And you have to link it to other peoples blogs, and my lips are freezing just THINKING about it........I think I need a little more experience like maybe 10 years or so....forgive me but the buck stops here, the award ends here...I can say I would give this award to everyone I have my blog linked to IF I KNEW HOW......I'm also supposed to tell ten
things about myself that you didn't know so here goes, at least I can do THAT much....(oh and it was a Laura Van Vleet I believe who was so kind to nominate me for this award......1.) I am blog challenged. No, you don't understand, I mean I AM REALLY BLOG CHALLENGED!!!. 2) I have 7 grand daughters and no grandsons and that's okay, I am BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE 3.) I love my golden retriever and my husband and kids and not necessarily in that order 4.) I work as an office manager for a very nice dentist and love it 5.) I play the guitar once in a while when I'm not stamping 6.) I love Jesus and HE loves me and 7.)Did I tell you that I not only won a major award but I MANAGED TO DOWNLOAD IT TO MY BLOG???? DID I TELL YOU THAT??? CAN YOU PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS????? OH HAPPY DAY.......Until next time, keep on stamping!!

GOD IS AND ALL IS WELL.........

2009-12-05T09:25:00.000-05:00

The word stamp that is to my left right now on my Emboss Resist card, has become one of my very favorites in the last few years. Let me start off this post by saying that I don't call it A Stamper's Diary for nothin.....I really pour my heart out here and if that kind of thing makes you uncomfortable, you may want to exit now. For the last three years or so, actually maybe even 4 or 5, I have felt pretty dry spiritually. I think we go thru times of loving God passionately and feeling HIM almost constantly, to times of severe drought where at times, all I could say is "God is, and all is well" to get myself thru. I blame it on menopause....cuz menopause has big shoulders - us women have been blaming menopause for years now.....there must be some truth to it!! Anyway, just recently, I have started to FEEL God again. Was God on vacation for the last 5 years. I think not. I know not. God is always there, it's just LIFE that makes us check out from time to time I think. But you know even in my times of deepest doubt and confusion, I could always say with complete sincerity, "God is and all is well." Breaking through, which I have been doing lately almost makes the drought worth it, cuz lately I have had several times of feeling intense closeness to God, almost like HE is sitting in the room with me keeping me company. This is my theory of what happens, or at least what has happened to me. Somehow, no matter how much we know we are wrong to do this, we think if we follow God, life will be easy.
Then when it's NOT easy, like things don't turn out perfectly, and everything
does not go our way, we sort of start building a wall of bitterness. I think I have been constructing this thing for years. Hey, life is hard. And I have probably led a charmed life compared to many, but somehow, I still constructed this wall that said, "HEY listen God, I tried to do everything right...I raised my kids just how I thought you wanted me to raise them, now why are they struggling so much?" And slowly~ each one of my kids has made their peace with God and followed after HIM, just like I prayed all those years, but there were detours along the way, and now as adults, they struggle with trials I would just not choose for them health wise and even in other ways......and I guess I was shaking my fist at God and saying WHY??? You know what, God can take it when we shake our fist at HIM. Remember when one of your kids said "I hate you" when they were young? I can still feel the pain thinking about it, but it never made me stop loving them and I always knew they didn't mean it. Same thing with God. HE has been patiently waiting for me to come around, and lately, little by little, I am coming around. The intense worry that I struggle with has more and more turned into me saying, "God this one is WAY too big for me, Take my child,
and turn their mourning into joy, turn their ashes into beauty, I cannot do it for them." I am learning to let go and let GOD. And isn't that the whole reason we walk this earth? To grow closer and closer to HIM? Count it all JOY when trials come upon you......HE SAYS THAT!!! WELL.....this morning I had an incredible break through with GOD. Note the FRIENDSHIP card to my left. How many of you have had a friendship where you just KNOW God brought that person into your life at just the right time and they become a life long confidant, friend, sister, companion in this journey.....I am so blessed to have this person in my life. This morning this person texted me and asked me to pray for her adult children.....and could not share details but just said that they need prayers more then ever. I felt the strongest urge to just stop everything I was doing and pray. Lord, please be with these beautiful children of yours, whatever they are going thru let them feel your everlasting arms everywhere and all around. Take them in your arms and rock them. Hold them close and tell them everything is going to be okay. Heal them. Touch them. Walk with them through this valley. Bring them up. Bring them out. Make them shine. Wrap your loving arms around them and don't let them go. Be with my friend who is closer then a sister.....give her your peace that passes all understanding. AND AS I PRAYED for this friend who I love like a sister, I felt HIS arms rocking me, holding me, and I heard HIM saying,
I am still here Karen, I have never left you, I have never forsaken you, I am waiting for you to return to me, HEART AND ALL....I will always be here.....and I wept and I prayed and I wept and I prayed and when I stood up, I felt like God was lifting me up, and I am back on my feet again, and I am saying, "I am sorry God, I am sorry I ever doubted you - I am sorry I ever mistrusted you, I love you, I am back, HOLD ME CLOSE, don't ever let me go, rock me in your everlasting arms......with renewed passion and newfound JOY, I can say and say it with conviction, "GOD IS, AND ALL IS WELL. " Until next time, remember, GOD LOVES YOU and wants to hold YOU in his everlasting arms.

A GRATEFUL HEART.......

2009-11-12T17:59:00.001-05:00

You know....sometimes it's hard to remember to have a grateful heart. I want to remember to have a grateful heart. I don't know how many times I have fervently prayed for something to happen and then when it does, I forget to turn right to God and say thank you. More often, I remember to complain when my prayers are NOT answered. I also want to interject here that that is Black Magic on my right.....you must be all getting sick to death of my Black Magic with a White Twist creations, but sorry to say, I am not.....it's my favorite technique and one I return to time and time again. For those of you NOT sick or it, or better yet, NEW to it, scroll down a few blog entries for a tutorial. Now, below this card is an emboss resist snowflake card- emboss in white and then smear with color - another favorite technique of mine. Okay, back to the subject at hand which is having a grateful heart.....can I tell you a story of something that happened to me that gave me a grateful heart - so grateful that the feelings swelled up inside me and I cried my little eyes out? About.....oh......maybe....who really knows, 5 or 6 months ago, I got an email from my daughter Jen and it said, Mom, Tovah asked me to ask Gramma Karen to please send her some pretty hair ribbons.......oh my....that's all I need to hear from one of my 7 sweet grand daughters. Tovah and Lami live in the Congo, East Africa where their parents are missionaries, and hair ribbon I am thinking is pretty scarce. Anyone who knows me knows that I probably did not stop at sending them a few little hair ribbons. I think I sent enough ribbon so that when they have children of their own, (Tovah and Lami that is)there just may still be some left. :) I packaged up a really sweet little package with lets see.....polka dot ribbons in at least 6 different colors, white satin ribbon, organdy ribbon, gros grain ribbon, and we are talking SPOOLS here people....every color their little hearts could desire......fat ribbons, skinny ribbons, elegant ribbons, and cute ribbons. Then of course a good gramma can't JUST send RIBBON, lets see,what
else can I throw in there....Starburst, no chocolate to melt but Starburst would be okay, and Lip gloss, cotton candy, watermelon, mango, and strawberry....let's see, what else can I throw in there, a few stickers would be sure to bring smiles to their pretty little faces.....and of course- birthday cards.....so i made them each a House Mouse card,,,,and I even found one for Tovah who dreams of being a ballerina - of a House Mouse ballerina!! (Tovah once told me that when she grows up she wants to be a ballerina animal vet dentist - hmmmm....that would give her quite a trade to fall back on, eh?)So I made two quite beautiful cards for their birthdays, all pink and pretty....and I put it all into a little mailer along with a piece of my heart and mailed it to the Congo. Little package cost me like $20+ just to send if I remember correctly, and in hind sight, I probably should not have sent that much ribbon overseas to a country that does not have the best track record for getting packages to where they are supposed to go.....but you know what they say about hind sight........So as the weeks went by I sort of dreamed of how excited they would be when my little package finally got to them. The other one of my grand daughter's who loves hair ribbon is Layla....but Layla is a little lady. Most of the time it is the feminine side of Layla that you see. Tovah on the other hand, though she LOOKS just as feminine can go from feminine to rough and tumble tom boy in the blink of an eye. But this little girl LOVES hair ribbon and pony tails, and tutus. So I would imagine her squealing with delight when she got my package, and it would make me warm all over......and it sorta eases some of the deep pain I can feel just missing them so badly that tears are always just right there, ready to make their way down my cheeks.....Every couple of weeks I would say in an email, "Jen, did you
get the package yet with the hair ribbons?" and it was always returned with, "Not yet mom, but it can take a long time - we'll keep watching...." In the meantime I sent another big package out with someone traveling out there from their mission and I kep thinking why oh why did I try to send thru the regular post office.....my heart was breaking thinking they will never get that package.....some other little girls are enjoying it somewhere......and I would try to be happy about that. I even prayed about it quite a bit and my prayers would go something like this, "Now I realize that in the grand scheme of things, what with wars, and rumors of wars, famine, hunger, poverty, abuse of all kinds, etc etc etc and the list goes on, that my little package to Tovah and Lami is small stuff.....but Lord if they could just get that package I will feel so happy.....I will feel so blessed....I will be so grateful.....because I sent a piece of my heart out with that package and somehow picturing those two girls with ribbon in their hair and lip gloss smeared up to their cute little noses and mouths full of Starbursts.....while they squeal over the cute cards I made them......well Lord.....it just eases my pain somehow.....but I do know it's small stuff God......and as the months dragged on, I figured I was right, it was small stuff, and I should just be happy to think of some little girls somewhere enjoying my gift to Tovah and Lami. Somehow, that was not a lot of comfort. I asked Jen again and again and again and
again, "No ribbon package yet, huh?" and then one day she said, "I am going to ask Davis to ask again because recently one came that had been mailed months and months ago from Gramma Crocetti." Interject here, the card above this is just watercoloring - but this one to the left I am pretty proud of as I threw away 3 or 4 attempts at sketching on this silhouette stamp before I made this one I love....pretty sweet, huh? Back to my story......while getting ready for work the other day my cell phone dinged or whatever to let me know I had a text. Jen and I have discovered we can text - such joy!!! I went over and picked up the phone and thot "Oh no, something must be the matter because we just talked on Saturday,,,,I hope they are safe, etc etc etc which is what ALWAYS goes thru my mind when I am about to hear from them and this is what my text said.....and I quote, "davis found the package! thank u lord!! the girls r putting on lip balm now:)" I just sat down at my kitchen table and cried so hard I had to go put my face back on for work before I left the house. Thank you Lord.....my girls by now are smeared up to their cute little noses and I am sure they have ribbons in their hair by now and Starburst in their mouths and they are squealing over the mouse cards......Thank you Lord, that you love me enough to really truly care about my small stuff. All is right wtih the world, Tovah has her hair ribbons from Gramma Karen! Until next time - remember - God really does care about the small stuff!!!

36 YEARS...MARRIED TO THE SAME GUY!!!

2009-10-21T21:36:00.001-04:00

Happy Anniversary to me!! Yesterday was 36 years and counting......wow....I can think back to our wedding day, and I remember some good friends of our family, passing thru the reception line and saying, "25 years and we are still happy, don't let anyone tell you it has to be any different" and then after they walked away and we said all the wow polite things, I looked at Keith and said, "Man, they are OLD!!" - And here we are married 36 years.......and well, uh, yah, getting OLD. Keith surprised me last night - I didn't know he would be making it home at all and when I got home there were flowers on the table and flowers on the counter, and a candlelight dinner on the table. SWEET. Life is good, but I will just say here that life is not easy. Marriage is good, but marriage is not easy. Raising children is good, but raising children is not easy. Watching your adult kids live adult lives is good, but it is not easy. Three of our four kids have been battered with trials this last month, and the fourth had her share a little earlier in the year. Life is hard. No two ways about it. We have watched one of our kids struggle with tough, grueling health problems. The other two have struggled with serious issues of waiting on God for some needed things to happen.......and some wanted things to happen. I think it's harder to
watch your kids struggle then it is to just go thru stuff yourself. Every day I remind myself that Jesus holds each one of them, and loves each one of them more then I do. I will tell you one thing...without knowing Jesus, I don't think we would be here talking about 36 years together. One of the sweetest friends I have met since moving to Ohio is struggling with brain cancer. I think she is one of the sweetest people on earth. Hard hard stuff to understand. There are so many things like that that touch all of our lives.....how do you get THRU this life without God? I just don't know. Okay- about these cards - the top one is made with the Big Shot- so much fun. I bought a dress for a baby that's not born yet - my hairdressers baby, well actually by now she probably has been born - but I bought her a dress and sweater that I fashioned the card after - that was fun. All punches and big shot dies. The second one - with the Autumn leaves is made by stamping the leaves with versamark on designer paper and embossing with clear powder and then brayering over the top with a dark color, (chocolate chip) over and over until the design barely shows thru but is highlighted by the emboss resist. This was a fun one. I saw the technique while blog hopping one day done with other stamps - and I am sad to say I have no idea whose blog I was visiting......anyway - that is a fun technique. The blogger called it Faux Joseph's Coat - so cool!! Then, this next one is my beloved Black Magic with a White Twist again, I can only go so long without creating a Black Magic card and then I get withdrawal. This one is done in Black Magic and then I clear embossed over the top - The background on this card is created by taking the same stamp and just stamping it over and over very close together - my favorite way to add texture to a background. This is from the new set called Charmed in SU's spring mini catalog. If you should want to order it, you can go to my website linked on this blog and online order it from me - I will LOVE you for it - and you will LOVE me for it!! What an awesome set!! If you do order this set and let me know, I will send you several more samples via email made with it!! All these ovals come from the SU punches and Big Shot Dies. I am sort of crazy for ovals.....I will buy every oval they ever come out with. What's up with that?? At the end of this month, I have my ladies from eastern Ohio coming to stamp away the whole weekend, like last year only this year we extended it from an overnight to a weekend - we had so much fun last year but it just went by tooo tooo quickly!! So this year we will stretch it out a bit. Well, I hope this post hasn't been too depressing. Life is hard, but life is good. And if we remember that as Christians, we are just a passin thru.......then it makes the trip easier. Some day HE will come back, and take us to be with HIM. There will be no more tears,
no more pain, just everlasting JOY in HIS presence and we will understand then what these trials are all about. COUNT IT ALL JOY. That's a tough thing to do, but these bodies are wasting away but inside we are becoming what HE wants us to be!! Ending here with my Happy Halloween card.....I have this one on my desk at work.....I have a card dancing in my head right now but it's bedtime....and I am going to listen to the little voice in my head that is saying, "Go to bed you moron....you will not be able to get up tomorrow otherwise" - and that card will have to keep on dancin......and then tomorrow night I will let it out. I love stamping......don't you??? Remember God see's the whole picture, and we don't and someday, someday, SOMEDAY, we will understand. I wish you all a wonderful fall.......remember God LOVES you!!

Wherever you go.....go with all your heart......

2009-09-06T20:46:00.000-04:00

I love the saying on this great new hostess set - it says, "Wherever you go, go with all your heart" - and it really makes me think of "stuff" that went down this week at SU and SCS. Stampin'Up! clarified our IDA - Independent Demo Agreement which is our agreement that we will represent and sell for SU and only SU.....in recent years with blogs and facebook and twitter, the lines had blurred and there were many BLURRY situations that were going on and SU felt it was time to clarify. Of course, as with ANY change, this was met with lots of opposition from all sides. So much stuff got exaggerated and twisted that I started calling the postings, the TWIST AND SHOUT FORUM....cuz literally, demonstrators along with the general public were doing just that. When it comes right down to it, I signed on to sell SU products and all direct sales companies have these rules. Eventually, everyone will decide to either comply and sign, or move on. And I hope we all end up respecting eachother for whatever heart wrenching decisions we come to. For me it's a no brainer easy thing - I may be friends with a lot of other companies, enough to appreciate their products and use them occasionally - but I am "married" so to speak to SU, for better or worse, they are my company. They have given me financial security along with self confidence, balance and friendships that no price tag can be attached to. I will die with a stamp in my hand, and most likely it will be an SU stamp since 99 times out of 100 that is the namebrand you will find in my hand......and in the end, I think we should all do what the new hostess set stamp says, "Wherever we go, we should go with all our hearts" - For me that means representing and selling for my first love, SU. :) Maybe this all sounds corny, but the agreement we enter in to is not so different from a marriage. I just hope that when all is said and done, we can all go back to being stamping friends and accept and love eachother enough that the "us and them" mentality fades into nothingness. This set over here on your left - another great new hostess set - it has some of the most wonderful word stamps in it as well... All these great new hostess sets- maybe you want to have a catalog workshop - or better yet - a REAL workshop- - give me a call.....or maybe you want to become a demonstrator and join my group.......only SAY THE WORD......I can tell you first hand that SU rocks!! Can you believe that this is like my SIXTH attempt too post this blog tonite????? I always get down on myself for waiting so long between blogs, but then after an episode like tonite, (and I still have not been successful yet at actually posting this as I type now.....)I think maybe blogging just is NOT for me....but my plan is to begin posting in shorter increments - like one card at a time......maybe I can handle that better.....someone once told me to have success blogging you post one card at a time, get in and get out as fast as you can, I thought that was pretty funny.....but there is probably wisdom to it.......so anyway - I promise not to let this much time go by....I have received several emails asking me when I was going to update my blog and one even said just simply, UPDATE YOUR BLOG!!!! Made my day actually cuz sometimes with a diary you feel like you are talking to yourself and it proves other people are listening. So anyway, I promise pics of the new grand daughters next time, I had to share my thoughts and feelings about the "stuff" going on at SU right now......from now until we meet again, Remember, Wherever you go......go with all your heart.......I think that's mighty good advice for just about everything in this thing we call LIFE!! Keep on spreading the JOY of STAMPING!!~

It's a WAITING GAME......

