Back home

I probably don't have any readers now that this place has gone blank for a month, but just incase there are a few of you hanging out there, I thought I'd tell you I am home. I left Modesto at around 7:30am yesterday and didn't get home until 10pm. That's the longest it has EVER taken me to drive home. I usually make it home in a little over 12 hours. I guess the 15 minute stop in Walmart (waiting for Sonic to open, since we don't have them around here) set me back a bit. Then there were the MULTIPLE potty trips I had to keep taking, which is unusual for me too. I tried not to drink much on Tuesday, but I guess it didn't help.
Anyway, the trip was WAYYYY too long and boring. I was tired of driving by the time I hit Sacramento (90 min into the trip). Usually that doesn't happen until I hit Portland (2.5 hours from home).
My cat was a TOTAL pain the butt last night from me being gone for a month. Before I came home I stopped and picked up some Orange Chicken from Panda Express. And hour after eating it, I was in the bathroom throwing it up. Don't know if it was the chicken or just the days travelling/eating catching up with me. Anyway, needless to say, I wasn't up to the task of cuddling and entertaining the cat. Which he most definately wanted to happen. He walked around meowing constantly and bringing every toy he owns and dropping it by the bed. When he'd finally get into the bed and I'd think he was going to sleep, he'd sit purring loudly and "massaging" my head with his paws. His paws with 1 month of nail growth that becomes razor sharp. So I spent all night yelling at him to either lay down or get away from my head or move his feet....lol Of course, now that I'm awake, he's sleeping soundly next to me, with his cute little face resting on his paw. Brat!
I can't wait to get back to card making! I made 10 cards while in CA, for a swap Im hosting that ends this weekend. I should have something for you on Monday or Tuesday. I'm back to work tonight for the next 4 nights. Any extra time I have this weekend will probably be spent playing with my Wii Fit that is sitting down in the rental office right now :)
Have a great weekend, if there are any readers out there. I'll try to get some pictures posted soon. My niece was born the day after my 30th bday (but made my bday by 3 min here on the west coast!). Her mommy doesnt want her pictures on the internet, but I have to sneak one on here to show off, right? She's absolutely beautiful! And pulled all the Italian blood that her daddy could give her. She's only got mommy's blue eyes and her pouty lips!

Today's the day!

Sorry to have been so quiet lately. All my spare time has been spent wrapping up loose ends, packing and cleaning.
I have a meeting at work tonight, then back home for a quick nap (yeah right, that'll never happen!) and I'm on the road headed for CA! WOO HOO!
A wonderful, beautiful surprise out of our weather today too! Predicted forcast.....mid 50's and rain. I delightfully sit infront of my open sliding glass doors with a beautiful warm breeze and full sunshine. That cat's outside getting his last lounge in the sun on the deck before he's bottled up for a looooong time :( Good thing he can't tell time....he might die of lonliness before I get back!
Today's weather in Modesto, CA.....85*! Tomorrows.....73*.....but I'll take it :D
Next time I update it'll either because my brother's baby was born (pray for labor vibes tomorrow, so she's born on Wednesday! I'll be 30 on April 30 and I want Miss Hannah Katherine for my birthday!!!) or because we've done something fun in CA. I'm wanting to go to Monterey (maybe do the Aquarium) and/or Yellowstone National Park.
Have a great week everyone!

Cute new stamps from See D's!

While at my LSS a week or so ago, I was checking out and glance down at a bucket of things on the counter (they are notorious for putting these little things at the counter that add on to your total...lol). The little bird stamp was on top and called my name. Isn't she cute!?!?!?!?!
So I flipped thru the rest of the sets and ended up with these other 2 also.
They are foam mounted rubber stamps. They are pre-cut but the neat thing is that it's a block of foam/rubber in the package so you can store them right back in the square you punch them out of.
They are very light which I'm thinking might make them good travel stamps :)

Busy busy busy!

That's been me the last couple of days.

Countdown to vacation is less than a week away! WOO HOOO!

The last couple of days I've spent cleaning, packing, shopping, and working on baby announcements and a blanket that I've been knitting for 3 months. And none of it is done!

