Well, last Sunday I went to Jennifer Thompson's house for our team's monthly Stamp-A-Rama. We all brought a shoebox swap to participate in. (A shoebox swap is when everyone brings the supplies for everyone else to make a card, or project and we all make everyone else's project to take home with us. Clear as mud? Good!) I took the Snow Swirled Christmas card I showed you a few days back and I got to make these lovely creations:
I don't remember who brought what, but I know that the sympathy card was brought by my upline Alisha, and the brayered "you're on my mind" card was Jennifer's contribution. 
This neat little desktop calendar was fun! We colored the flowers directly on the stamps with Stampin' Write markers, sprayed them with a little water, then stamped for a watercolor effect.
See my little boo boo on the flower petal? Oh well, that's what handmade looks like! I remember that this was the shoebox swap from Julie. I just met her for the first time that day. Hi Julie!
Isn't that owl cute? We used a bunch of punches including the scallop circle punch, round tab punch, and boho blossoms punch. Talk about enabling me to want more punches! LOL!
This project is so great! We used the scalloped square punch and the curly lable punch (which I have both of!) and made embellishments! Now I know how to make frames and cute photo corners for my scrapbook pages. WooHoo!The Stamp-a-ramas are always so much fun because I get to hang out with fellow demonstrators and make stuff. I really miss that. When we lived in Vegas I had my "stamping buddies" and we could hang out and craft or show eachother what we'd been making. I hope I find a fun group like that again when we get to Italy.
Speaking of Italy, I am selling off some of my retired stamp sets to make room for more... uh, I mean... to have less to move! LOL! You can read the list of stamps and prices HERE and if you are interested, let me know.
Until next post, be blessed!
I still have about a month to get this done, but I needed to get it going because I don't want to procrastinate and have to rush through it at the end! On these two pages, imagine a dad changing a diaper in the first one, then blowing raspberries on son's belly in the second one:
I am keeping the pages VERY simple and as "manly" as possible. This book will be in the hands of a preschooler and I don't want it to be easily ruined. I want it to be durable for a little man's hands so there isn't any extra embellishment to these pages. 
I covered up the pictures for privacy-sake, but the pages really do look much better when you can see the pictures! 
Since the contest specifically asked us to make a card, I made this one for a very special caregiver.
And here is the page my Mom made: 
This is her and her husband last Halloween!
We found a few cards on Splitcoaststampers that were similar to this, just changed the colors or layout a little.
Isn't she adorable? She is pulling up to the standing position all on her own, and she will cruise along funiture sometimes too. She still won't put herself into the sitting position and she still crawls like a soldier instead of a baby, but that's ok with us! She is getting into all kinds of mischeif now that she knows she can get around!
I think maybe Angel was trying to ask 
Well, I have a scrapbook to finish and a workshop to prepare for so I better get off this machine and get to work while the kids are still occupied!
The first set of TTC's use GKD's Summer Harvest stamp set with some random paper from my big stash of random papers. It also uses my new scalloped square punch from Stampin' Up! I love that thing and I'm sure I'll be using it a lot! 
The second set of TTC's use GKD's "Flowers for Daisy" illustrated by Asella Hopkins. This set of stamps is so versatile and pretty. 
As you can tell in this pic, Angel shares some of her deepest, most intimate thoughts with her favorite little buddy. They have been through thick and thin with eachother. To give you some perspective, here is a picture of Angel Baby with tigger when Angel was living in the NICU: 
That;s actually not the best picture of them together, can you even see tigger up there in the corner? He was with Angel from the beginning! When I look at these pictures of Angel, I get reminded of all the blessings that God has given me and my family. 
Melanie (the redhead) and Hope and I have been like sisters since the first day of highschool, over 14 years ago. I know that they will be in my life until our dying days, and I'm so grateful for that. Anyway, I flew out of Hawaii late Saturday night and got into Vegas early Sunday morning. I got a rental and drove to Barstow and had lunch with my Dad and family. That was so nice to catch up with my little sister and brothers and parents. Then I drove to the funeral. Since Hope bought me the plane ticket, Melanie had no clue that I was going to be there. When she saw me, she was so surprised and happy. It was a great thing to do for her. Thanks so much for making it possible Hopie!
It scared the crap out of me! Thank goodness it was already dead or I would have screamed and woken up the whole neighborhood. I do not like spiders.