2009-05-16T22:14:00.000-04:00

I thought I would download a couple of more Black Magic with a White Twist cards since I just did the tutorial for them before this entry....just to show a couple of different things you can do with that technique. I was frustrated with the detail on the first card here....but overall when I got it done I liked it okay. :) I call Black Magic with a White Twist my "have faith" technique, cuz you work on it all the way through thinking, "Man THIS doesn't look like much....." and then when you add the white gel pen it sort of jumps off the page.....and says, "Well what do you think of me NOW???" Life is like that, so many times it's a waiting game. Seems like we are always waiting for something. Sometimes I listen to people and they seem to always want it to be Friday....so they can get to the weekend. It's kinda weird because Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday all have something to offer too, but ever find yourself just waiting for them to be over, cuz Friday's comin'?? Isn't that WEIRD when you actually think about it- that's our LIFE we are wishing away......I guess the older I get the more I realize I want to embrace EVERY day, not just the weekends!! How did I get from Black Magic to waiting patiently?? Oh yes, waiting for the card to look good.....it's a work in progress just like us. I think a lot of times we think, "If I just get the right job", or if "I just lose some weight", or WHATEVER.....but it's cool to think God Loves us just the way we are.......and when we mess up HE is right there to forgive us and take us back again. HE knows we are a work in progress too, HE sees us whole, not all broken like we see ourselves. HE is just working away on us, chipping off the rough edges and smoothing us off.....making us soft and pliable....and someday, though we may not look so perfect now, HE will look at us and say, "Wow - I'm glad I stuck with that project"... ever see that little kids t-shirt that says, Be Patient, God isn't finished with me yet" - That's how I sometimes feel. Anyway, when you work with this technique try to hang in there till the end of your card because it will not look pretty when you first start. And remember, whatever you are waiting for in life is probably worth waiting for, but enjoy the journey too. I think the only thing harder then waiting for something is watching your children wait for something that they really really want. One of my children is going thru something like this now, and it breaks my heart. I wish with all my heart I could just give my child what she wants....but God is in control and so we wait. I have faith that in the end what she wants is going to come to pass, and what a day of rejoicing that will be.....but until then, we wait, we cry sometimes, and we trust in a loving God who sees the whole picture and says, "Wait my child, wait". And in the meantime, we are enjoying the journey. Have a blessed week, and remember that God sees you as perfect and loves you just the way you are. Happy Stamping until next time......

TUTORIAL - FINALLY- BLACK MAGIC WITH A WHITE TWIST!!

2009-05-08T18:27:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day everyone!! Here with my very first tutorial....I am kind of hopeful because I have gotten this far,,,a tutorial on this blog has to be built from the last part to the first part so I am almost done here!! If it just loads without wiping anything out I am going to do the dance of JOY! So here is the completed card you are going for....or at least here is the completed card that has the strip of Black Magic with a White Twist which is the technique you want to learn to do....I DO love this technique.....and I hope you have as much fun with it as I do! Gee, I am even blabby in tutorials.....anyway - here we go.........

Choose a solid image stamp and stamp it on dark cardstock with white craft ink. You can use black, brown, grey, or any other color. Way back in my blog I even experimented with some lighter colors like River Rock and that was also very striking! The technique is called Black Magic but you can really experiment and use it on any color cardstock - brown is one of my very favorites to use!! Once you start with this technique it gets kind of addicting and you find yourself buying all kinds of solid stamp images. Way back in my blog I even experimented with some outline stamps- it works if the image is more solid then not - like on the old Floral background stamp - I have one with that stamp way way back on my blog.....take a journey- you will see Black Magic all the way through my blog. I can only go so long without creating a new one - I just LOVE this technique!

Use your heat tool to dry your white craft ink stamped image - or you can let it sit out long enough to dry but it's much quicker with your heat tool!

See I have chosen two colors for each flower or leave. Make sure they are sharply contrasting. That is what makes the shading so dramatic and the colors pop is starting out with very pale pink and shading with red! Starting out with such a pale blue it's almost white and then shading with a bold, bright blue, and then using two very colors of green, one is a spring green that is bright and I used a hunter green to shade. If the colors are too close, you will not get the great contrast and shading that makes the Black Magic Technique so effective!! Experiment with your colored pencils. Make sure you are using a pigment pencil, like pure colored pencils or those other famous ones that artists use - I forget the name right now but make sure they are PIGMENT pencils! Do not be afraid to bear down when applying color- that's how you get it to POP by really bearing down.
You start by applying the colored pencils in a very light shade solidly to your entire image. You can see if you stopped here it's pretty bland...but that's where you start and then you build color on color- you can see in the leaves on the right that I started out with the light shade of green and then used a darker color of green to shade the leaves. See how they pop when you shade them? But you have to start with that very pale shade and then build onto it.

Here is how it looks after you have shaded - you can see the flowers on the left have NOT been shaded, (the blue ones I mean) and the flowers on the right have been shaded -this step is crucial to making the colors come alive - Note how the leaves pop after the second shade of green is added for accent - and don't forget to leave enough of your original color on there so that the contrast is evident. (don't get carried away with the second shade because it looks so much prettier because part of why it looks so much prettier is the contrast between the first layer of color and the second!! Control yourself with the shading and you will be so much happier with the final result of your masterpiece - it's just so pretty that writing about it makes me wanna go make another one!! You will love this technique once you get going with it - Trust me!!

After you have finished applying both the base layer of lighter colored pencil and then shaded with a darker shade of similar color, then you are ready to apply the white gel pen which will make your images POP!! This is the part I thought of on my own, (proud moment here) I always loved the Black Magic technique but sometimes it just looked DULL to me when I was finished and like it blended into the background too much. So I played around with a white gel pen, added a bit here and there and that is when I fell in LOVE with this technique - with the white gel on top for POP!! Try it - you will see what I mean - I call them my have faith cards, because all the way thru they look dull and boring and then POP! As soon as you add the white - they come to life and sing you a song!!

This background is just the small flower stamp from Simple Friendship repeated over and over and over and over.....I used the eyelet punch to make a lacey border, I paper pierced along the border of the main panel, I embossed Happy Mother's Day on the center of the card, and added a one hole bow with that yummy white satin ribbon in the spring mini catalog.....(which incidentally can be dyed to any color in our entire spectrum of gorgeous colors with just a sponge dauber and a well inked pad!!

So here you have it - the final card!! Once you start playing with this technique I promise you you will not be able to STOP!! It's one of my favorite things to do, and I can only go so long before I just have to come up with another Black Magic with a White Twist card! If you wander way back in my blog you will see gobs of samples using it, and there are lots on my SCS gallery too! I hope you have as much fun playing with this technique as I do!! Go make one now!! :O) Before you forget how!! I can't believe I finally got through my first tutorial!! Happy Stamping everyone!!

OUT OF THE ABUNDANCE OF THE HEART, THE MOUTH SPEAKS.....

2009-04-16T20:03:00.000-04:00

Today I am sure was one of THE hardest days in the history of Stampin'Up! for each and every member of their team at the home office. Fifty employees at the home office had to be layed off from their jobs. SU announced that it would be happening a month in advance. It must have been an excrutiatingly long month as they all waited to see who would stay and who would go. This morning one of the dear people who we all love and respect greatly put an entry on her blog that told her story - and shared some of her hurts. As a demonstrator, my heart goes out to all the wonderful people who lost their jobs. I put a comment on this employees blog telling her she would be sorely missed, but you know what, it's not MY PLACE to decide if she was treated fairly or not. Lay offs cause deep hurt and it is understandable that she and others were hurt. Here is MY GRIPE. I went on Shelli's blog to see if she addressed the issue at all. Heaven knows she was not obligated to open herself up like she did to all the comments and advice she was given on her blog today. Can I just say, I am almost ashamed, no, not almost, I am ashamed of many of my fellow demonstrators at some of the callous, heartless, hurtful statements they made concerning the lay off. Don't worry, I won't mention any names- in fact I can't because the demonstrators who left scathing and rotten comments didn't happen to mention their own names, they just signed it with things like "sad demo" and "upset in IL" - Man I will never write a bunch of negative stuff on someones blog and not have the guts to sign my own name to it. If I am too ashamed to sign my name then chances are I shouldn't be writing it in the first place, eh?? I just had to sound off and say what is going on inside of ME now, because it just makes me so angry. They said things like the 3 mentioned were the 'FACE OF STAMPIN UP, THE HEART OF STAMPIN UP - AND IF THEY AREN'T THERE ANYMORE THEN I'M NOT EITHER...ETC ETC ETC. It amazes me that in the face of the grief that everyone is already feeling at Stampin'Up! they can rub more salt in the wounds, (to borrow a phrase that one demo used on the blog) HOW TRUE. Shelli isn't hurting enough already but we as demonstrators need to spew all this poison on her blog. There is no easy way to lay off 50 people. There just IS no EASY way. I know Shelli enough to know these layoffs were not done without many tears and many prayers. And no THREE, OR MAINLY TWO PEOPLE ARE THE WHOLE ENTIRE HEART OF STAMPIN UP.....what about Pam Morgan, Selma, Carrie, Shannon, Courtney, the SAMS, Ann, oh gosh I could go on and on - what about SHELLI - the heart and face of Stampin'Up is made up of MANY and yes, this is sad, and it's a blue day, but honestly, no one has the right to say hurtful, rotten, terrible things when we don't know what went in to these decisions. Let's get BEHIND Shelli and pray like she asked us to instead of trying to figure it all out. It's really not our place. And yes, it will be sad at Convention this year not to see those familiar faces.....but come on friends, this is not a reason to not go on supporting this fantastic company. Maybe you need to be around for a while and work for some other kinds of places but Stampin'Up is an incredible place - run by incredible people....and I am baffled by people who judge when they don't see the whole picture. Can't we express our love and support for those who were let go, but also express our love and support to those who had to make these difficult decisions? And at the very least, if you have to say something negative, at least have the courage to give your NAME. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. I think we all need to reach down into our hearts and try to dole out a little sympathy for everyone involved all the way around, and hold our nasty comments and judgements back. I'm sorry for this big long epistle, but I already left 2 comments on Shelli's blog - and for some reason I keep going back and torturing myself by reading the comments. Many have nice things to say, but oh those mean ones are just SO MEAN, and I can only imagine the tears that are flowing - on account of the thoughtless words. Come on demonstrators, suck it up - life happens, hard things happen, the economy is bad, and it's not anyones fault. How can you say if little bags were not given to people to put their Hawaii tickets in then three peoples jobs could have stayed in place???? Listen to yourself, and watch your words......hasn't it already been a painful enough day at Stampin'Up without causing more by careless words? I feel better, just getting this out.......hey- it's a stamper's diary, and sometimes you gotta talk to your diary when you just feel like no one else will listen........if you have any negative comments to make on this entry - either keep them to yourself or at least be courageous enough to sign your name. Say a prayer tonite and tomorrow and the next day and the day after that, for everyone at SU......those layed off and those who remain.......and especially for those who had to make these decisions and implement them. And to all those demonstrators who decided they aren't going to go to convention because a layoff had to happen, how sad. I will go with a certain sadness for all fifty employees who had to be let go, but now more then ever we should be supporting this awesome and wonderful company with our presence and our prayers.

WELCOME LITTLE ONE......BROOKLYN SOPHIA ARRIVES......

2009-03-21T10:21:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday, March 18th, 2009, our SIXTH little grand daughter made her way into this big world.....and the chain of girls goes unbroken. :) Brooklyn Sophia weighed 8lbs, 2oz and was born to our son Mike, and his lovely wife Jenna, and to her "big sister" Layla Paige. Each time it is just as wonderful as the first time......and can I just say, technology today is something else, we had pictures over our phones only MINUTES after her birth.....(if I was computer savvy I would have downloaded one from the phone but hey, you're fresh out of luck there.....) We went through the labor and delivery with our son texting us all thru the day, and I am afraid Dr. Sato did not get the best from me on Wednesday because my feet were off the ground, considering the wonder of it all, our newest precious bundle of joy, with all her fingers and all her toes, and God is in HIS heaven, and who could ever doubt that when they see a newborn baby? I am busy looking for a good ticket - NEW YORK BOUND ASAP!!! Thank you God for the safe arrival of our precious Brooklyn Sophia.

Stamping in my Dreams......

2009-03-02T21:51:00.000-05:00

Lately, I've been getting up after I go to bed to stamp some card that keeps racing around in my little pea brain.....man I hate that cuz like the next day at work my brain is like fried.....(that's how it was today......) I get sleepy way before bed time and I think I can't go to sleep this early so I push myself to stay up, and when I should be doing taxes or something productive like that, instead I run up to my warm and cozy room and make the latest card that has been bashing to and fro in my head....and then I sit up too late, and then I can hardly drag myself awake in the morning, but I get up and start over. This card to your left is where you take an envelope, lick it shut....(lick it shut??, errr...you know what I mean, seal the thing) and then you cut it off at the bottom of the licked part. Then you crimp and decorate the bottom of your envy and then put it thru the crimper so the top of your envelope fits over it....and then you make a one layer card to put inside. Ain't that cute and hows that for a super tutorial?? That's about as good as it gets with me. Okay, so for valentines day, keith says lets go get you a laptop - he found out about some place in Cincinnati that was selling refurbished ones cheap....so off we went, thinking we would get back in plenty of time for a nice valentines dinner, and that we could do this quickly. We bought one after calling about 14 friends to make sure we were getting a good deal....and by that time we had to RUSH back to make it before our favoritie Thai restaurant closed. We made it in the knick of time. We both would have been so so bummed if we ended up eating at like Steak and Shake or somewhere lame like that because it took us so long to buy the computer. But here's the thing...that was Valentines Day, and I have YET to use the laptop like a laptop, I can only hook it up to my modem, I cannot make it work with the router. It is so frustrating......I cannot begin to tell you....arghhhhhh......I want to be cool and

sit in my living room like cool people do and why the heck did this thing just change fonts on me.....I hate blogger, I really do.......why is this as hard as making a computer run off a router??? Why am I not cool enough to make it use the same font all the way thru and do it in my living room??? I have to sit with one wire hooked up to my modem and I don't even get the battery thing yet, I am not even sure where the battery IS on this thing or what to do when it dies....a laptop in my hands is like giving a baby a food grinder....like he does not know what to DO with it...ya know? The thing is refurbished and I SWEAR sometimes other people are on it with me. It blows my mind but sometimes I think it's like possessed!! It makes this ding dong noise like ding ding ding ding,,,,,ding ding ding ding.... ding ding ding ding.....only sorta like a grandfather clock and whatever I am doing it just makes that noise right in the middle of it and I'm like okay, WHATEVER....I like don't have a train of thought, it's okay.....whatever I was doing I don't even REMEMBER cuz it's ding donging so loud I can't hear myself think!! Oh, and that card up there was a recent inspiration challenge and my inspiration was the PRETTIEST set of sheets.....now mind you, I could go up there and try to make this font stay pretty like I started out but I would lose the whole darn thing....I WOULD....so I will just stay with being NOT SO COOL...and use this boring font and just be glad I have gotten this far without wiping out a card!! Back to my possessed computer.....maybe someday I will figure out how to make it run off the router,,,,I think I may have to hire this guy I know for 80 bucks an hour....man do I miss my friend John Wollman in New York......never knew how much we would miss our friends PERIOD, just for their friendship, but also for their expertise. :) If I wanna be cool like all the other myriads of folks who use their (oh man it just started ding donging again.....so so annoying)laptops in the living room - then I am gonna have to PAY. That's all there is to it. You need friends you have known for a very long time to bother them with stuff like that. You just can't take those blooming friendships and let them know how lame you are about stuff like this or they will run in the other direction, and who can blame them? My sister's significant other guy Will tried to help me go wireless for TWO HOURS...and he was a bit distracted by the ding dong thing too.......it's a very strange computer indeed..... but I think it's me, maybe more then the computer....like a normal person would have gone wireless a long TIME AGO.....it's gotta be me. And Keith knows less about computers then I do which is....well....bad. Yah, pretty darn bad. We are like the blind leading the blind, I mean he like thinks I know a lot. haha......just cuz I know DENTRIX.......but I have no clue how to even put my email onto this computer...and meanwhile the other one is like slower then molasses in February....I can like take a shower, do my hair and get dressed and it's still loading my email messages.....arghhhh.......I am so pathetic. Like about now, I want that last card to come up......