The kitchen, the stamp room, and the living room/dining room still need a good cleaning, I've still got some toiletries and gifts to pack into my suitcase (that needs to be rearranged once I get it all together), shopping is done except for a few snacks for the road, baby announcements are *almost* done- just a couple of more stamped items and a bow to go!, and the blanket has about a dozen more rows and it should be finished.

Friday and Saturday are going to be spent finishing up...eek! Not enough time! Plus the March of Dimes walk is on Saturday morning so there's a few more hours gone.

But, I took some time out this morning to make a card for the Secret Sister Reveal over at the Shack. I combined it with Julee's Mojo Monday Sketch # 34.

MY SS sent me all these papers and the ribbon. The circle stamp was the perfect fit for the sketch, dontcha think!? It's hard to tell, but the strips of white are embossed with an embossing template that has a checkerboard pattern on it (I forget the maker).

I'll be slipping this card in the mail in the next couple of days, so if my SS reads my blog, you should be receiving it soon :)

9 days and counting!

My vacation can't come fast enough!
I've developed a case of "vacationitis" and the only cure is for April 28 to get here very quickly!
The weather is really bumming me out lately. I'm ready for summer! And the fact that I get to go to "summer" in a few days is making it worse. Couple that with the fact that we have a snow storm blowing through and I'm ready to pack my bags and move!
Yesterday afternoon, about 4pm, I woke up to what sounded like someone throwing little stones at my bedroom window. When I looked out it was hailing. The snow (yes, there was a light dusting on the ground) had turned to pea-sized hail. It hailed for a good 20 minutes and then turned to full out snow. By the time I left the house 50 minutes later we were in blizzard conditions. White out stage. In that time we had about an inch drop. I stopped at the grocery store for dinner and by the time I came out we had about another half an inch. We're talking 20 minutes in the store TOPS, people!
Around 8pm I heard that we were supposed to get up to 7 inches by 5am. Shortly after that it stopped snowing here at work. I also heard that my neighborhood had 5 inches by 7pm, so I can pretty much bet that I'm going home to at least that in a couple of hours.
BLECH!
To top it off, on my way to work I was talking to my dad (in IL) and he was out on his deck. It was 72* there!!! I've had no desire to move back to IL until last night....lol

Need your opinions please!

Click image for larger view

I'm almost done with Baby Girl's birth announcements!

However, I can't decide on this final thing.

So I'm asking for your help in deciding how to set up the rest of the card.

Option #1: Uses a smaller Nestabilities rectangle with a couple of stamps. If this

option is chosen, a wallet sized picture (probably black and white) will be placed inside the card.

*Regardless of where the picture is placed, Baby Girl's birth stats will be on the photo itself.*

Option #2: The wallet sized photo on the front of the card. I'm partial to this option myself,

but then I'm unsure of what to do inside since the birth stats will already be on the photo.

(Something my brother wants, as he doesn't want to hand write all the stats.

There are 80 announcements!)

I *think* I may have a stamp still that says something about "Babies are cuddles, and

tickles on toes....."

You can leave a comment here, or I'm going to (try to) put a poll in the bar to the right.

Thanks for your help!!!! :)

Itching for a camping trip

Last summer my friend and I packed up our Fords (my Escape, her Expedition) with lots coolers, tents, chairs, firewood, and kids and headed about 20 miles north of where we live to Wenberg State Park for 5 nights of camping. I hadn't been camping in a VERRRRY long time and she hadn't been in awhile also, so it was going to be an experience. I am happy to report we had a BLAST! Although I spent most of my down time studying for a Anatomy and Physiology mid-term during that trip, it was still quite relaxing.
Mega girls only trip here too! Me and my friend and 3 of her 4 girls went along. My best friend lives near the park also so she showed up a couple of the days with one or both of her girls in tow. And my friend's daughters had friends arrive too for a day of swimming in the lake.
Summers in the PNW are pretty mild compared to other areas of the country. We are generally happy to make it into the mid 70's. The entire time we were camping it was soooo warm. Into the upper 80's most days and full sunshine. We had one day of cooler 70* temps, but it was at the end of time there.
The unpacking and setting up was a blast! The packing away was depressing as we would have loved to stay for another week :(
And now that the weather is attempting to get nicer, and I've been reorganizing my storage closet on my deck with my Christmas/camping stuff....I'm itching to get out there and do it again!
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner made on a campfire.....does it really get better than that!?!
This view here is heading down the path towards the lake. The great thing about camping in Western Washington is the tons of trees that create beautiful scenery, protection from direct sun rays, and a feeling of security by being tucked in tight between each big trunk.
This summer will probably bring us travelling a bit farther to central Washington for warmer weather and new scenery.