Well, I've been busy getting some trading cards done for a swap I'm in, so I don't have any new projects to show you right now, but here's a pic of the Owl Cards I received from the first Owl Swap I was in.
This time around, I wanted to receive more cards so that is why I took two spots in the owl swap. I hope you all are having a good week, and that you appreciate all the people God is putting in your lives. I thank God for each and every one of you, my blog readers and friends. Thank you for stopping by today and until next post, be blessed.
She came into my life when I was an impressionable, lost freshman in high school. Her daughter, Melanie, and I became fast friends on our first day of highschool, and we've been like sisters ever since. Mary has been like another Mom to me. I remember the first time I had a sleepover with Melanie. Mary and Melanie got into a toilet water fight! They ran around the house splashing eachother with blue water from the toilet, and they laughed just like two best friends goofing off together. I remember thinking, "Wow, this is a fun Mom." And she was. 
I spent most weekends at Mary's house, sharing Melanie's room and waterbed. Mary never told me to go home and always welcomed me. I was included in family trips, family get-togethers, and most of all Mary made me feel like a real member of the family.
When Melanie and I graduated highschool together, I knew I would still be considered family. Us growing up and moving on with our "adult" lives was not going to seperate us. Even though there were many miles between us over the years, Mary still emailed me. She sent me wonderfully encouraging emails. She supported me when I went through tough times, and she sent me bible studies. I knew that I would always have a strong Christian woman to go to if I ever needed her. And she always came through. 
Once, when I was just 18 years old and travelling alone with my 2 month old to Hawaii to visit my Mom, I ran into some trouble. My first flight was delayed from Ontario California to LA. Also, on our decent into LA, my baby threw up all over me. I had brought him a change of clothes, but didn't think I would need some too. Since my connection from LA to Hawaii was long gone by the time I arrived, I had to fiugre out what to do until the next available flight. I had never been in a situation like that before, and I didn't know what to do. The airline told me they would get me on the next flight, but that wasn't until the next day. I had a baby, I had filthy clothes, and I had no money for a hotel or rental car (couldn't rent one at 18 anyway) and I was lost. I called Mary. Since she lived in LA, she immediately told me she would take care of me. She sent a taxi to pick me up, she paid for it, she let me sleep in her bed, did my laundry, fed me, and made me feel completely safe. She went above and beyond for me, just like any Mom would do. I love that woman.
I seriously can't remember! I think maybe I tried to post this project that day that blogger wasn't letting me upload... Anyway, here is a little box of 3x3 cards that I made for Jen Young's August Aloha RAK. I primarily used Melanie Muenchinger's Little Tees stamp set.
Have I mentioned how much I love Mel's stamps? Ok, ok, that joke is old now. Sorry! The paper I used was a mixture of Basic Grey, My Mind's Eye, Stampin' Up! and Paperbilities. See what I did with the flowers? 
I punched them out with my Stampin' Up! punch and then cut between the petals to make them more dimensional. I love the way that makes them look. I also sponged the centers a little and the edges so they all match and look a little "shabby chic" (at least I think so!). The other stamp set that I used was Love You To Pieces by Gina K. Designs. 
The tee with all the puzzle pieces on it is the one I used that set with. The outside of the card says "Hope we can" and the inside says "connect soon". I thought it was pretty smart splitting up the sentiment like that! 
Well, it's been a pretty busy and quick weekend once again. Friday flew by really quick. We went to Chinatown for the first time and it was a neat experience. Ashton had been there before with his preschool class, so he played tour guide and showed us around. There was some really cool stuff to look at, and some really gross stuff too (you know, like pig pieces. UGH!). Then, Saturday came and went so quick I didn't even realize it was over. The kids and I went to the park and played follow-the-leader on the workout station, and then we went grocery shopping. I was stupid and dropped a can of frozen juice directly on my middle toe! It hurt so bad I almost threw up, but didn't. It is still throbbing, it's completely purple, and my toenail is going to fall off any day now. It really sucks. I didn't realize how much a little toe could HURT! OUCH! Now it's Sunday, and we didn't do much today. It was a nice day to just sit and relax, and keep my foot elevated so it doesn't throb so much. Tomorrow is going to be another relaxing day I hope. Thank you God for the Labor day holiday! LOL!