Tagged & A Project

Kelly tagged me to share 7 random facts. Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you and leave a comment on their Blog.
2. Post the rules on your Blog.
3. Share 7 random facts about yourself on your Blog
4. Tag 7 random people, linking to their Blog.
I'm not too great with the linking thing, so I'll list them here but you have to check out their links over on my side panel.
Kelly from Kelly's Art Journaling tagged me and I tag
1-Julie-Thoughts for The Day (cuz she needs to blog more)
2-Vivian-Gamboaventures (cuz she too needs to blog more)
3-Nicole-but she doesn't have a blog so she should put it on her MySpace
4-Kristel-but she doesn't have a blog or a MySpace, so just email me!
5-Deb-Check out her blog Turtle Chronicles, it's on my side panel
6-Linsey-Check out her blog Outside the Lines, wait, I think she was already tagged
7-Everyone else already got tagged!!! So, if you feel like sharing 7 random things about yourself, please do! And let me know, I always like to get to know my blogging buddies a little more personally.
Here are my 7 random facts: (I hope they aren't too boring-if they are, just skip down to the project;-p)
1. When I got married my initials didn't change. They used to be AML (pronounced "animal" with a slur) and they are still AML! So I'm still "animal" with a slur.
2. When I was in highschool I tried being a vegetarian. It didn't work out. I watched a video in my History class about how cows are killed for their meat (I won't go into details!) and it traumatized me. I could not eat meat for a long time after that. But, living in a house full of meat eaters, it didn't work out. Besides, I married into a very carniferous family, and being a vegetarian now would be close to impossible! My SIL Kristel knows what I'm talking about, right Kristel? LOL!
3. I have a bad habit of checking my email before I log off my computer. It's really bad. I just can't "x" out of my internet without clicking onto my gmail (and sometimes my yahoo too) first! Yeah, I run late for things...
4. Speaking of running late for things, I run late for things! LOL! It drives my husband INSANE! He's in the Air Force, so if he isn't 20 minutes early for his appointments, he's late! If I'm not at least 5 minutes late, well, I always am...
5. I'm getting my tubes tied soon. That's random, right?
6. I'm runningout of random stuff... My favorite color is blue. I love having blue toe and finger nails.
7. All three of my children have had to go to the NICU directly after birth, hence I will be getting my tubes tied! I don't do the whole pregnancy thing well.
That's it! I did it, 7 random things. Maybe this would have been easier if I'd had 7 questions to answer. Oh well. Ok, I was going to add in my project but Angel Baby is sick and needs me right now, so I'll be back to edit later...

Look what I got!

It's a "Melmel Original"! Melanie Muenchinger had blogged about wanting to send a shower of cards to a very special recipient, and since I love sending out RAKs to people and bringing them a little piece of paper happiness, I signed up! Apparently I was the first person to respond to the "card shower" so Melanie sent me a thank you card, and this is it! I had seen this on her blog and thought it was so neat! The balloon bouquest is just 2 stamps that she stamped over and over and then colored to make the bouquet. The stamps are from the first two stamp sets that she designed "Just so Hippy" and "Just so Hoppy." The card is amazing IRL; Melanie is so talented! I've been wanting to get those two stamp sets for awhile now, but had limited myself on my stamping budget. But I was able to get order them this weekend because I had a yard sale and sold off some of my old stamp sets. I'm so excited to get them so I can start playing! Speaking of playing, when I was reorganizing my stamp stuff the other week, I came across a card that I had done to use up some of my Groovy Guava designer paper from Stampin Up! (it seems like there is no end to that paper!). I used the groovy guava along with white and black and the color combo came out pretty stunning, so I decided to make a couple more with that combo and this is them:
The only difference between the two is the paper piercing I did on the second one. And, Speaking of playing again... Wednesday the 2nd was my Mom's "youngday" (birthday) and she wanted to play hooky from work. So, we all got up just like a normal Wednesday, only instead of going to work and dropping the kids off at school we went to the North Shore! We just drove until we came ot a beach that looked fun (they ALL looked fun, but we actually got parking at Waimea Bay-and that's RARE-so we stopped there) and hung out for a couple hours. It was Angel Baby's first time at the beach! My boys both had their first times at the beach at the Ko Olina resort since there are beautiful, clam lagoons to swim in so all 3 kiddos got to experience the oceans in Hawaii for their firsts. How blessed are we? I decided not to take her into the water this time because the waves were a little too strong, but she enjoyed hanging out nonetheless. Isn't she adorable in her bikini! Her daddy wouldn't have agreed to a bikini for his 6 month old DD at all, but he's in Korea and can't do much about it right now LOL! When we get to the beaches at our next duty station (Italy! WOOHOO!) I'm sure he'll have her in a one-piece with a coverup to boot!

That's all the updates I have for today. I have some new stamps (besides Melmel's) coming in the mail today and I'm really excited to start using them. I'll post pics of some of my creations when I get to play with them.

It's about time for a card.