Baby girl gets new clothes

Not the best of picture at all. Neither outfits had hangers, so I was left

to try and figure a way to "hang" them.

Ignore all the junk in the background on those wire racks. Hopefully those will

be gone soon :)

Anyway, while returning some clothes I bought for myself at Lane Bryant on

Saturday at the mall, I decided to duck into The Disney Store real quick.

It's been a looooong time since I've been in there!

Not so much anymore, but several years ago I had this fascination and extreme love

for dalmatians. I collected anything that I could find with those cute little spotted dogs.

Some of it (like collector plates and cute figurines) are still displayed around

my apartment. Most of it is packed away in a big box in one of my closets.

So when I ran into this cute little T-shirt, I picked it up. It was on clearance!

I decided instantly that it shall become "baby girls' ". Then....

I saw the little skirt. And again decided that she must have that too. No matter the price!!

And luckily for me, it too was on clearance!

The skirt has this cute little pair of red underwear/diaper cover that go with it too.

LOVE IT!

Then I walked down a little further and came across Gap Kids.

I went in to see how small their sizes go and was greated by a woman who would later

continue to follow me around the store "making sure I was ok".

Ummm...I have clothes in my hand, nice lady, I think I've got this figured out!

Anyway, back in the baby section I found a rack of clearance stuff and found this second

little outfit.

I'm sooooo in love with the little pink eyelet lace pants. I can't wait to see her (in pictures) in them! They are a 6-9 months so unless I head back to IL for Christmas, I'll only see them in pictures. The little sweater is so soft and pretty too.

Auntie Kelly is going to keep this girl ALWAYS looking her cutest if she has her way! LOL

What's this? A Mojo Monday card posted ON Monday!?!?

Don't fall over from the shock you are suffering...lol

I needed a card for something and while checking my blogs early this morning I saw that Julee had posted this weeks Mojo Monday :) AWESOME sketch! I'm sure this won't be my only card done using it.


Papers are Basic Grey Cardstock is Stampin' Up! (that's actually Very Vanilla, not Whisper White. I don't know if you can tell.) *Cuttlebug Embossing Folder
Flowers are Bazzill and Prima *Stamps are Autumn Leaves and Stampin' Up! *Ribbon is Stampin' Up!
Small grommet is from my Big Bite *Rhinestones from Walmart
Dew Drops from The Robin's Nest Clear *Spica Glitter pen used to accent flower stems

If you look closely in the second picture you should be able to see a tiny little bit of sparkle. This is done with the Spica Glitter pen. I absolutely LOVE these pens! My second favorite purchase in the last few months. (My first is still the Verve Visual Anniversary Birds. I just pull them out and look at them and smile. Yup, I'm a dork!)

Shrinking Me

I started a new diet last Monday. :)

I didn't want to say anything incase I quit before I got into it....lol But I've done pretty well! As of yesterday morning I was already down 5 pounds!!

As a heart patient, my Grandpa once had to do the Cabbage Soup Diet. I remember him losing a lot of weight fast and started looking to the recipe for the diet.

They've changed the diet a little, so I thought I'd give it a try as a jump start. I'm happy to say that I've hardly had any trouble following it! :) The first night I felt hungry (I worked 7 days straight this last week, so I was doing this on my night shift schedule) but I got thru it. The second night was worse. I really wanted to quit! But I got distracted from the hunger pangs and made it thru to the next morning. Every day since, I've been doing fine. I haven't really had any cravings, and the only time I "cheated" was on the second morning when I added some Equal to my strawberries :)

My coworkers even ate Sweet Maui Onion chips(these things are soooo yummy!) and cookies infront of me last night and I didn't even wince or reach for either, even though they sat right next to me on my desk!