There we go, and I am so afraid to go close to it and hit delete or try to get that big old space out of there cuz when I try, lots of times POOF, the card disappears!! I'm gonna go try to wipe out that line and see what happens....This card is my masterpiece....I just LOVE this card if I can love my own card......Wow I am pretty impressed with myself - I took out a space without wiping out the card - this is no small thing for me!! This card was made with the three flower punch, another flower punch for the leaves, and lots of patience. I thought I was gonna make a small wreath but it just kept growing and growing and growing...... so anyway, I stink at computers....but my stamping is not too shabby, right? And I'll get this thing up and wireless yet, I will!! I just need to persevere!! Ain't that a pretty card???? I bet the guy with the best computer mind ever couldn't make a card like that?? HUH??? What da ya think?? Believe it or not, it's ding donging again, whose computer does that???? Tell me, cuz I'm not gonna lie to ya, I'm a little afraid of this thing.......and I am not kidding!! Okay, Until next time, if you have any great computer secrets for me, don't hold out on me!! Leave me a comment, ya hear??

MY HAPPY PLACE.....

2009-01-27T22:42:00.000-05:00

"THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS......" Following THIS post is the original post about my newly painted stamp room..... I just discovered how to add more pictures then five to the same post -but I didn't know how till now so this journey thru my stamp room is divided into two posts........Isn't it so cool to have a happy place like a stamp room? When my husband and I looked at this house, this was a young girls' bedroom. The man who owned our house was a custom closet builder.....and when we went into this bedroom they opened her closet and there was no where to hang clothes, just awesome little cubby holes and I just thought THIS IS THE HOUSE FOR US........cuz heaven knows it took me about five minutes to fill up all of those cubby holes with stampin'STUFF. :) I know you can all relate. So this is my main table where I do all of my creating.....I bought it with Great Rewards money from Stampin'UP! :) I looked at this oak table for about a year before I actually bought it. I used to have those tan plastic tables that give when you try to stamp.... not cool. :) Usually in all honesty my table does not look like this. Usually it is not worthy to take a picture OF it is so covered. It does not seem to matter with me how much space I start out with, I manage to end up stamping on about a foot square space....what's up with that? I am an absolutely sloppy stamper. One of my friends says she cleans up everything in between cards, and I'm like well aren't you somethin???? Just kidding but not really......like who really does that? I just keep piling stuff on stuff until I can't find anything and I think the creative juices flow much better when you are a slob, I really do. Okay, I seriously cannot blab thru all the rest of these pictures, how can I possibly do that?

Here is how I store my ribbon. I was narrowing my Stampin'Up! brand new catalog order down to a manageable size last week and I innocently said to my friend Melanie, "I think I can hold off on ribbon, I think I have enough when there are so many other things I want right now", and she said, "Karen, uh, yah, I think you can hold off alright, you have so much freakin ribbon it isn't funny" and it helped give me a dose of reality. I do have enough ribbon, huh? My friend Melanie is a new stamping person. I helped her see the light. It's so fun to have a stamping friend at work. Someone who speaks the language, she's not totally fluent yet, but she is getting there. It was so cool this year for my birthday, she made my card, and it's a really cute one too!! I make the office cards, so when it comes to my birthday they usually buy one but this year I got a really cute home made one. :) Okay, I seriously cannot think of enough stuff to say to get thru all these pictures~ I seriously cannot. I am fresh out of blab. We are getting a really big snowstorm. Now that's pretty random. But I am hoping a wee bit way down in my heart that we get the day off tomorrow.....we are expecting ice and sleet and snow etc.....and I would love to just hunker down and enjoy my stamp room for a day when I least expected it. :) Here to my left you see an accident waiting to happen, eh? But Luca managed to keep Keith company much of the time he spent painting the stamp room and he never did knock over the paint tray.....or step on the paint lid! Isn't he a cute dog? I sure think so. :) Okay seriously, this will help me get thru these pics in record time. My mom said she loves it when I switch to this font. :) Next pic down is Keith taking us from ugly mint melody to cozy

creamy caramel.....isn't that old paint so

ikky??? So here's Keith......my better half.....BTW, I explained in my first post about the stamp room that this was one of Keith's Christmas gifts to me, to paint the room and now MINE to him, is supposed to be an album of family pictures he can take on his truck with him and now that I have a nice cozy stamp room I can get that underway.... Hey I think I'm gonna end this puppy with a small caption under each pic coming up - why not? DO I have to blab thru the whole entire thing? I think not........so.....here goes.........

Got this really cool card rack at Pottery Barn......it's so cute and I have waited for the paint job to hang it......

This is my antique printers tray that I used for all my weeny stamps.....it's one of my favorite things.......

Some of my favorite cards hanging on my favorite Pottery Barn card rack.........

And here is the way cool closet built by the guy who owned our house before us that was the "sign" that THIS was the house for US!! Who has a closet like this in their bedroom???? A House after my own heart.........

And the outside of the closet makes my room look neat as a pin, (like once in a blue moon right before I take a picture...) And the far shelf is my word stamp and punch shelf that Keith built me........(what would I do without that guy??) And this my friends is the end of your journey thru my stamp room; oh no it's not - there is another post following this one which is the one before I figured out how to add more pics to the same post. I am getting to be a blog expert....if I ever quit my day job I might become a consultant for blogspot......uh......not. Happy stamping everyone! Hope you enjoyed seeing a few of my favorite things, and my Happy Place!!

Trading MINT MELODY for CREAMY CARAMEL.....

2009-01-27T21:45:00.000-05:00

SO......I agonized over what order to put my pictures in.....and then good old blogspot totally changed the order anyway.....so these are RANDOM shots of my new stamp room here in Ohio, complete with its brand new creamy caramel paint job. First off, it was a sort of dirty shade of MINT MELODY, and for those of you who have been with SU for a long time like me, you remember that pale minty sort of whimpy green. There is a good reason why they discontinued Mint Melody.....that's all I can say. So that WAS the color of my room, which you can see in the picture that follows here in this post SOMEWHERE, which WAS supposed to be the first picture in this post. Just before Christmas this year Keith got laid off. When it happened we did not know how long it would be, and as it turned out they called him back on New Year's eve or somewhere in there so he actually just had a nice little three week vacation while our kids were here over the holidays. God is good. But anyway, when we found out he was getting laid off (or is that layed off?) ANYWAY.....we decided to do sort of labor of love Christmas gifts for eachother, and I asked for my stamp room to be eliminated of all traces of Mint Melody. YUKK, the stuff nightmares are made of when they are in color. SO................next problem was what color to paint it??? I went from cheery yellow, to sage green, to olive green, to tan, to mustard, to green again, and then to creamy caramel....and then WAIT, after I had the chip in hand and the guy was like READY TO MIX THE PAINT a lady walks up with some cans of a green that I liked and I was off to the land of lala confusion once again, got out of line in home depot when I was right at the front, to decide if I wanted my creamy caramel, or the other ladies green. It's a stretch for me to pick a dark paint, I am such a pastel kinda gal, but these colors are so in and I always love them when I see them in other peoples houses......so I got brave and got back in line. Only in the short time it took me to find Keith and have him convince me to stick with my creamy caramel.....about 5 people had gotten in line in front of me, and the one directly in front of me was painting every room in their must be 20 room house......arghhhh....the pains of indecision. Anyway, I finally did bring home the creamy caramel....and now that it's up I really do love it. It's so much warmer and so much cozier and so much more me. I always wanted my stamp room to be sort of an extension of our home and to fit in with the traditional look, and not be all white and crafty looking. I try to hide a lot of the "stuff" in closets etc. :) Here you see my main stamping place, I can pull this table out to the middle of the room if I have more people over to stamp but most of the time it's just little old me, or me and one other person at a time....so it's perfect in front of the big old window. You see my trusty little heater on the floor, my favorite place to be is in the room in warm flannel pajamas with that little heater humming away at my feet.....this room is really my HAPPY PLACE. :):):):) Okay, here is a picture of Keith
covering the last wall of mint melody......and I just had to take a picture so I could remember the putridness of that color that I have strongly disliked for almost 3 years now....
I used to sit and look around that room and think, "Hmmm, and we thought it was a good idea to hang all these shelves and attach all these things to the wall before we painted because....hmmmmm........and I thought we would never actually get around to banishing the green nightmare ever.... but when Keith got going he got thru it so quickly....it's nice cuz our house has oak trim so no trim to paint and it goes a lot quicker. This picture makes it look like More Mustard but it really is Creamy Caramel. See how messy my table is in this picture??? Yeh, I'd like to say it doesn't usually look like that but that would be a big fat lie. So I won't say it. Anyway now with the brand new paint on the walls, I will be motivated to keep it all clean and tidy for a while. :) The other thing I love about my stamp room is it has HGTV pumped right in there.......ahhh,,,, flannel pajamas, electric heater, AND HGTV....what more could a girl ASK for???? ANYWAY, I am going to post some more pictures of the room after this post cuz I don't think I can post more without messing up the entire text on this post.....the thing about how long I went between blog entries is I was STARTING to get good at it, but I have wiped out two pictures already tonite.....so I stink all over again. Okay, in this next picture, you see my great wall of
stamps.....which is in the hallway before you enter the actual stamp room...this is the wall that made the ladies in my church sort of gasp when they came to my house and be like, oh my, this is not just a hobby, this looks a little bit like an obsession.....and I have to admit that say someone collected like, I don't know, what do people collect, anyway, like say they had a collection this big of Hummels, or beer steins, or Precious Moments figurines, if I saw this many in one place I would be like Oh boy, sicko.......a bit of a fixation there or what? but I tried to explain that it's different with stamps....I tried the "but I have collected them over many years" line and that only brought one or two looks of empathy, so I tried the "most of them were gifts anyway" and that only brought like one more glimpse of understanding, but mostly I think they just thought I was just plain nuts.......and then when they got INSIDE the room and saw all the other "stuff" that goes with them......well, who can blame them for thinking I am totally off my rocker? Okay now down here is my best stamping buddy, Buddy LUCA. He lays right at my side all the time I am in my room. He also loves the stamp room. Any golden retriever lovers out there?
You know how they are....love junkies.....most of the time I am watercoloring with one hand and scratching Luca's head with the other one. Even now as I type, Luca is laying right at my feel keeping me company. And when I get up and walk back up to the stamp room, (because I am still so enamored with my new paint that I like to just sit there and look around the room....)he will follow me and lay his cute little head at my feet up there too. You know what I say to friends who like my stamp room but not my dog? Never mind. But one time someone told me that when your freinds don't like your dog, it's time to get new friends.....and I could not agree more. :):):) Love me, love my dog......my stamping pal.....one of the cutest embellishments in the whole room! Okay- gonna post some more pics now, and try not to blab as much. I hope you enjoyed seeing pictures of my happy place!!

It's been a LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG TIME!!

2009-01-23T16:47:00.000-05:00

On two separate ocassions now, I have been sent "blog awards" ~ but I have no idea how to download them, or upload them, or WHATEVER, so you do not see them on my blog. Here's my question, is there a blog award for the person who goes the longest without updating their blog?? Cuz if so, it's mine!! Where do I start? I guess I will start where I left off but first let me say- to your left, one of the incredibley GREAT new SALEABRATION sets......wanna have a workshop and get tons of free stamps? CONTACT ME!!! :) Okay, so I left off in November, and here we are in January......PATHETIC BLOGGER AWARD, I am the proud recipient. I left off telling you how God was giving us the blessing of two extra weeks with our kids, Jen, Davis and their precious offspring, our grand daughters, Tovah and Lami. WELL, two weeks stretched in to FOUR, and somehow - that added time made it a little easier to let go....not sure why, but those last four weeks were precious. I think we did every thing we said we were going to do and then some....in those last four weeks. My most precious memory was Keith and I taking the two girls to the Cincinnatti Zoo, just the 4 of us, so mommy and daddy could pack. We were at the zoo for about NINE HOURS.....and those girls were adorable. My favorite memory of things kids say, from Tovah, when we were riding the train after dark and Christmas music was playing and we were each holding one and snuggling with them, Tovah looked up at me and said, "Gramma can we PALEEEEEZE come back here tomorrow?" and then Lami, when I told her in her ear, "I love you little Lami Lou, " she took my face in her little hands and said, "Gramma, I can't dop yoving you." Okay, on to a less tearful subject, I'm gonna have to dry the keyboard out here. So ~ Dec 7th they departed for Kenya.....where they wait to see if it's safe to enter the Congo in 4 months. Please keep that war torn country in your prayers, and our kids as well if you so desire. :) Two weeks after they left, our Christmas company started arriving, and we had all three of our other kids here and their families. So that meant, 3 more grand daughters to keep us smiling. Layla was here 2 entire WEEKS.......(and her parents came too!) and then we got to spend some quality time with Madyson(Maddy and I even squeezed in some guitar lessons) and Chloe, which was awesome!! What fun we had, seeing ballet recital after ballet recital in our living room. Maddy and Chloe were so good with Layla, and Layla amused us with the old dvd videos Mike and Jenna brought of her when she wasnt' amusing us in person. :) What a blessed, happy, wonderful Christmas. 12 people and 3 dogs in our house for many many days - and it was all good!! We even got to SKYPE with Jen, Davis and the girls. The holidays were ones to remember, with all of this company staying right through New Years Day!! :) My mom also came from New Hampshire (like only weeks after breaking a vertabrae - she was determined!!)and a good time was had by all!! FAST FORWARD to LEADERSHIP, what an AWESOME time we had this year!! My favorite part of Leadership is always seeing my friends, and this year was no different. Some of my closest friends did not make it this year, and what a sad Leadership to miss!! Stampin'Up! said they knew we had all made financial sacrifices to be there in this economy, so they really poured on the great times!! For Manager's Reception we went to Universal Studios, they SHUT DOWN A WHOLE SECTION FOR SU ONLY!! Tina and I rode the Hulk ROLLER COASTER 3 times, this other "thing" that flew you way up to the sky and then dropped you and your stomach like dropped out the bottom, 3 times, and then this spiderman ride which Tina like screamed into my shoulder the entire ride, it was 3D and pretty freaky. I don't know which one of us decided first that enough was enough, I think it was me, but shortly thereafter we were both moaning and groaning all the way home and thru the night.......hard to admit you aren't 16 anymore sometimes, but let me tell you we proved it to ourselves THAT night........but if I had to do it all over again I would ride the same rides!! Tina and me - one night we are having in depth talks lamenting menopause and all the rotten "stuff" it brings with it, and then the next night we are trying to prove we are still teenagers.........MORE precious memories.......have I mentioned before that the best thing about Stampin'Up is the deep, deep, deep friendships that have come along with it?? Well I can't wait until Convention now!! :) So, after all of these wonderful events, life is settling down now and returning to "normal". This morning I got up to get ready for work, and came downstairs to our basement flooded for the FOURTH time, yes, FOURTH time since we moved here. Twice it was nature and once it was plumbing, and this time it was that darn hose that needs to stay in the washtub when you do a load of wash.......when I called my husband he said, Oh my gosh Karen I took that hose OUT when I was cleaning the roller after painting your stamp room.....and he just felt, well, you know how you feel when you do something, dare I say DUMB?? Hey, I was thinking but you PAINTED my STAMP ROOM, how could I be upset??? And I was thinking how neat it is to love someone so much that you just truly feel in your heart, well I'm not upset because it JUST as EASILY could have been ME the one not putting the hose in there and YOU the one home when the basement floods,,,,,ya know what I mean? And besides, whenever we have some "catastrophe" I get the urge to clean, and I really, really, really, really needed that urge, and I have been scrubbin all day and my basement is lookin good!! :) I was just thinking what a horrendous mess it was last night and thinking gee, where do I START????? You know when a space gets that messy?? Maybe you don't, but I sure do. My house actually has 4 stories, I love it - lots of living space but most people only see the main floor so it's just a manageable space to keep looking nice, and no one knows what "lurks" below........happy to say I will sleep well tonite cuz it's gonna shine!! :) And even though my plans completely changed today, I have a sneaky suspicion I would have stamped the day away after I got home from 4 hours of work, so I am really kinda glad I had a major mess to clean up. :) Am I weird? Don't answer that. I am always amazed at my husband's grace in situations like this - when the shoe is on the other foot and I caused some thing to make HIM work extra hard.....he is always so full of grace. It was nice to have it be him for once and be able to repay him for all the sweet grace he has shown me. :) Well my son in law Jon and I have a contest going......for losing those holiday pounds. I have 10 to lose and he has 15, but I say I deserve a handicap cuz men and young people lose weight faster then women and old folks.......(I'm getting there....)so we agreed that he has to lose 15 and I have to lose 10, WE STARTED THIS AT CHRISTMAS AND I HAVE LOST 6 BUT HE HAD PUT ON WEIGHT, (he has actually gained more weight in Bekah's pregnancy then she has....harhar) but yesterday he tells me he wants us to "start over" - okay, I still have 10 to reach my goal, and he has to lose 15. The prize? It took us ages to agree on this, but the loser owes the winner 10 hours of slave labor plus one hour for every pound the loser has not lost yet when the winner wins........and I tried to say he also had to eat guacamole for me but he nixed that......(Jon doesn't eat anything green, but especially not guacamole) but if I tell him his LABOR is to HELP ME EAT SOME GUACAMOLE....HMMMMM...... because listen with Jon one must fight fire with fire!! He texts me 2 minutes after we agree on the prize and says, I am gonna tell Bekah we will stop cleaning our toilets immediately........... to which I replied, Oh, YEH???? WELL, I am gonna tell Keith we will stop picking up dog poo poo in the back yard NOW.......and after you LOSE and pick up 8 tons of dog poop in my back yard, you'll have to go home and clean your own gross toilets but it won't count toward your hours!!!! We are going all out with this, the race is ON........and folks, I do have one advantage, Jon does not like to eat anything that even remotely resembles anything healthy,,,,,so I figure I have the edge there.......I will keep you all posted on who gets the dirtiest job.......but those coffee smoothies Tangie and I get on Fridays? They are on HOLD folks, and I am living on SMART ONES from the freezer section, and fruit. And I am dreamin up long lists of labor for my son in law, too bad the contest didnt' end today cuz I could have put him to work mopping up water......but he's home painting a baby's room so I will leave him alone today. :) By the next time I blog, if I wait as long as I did this time, we may have lost the weight and regained it!! :) But I will try to be better this time. If I didn't blab on and on and on and on, I could blog

more often,,,,but each blog session is liking writing a book! Well I have wasted enough time here and it's high time I got back to work. The rest of this basement is not gonna clean itself. I love cleaning my own house when you get right down to it. If you offered me a cook OR a cleaning lady, I would take the cook anyday. Only thing, it's not that much work to throw a Smart One in the microwave......but then I could eat GOOD healthy stuff, give me a cook anyday over a cleaning lady- take all my fun away! I HATE to cook, and I cannot remember the last meal I cooked, except for Smart Ones........now how can you get mad at a husband who cooks?? You tell me! I count my blessings!! I know a good thing when I see one!! Until next time, the race is on, and may your basements stay dry!!