Or Two, or FIVE! LOL. I decided to send my boys some cards. Yes (Mom), we live in the same house and yes (mom), I am wasting a stamp mailing something right back here, but the boys love getting mail so I figured I'd send them some! Both cards are made using Jen Del Muro's (http://www.iheart2stamp.com/) Saturday Sketch For You To Try. They both used the same Studio G. clear stamps, Not Quite Navy, Ballet Blue and Whisper White SU! cardstock, and Silver Playshop Paper Cardstock. The silver ink is colorbox and the blue is Not Quite Navy. Also, I used my star wheel from SU! I've had that wheel for a long time and hardly ever use it. I'm glad I've found a stamp set that it coordinates with. Oh, and there are Making Memories brads on one of them and I used a variety of circle punches on them (fiskars, SU! and marvy).
This next lovely card came about by using Lauren's sketch challenge (http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/). She wanted us to try to make a one layer card and stamp the image stamp in a corner. I love these new insect stamps I got (they are inkadinkadoo) so I decided to use the biggest butterfly on this one. It's stamped in Brilliance Graphite Black and embossed with clear embossing powder. I still need to practice my embossing, it doesn't come out as nice as I'd like. The sentiment is SU! as is the grey cardstock.

And last, but certainly not least, are 2 wonderful cards I received from 2 of my dearest friends. Julie (http://julesthoughtfortheday.blogspot.com/) sent me this first one for Easter, and Nicole (doesn't have a blog) sent me the second one just cuz. Thank you so much! Getting these brought smiles to my face.
So, happy April Fool's day to you all!

My new title... Thanks Momo!

Back in the day fisherman would work many many hours during the night to catch fish. They never knew how productive their night would turn out, but they went for it anyway. After one particularly hard night, and a crappy turnout, Simon docked his boat and went about cleaning his nets. A man named Jesus saw Simon's boat, stepped into it, and asked Simon to push it off from shore. Simon did as Jesus asked, but after a night like he'd had, I'm sure going back out onto that water was one of the last things Simon wanted to do. Simon let Jesus into his boat. Simon's boat was where he worked and spent many many hours of his time. By bringing Jesus into his boat, Simon was greatly blessed as were the "great crowds" listening to the words of Jesus. Then, after Jesus was done speaking, he told Simon to go into the deeper water and cast out his nets. Of course Simon knew that there would be no fish in the deep water during the day, it was too hot and the fish would dive deep to escape the heat but, even with his doubts and questions, Simon did as he was told. Because he listened to Jesus, and trusted him, he was blessed beyond belief with an abundance of fish. More fish than his nets and boat could hold.
The story goes on from there, but I think you all get the idea. So, welcome to my "boat." I hope it blesses some of you today.

Something to think about, REALLY think about.

I love blogs. I blog hop way (WAY) too much. But sometimes it is worth it. Tonight I read something on Ali Edwards' blog (http://www.aliedwards.typepad.com/) that really got me thinking. She always has a quote on her sidebar and this is the one that was there tonight:

Leo Buscaglia : The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have a potential to turn a life around. It's overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt.

Now, if you read that; not just read, but REALLY READ it; then you know what I'm talking about. It is SO true. Just today in church, Pastor Ron was talking about bringing Jesus into our daily lives. As he put it, "Into our boat". In other words, where we work and spend the majority of our days. You may not see the relevance but in my mind they totally relate, but I'm a little bit different sometimes ;p

I'm not going to get all Evangelical on you, but this quote just confirmed some things to me tonight, and I thought I'd share. I'll let you get what you get out of it...

Also, many of you who read this blog are special people to me, and knowing that you read this, or that you even think of me, well, that means a lot to me and I THANK YOU.

Have a nice night all, and Have a Happy Week. Spring Break's now over and it's back to the day to day grind tomorrow!

Just a quick post...

Because I really should be doing other things right now. I wanted to post the pics of the little Easter boxes I made for the ladies in our sign dancing group. I thought that I'd show them a little Easter happiness with some chocolate! I made them all a little different, but they all had yummy York peppermint patties and chocolate nuggets inside. If you have questions about any of the materials used to make these, just ask! I got the directions for the holders with ribbon handles from a tutorial that Cambria Turnbow did for SplitcoastStampers. Just check out Splitcoaststampers.com and you'll find it! The green basket was made by following Dawn's tutorial on her blog: Dawn's Stamping Thoughts.

I'm still alive!

Well, Hello there! Yes, I am still alive. It's been a really busy couple of weeks around here. Both the boys were on Spring Break this last week and I just couldn't get much crafting done. One of the days that I tried, the boy wanted to "do stampin stuff" too. So I let him. Whoa! Was that a mojo killer or what?!? He had a great time using my punches and experimenting with his own stamps, but I really didn't get much done. I finished up a couple little Easter things I made for my sign dancing lady friends at church, but nothing else was accomplished. I'll post pictures of those later (they are in the other computer right now). So, here are a few pictures of some little 3x3 cards I made a while ago. I used a lot of the same things on each of them, just changed it up. The designer paper is Two Scoops by Basic Grey and the stamp set in most of them in Priceless by Stampin' Up! I used Wild Wasabi and Purely Pomegranite ink on most of them too. BUT on one of them I used the head of a girafee from Wild About You. The brads are Making Memories and I don't know where all the ribbon in from (a mix of walmart brand and making memories I believe).
Well, I need to get some coffee in me because we have a yard sale starting up in about an hour. Hopefully I sell off the stamp sets I purged (something I did this week that was actually productive! ~insert gasp here~) so that I can buy some that have been on my wishlist for a while now. Speaking of Wish Lists, I used to have one on my sidebar, but I decided to change up my layout again. I saw another blog that had used Pyzam for her layout background and I tried it out. I kinda like it, but don't know if it "fits" yet. What do you all think? I had to sacrifice all my sidebar widgets, but I'll just add those back later.