I've got two more days to go on this diet and then I plan on switching over to The South Beach Diet to continue. Compared to the Cabbage Soup, South Beach will be even tastier and I figure I'll be able to follow that one more religiously since their recipes are a step up from the restrictions of the Cabbage Soup Diet.

5 pounds down....wayyyyyyyy more than I care to admit, to go! ;)

A new ink to love

I posted this last week on a thread at the Shack, but thought I'd share it here also.

In my packge from Hanna Stamps from a couple of weeks ago, was this

Black Noir Palette ink pad. I've heard of it, but never seen it anywhere.

Then while checking out the Riley stamps and accesories, I saw that they sold it.

I have to say, it is AWESOME ink!

I'm totally sold and looking to see when I can get some other colors.

It has 100% coverage, even in solid parts of stamps, as you can see be the photo above.

Plus it's waterproof so watercoloring is easy and alcohol inks don't affect it.

My poor Stampin' Up pad will probably never see the light of day, or night, again!

Riley in Paradise

As I sit here at 4am, in flannel pajamas, wrapped in a blanket, snuggled into my flannel sheets, while it's 43* outside (expected high of 48* today...ewww), I'm envious of Mr. Riley about now. I'm not sure what beach he's enjoying himself on, but he looks to be pretty relaxed and enjoying himself. And I don't see a blanket (or clothes...he he) anywhere in sight, so it MUST be warm!

My time is coming though. Next month at this time, I'll be spending some days in near 80* weather and enjoying every moment without cold feet and hands!

Happy Birthday, Cupcake

Trying to use up some scraps on my desk. You may recognize the paper from my earlier post about the penguin ATCs.

Super simple, just grabbed some scraps and stitched them together. Then used the smaller pieces to cut out the cupcake (a Sizzix die) in my Cuttlebug. I then paper pieced that together and added some shine with a pink Spica glitter pen.

The birthday stamp is from a SU! set that I just bought from a fellow Shackie.

Wanna be a Verve Visual Guest Designer??

I DO!!!

So I visted the Verve Visual Blog and checked out this post to see how!

Ok, so to be honest, I really didn't want to tell you about it at all.

Cuz then MY odds are increased...lol

But the requirement is to upload a card somewhere and send a link to it. And I show

everything here first :)

All products are Stampin' Up! (including the large sentiment) except for the Verve Visual stamp (small sentiment and small star) and the dew drops.

A great sketch and some machine stitching made this come together really easily!

It was fun and I love how it turned out.

More vintage feel

Or should I say my attempt? lol
A card and a tag I did using the items my Secret Sister sent. The image on the card is the wood mounted stamp she sent :) The image on the tag is a stamp I had (see SS, I do have SOME stuff like that...he he) but everything but the ribbon and the rommet were sent to me.
You'll also see a pretty scallop punched border on the card. That's a new border punch by Fiskars. I was in search of the Threading Water punch (if you see one or have an extra, please contact me!!!) and could only get this one instead.

Spoiled again by my Secret Sister

Monday, the ONLY thing in my mailbox was this GIANT 6x9 envelope stuffed to the gills with lots of goodies from my Secret Sister. Lots of neat stuff in there including several unmounted stamps, one wood mounted stamp, card/envie sets, big paper scraps, some applique items, epoxy stickers, and some other small stuff.

She's been watching me that's for sure! And noticed that "cutesy" is my comfort zone. So everything she sent me was exactly the opposite! :o And my challenge was to do some things with a vintage feel to them. I have such a hard time with that style. I think it looks amazing, but I have a hard time achieving good results.

This first card is my favorite of the group I think. I dont think this is what she had in mind though, because it's still very linear. I tried though! And you'll see a better attempt if you check back tomorrow to see a tag I did :)

Isn't this a pretty stamp? This is one of the unmounted stamps.

I stamped her with the Marvy ink that sweet SS provided and then colored in the hat, flower, and lips with Prismacolor pencils. I went over the flower edges with a clear Spica glitter pen and over the lips with the red Spica glitter pen.