BONUS GRAND DAUGHTER DAYS.........

2008-11-06T22:48:00.001-05:00

As with so many things in life, one persons sadness or misfortune sometimes is another person's joy....or can I say it better that to every black cloud there is a silver lining? We are being given the gift of two more weeks with our precious little family....Jen and Davis and Tovah and Lami have been delayed on their Congo journey because of rebel fighting in the Congo. Of course we are overjoyed to have them home for two more weeks, but saddened for this war torn country and all of the innocent people who have terror as a constant companion. Can you say a prayer for them as the Lord brings them to mind? Jen and Davis will be making tough decisions in the next weeks ahead and waiting on God to see what comes next in the event that things do not calm down enough for them to go with their original plan to go to the Congo. Meanwhile you can see I am enjoying my Tovah-Lovah here. Lately, about every other day, she says to me, "You're gonna cry when I go to the Congo aren't you gramma, and you're gonna miss me so much, right?" Then I reply~ "Yes Tovah, I will cry when you go, but think how happy I will be when you come back?" And then she says, "Gramma when I see you when I come home from the Congo I am gonna run right into your arms"......and yeh....by then I am mopping up tears. But I am as ready as I will ever be to release them in two weeks, but what a bonus to have two more unexpected weeks together!! Did I tell you that we have two more grandchildren

on the way now? Mike and Jenna who have precious little Layla girl are expecting again in March(and did I mention yet, yippee yahoo I think Layla and her mom and dad are coming for Christmas???AND we are hoping and praying for Bethany and Brian too, hey if they could bring Madyson and Chloe....now I'm getting carried away)....and Bekah and Jon are expecting their first child in June. Praise God one of these is going to be LOCAL.....as in 7 minutes from our house, and we'll get to babysit for someone besides Moseley - Moseley too mind you because we love that dog....but we are getting a real live baby! We are so excited. As the grandmother of 5 grand daughters, Bekah asked me last week if I secretly yearn for a grand son but just don't tell anyone. - I can honestly say I do not. I just pray for healthy grandchildren and the gender is insignificant for me. This blog entry is dedicated to grand daughters.....(every card is pink.....)this card to my left is made with a beautiful new set from SU - called Eastern Influences - this rose is so fun to watercolor!! And that huge flat bow is the latest craze...those flat bows, we learned to make them at Convention this year. My niece Clairey just had a baby boy.....Elihu.....(hope I spelled that right) He is a beauty!! So we do have boys in the family, my sweet nephew Malachi.....he's a boy too. :) So anyway, I've been thinking alot about worry lately, which is one of the things I am most gifted in. It all started when within a couple of weeks, Bekah "almost" lost the baby but did not, Bethany was chased thru the woods by a low life man while walking her dog, (my girls are STILL fast runners), Jen and Davis have been living with all this uncertainty and I will admit to a wee bit of worry at the prospect of them leaving for the Congo with the state the Congo is in.....Keith had a large scale accident in the "big truck" - (not his fault but a guy bent over to pick up his cell phone and drove right into the back of his truck and though he is okay, his car looks like an accordian), and Mike and Jenna, - well they had a good week.....but there are plenty of times I am consumed with worry about some random thing in their life, or I worry and think what if they get in a car accident.....(ANY of them......)you know how it is if you are a worrier.....and on the way home from work one day it just hit me.....all these close calls happened and it was totally out of my power to do ANYTHING to stop them.......and I thought WOW it's great to have a STRONG and MIGHTY GOD who is watching all of the time, protecting, going before - going behind.....a FATHER who really DOES have EYES in the BACK of his HEAD.....all my worry - and these things happened in the twinkling of an eye and there's not a THING I could do to prevent them or keep them from happening.....but GOD IS.......GOD WAS......GOD FOREVER MORE SHALL BE.....and HE, HE, HE, is watching over my family, (and your family) and HE never slumbers or sleeps.....HE knows what's going to happen before it happens, HE LOVES THEM EVEN MORE THEN I DO.......I don't know, it was like sort of a light flashed on and it was one of those AH-HAA moments when you realize that being in the palm of GODS hand and having a KEEPER like GOD, my worrying just seemed like such an insignificant waste of time.

How about this pretty pink card to my left? I have been making some of my favorite pink cards lately.....I've been on a real PINK KICK......maybe it's two more grand daughters on the way!! :) This is embossed in white on vellum and colored with markers both from behind and on top to give it depth and shading......but anyway.....isn't it neat to think that OUR GOD WATCHES OVER US LIKE THAT?? My son Mike once said to me after I confessed some worry fit I had just had, "Ma, that's no way to live!!" And he's right! I struggle with worry more then just about ANYTHING in my life.....but I do STRUGGLE, and TRY.....it hit me too that hopefully my kids will outlive me, so who will worry when I'm gone? And then I think, hey, what GOOD does your WORRYING DO??? Ever catch your self thinking like that? Do YOU hear the VOICES in my head? (that's actually a line from The God's Must be Crazy....one of our fav family movies) but anyway, I am trying really really really really hard to stop being such a worry wart. It's just so counterproductive.......and here to my left is my most favorite card I have made in a long time. If you actually read back in my blog I am always naming some card as my most favorite - so that's why I said that I have made in a long time. This one took a lot of cutting.....but I really do love it in the end. I actually made one like this for a friend at work and then had a battle giving it to her.....how selfish is THAT???? I kept making excuses like oh gee, she' s not really a pink lover maybe I will give her this card over here instead....etc....but in the end I just made another one like it and gave it to my DEAR, KIND and WONDERFUL friend at work........and felt so much happier with myself. :):) harhar. That's the best thing about being a demonstrator is keeping your cards cuz you need samples.......anyway, sometimes I think that God must get so tired of my worrying - but then I realize that HE is my FATHER and he does not expect perfection from me and HE loves me UNCONDITIONALLY.....worry warts and all. :):) Well I have stayed up way past my bedtime here to blog.....you know I am not sure if they improved this thing or if I am just finally getting a little blog-savvy......(careful there....pride comes before the fall)but it seems like it's been a really long time since I wiped out a card.......or had one turn sideways on me......I think I am getting to be an expert blogger. harhar...not. Here are two more of those precious ones I have been telling you about. We call Lami - (whose whole name is Elami Cheruto) Lami-Lou, it's just a nickname that is sticking and so she sort of thinks that is what her name is now. When we were trick or treating the other night we were walking along and I said to her, "Lami, Are you grammas little punkin girl".....and she said "No, I notta punkin girl".....and I said,,,,"Are you grammas little bo peep?"(she was dressed up as little bo peep) and she said, "No, I notta little bo peep," and then she said, "Gramma, I yust a Yittle Yammie You.........(just a Little Lami-Lou) - and I tell you - 2 more weeks with these precious baby girls is gonna fly by and the next time I blog it's gonna be cryin time again.......but I am gonna try with all my might to remember that safe in the great big hands of a STRONG AND MIGHTY GOD is the very best place for them to be....along with everyone else I love........that's kind of a sweet thought, isn't it??

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.........

2008-10-11T10:51:00.000-04:00

Okay, so sometimes it's not a big deal if I wipe out a card or two along the way, but THIS time I have a theme going on here.....and it's the seasons and there are four of them and I would LIKE to keep it that way....I would hate to wipe out fall or something because it would make a big difference in where I am going with this post. These four cards were all made with an adorable set called Window Dressing which is a hostess only set and worth hostessing a workshop for, just to get this set. There are just some sets that make you feel like a kid again and THIS is one of them. Okay, so here to your left you see Spring. Spring is such a hopeful time, with winters drab colors just "springing" to life, buds on trees, daffodils and tulips sprouting up all over, and warm breezes that make you want to just let the sun shine in. When I think of spring I think of one of those first days when you want to throw open your windows and just let the outside come in. Life is like this too, there are seasons. Keith and I keep saying that if spring is a newborn baby we are like in fall. YIKES!! EVENTS are also like this- vacations are like this, times in your life are like this, they have a distinct season. Our daughter Jen and her husband Davis and their two precious girls moved in with us in the end of June before heading to The Congo in mid-November. Ahhhhh, those first fews weeks of having them in our house were like the "spring" of our visit. You could think to yourself, FOUR WHOLE MONTHS OF HAVING THESE PRECIOUS PEOPLE UNDER OUR ROOF....and precious they are. :) Tovah, who is 4 has been saying since she got here that she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. The other day we were pulling her down the street with Lami her little sister in a big red wagon at night, (did you catch that - the other day at night? It actually was one of the many nighttime walks we have taken since they got here - the whole fam) AND, Tovah says out of the blue, "Gramma, I have made a decision," followed by, "Lami I have made a decision" and then she announced that she wasn't going to be a vet anymore, but she was going to be a dentist so she could live near ME, and if she was a vet she would live to far away and wouldn't get to see me," to which I replied with a huge lump in my throat, "But Tovah, you could be a vet and still live in Ohio" and she said, "But Gramma, where are all the animals??" I pointed to Luca, our beloved golden who also goes on our nightly walks with us and she said, "But where are the horses and cows?" I could write a book with the cute things they say......see why I want it to be spring forever??? Okay, so then it came to be about mid August and I was like wow, this is the summer of their visit, still plenty of time left for visiting but we are beginning to notice that Lami even talks a whole lot more then she did when they first got here......my favorite line for quoting from Lami was one time when I was letting her jump off the furniture in our family room (hey ~ what are grandmothers for??) and she said, Gramma, I donna yump aden, oday??? about 40 times after each jump until I was laughing so hard I could not stand it!! Here is my summer card, - things are still bright and cheery in mid August,,,,time is going by but look, it's not even half up yet, relax... there will still be lots of fun things going on between now and mid-November, right? Jen and Davis bought a house one road over during this time to rent out and maybe live in after The Congo for a while, I am about 95% convinced that their careers will always involve missions, but even if they just live there for a little while, how awesome will that be? The house as I mentioned in my last post is only one road away, perfect for little grand daughters to come and visit!! And it means that they might stay a while longer after the 2 year stint in The Congo.....LORD WILLING. Okay, so now we are moving on into September, but we still have plenty of time....and the about mid September it starts to hit me, yikes, we are getting really close to fall... before you know it it will be WINTER and time for them to head to the Congo.....and I start remembering the unexplicable sadness that overtook me when they left the last time but for the most part I chase it away, and think, there will be time to grieve after they are gone, right now, let me enjoy every single minute of this precious time and not spend ANY TIME wallowing in sadness when I still have them to enjoy!! This is when you approach fall.....(kind of again like when you turn 50 and say goodbye to your youth......completely.......like 40 I still felt young. :) and really I still do now but the mirror is starting to tell me something else) Last week we took the girls to the Tea House, and Michelle Zindorf met us there, it was a celebration for Jen's BD, which is October 3rd. It was so so fun, Jen, Bekah, Tovah, Lami, Michelle and I eating at that wonderful tea house, sharing desserts and then I told Lami and Tovah we could go to the gift shop and they could pick out a Boyds Bear.....Tovah picked out a Boyds horse, the homeliest silliest looking thing I have ever seen but she loves that guy, so much.....too cute. Lami picked out some little animals - a cow, a bear, a cat and a dog. All dressed up in clothes of course. Just the right size for Little Lami. Okay, so it's fall now and fall is fleeting fast, yikes it is almost WINTER..... Yesterday was my son's birthday, (my baby is now 26 - if that don't make ya feel old nothing will) and it was also exactly ONE MONTH till they leave.......but me and my feelings, we aren't going there until we have to. This is my fall card - and my favorite of these four cards. Fall is actually my favorite time of year, but I married my best friend and the love of my life in the fall, we had two kids in the fall, I just always love that hunker down feeling of fall, crisp apples, crunchy under your feet pretty leaves, warm sweatshirts, Thanksgiving......I LOVE fall, but right about now I am wishing it was spring again and we could start this visit all over again, like instant replay......yeh, that would be the bomb. Well, there is no denying that winter is on it's way. In life, ah yes, it makes me think of my mom and step mom who are in the winter of their lives and wish I could move them out here and settle them near me......it's hard to be so far away from so many people you love. It makes me want to spend the holidays with my kids, which may or may not happen this year, we just arent' sure with Keith's job and all. And it makes me want to hold onto Jen and Davis and Tovah and Lami and have it stay spring forever. But the seasons come and the seasons go......I have to grab back on to Mary Englebreits saying, "Don't cry cuz it's over, smile cuz it happened" and hold on for dear life cuz it's almost cryin time again. But guess what? They will return in 2 years and everytime I drive by or walk by that little white house one street over I am going to imagine them in it......Tovah will be 6, and Lami will be Tovah's age. And they will be as cute as ever. I can tell now I am gonna need to talk to my Layla girl right after they leave. Last time it helped so much to hear her adorable little voice on the phone saying " I love you Gramma" - like sav on a wound. Okay, now I'm crying so I'm gonna stop this nonsense and get upstairs and go enjoy this gorgeous FALL day........and anticipate the next visit instead of worrying this one away. And so here is my final card, and so far so bloomin good I have not wiped anything out.......did you all notice my blog banner? It's new, and I had it made, and I am so happy with it that sometimes I just sit and stare at it and listen to James Taylor. I'm all done crying now and going upstairs to see what's on the agenda for today......maybe the Cincinnatti Zoo, or maybe another bike ride, the possibilities are endless!! I was babysitting for them last night and had to give Lami her first "time out" from me - talk about killer, she had to say she was sorry before she could get up and once she called me over and said through tears, "Gramma, I got a yittle booty" which was a little boogie........and I lost it - she is such a pistol, I wish you could all spend 15 minutes with each of them and then you would see why between Layla, Lami and Tovah, when they go home it will always be "cryin time again" even though I would never hold them back!! Because right after that the anticipation of the NEXT VISIT follows and everyone knows - anticipation is half the fun!! :) :) :) Sometimes it's the best part!! Happy Saturday everyone - go hug the ones you love - thats what I'm about to do!!! ( and as you can see, I have no idea how to put this signature thingey where I want it - just pretend I meant to do that, it's out there somewhere but at least all four cards are still here!! :) SMILE.

Ain't LIFE GRAND????

2008-09-20T15:23:00.000-04:00

Okay so for the love of Peter, Keith is FINALLY home!! It's like you go along and think your circumstances will NEVER change... and then in the twinkling of an eye, everything changes almost overnight....let me back up.....as many of you know, my husband and best friend Keith has been an "over the road" truck driver for the past year. (INTERJECT HERE - this card is from one of SU's new stamp sets, Flower Fancy - stamped and watercolored on Shimmery White and the background is the new Classic Stripes stamp turned both ways to make a plaid.....easy peasy..) Back to life's true stories....we had been praying and pleading and all but begging God to help us find a job for Keith where he would be close to home - either local driving or hey, we were about ready for him to work at Starbucks, or Burger King.... the separation thing had gone on long enough. I sometimes felt like a widow. Not fun, though tolerable when you using it as a means to an end...but there seemed to be no end!! Several jobs he applied for got no results....it was getting REALLY discouraging. We literally saw eachother for less then 20 hours a week, it was awful. SOOOO....being the shopper that I am, I often check out patient's employment space at work on their files, and if it says they are truckdrivers, (as are 3/4 of the male population around here) I would often ask them how they liked their job, and find out as much as I could about different local trucking companies. So late in August, one of my patient friends who I had often talked to about his company was leaving after Tangie checked him out. He turned to me and said, "Karen, is your husband still trucking?" and so I proceeded to tell him our tale of woes, the terrible injustice of it all....poor us.... etc etc and he came over with the name and address of his company and said, "Karen, tell him to go apply NOW because I happen to know they are hiring right now" - Okay- this gave me goose bumps because of all days, Keith was home this day - it was a Monday. I called him up and said "Go, like NOW and apply" and he said, "But Karen, I have checked this company out and I know it's one of the best ones around here but I know you have to have 2 years experience to get in" to which I replied, "Keith they are looking for people now, go NOW and tell them why they should hire you now with one years experience ~ go sell yourself." So the rest is history. They decided to check with their insurance company since Keith had a perfect driving record to see if they would make an exception and they did and he's been there since just after Labor Day weekend!! It was a GOD thing...because it meant he also got to go to our family reunion with Bekah and Jon and I...otherwise he would have been driving but he was just between jobs. God is GOOD...even though your circumstances can look so bleak and you can be thinking nothing will ever change....God can reach down, move a few things around, shake a few things up and the next thing you know, the whole fam, Jen and Davis and Tovah and Lami and Gramma Karen and Grampa Keith can spend Saturday morning out petting llamas and goats and picking out pumpkins. That card we just passed is emboss resist....just like the one in my last post.....sorry my blog is more like an illustrated story book but that's me, tutorials are boring but real life is an adventure, ya know? Keith's new hours are alot like mine which is just wonderful. He has all weekends off and is home most weeknights. We feel like we have turned SUCH a corner in our Ohio life. YIPPEE YAHOO!! Okay ~ so here's a wild thing that happened on one of our first weekends home together.....LAST WEEKEND, hurricane IKE decided to blow thru OHIO, - actually right down our street. I have NEVER EVER seen weather like we had, almost NO rain, but winds that were incredible. We sat out on our front porch with a sort of morbid fascination as huge chunks of trees fell down around us. The wind took shingles right off peoples roofs, siding blew off the whole end of the townhouse Bekah and Jon live in. We had the pretty white awning that Bethany and Brian got married under on our deck over our picnic table, and when we came home from church it was the first thing we noticed, twisted and mangled beyond repair on top of our hot tub, (or the big hot baff as Tovah and Lami call it) OKAY CARD BREAK - Brandy new 2 step stamping set called A Rose is a Rose - I just love this shabby shiek card - isn't it pretty? That's the new Baja Breeze color in the background and Riding Hood Red and Kiwi Kiss on the flowers.....Okay- back to life, it was THE most INCREDIBLE wind storm I have ever seen. Today as we drove to the pumpkin farm we saw a tin roof that had blown into a tangled ball off of someones barn, and a huge tree uprooted dirt and all that looked like the base of the dirt that got pulled up with it was like a big huge swimming pool size!!DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WEATHER GETS THAT WEIRD???????? There is a good side to what can otherwise be devastating. Neighbors meet neighbors, people are just hangin out on their porches and everyone is friendly and taking the time to talk to eachother because we had no electrical power - we had none for 3 straight days!! So there were no electronic distractions, time stood still and we got to meet some of our neighbors who we had never met before!! Anyway, today - almost a week later all is back to normal albeit chunks of trees still line the streets waiting for the town to remove them.....but it's a beautiful, sunny, warm, Indian summer day.....But that's how we spent one of our first Saturdays in Ohio together.....that Keith wasnt' either cleaning models or driving truck - pretty exciting!! This card to your left now - it's just watercolored and the background embossed white polka dots - see how I used my white gel pen to make the watercan polka dotted too? How CUTE is THAT??? Other family news.... Jen and Davis bought a house one road away from us. They probably will not live in it until after they go to the Congo for two years and at that point if they stay stateside for 9 months or so they will live in that house. Even then it will be a stopover between mission assignments Lord willing, but somehow just knowing they own that cute little white house which is actually very similar to ours makes me feel like they will be closer to us even when they are gone.....but lets not talk about THAT yet, they don't leave till November 10th.....way off. :) By the time they come home again, Lami will be Tovah's age and Tovah will be almost Chloe's age.........lets not think about it. But the happy thought is this - Tovah and Lami will be old enough to let mom watch them cross the street and then go thru the alley and come right into our yard....how utterly SWEET will THAT be?????? Over the road and thru the alley to grandmother's house we go.....isn't there a song like that? Isn't life sweet with grand daughters around? Isn't life sweet even when they aren't around but you still know they are out there and they love you - and you can hear their sweet little voices on the telephone and see them on the "web can" as Layla calls it? Ain't life grand? Ain't it? Come on now, Ain't it?????

P.S. POOF!! It's back......

2008-08-23T10:25:00.000-04:00

Here's the one I wiped out in the post just before this one..... just thought I would share it after all......yikes, I only have one card to blab thru, am I capable of keeping it SHORT and SWEET? Here's a happy thing that happened to me this week. I got a beautiful Mother's Day card from my son Mike. I mean one of those ones that makes you cry. (last year Jenna made me a beautiful gramma album that also made me cry) In Mike's card he said all the things a mama wants to hear from her grown son. Some of my days are pretty lonely. (pray for keith he has a 2nd job interview monday for a close to home job) Getting that card was awesome. A few days later I got a package in the mail. Who is sending me a pkg? Mike and Jenna and Layla. The best part? Jenna told me Mike shopped on line HIMSELF and picked out this sweater for me......it's awesome - I have never owned a designer sweater that I can think of, (unless it had SU on it somewhere) but this is a magnificent Ralph Loren sweater..... and my coworker Melanie who knows all about fashion was like, "Whoa, love your sweater!!" (I knew I was cool then.) But it was the part where Jenna said Mike wanted to get you something really nice that really makes it my most favoritist sweater in the whole wide world. All you mothers of obnoxious teenagers out there, my Mike was one once. :) They grow up, they say things that make it MOTHERS DAY in August. :) Thanks Mike, love you man. Okay- all done - I did manage to keep it short and sweet, and how appropriate is that, the card says LOVE YOU. Awwww........

Well it's bloggin' time again...........

2008-08-23T09:08:00.000-04:00

Isn't there a country western song that starts out like that.....not bloggin but what was it, Well it's somethin time again, was it cheating? Leaving? Those good old country western songs. When I was little(thanks to MOM) I had a steady diet of the stuff. I knew every Tennesee Ernie Ford song there was by heart. Glenn Campbell, Johnnie Cash.....today I cannot STAND country music, but back then, I could belt out any song you wanted to hear word for word. Okay, I'm already off to a bad start here, let me sort of explain this card on your left. This is made from one of my favorite brandy new stamp sets from the brandy new catalog....it's called Inspired by Nature.....and even though I think it's really coneflowers I pretend it's black eyed susans which are one of my favorites up there with sunflowers. That's what I like about stamps, they can be whatever you WANT them to be. :) Then that little butterfly, he's from a different new set called Flight of the Butterfly. Also a very cute set. That card has vellum over the top of the new Pink Pirouette paper, (I promise I'll learn how to spell that p word before the end of the year) Anyway, at Convention they gave us 3 new sets and these were two of them and I love them both. Convention - it was so great to see friends I had not seen in such a long time - upline, downline, sideline, the Arizona girls some of which I didn't see at the last two Leaderships I went to because they weren't there and I missed 2 conventions in a row so it was just awesome to catch up and to meet new downline - My niece Clairey has really been busy as a bee building herself a healthy downline, and I mean healthy - these girls are excited and committed and on fire!! They are all planning how they can do SU full time, and I have no doubts that they will reach their goals. KRISTEN FULLER, who was one of Claire's first recruits went to Convention and all week I knew I would meet her at the INKredibles meeting, and I was jabbering away and there was this quiet presence off to my right.....and then she said "Hi Aunt Karen" and I was like K-R-I-S-T-E-N!!!
Just too cool to meet someone I have listened to in their Yahoo group and to feel so connected to this young lady who is building her own business with a level of enthusiasm second to none!! Speaking of my niece Clairey, I told her to check out this card to your left now because it is my most favoritist card I ever made, I put it right next to me so I can study it all the time and think wow, I made that...and when I showed her which one she goes you mean the one with the mustard flowers? REALLY? Popped my balloon there Clairey, and then she said, "It's nice, but of all the cards you made it's your favorite, REALLY??" But I still think it is. :) It just sings really loud to me. :) First off, its' one of my most favorite flowers in the whole wide world......we have been planting them around our house, you know they spread - they like multiply like rabbits -no kidding......anyway, you can all leave a comment and say, "Is that REALLY your most favorite card????" Uh, yah, it is. :):):) BTW for those of you who actually like it- AND then the next one down, here's my "TUTORIAL" HAHA, I get asked to do tutorials all the time......here's my version, short and sweet - don't blink NOW or you'll miss it - On the back of your solid stamp color with markers -shading the flowers with two different colors. I used Summer Sun and Pumpkin Pie. (and of course the other colors for the flower tip and green stuff) Stamp it on whisper white. Now color to the edges with a VERSAMARKER. Try NOT to go outside the image with the Versamarker cuz that will create a white halo which in some places will look even a bit artistic but if you get too much of it outside the image you will end up saying your 5 year old made it..... to save face.....okay, after you have colored with versamarker emboss with clear powder. Now smear ink over the top, I used BAJA BLUE, (one of my new favs) and Not Quite Navy right around the flowers. Blend. I use sponge daubers. Now use the great and wonderful highly loved grass stamp that also comes with this set - and I think I used kiwi kiss, (old olive really but if I say kiwi kiss you'll buy another stamp pad.....hahaha......I love kiwi kiss but I couldn't find it under the stamping debris when I made this card - no I know - I had to use old olive so I would have a marker in it for the leaves on the flower....that's what it was, but regardless - kiwi kiss is a great new color) AHEM........okay........use OLD OLIVE and stamp the grass off once so it's not so bold and then stamp it on, also known as the "fade technique" or second generation stamping...... And then wipe the "grass" off your flowers which will resist it because remember they are embossed and there you have it - embellish it as you desire and that's it - and you can make my most favoritist card in the whole world TOO!! This one here is kinda cute too, huh? I just only inked up the smaller flower on that big stamp and stamped it over and over. I embossed three after versamarkering, (my own word, kind of like favoritist) and that way I could use those three as a mask when I stamped two more and then I used my coluzzle to cut out the image and THAT GREAT SCALLOPED BORDER??? Wanna know how I did that? I just punched a bunch a' circles with my 1/2" circle punch and put snail adhesive around the inside of my circle, and then attached the punched circles and voila!! A scalloped edge!! :) oKAY, now below, (and when I actually post this it sends everything everywhere it wasnt' when you were actually typing....so anyway- switching gears here, these are the cards below, (the last two in this post) that were my general swapping cards at Convention......I always totally exhaust myself making tons of cards to swap and then I have a terrible time making sure I swap them all......this is a pattern in my life. I have the sweetest coworkers, Cyndi(who I have told you guys about before - Cyndi is rail thin and survives on cheese-it's and coke) and Tangie, who is not rail thin but watching her weight like me. Every Friday, (down day, we get to dress down and there are no patients on Fridays) I treat these guys to a coffee smoothie, (Cyndi usually says, "No thank you, I'm okay...." cuz eating is not an obsession with her where TANGIE, ticks the minutes away till it's time to go get smoothies on Fridays........(a girl after my own heart)and every Friday we look forward to this - they are wonderful coffee drinks with little pieces of coffee bean covered in dark chocolate chopped up in there, (the best part) and then Tangie's favorite part - a big ole cherry - oh my gosh I can taste it now and it's not Friday for another whole WEEK.....so Tangie usually runs to get the mail and brings them back with her.....and then her and I sit there and suffer with BRAIN FREEZE cuz we drink them too fast and they also give us this HACKING COUGH, ?? (but they are so worth a little piercing headache and a little annoying cough which can last up to an hour after you drink it) but HEY, it does not stop Tangie and I from looking forward to the next week when we can go pay for somemore great brain freeze with an annoying cough on the side.........what's up with that? Sometime I'll really tell you about "TANGIE" and "FOOD" because I could blog a whole blog with funny stories about this adorable co-worker who just LOVES to EAT. :):):) ANYWAY general swapping is kinda like that for me, I get so exhausted making cards I go into Convention or Leadership in a zombie state and then I worry about getting them all swapped but I sorta hate to actually swap cuz I'm usually running late to wherever I am going and then you have to stop and then it seems like you have too many people standing around and you don't want to walk away from anyone, and then you get home and anymore, not doing the number of workshops I used to do in NY, and not NEEDING ALL THESE SAMPLES.....what do you DO with them, but it doesn't keep me from starting the whole process all over again the next event......making 100 cards, leaving in a zombie state, etc etc etc - okay - I thought I already went by the first card and here it is now, this is gonna be one long blabbing blog here.....see why I take so long between posts? It takes me a day to do one!! Gosh I thought I was coming up on the LAST card and here it is, only the next to the last......gee whiz. Hey- did I tell you I HAD MY NAME DRAWN AT CONVENTION TO BE IN THEIR GAME SHOW, STAMPING PICTIONARY?????? can you believe of 6000 people my name got drawn? I was TERRIFIED at first, (I am not the best example of an SU WOO HOO cheerleader type.......as everyone who knows me knows, I don't do woo hoos..........)I felt like what if I win, I won't be excited enough, maybe I should pray that I lose...... but in the end I really wanted the free stuff cuz there was so much stuff in the new catalog I love........okay so anyway we were the runnerups - I GOT A HUNDRED DOLLAR GIFT CERTIFICATE TO THE NEW CATALOG!! And when it was all over, Shelly Gardner got up and said, "Wow, I don't know if I have ever seen Karen Barber get that excited" - Ask my kids, it has happened in the past. I remember a track meet when Jen was running a race and Bethany(who also ran but was not in that particular race) said one of her friends poked her and said "Who is that nut who is scaling the fence and screaming over there?" and Bethany turned and much to her chagrin it was none other then me.....and she said, "Ah, that would be my mother" -but hey....if we talked sports events where my kids were ALL stars at one time or another....that used to get me VERY excited. :):):) Anyway - in the end I was really glad they drew my name as I got to pick out four
big and brand new stamp sets which should be arriving any day now along with my mega order I placed besides,,,,I will be stalking the UPS man THIS week for SURE!! Okay, well, here we are at the end of this post..... when I made this card I thought, "This card makes me think of Tracy Altemose, (one of the wonderful friends I have made over the years thru SU) and when I swapped with Tracy - honestly her card was a variation of this one - it was weird....and our second cards were similar too!! :) Too funny!! :) Okay- it's the end here, I am finally done blabbing and showing off for another time.....until next time - I wish you all your favoritist things - even if you DO get brain freeze and hacking coughs!! Ya'll come back now, ya hear?????OKAY, I KNOW - YOU'RE ALL THINKING SHE SAID 5 CARDS AND THERE ARE ONLY FOUR.....I WIPED ONE OUT - WHEN I WAS EDITING - JUST LIKE THAT, POOF, IT'S GONE........DOGGONE IT - IT'S PRETTY TOO!! OH WELL, IF YOU WANT TO SEE IT GO TO MY SU GALLERY......DARN IT, DARN IT, DARN IT..........GONE - WITH - THE - WIND........SHUCKS.

OMGOSH, did you SEE that???????????