The pretty sparkly ribbon was also included as well as the epoxy sticker.

I used my SU punches to create a base for the sticker.

Paper and card base also provided by SS :)

Thank you sister for the wonderful products. I hope these make you smile :) Check back tomorrow to see more!

Penguin Fun

I just got this cute little Memory Box Penguin in the mail a couple of days ago. I bought him (her?) specifically so I could join a penguin swap over at the Shack. That seems to be a reoccuring theme for me lately. Don't have stamps to join a swap? Just buy 'em! I did the same thing for a Hedgehog swap too...he he

I started out building the ATC first and then cut the Whisper White cardstock to rectangle to fit the left over area. I then stamped the penguin in Noir black ink (first time using this stuff...its GREAT!) I colored him in using my Spica glitter pens. Once I knew all the glitter ink was dry, I used a glue pen to color in the black part of the penguin and added some black fun flock (also a first use here! :) ). Half of an oval punch and a little rhinestone and I called it good! Love these, think they turned out SOO fun!

Poetic Artistry Mojo Monday Sketch 31

Well, it is technically Friday, but it's MY Monday. Tonight marks night #1 of 7 in a row. Yup, that's 84 hours this week! EEK! Since no one else is volunteering to pay for my vacation, I gotta do it myself ;)
Anyway, here is one of the cards I did for Mojo Monday. I got so preoccupied with finishing it up that I forgot to add a sentiment! Oh well, now my options are open :)
I used Stampin' Up! cardstock and Autumn Leaves papers (self adhesive from Target) to make this. Ribbon is from May Arts. That cute little moose is, of course, Riley from Hanna Stamps! One of my first (I bought 5), and this one ties in first place as favorite with the one of Riley in the hammock (you'll see that one later).
I used my Marvy Oval punch to punch out an oval in the center of my cardstock. Then I stamped Riley on another piece of paper and then pop dotted the oval layer up over him. Sponged the oval layer with Baroque Burgandy and then added some details with a grey marker and the black Spica Glitter pen.
If you click on this picture, you should be able to see where I also added some sparkle with the clear Spica glitter pen on the cupcake icing and cherry, and some dimention on the coffee mug. You'll also notice that the polka dot paper underneath is embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. My favorite one ever!

Another swap down....and a hint of spring!

Well my miniature daffodils have been up for a couple of weeks now, and the fruit trees started to bloom their pretty little white or pink flowers and then we had a few days of snow (snow in MARCH in EVERETT?? Crazy!!!) that set them back.

But no fear! In February I put up a swap with a spring theme. I love when stuff starts to bloom, and I love blooms on my cards!

In honor of our poor little fruit trees and their shrivelled up blooms, I used the Artfully Asian set by SU! to make these branches.

My attempt here was to make it look almost like a photograph in macro mode, with the hint of other branches of flowers in the background. Didn't work exactly as planned but it was fun to do! I stamped the branches in Purely Pomegranate, then covered the paper in Lil' Davis clear glitter glue. Before the glue dried I added a layer of tissue paper that I had cut to size and crumpled up before placing it. Then I stamped another branch in Versamark and sprinkled with SU! gold embossing powder. I then went back with a water pen and inks and colored in. Mounted on matching cardstock and placed on a card front that had been embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. I used my Scor Pal to make the two lines at the bottom. The tag was cut with a Cuttlebug die and stamped using some acrylic stamps I can't remember the name of. I tied the tag on with SU! ribbon. I also used a clear Spica glitter pen to write over the sentiment to give a little sparkle too.

Baby Update!

Only 32 days left until Baby Girl is due to arrive!
But I just got an email from my brother last night that said that every day she drops lower and lower so they are thinking that momma won't make it until May 5th, which is her due date.
This auntie is still holding onto hope that she wants to debut on April 30th, which is also my 30th birthday! Although I'll love her all the same if she's got plans of her own ;)
I'm sooo excited to get this month over with and be able to see her! I'll be out in her neck of the woods for two weeks in May, so I'm hoping she arrives before or just after I arrive.
I'm still waiting on a return email to see if they've picked another name.