2008-07-19T10:23:00.000-04:00

OKAY, check it O-U-T!!!! Look at my last entry and see who, (I am not jivin ya...) left a comment!!! Ladies and gentlemen, (gentlemen? - are there any?) THE PAM MORGAN, that's the one and only, PAM MORGAN.....(did I say PAM MORGAN left a comment on MY BLOG???? MY BLOG??? DId you all hear me say that, PAM MORGAN LEFT A COMMENT ON MY BLOG.....Okay, now first making friends with the one and only ZINDORF, and now, PAM MORGAN LEFT A LONG, NOT JUST A SHORT BUT A LONG COMMENT ON MY BLOG....and I know know know it was actually her because she said and I quote, " I am stunned and gobsmacked to find your blog, (come ON, who ELSE says gobsmacked????) Now for those of you who may not KNOW PAM MORGAN.....she is the one who gives out all the free stuff at Convention and Leadership.....she is more fun then the free stuff!! Honestly, she is just a bundle of JOY, and everything SU should be!!! Pam is one of those people that can make you feel like a million dollars....no matter who you are. She always takes time in true SU fashion to talk to any and everyone......and she has long been right up there with Shelley in my book!! So anyway, did I mention that she just happened to leave a comment on my BLOG?????? Wow, I WAS STUNNED

AND GOBSMACKED LET ME JUST TELL YA.....I WAS ABSOLUTELY GOBSMACKED, STUNNED BUT MOSTLY JUST PLAIN OLD GOBSMACKED....OKay, side note - did you see how that font just changed to dark black, like bold?? Well get this -I did not touch anything to make that happen, I really need a blog spot technician by my side when I blog, I actually wiped out 2 cards getting to where I am, so this entry will not blab on and on as long as usual.....but all of the sudden the writing gets bold, so I think, okay, I'll just hit the bold button, and then THIS happened, it got even BOLDER, so let me just take this bold opportunity to say, I AM COMPLETELY STUNNED AND GOBSMACKED CUZ PAM MORGAN, THE PAM MORGAN LEFT A COMMENT ON LITTLE OLD ME'S BLOG......WHAT A WAY TO START YOUR DAY!!! OKAY, I just unbolded it before I have a heart attack here........Did I mention that these are some of my latest creations? USING brandy new SU stamps (mostly) and brandy new SU IN colors??? How about this beautfiul riding hood red? Wow, I LOVE it!! And Kiwi Kiss is in the first creation........and in my last one I sort of reverted to old favorites, bashful blue and apricot appeal......one of my fav combos.....oKAY, SO.....did I happen to tell you who left a comment on my last blog entry? Oh, sorry, I guess I already mentioned that...what else is new.....I am operating on no sleep, but that's not new. Last weekend I pulled two weekend late nights, or actually early mornings to get my DL gifts done.....and this weekend I am hammering away on Convention swap cards, and had no (okay - see it just went back to normal there.......what is up with that? I kind of liked the bold....)intention of blogging, but when you peek on your blog and see that like the lets see, who can I compare Pam to, the MERYL STREEP of your stamping world, the like hugely popular celebrity....leaves a comment on your blog, well that's something to blog about!! (I did it on purpose this time and it worked, if actually posting this thing wipes out all the bolds you can all think I'm crazy but honestly blog spot hates me.....) Anyway- just thought I would take a break from all that embossing to mention, and I'm not name dropping or anything, but GUESS WHO WAS STUNNED AND GOBSMACKED BY MY BLOG?????????????????????????(You guessed it, my favorite PAM MORGAN) Happy Stamping Ladies - until next time, enrich your vocabulary with a new word or two, brought to you by Pam Morgan! :)

The Return of the Flowers, Tovah and Elami....

2008-07-11T22:23:00.000-04:00

Here they are - two more of our precious little grandaughters.....Lami and Tovah....The day FINALLY arrived to pick our girls up - June 27th, Jen, Tovah and Lami, (daddy followed 10 days later after making a trip to the Congo to scope things out before he brings the family there in Nov) Bekah and I headed to the airport to get them on that Friday night but they got held up in Chicago and we didn't actually get them until Saturday....we were tempted to just drive to O'Hare!! As any of you know who follow my blog and or SCS gallery - stamping has come to a screeching halt as I take the time to enjoy these precious girls while I can!! The most I have stamped is this one card, which I stamped one day while babysitting with Tovah by my side stamping as well while Lami slept. Even when I stamped this card you can see what was on my mind - that's gramma and grampa owl, saying "Look who loves you!!" to all five sweet grandaughters......When Tovah and Lami left for Kenya, Tovah was the same age that Lami is NOW, and Lami was only 6 months old!! Tovah remembered us ~ but we had to totally get to know Lami. After about 10
minutes I was in love - she has the softest, sweetest little voice, you have to listen
closely to hear her when she talks. Tovah said to me, "I remember when I was a baby gramma and you loved me and you used to say, "Toe - VAH...." (with the accent on the VAH.....I wish you could all hear her say it. It's funny, cuz in 5 minutes your heart is wrapped right around these girls and you know in 4 months its' gonna be cryin time again.....when they left the last time I made a scrapbook page where the center of every flower was a picture of them and the title of the page was, "Where Have all the Flowers Gone?" - here is a little portion of what the page says, "Even though I am sure they are right where God wants them and even though I rejoice with them that everything they have worked so hard for has finally come to fruition.....and even though I am just as proud of them as I can be, still I ache. How can something that is right feel so overwhelmingly sad??" Well eventually it got better and I tried to adopt Mary Engelbreit's quote, "Don't cry because it's over,

smile because it happened" - Well we did both, and heaven knows we will again in November. For now, mostly I will be stamping and have been stamping flowers and butterflies, cherries and crowns from SU's tattoo kit...and cards will have to wait. I have traded stamps for ponytails and ribbons, storybooks and tattoos. I have to enjoy these precious little ones while I can. We skyped shortly after they got here with Mike, Jenna and Layla - it was so fun to watch Tovah and Layla get reaquainted. I am so thankful for Webcams....and wonder how grand parents DID it before such modern inventions? I think of missionaries years ago who would leave on ships and not know if they would EVER see their families again.... I am thankful to be here NOW in this day and age where I can listen to my grand children sing me sweet songs over and over on my cell phone and talk with them on the "webcan" as Layla calls it. :) People constantly ask me how can I stand to let them go to the Congo - and I always say, I know they are safer in the center of God's will for them then anywhere else on earth. HE loves them even more then we do, and HE is capable of hiding them in the shelter of HIS wings and keeping them safe. When I get to heaven, I hope all of my grandchildren and children have mansions on the same

street as mine. I hope we are just a hop skip and a jump from eachother. But for now, I am going to just concentrate on being thankful for the lives of these precious little ones - for healthy beautiful grandchildren.
Look at that face, how angelic is that?? A real highlight will be seeing Tovah, Lami and Layla altogether Labor Day weekend.....can't wait!! And I promise to do more stamping to make up for lost time when they leave, because I will NEED to, just like last time, stamping is the best and cheapest (okay, well maybe NOT cheapest) therapy there is for times like that. Anyway- I actually stamped this card below just before they came, just thinking about all the hugs and kisses we would give and receive over the next few months......I want to bottle them all up and then take them out in the lonely days of late

November.......we always have sweet memories to tie us over till the next time! I want to make as many memories as I can over the next couple of months. I am sure I will still squeeze some stamping in while they take a few road trips....I promise to try!! But if you don't hear or see much from me, you'll know why, and who can blame me?? Happy Summer everyone!! Until next time, Happy Stamping everyone - and kiss and hug the ones you love!!

Babbert, Barber, Brown and Zindorf....sounds like a LAW FIRM........

2008-06-22T18:32:00.000-04:00

Okay - first of all, God answered my prayer here literally in that all of my posts came out right side up today, ahhhhh, God is in HIS heaven and all is well.......I cannot believe it!! Lots of my friends say you don't post often enough, and I say, "That's because everytime I try 2 out of the 5 images turn sideways on me and they are inevititably my favorite 2!! Anyway- here I am with my three new stamping friends.....actually, Michelle is almost an old friend now since I've been hanging out with her since, gee, wow, APRIL.......but it feels like I've known her a lot longer because she tends to talk alot.....so I know a lot about her. (Actually, that's what she says about ME, can you imagine???) Anyway, she feels familiar at this point.....comfortable after only 2 months, so I guess that's a GOD thing when you make a friend fast. :) Mary and Connie are new friends, and we all spent a wonderful day at Connie's house in her to die for stamp studio....(God knows I love and appreciate mine and I have asked forgiveness already for those small moments of coveting.......)but it would hold about 100 people comfortably.......well, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration.......exaggerate, who ME??? Okay......they told me I blab too much in my blog.....or did they say the blabbing was the best part.....I can't remember.......so I suggested a shoebox swap cuz you get 4 people who are not all close friends yet together and everyone wants to be so polite and I thought we would never get anything done that way....so we did a shoebox swap -I'm gonna show you the one I designed
first here.....and then go on to their works of art. It was fun, cuz Mary and Connie are 3 d stampers....complicated people, scorers, cutters, measurers.......deep thinkers........mechanically inclined, engineer types,,,,,while Michelle and I are strictly 1-D stampers, I mean you may get a layer in there, but no 22 scores, no folding(oh man, the whole thing I was working on here just disappeared, like my computer had indigestion for a minute......what a rush.....I thought I had to start over and I'm here to tell ya, I know it wouldnt' work out that everything downloaded right side up two times in a row.....so anyway- I'm gonna get on with explaining my card since it's above me now and I'm still blabbing about other things) - my card was of course, Black and White Magic, and I could not decide between the pink and the blue so I had them make one of each. If you want to see the blue you will have to visit my gallery, (since there are only 5 spots to upload pics at a time on this dumb blog.....) Anyway - they liked it a lot, I think I have now designed at least 1048 black and white magic cards - I am a bit hung up on this technique......but that's okay, everyone has their thing you know. Okay - so
Here is what Mary designed, it looks like a card in this picture - but oh no - this my friends is a whole stationary set, you pull on that little green ribbon, and out comes a BOOK that opens up like 4 ways, and has stashes here and there to insert cards, it's absolutely mechanically brilliant and complicated, my brain was so tired after making this that I begged for lunch, which was a lovely tea house that Connie took us to, but back to the box we made - these ladies thrive on 3 dimensions.......Michelle and I, our lips froze when we saw these boxes and realized we were going to actually MAKE one, all by ourselves,,,,,but Mary was a good person and had done MOST of the scoring for us, we only had like maybe 4 scores to do on our own, and when the time came I was actually so far behind the rest of them that she scored mine for me......(if you whine and look really pathetic and they don't KNOW you that well yet it works everytime.....) Michelle sucked it up and scored her own, she is a good girl. :) We decided it's way cool that we all have such different styles cuz we have a lot to learn from eachother......OH, and I may as well tell you all that all THREE of these ladies HATE snail adhesive, (seems like blasphemy to me, being SU demonstrators and all,) Michelle has been trying to get me to switch to SU's tombow glue, which I just tried today and yes, I liked it, but Connie and Mary have these tape guns that look like weapons, honestly or giant power tools- they are at least 10 pounds each......they said they are the rage, and the one thing I liked is that I always lose my mono, - let me tell you, if you get one of THOSE mother of all tape guns, you will not LOSE it, but you will not be able to find anything ELSE on the TABLE, PLUS, you may just need a bigger table!! :)ANyway, they love them, so who am I to say??? I hope they still love me after they read this but I think they will. :) And I know I am just in the dark ages with my weeny little mono anyway that falls apart in the mail.......or so they tell me........I'm the strange one. Okay, enuf said, on to the next project which is Michelle's beautiful DREAM card, Mary and Connie were so excited to learn the brayer technique that Michelle is such a whiz at....she is an
artist and all,,,,,she does such beautiful work....Mary and Connie were amazed to see that this particular card was not that involved - it worked up really quickly and we were all very happy with the results. Later Michelle taught us how to make beaches come up and hit the shore, that was way cool too....if you want to go look at her wonderful blog and then her gallery I have a link on the side of this so you can. When I figure out what I am doing I am going to link all of these ladies blogs to mine so we will be friends forever. :):) Do I sound like I'm back in 4th grade? Hey ~ I feel like it making all new friends at my age,,,it ain't easy ya know!! Give me some credit..... Isn't this card wonderful that Michelle taught us how to make?? I love it!! It was right up MY alley ~ no scoring, no folding, no measuring......but hey -it's good to stretch and do things that you don't usually do - like this next project coming up.....are these not the cutest darn britches you have ever seen????? Connie taught us how to make these, and again, she scored them for us ~ do you think somebody tipped these ladies off that Michelle and I are not mechanically inclined? Anyway, we s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d again and folded and glued and man, I went thru a whole roll of that red sticky stuff tape......geesh....but these pants aren't falling apart no way no how!! I just LOVE the little straps that we poked a gazillion holes in....and then made belt loops and the hard part was putting the glue (at this point Connie had me try her machine gun tape dispenser.....it was a riot.....but I managed to tape the ribbon all up without hurting myself or anyone else) and then the REAL challenge began....YOUR CHALLENGE, SHOULD YOU DECIDE TO ACCEPT IT, IS TO PUT THAT RIBBON THRU BOTH BELT LOOPS AND AROUND THOSE BRITCHES WITH ALL THE GLUE ALREADY ON IT AND GET IT EVEN - and look - I DID IT!! ALL BY MYSELF!! WOW.....two amazing 3-D projects in one day......and 3 amazing cards, we had so much fun, and the time flew by and it was time to go home.....thanks Connie for opening your lovely to die for stamp studio to us and taking us to the wonderful gift shop/tea house, and feeding us cookies and brownies, and candies while we stamped.....what a way to spend the day!! Then on the way home, we met up with some weather that made me think I was in Kansas and about to wake up in the Land of OZ, wow, wind blowing, and trees flying thru the air.....but alas, my faithful chaueffer got me and her home safely, (Michelle has already decided that not only do I talk too much, but I also DRIVE BAD.......how can you find out so much about a person in 2 short months????) But then, I say it's a God thing, and I thank God for bring Michelle into my life and now for blessing our day with two NEW friends.....Make new friends, but keep the old...one is silver and the other's gold. Hey, so I 've only known Michelle two months, she is the old friend -everything is relative.....and sometimes things just CLICK!! That's all for now - until next time,, happy stamping!!

MORE CARDS MADE WITH GLORIA.....

2008-05-30T21:55:00.002-04:00

OKAY, now that's not even FUNNY, that card started out turned the right way - and the blog demon turned it sideways - not kidding. I have it downloaded in the other direction on my computer and somehow, on the journey from my hard drive to blog land, it turned sideways.....so anyway you will still have to stand on your head to see it. but at least it's still here....I am NOT trying to turn it over again cuz POOF, it will be GONE WITH THE WIND.......just lean way over and take a look, okay? And then I thought as long as I was downloading one more I may as well download a couple more that we made.......but hey - I am all blabbed out so it's time to switch to the really big font so we can get through this and move on somehow...cuz I said about all the flowery things about friendship that I could think of on the last entry.....
This card here on the left is so darn cute, isn't it? That set, Bloomin With Love makes you feel like you are 8 years old when you stamp with it....I don't know what it is but it's just so darn cute....and fun to stamp with......I got the idea for the watering can over the top from my stamping friend Cindy....now that's another wonderful friendship that SU blessed me with........we not only think alike, folks say we look alike, and folks say we stamp alike!! How's that? I
am looking so foward to catching up with Cindy and Tina and Lynn and all my SU cronies when I go to Convention - it was a weak moment - saying YES I will go to convention - and I'm so glad we have weak moments like that - pay to register first because when you see the ticket prices this year you need something to anchor your decision to go.....but you know, no matter how much those airplane tickets cost - it will be worth it all to see all my precious friends - the end.....until next time- keep on making new friends!!

2008-05-30T19:59:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about FRIENDSHIP. Thinking specifically about struggling through making new friends, and celebrating old friends. Thanking God for the friends HE has blessed my life with, new and old. In this journey called life, friends truly are the flowers!! (hey, that sounds like a stamp.....) Last week, or gee, two weeks ago now, Gloria and Glenn came for a visit. My friendship with Gloria is an interesting story. Way way way back when I FIRST became a Stampin'Up demonstrator, Gloria's daughter Christy had my first workshop for me at Nyack College in NY. I had met Christy thru a mutual friend when she sold PSX stamps, (I was her best customer for a while there) and when I told her I was going with SU, she had just decided to stop selling PSX, so she said she would have my first workshop for me. I signed on( with a promise like that), so in a way I have Christy to thank for helping me make the decision to be a demonstrator!! :)Christy added on to her first workshop order with an order from her mom,(I can still hear Christy saying "I like to stamp, but my mother and sister, they are the ones that are really over the top with it....") Christy said her mom loved the catalog and would like to have a catalog workshop with her stamping friends......the rest is sort of history. Gloria has given my SU business a huge boost down thru the years....and all the while our friendship grew right along with her stamp collection. She always said to me, if you and Keith ever want to take a trip you should come on out here and have a live workshop for all these ladies that have been placing orders over the years. I talked to Keith about it and he thought it sounded like fun, (the only person I know who gets more excited about a road trip then my husband is my dog......:):):) So one year about 5 or 7 years ago, (who's counting?) we went to Orrville, OH, and had a wonderful workshop and met the gang and we've gone back every year since.......hey - I forgot to say, that card that we just passed is me giving Gloria a lesson in watercoloring with markers, and hers came out beeeuuuutiful too!! :) Keith and Glenn have become friends over the years too, and it's just one of the many friendships that SU has blessed my life with down thru the years. Here you will see Gloria and I feverishly stamping the hours away......she arrived at just before 2:00 pm and we didn't stop stamping until 2:00 am!! Well, of course we stopped long enough to eat, but honestly that was it. At 2:00 a.m., we called it a night. We made lots of cool cards but I have shown my 3 favorite ones that we made here.....Gloria is a card machine, she stamps in a moving car, she stamps in her sleep, she stamps like 25 of any card she likes and the thing that makes Gloria different from me is SHE actually SENDS cards to people......you know, like puts a stamp on them and puts them in the mail....she doesn't hoard them in a basket like me. :) I am sure there are people all over OHIO and beyond that are blessed regularly by the cards Gloria makes and more importantly, sends. : ) My hero. :) Going to Gloria's house is awesome too, she and Glenn have a little apartment off of their home and she always has all kinds of little presents and my favorite candy and fruit and muffins.....I look so forward to my visits there which happen at least once a year. Which takes me to "THE REST OF THE GANG" but honestly, Gloria's workshops always have about 40 people ~ but here is a small sampling of the ones I have grown to know and love, below. These ladies have always been like a shot in the arm to me, they sort of swarm around my samples and ooohhhh and ahhhhh.......and I always go away feeling like a star. :) If I ever felt discouraged in my business with Stampin'UP I could just think of this group of ladies and know that in a small corner of OHIO I have some serious stampers who love me. :):):) And honestly, I love them too. Of the ladies in this picture, I think most of them have been there each and every year, or close to it. From left to right in the back row - Anna Mae, Margo, Terry S, Terry and GLORIA, front row from left to right, Janet, Bev, and Judy....missing Joanne and Barbara.......So there is an example of the friendships we make a long the way. I told Gloria that her stamp group (these ladies, and 2 more who didn't make it the night the picture was taken) really need to come and have a stamping get away here in my town. I think we would have such a good time, I think we could have a shoebox swap and everyone design a card and we could have a stamping marathon.....or else I could just design a few and we could all make them together - as many of them as wanted to make the trip - we are going to do that one of these days for a weekend....right Gloria?? :) Anyway, I have just been thinking a lot about all the friendships that SU has brought my way, people I would have never known if not for becoming a demonstrator and sharing the JOY all these years of stamping with friends!! Okay, now I feel some usual blogger's frustration coming on because that card coming up is turned on it's side....and you know me being blog challenged I will never be able to get that card right side up in this life..... I needed to do that BEFORE I downloaded it to a blog....so help me out here folks and just bend your head over and take a gander at this one from the side.......it's not that bad......you get the idea, save me the untold hours of frustration figuring out how to turn that card right side up, it's ain't happenin folks, lets face it......but hey - it was the special one I was sending out there to all my friends, new and old, saying I miss you......and I do. OKAY - I HAD TO DO IT - I TRIED AND TRIED TO TURN THAT CARD RIGHT SIDE UP AND POOF!! IT WAS GONE, IT JUST TOTALLY DISAPPEARED, SO AFTER I POST THIS I WILL GO BACK AND ADD IT.....GEEZ I DESERVE THE BLOGGER OF THE YEAR AWARD - ME BLOGGING IS LIKE A 5 YEAR OLD DRIVING A CAR.....BRAVE BUT STUPID..........I JUST DONT' GET IT AND I NEVER WILL BUT IT'S SO MUCH FUN I CAN'T STOP......ANYWAY- IMAGINE A CARD HERE THAT SAYS MISSING YOU,,,,,AND THEN YOU CAN SEE IT LATER......ARGHHHHHH.... I was just saying to Keith though that after 2 years now living in OHIO, (can you believe it's been 2 years already?) I finally honestly feel like I am making some friends - and what a great feeling. Not all friendships are deep friendships, tonite I made two new friends in Kroegers, and I don't think we'll ever be that close.....it never ceases to amaze me how fast SOME people around here want to make friends, the lady in front of me in line in five minutes told me things along the lines of, "when my first husband left me he left me with nothing, no money, no job, no house.....and that's when I started smoking.....and now I have a wonderful fiance but I can't quit smoking......yadayadayada.....AND i was like, "Uh gee, I'm sorry to hear that.......while MEANWHILE, the lady behind me and I kid you not, with sort a a wild and crazy look in her eyes she said, ( and she was at the very LEAST 70 years old or so) "I don't care how handsome the next man is that looks my way and what he promises me, men are just trouble.....I had two husbands and I wouldn't give a plug nickel to have either one of them back again......in fact, the first one, I often contemplated killing with a kitchen knife....." and I was like Uh, gee, I'm sorry to hear that......(I am NOT MAKING THIS UP.....)So you can see that being a cold NEW YORKER and being dropped into the middle of friendly OHIO, I have had to be discerning and make friends slowly, but I am here to tell you it's happening.....and I am so happy!! I have some new friends from Curves, some new friends from church, and my new friend Michelle Zindorf, who I spent another Saturday stamping with and that's what my NEXT blog entry will be about......and none of these people hate men, or talk about murder to me in the grocery store.....they are nice sane folks. :) And I am just thinking that for at least a year I mourned the friendships I left behind.....and felt this sad heaviness that we left behind a history with people that we may not have enough life left to build that deeply again, and then you spend a Sunday afternoon chatting with a friend from church and you really feel a connection, and you think, maybe it won't take 10 years.....and then last Saturday, spent with Michelle, laughing and talking non stop all day and not wanting her to go home......and thinking wow, it feels like I've known her a lot longer then a month......God is good, and HE knows what we need and when we need it and then HE gives it to us. :) I can think about Convention coming up in the end of July and all the bestest friends I will get to reconnect with - it's true, Friends are the flowers in the garden of life, and ALL that good stuff!! Corny, but oh so true. What would we do without friends? Thanks God for all the friends, new and old and everything in between that you have so abundantly blessed my life with!! :) Come see us again Glenn and Gloria!! Bring those ladies Gloria!! :)

My Magical Day in Zindorfialand.....

2008-05-02T17:09:00.000-04:00

Are you all ready to hear my wonderful story of my journey to Zindorfialand??? Isn't that card to the left a beauty, if I do say so myself? (Nothing like loving your own stuff, but I do love that card....) Let me back up..... For a long time, I have admired, more like drooled over the work of Michelle Zindorf who has a wonderful gallery at Splitcoaststampers.com - that's where I have my gallery and when I'm not checking my own cards to see how many hits they have had, I am looking at everyone elses. Michelle's cards stand out on a page.....so I went to her gallery a few times and read her profile, and low and behold I found out she grew up in Dayton, OH which is where I work! So one day I left an innocent (??) little comment on one of her cards saying that I realized I live very close to her.....I would never have boldly just said what was on my mind which was, "Hey, I am stamper starved, I have no friends around me who stamp.....and actually, I have very few friends period since I only moved here less then 2 years ago, and this is actually a desperate worm I am throwing out there in an attempt to fish for friends......." (Sorry Michelle if you are reading this, but there you have it.....) I never dreamed that the great Zindorf would send me an email msg back in about 1/2 hour that was subjected, "Let's get together to stamp" - Can you picture me, doing the happy dance??? Picture it sister, cuz that's what I did. It's no secret that I actually love my own stamping,,,,,,but Michelle's stamping is a notch above anyones that I know, including and definetely my own. :):):) She is actually a watercolor artist first, and on her blog you can see some of her beautiful watercolor work. I tried to act nonchalant, but it was hard. Let's see, let me check my calendar, is later this afternoon okay? Ha-ha - For all my fine NY/NJ friends who know me, I am a social kinda gal, I NEEEEEEED friends, and as far as stamping goes, I crave friends that I can share what I do and they can share what they do......and now I have one!! YIPPEE!! To make a long story short - OH....quick look to the left - and that is the card that Michelle helped me make step by step at her house, (I wormed my way in pretty fast, huh??smile......) And the rest of these are me playing with her wonderful brayered sky technique ad: obsession like I do everything......help me - I can't stop - how much FUN is this???? So anyway, we met for lunch....at a wonderful quaint little restaurant called the Twin Creek Tea House, and turns out Michelle is no more bold then me but wants a stamping buddy too!! :) Must be a GOD thing.....but what fun!! We ate at the cute little restaurant, (anyone who comes out here to see me I am going to drag you there for sure, it's so cute and has well,,,,,,you know how they use the term "chick flick"? Well, this place has a "chick menu" - like stuff your husband would say, what's up with this place, where are the hamburgers.....where are the french fries, no -they have stuff like quiche, and fruit salad, zucchini bread, and iced tea, and the BEST carrot cake you ever ate!! Definetley girlie stuff.....so come see me and I'll take you there!! Okay- so anyway- we ate, we tooled around the gift shop(Cindy and Fran, it has Vera Bradley....come to Ohio....come to Ohio.....come to Ohio.....) and then we went to Michelle's stamp room for the afternoon and she gave me a lesson in this brayered sky technique.....it's so darn cool.......and if you want a tutorial, hey- go to Michelle's blog,,,,,cuz you know ME and tutorials, they tend to be pretty, well, um.... S-H-O-R-T......but Michelle's is awesome AND you can see her original creations instead of mine!! :) But isn't God good....cuz he not only gave me a stamping friend, but an ARTIST!!! How cool is that???? (If you are reading this Michelle, I promise you I really am NOT stalking you........just thanking God that we got to meet and stamp) and now I have invited Michelle back to my house in a couple of weeks and I will take her to my favorite restaurant in Miamisburg, what it lacks in charm and possesses in downright tacky decor, it makes up for in the best THAI food I have eaten around here and equal to my favorite restaurant in NY!! And then I will bring her back here and I think I will show her my Black Magic stuff and see what gorgeous twists she will make with that technique!! Everyone on SCS accuses her of having a magic brayer......but hers really did LOOK just like mine....hmmmmmm.......the only thing was that once I accidentally started to pick hers up instead of mine and that was the only time she got borderline violent the whole time I was with her....other then that she seems so nice....hmmmm... do you think she really DOES have a magic brayer?? Anyway, Michelle is very humble and down to earth - she is a flippin celebrity in the SCS world..... and I have gotten more, "I'm so jealous comments" on my cards....cuz I got to have a lesson and they didn't - come on, grow up, cry me a river, build me a bridge and GET OVER IT ladies......... just kidding.........JUST KIDDING......... but I do feel so blessed to have spent the day with Michelle not only because of her amazing talent - but because she's just plain sweet!! Do you like this birdy one? There is no end to the possibilities with this technique......good thing I started on Wednesday night, cuz man, I stayed up so late I was like sleep walking at work......have to save that for the END of the week, Friday we have no patients, and that's a good thing cuz I was borderline comatose today.........diet coke to the rescue.... several times!!! Anyway- here comes another one at ya, these last two were my first two
attempts, and I wasn't too sure about placement ~ but I liked the finished product......can you believe these start from whisper white cardstock? yep, they do...... Okay- now - you all know I don't do maps, right? well there's another thing I don't do........sorry guys but I don't do "links" - ain't I a sorry excuse for a blogger?? I DON'T DO LINKS!! This is my round about way of sending you to Michelle's gallery and/or blog.... Go to my gallery which Claire put a link to on the right side of this blog up a ways.......from there you can go to that elephant card, or for that matter almost any of the cards that use this brayered sky technique and Michelle Zindorf, aka, the GREAT ZINDORF has left comments for me, (I ASKED her to leave at least one comment so all those jealous groupies of hers would know I don't come from la-la land and it was really the truth that we met.....) From Michelle's comment, you can go to her gallery or her blog....cuz they say gallery and blog and you just click and voila!! Hey, while you're in there, you can leave me a comment to , cuz after you see HER creations, you won't think mine are so great anymore,,,,,,haha.......give me a little glory while I still have your respect, okay??? In fact, you might decide to visit her blog instead of mine after this.....boo-hoo.....it's okay, I can stand it...... after all she actually explains what she does in terrific tutorial fashion.......but remember who sent you there, okay? Friends? Yeh, you're gonna love me for this......haha. Well here is my last first creation here, I mean the last on this blog, but actually my first solo attempt at a Zindorf
brayered sky inspired creation!! It's a kind of a fantasy card......a magical mystical place..... Don't ask me why flowers would be like out there, in the desert with a purple sky......with swirls coming up around them......this is Zindorfialand and it's MAGIC and anything can happen!! Thanks for coming along on my journey with me....and don't ask me if you can borrow my brayer either, cuz the answer is NO!! (Or my white gel pen for that matter either.....)unless of course you come to Ohio to stamp with me, and then you can borrow anything you WANT!! That's all for this chapter ladies, keep on stampin!

JENNA AND LAYLA AND EASTER TOO!!

2008-03-22T09:55:00.000-04:00

Here is my happy little Layla girl, in two weeks time we went from blizzard to spring..... It was a wonderful visit, and I am so thankful to Mike for sending them and to Jenna and Layla for coming! They had long days alone in my house while I worked, but Jenna was sweet to keep Layla up late at night for me, and then they could sleep in a bit in the morning......We just had a great time! Jenna shares my love of stamping, (even Layla does!) so she was happy to have a room to scrap book in while I was gone, and Luca was so happy for the company!! Jenna and I only got in one stamping session, because most of the time we ended up doing puzzles, reading books, coloring etc, in the stamp room. What a gift to walk through the door at night after a long day of work and hear G-R-A-M-M-A!!!! And get a huge hug......thanks for coming.......come again soon!! :) You can see we had some interesting March weather, when I moved here everyone said they get more "mud" then snow here, but so far, I would have to disagree, both winters have had more snow then the average NY winter! In NY, I never did any shoveling either, but here, I have done plenty with Keith on the road!! :) It's actually kind of fun, but it's okay with me if we don't
get anymore now till next year!! One of the things I loved best about their visit was getting quality time with Jenna as well as Layla. I came away knowing even more then before that the old adage is true, "You marry your mother" - haha - Jenna and I have more then scrapbooking and stamping in common. A lot of our thought processes are the same, we worry about the same stuff, we are alike in many ways. I love my daughter in law. She feels more like another daughter. :) God is good. And Layla, she is almost 3, going on almost 30. Honestly, she keeps you in stitches with the stuff she says. Her vocabulary is amazing, (I guess I'm beginning to sound like a gramma here, sorry, but it's all so true!!) I miss you girls!!! I actually get to see them in the next couple of weeks here as our last voyage, (SU cruise which I do not have energy to keep on earning due to my work at the dentist's office) goes out of NY next week- (YIPPEE!!) and when
I made the return flight, I made it so we are in NY overnight and we will stay with Mike and Jenna and Layla......and get to see Jenna's family, and then on Sunday we'll go to church with Mike and Jenna to Risen King where they are going, and then we'll get together with all our forever friends in NY for lunch after church.....I am SOOOOO excited!! A little bonus visit with Layla.....to plant ourselves even firmer in her little memory........it will make the end of the cruise not sad!! :) Here is a card I made (the red hydrangeas) that I just love, but then I could just stamp that image in black and plop it on black cardstock and I would love it cuz it's hydrangeas!! I bought 2 of them yesterday, one for me and one for my OHIO friend Mary Ann who is having us over for Easter dinner. Aren't hydrangeas just the BEST? Anyway - I don't know if they really come this bright of a red, but if not, maybe I just gave God a good idea. :)
This other blue and green card here - it's the crayon resist technique, and I just thought that image WAS a blueberry bush, and Julie, my SCS friend commented on the card that she never would have thought of it as a blueberry bush but it works.....so I am now wondering if it's not a blueberry what IS it? Anyway- here it's a blueberry bush.....or bough,,,,, or whatever....... These cards are very random here but as I said, I did precious little stamping while my girls were here.....not to go right back to Layla, but just to give you a glimpse of how adorable, hysterical and brilliant she is all rolled into one petite package of blond curls, one day that she was here Jenna was on the phone with Mike, and asked Layla to say hi to daddy....and Layla was busy playing with me and didn't want to stop so I tried to lay a little guilt on her and say, Poor daddy, he really wants to say hi to his girl, (meanwhile, Mike is in the background saying "Leave her alone, she's playing with her gramma") so after about four attempts to lay guilt on her, (I'm good at that after raising four of my own, mothers are the travel agents on all your guilt trips.....)she finally turned to me and said, and I quote and I don't exaggerate....she really and truly said it exactly this way and Jenna can comment and correct me if I am wrong.....because it's just so cute you won't believe it........okay- here it goes, she said.......are you ready for this???? drum roll.....she said, "GRAMMA, daddy will eat his dinner and take a rest and later I will talk to him, does that sound like a good deal to you Gramma, Trust me gramma........." What two year old SAYS that????? I know you all think your grand children are cute too, but hey- can you TOP that??????? Just kidding, I know yours are special too. :) Can I just say I LOVE being a grand
mother???? I have FOUR MORE AS CUTE AS THIS ONE! Can you believe it? Wait till Tovah and Lami are living here for 3 months, you'll see!! :) Here's my last and final card of the blog here, and this is the technique where you color right on the back of a solid image using watercolor crayons and then mist it before you stamp it on watercolor paper, pretty, huh? Very quick and easy too! Quick and easy is not usually my style, I try but I usually don't make it but his card was really quick and easy so I'm kinda proud of it for that reason alone!! :) Well, it's Easter tomorrow, go to church and don't eat too many jelly beans, (unless of course they are buttered popcorn jellybeans.....).....Don't forget to thank God for sending his Son to die on a cross for our sins ~ as a gramma and 4 time mother, that's a hard thing to grasp, isnt' it? That God could love ME and YOU so much, that He gave HIS only begotten son to hang on a cross and die so that whosoever believeth in HIM could have everlasting life.....and I am a whosoever......YOU are a whosoever......REMEMBER, HE IS RISEN, HE IS RISEN INDEED!!

THIS CARD IS CUTE, BUT NOT AS CUTE AS LAYLA........

2008-03-01T17:45:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I think it has taken me so long to blog this time because I knew when I posted that Layla girl's adorable picture was gonna get pushed down under cards, I have so enjoyed turning on my blog in the morning and seeing that pretty little face and it's close to mine......where it will be next week!! I can hardly wait, Jenna and Layla arrive on March 5th.....yippee, yahhooo!! So anyway- the time has come to post, it's kind of like once they are here, I do not intend to need to fill my time with blogging, so I better get one in before they get here.......thankfully I am just getting OVER the flu, I so would have hated to feel the way I have felt when they are HERE.....so God is good,,,,if you have to have the flu at least He timed it right for me!! :):):) I hate the flu. I don't think I have had it in like 5 years, I kid you not. I never get sick,,,,although after these past two weeks I said I would never say that again so I guess I should say I never used to get sick, cuz man, I have been like a noodle for two weeks now. I even took off 2 days from work, and guess what? They got along fine without me!! Bekah worked on Presidents day for me which was so sweet of her.....she would have had a day off but she worked for me......thanks Bekah!! Anyway- in the last week since I have felt somewhat better I have been stamping up a storm cuz I still don't feel like doing anything else.......Isn't that card I just passed by cute? That I think is my new favorite current in the regular catalog set and it's called Blooming with Love.....it's just so cute that it brings out the kid in you when you stamp with it. You know, they said there's a little girl inside all of us, I'm just making lots of cards with that set getting ready for LAYLA!! My other most favoritist set in the whole entire history of Stampin'
Up! is this other set here called Bloomin' Beautiful that has a poppy and a most beautiful vase of hydrangea's in it.....I am a hydrangea FREAK.....I remember when SU discontinued like the third hydrangea in a row a few years back and I was like ready to jump ship to some other stamp company who realized the importance of having at LEAST one hydrangea set at all times......so anyway- I have gone kind of crazy with this set, trying to stamp so many different arrangements of hydrangeas that I get SICK of them before the mini catalog is done for....but so far I am not sick of it.......I just LOVE that hydrangea stamp and I love the poppy too! So far I have stamped seven, that's S-E-V-E-N different cards using the hydrangea and making it all different colors - you will have to go check out my SCS gallery to see most of them......cuz I can't possibly blab through all seven......you know right now I feel like I have the flu all over again, but I think it's cuz first of all I stayed up last night, or this morning, however you want to look at it, until 3:17 in the morning..... STAMPING......so I woke up sort of feeling sick.....and then I have been on a diet and I have lost about 20 pounds, and I am just about almost not quite but nearly just where I want to be, so today at a weak moment I ate about 42 skittles and then took a nap cuz I am so exhausted...and I think that's why I feel like I have the flu.....the skittles, the lack of sleep, the nap, I do not recommend 42 skittles before a nap, actually, 42 is a lot to eat all at once no matter WHEN you eat them......but anyway, I think I had actually forgotten what it feels like to have the flu, if I had sick days, like in the good old days at AIM I am sure I would have been out the whole week, but I HAD to go back to work cuz I am training a new girl, (that's the story of my life, I am ALWAYS training a new girl) and I could not leave her alone!! Here's the first hydrangea card - is that not beautiful? I don't usually brag about my own cards but that is my fav that I made with the hydrangea......the others you will have to see in the gallery - this is my fav and I am just going to post the one of the hydrangea here.....aren't hydranga's like proof that there is a GOD? They are the most beautiful flower in the entire world, and poppies are no slouches either.......SU really got it with this set!! I already know I will never get rid of this set......there is a bee in it however that is sort of the stuff NIGHTMARES are made of - just a wee bit TOO realistic for me, but hey- I love all the other stamps in this set - it's an awesome set!!Back to the flu, you know this flu does not quit. I went to the doctor, and was on two different antibiotics and I thought I was like almost better and was just left with a little cough and I went to bed one night and woke up in the middle of the night and I was like, WHOA, it's like FREEZING in this house.....well, I checked and it wasn't and I was like tossing and turning and aching and freezing and this was after I was better!!!!! And then, miraculously and little by little I started to feel better, until now and like I said, I think it's the 42 skittles that did it.......my poor diet. Why did I DO that? It's like my body was just getting used to healthy eating too and then kabam, you go and eat 42 skittles,,,,,and skittles are not even my favorite......like if I think about it there are a lot of things I would much rather eat 42 of then skittles.......it's kind of hard to think of anything but skittles right now and I don't think I will be buying those puppies for a very long time........skittles are one of those candies that make you sick every time you eat them, have you ever noticed that? Maybe I always just eat too many,,,,sort of like jelly beans, Buttered Popcorn jelly beans, now THOSE are some candies WORTH eating 42 of.....and I am sure I have done that many times in my life and the belly ache that follows is well.....sort of.....worth it, know what I mean? Like when you eat 42 skittles you are like what the heck was I thinking, I am ready to
launch, and when you eat 42 Buttered Popcorn jelly beans you are like, man I am about ready to launch, now what did I do with the REST of those jelly beans....and you make it 43.......they are just about as wonderful as hydrangeas!! But skittles are sort of like dandelions in comparison....they just are not worth it......this belly ache would feel so much better if only I had eaten Buttered Popcorn jelly beans instead.....I'm gonna remember that next time.....gee I honestly wondered what I had to blab about this time but magically I always think of something.....and here we are to the next cute little bring the kid out in you card.......and yes, I hope your day IS blooming with love.....mine is like blooming with skittle regrets....but I hope YOURS is blooming with love.....next week after Wednesday ALL of my days will be blooming with love......that baby girl is gonna make my day every day that she is here, I just know it. I cannot wait to bring her to work and show her off, Jenna too mind you, I LOVE my daughter in law too, but she will look the same and talk the same as the last time I saw her, but my Layla girl, she's changed so much since the last time I saw her that I just cannot wait to get my hands on her!! Jenna will probably let me read to her at bedtime and put her down, and sing to her, and all that good stuff I did with Tovah before they left for Africa. I hope I don't cry too long and hard the day they go home. That's the hard thing about those visits is they all must come to an end. I am so grateful to my son for sending them. I was on the phone with him and telling him how I play Laylas msgs over
and over and over again till I run my battery dead and he said gee ma, you need a visit, huh? and then the next thing I knew they were calling me up giving me dates......I am so grateful to him for sharing his precious two girls with me for 2 whole weeks when he himself can not get off from work to come but he's sending them anyway- thanks Mike!! Love you man!!! Thinking about greeting our girls on Wednesday is almost enough to make me forget how many skittles I ate....oh happy Wednesday, and Dr. Sato said I can bring them right to work, and show them off the very first day.... I want to do so many things with them when they are here, Layla keeps saying we are gonna stamp gramma......and we are.....I will have to take some pictures and post them after they leave thru my tears......and I am gonna lay off the skittles while they are here, cuz I wanna feel good.....isnt' that a pretty poppy over there? Poppies are awesome..... flowers in general make me think all is well, God is in HIS heaven, Layla and Jenna are coming, and all is right with the world.......think of me over the next two weeks, and say a prayer that they last a long, long time!! Happy two weeks everyone!!

THIS IS LAYLA..............

2008-02-02T10:19:00.001-05:00

Now I ask you, if she was YOUR grand daughter and she sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to you in a voice as cute as that face, would you not be guilty of running your phone battery dead three times that week listening to it over and over? Don't you wish YOU were one of my coworkers so YOU could have heard it 32 times the first day too??? Dont' you have to agree that she could be in movies? Look at that hair!! Look at that smile, those adorable teeth, those big brown eyes -that smile....and can you believe it that we have 4 more grand daughters as cute as this one? Watch for future posts and you can see the others who will have their turn being featured on grammas blog......as for me, I am having sweet dreams of 14 whole days with Layla in March, and I don't think I'll be blogging much for THOSE 14 days.......I can promise you that!! Thought you would all understand why I talk about the girls so much if you could see a picture of one!! Sweet, sweet Layla- gramma sure loves you!!

January MADNESS.......

2008-02-02T09:17:00.000-05:00

Uh, yah, I know, it's not January anymore, but that's my point. Where did it GO????? I never even blogged for a whole MONTH. And listen, it's not like I was unpacking my suitcase from Leadership or anything, cuz it's still on my bedroom floor. And it's not like I was taking down my Christmas tree or anything, cuz the wonderful thing is still glowing from my dining room in all it's glory, complete with it's matching Christmas wreath on the front door. I must at least get the wreath down today, so only the people who come INSIDE my house will know I still have Christmas decorations up but at least the whole neighborhood won't know. And I'm not one of those people who just LIKE to leave it up......I think maybe I'll become one of those people and just say I meant to do that. NO, it's just because I have been back to working more overtime again, as my friend Cyndi at work is big time struggling with her health again, so really, I ask you, why am I the one complaining?? Anyway- Leadership was wonderful......I think I go more for the
connection with my friends then anything else,,,,how great was it to see Cindy and Lynn and Tina and the whole INKredible gang.......it was like a shot in the arm for me .......not to mention that I also met a couple of really nice ladies, Mary and Connie who live near me and we are going to get together so I will be able to spend some time with people who speak the language here in OHIO, because as far as stamping goes, I have felt like someone in a foreign country. When ladies from my church saw how many stamps I have on shelves outside my stamproom wall, they looked at me differently, sort of like this glazed over look and you knew they were thinking, "This poor lady has a real problem here" - and I tried to explain myself....how I put them all to good use and I have been doing this for over 14 years and a lot of them were given to me as gifts, blah, blah, blah, but it didn't work - I know they left and in their minds I was right up there with the average crack addict in their minds.......SO, nice to meet some other hooked people in the area. Stampers unite, and all that. :) Well, yesterday at work I got the best news I have received since I heard the last grandchild was on the way and that is this.......MY GRAND DAUGHTER LAYLA AND HER MOTHER JENNA ARE COMING TO SPEND NOT ONE DAY, NOT TWO DAYS, NOT THREE DAYS, BUT FOURTEEN DAYS AT MY HOUSE IN MARCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you imagine my excitement??? Layla said to me, "We are gonna stamp Gramma, and I am gonna see your craft room, and I am gonna buy you a Mickey Mouse lollipop!!" That girl really knows what counts in life!! Do you know that commercial on TV right now - or is it in your area or maybe must mine, where this kind of
whiney, obnoxious girls sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and you kind of want to throw a shoe at her to stop the noise.....well, if they would have just made that commercial with LAYLA singing that song, man - they would have made a million!! Jenna regularly sends me pictures with sound on them on my new high tech phone and recently Layla sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and even my coworkers agreed after hearing it 32 times that day that she could make movies!! I know they weren't just humoring me-this kid is hilarious!! Okay, for forty minutes now I have been trying to move the picture below DOWN so I can keep typing and it finally, finally worked.....I am so blogging blog challenged it isn't funny, but I keep trying. (See, for me, blogging is used in that last sentence as an enormously emotion packed descriptive adjective, like to say gee I am blogging mad....)Man, I just remembered I was posting cards here.....sorry about that- but these are just some of my latest creations, more Black Magic,,,,,we never did find the dog bones, but now I lost something so much worse!! I lost a zip lock bag full of my first 14 Black Magic creations.......and again, I have ripped the house apart looking for them,,,,(maybe THAT's why the Christmas tree is still up......) but anyway, if you are out there and I lent you those cards, please stop the madness and tell me - I am offering a reward for those cards, honestly, how could I lose that many cards???? Coming up here pretty soon is gonna be the last BLACK MAGIC card on this post, (that's faith, because heaven knows I could wipe it out before I get there) but anyway, since everyone tells me they looked on my blog and can't find instructions for Black Magic, I am going to repeat the instructions. Remember, I am not the tutorial queen or anything, these are just my simple version instructions of how to do BLACK MAGIC WITH MY WHITE GEL PEN TWIST. Here goes, now pray that card is still under here somewhere.......First of all, you use solid stamps for the best results.....stamp your images in white craft ink on black cardstock. You can also (okay, is it the guys who design the blogs, or is it me??? Now I can't move the next card down and if wipe out the Black Magic one I am gonna be so mad..........)anyway - try try again......I have tried and tried and tried and you see what I have here, it wll NOT move that Groovy Guava card down so I can type next to the Black Magic one....is it ME, or is it THEM??? How come other people just blog, but for me it's like I B--L--O--G????? I like SLOG, I don't BLOG.......arghhhh, anyway, just ignore that big orange card there, look beyond it to the one next to it which is obviously the BLACK MAGIC one.......you may all think I am trying to be funny here, but I am NOT!!!!!!!!! That orange card is possessed!! It will not move, now where were we, I think it's mad cuz it's not Black Magic, just ho hum emboss resist, and it wants the spotlight.......but look back up there, I am having a hard time moving on here, it's just bugging me so much that the orange card is just like OUT THERE....(see how it went from Groovy Guava to like ORANGE????) Anyway, after you have stamped your images in white craft ink, let them dry or blow them dry with your heat tool. Color on the images with pigment colored pencils, ie, SU's pure colored pencils and then accent with the white gel pen. Thats' all there is to it......and the big fat old ugly orange card, it speaks for itself!! As for me, I am off to maybe, just maybe, take down the Christmas tree!! (Layla is coming, Layla is coming, Layla is coming, YIPPEE!!)

EMBRACING LIFE IN 2008.....

2007-12-29T10:49:00.000-05:00

Okay, when I first saw this stamp set I jumped for joy(metaphorically speaking for anyone who really knows me I am really not the "actual jump for joy" type) at one that really looked like I would LOVE it!! Ordered it as soon as we could, all the time thinking, word stamp,Embrace Life,,,what were they thinking? Like hmmmmm, who do you give an embrace life card to anyway?? (as if I ever send 1/2 the cards I make ANYWAY....)but I was thinking I wish they would just make more HB and Thinking of you and Thanks stamps and lay off the EMBRACE LIFE stamps, or the Delight in this or that stamps......but hey- upon deeper thinking and further reflection I stand corrected. The stage I am at in life right now, I should send MYSELF an Embrace Life card everyday!! And I could also send one to all my menopausal, empty nester friends as well on a daily basis!!
Look at my life with me for a bit......I am living hundreds of miles from most of my family and friends......I am working really long hours, I am separated from my husband all week who I worked side by side with for 23 years.....and the list COULD go on....but I will stop there, isnt' that plenty enough to feel sorry for myself about?? BUT, if we turn it around and look at it THIS way, look what happens.....I live in my beautiful little dream house in a beautiful little town surrounded by potential new friends, my daughter and her husband and our grand dog Moseley live right across town, I work hard at a new job I find challenging and FUN, I am temporarily separated from my husband so he can get a job locally after doing over the road time for experience,(meanwhile we talk on the phone a gazillion times a day thanks to verizon to verizon free minutes) I have children who live far from me but love me and stay in touch with me, I have 5 beautiful and HEALTHY grand daughters and a golden retriever who is faithful and loyal and loving and keeps me company on lonely nights......AND I HAVE AN AWESOME STAMP ROOM TO BOOT......I have so much TO BE THANKFUL FOR!! So, as Mary Engelbreigt says, Life is 10 percent about what happens to you and 90 percent about what you do with what happens to you.....I love that!! I work with a young girl right now who has suffered with health maladies since she was born prematurely....Her latest battle has been with cysts on her optic nerves that cause her to go blind....one eye is pretty much blind at this point unless she takes large doses of steriods, the other eye has temporarily gone blind on her two times. Her attitude has taught me so much......her standard answer to any situation where she could feel sorry for herself is, "It's only an eyeball and I still have one that works". So much wisdom from a 22 year old. Her standard line to me if I am feeling sorry for myself about something is "At least you have 2 eyeballs that work" - Very true.....at times it has taken an extra measure of grace not to fire a smart remark back at her when she says that but you know why? Because she's RIGHT......We all have so much to be thankful for, and yet I for one find myself focusing on the half empty part of the glass too often. I had a nice long talk with a friend in my DL who called last night - as we talked on, and we don't know eachother really well, have just always sensed a kindred spirit in eachother, we discovered that our lives are pretty similar. We both love to stamp, we both love Mary Engelbreigt, we are both Christians who try to love and follow God, we are both big worriers and we tend to focus too much on worrying about our adult children. We both miss our grand children a LOT. As we talked we both realized we need to focus on the positive at this stage in life and to really EMBRACE LIFE!! I really enjoyed that nice long chat SUE!! :) I think this is going to be my New Year's Resolution!! Last year it was to lose weight, and I now attend Curves regularly and have lost the post Ohio weight that crept on(about 10 pounds) when I ate my way thru loneliness and probably an additional 6 or 7 pounds after that - So hopefully I will be equally as happy with my resolution to COUNT MY BLESSINGS MORE next year!! I do count my blessings, but I feel like I live on the edge of sadness alot, and I want to move. :) :) Perspective is everything. Last year Keith and I cleaned models every Friday night and I used to say to him, I really enjoy Friday nights.....we would always go out to eat, then go clean models, which is great as far as cleaning goes, if you have to clean, it's better to clean stuff that never actually gets used......but Keith would always say, I can think of lots of things I would rather do with you then clean models though, and then this year I said to him, "Wouldn't it be great to clean models on Friday nights again?" and he chuckled and said yes, since now we don't SEE eachother till sometime on Saturday........and there you have it- perspective. We should not complain about our present situation cuz comically, we need to realize our next could be WORSE. And if we are really just passing thru this life and I believe we are and our purpose is to grow closer to and more LIKE JESUS, then we should really and truly EMBRACE LIFE and count our blessings and enjoy the ride!! That's what I intend to do in 2008....Happy New Year everyone - Hope you enjoyed the cards and the blab, and don't forget to read on for the Christmas blog.....it's pretty funny and not so heavy!! Happy New Year!!