Happy St. Patrick's Day

Being an from an Irish family, St. Patrick's Day is a very special day in our house. We even get presents!! My father created a character similar to the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause that comes on St. Patrick's Day, Michael the Leprechaun. Michael comes and hides little treats around us the house for us to find. Even as adults my brother, sister and I go to my parents house to look for goodies from Michael. That being said, I could let a holiday as important as St. Patrick's Day go by without sending cards to family members. Of course that card had to be hand stamped, I don't really like any of the St. Patrick's Day sets in the catalog so I had to take matters into my own hands.



Wishing everyone a happy St. Patrick's Day!!
Cead Mile Failte

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Three Easy Payments Option for the Starter Kit is Here!


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From today through April 30, 2009, new recruits can take advantage of our Three Easy Payments option for their Starter Kit. If you have considered becoming a demonstrator, but are concerned about being able to pay for the Starter Kit in one up-front payment, worry no more! The Three Easy Payments option is the ideal solution! With just an initial partial payment, you can get your Starter Kit right away and start building your business. Two subsequent monthly payments will take care of the rest.

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Please note that this promotion for the Three Easy Payments option is only available to new recruits when the Starter Kit form and other paperwork is mailed to Stampin' Up!. This special offer is NOT available online.If you'd like to take advantage of this special offer of Three Easy Payments for the Starter Kit, please Email me and I'll send the contract and other forms directly to your email.


Payments Breakdown for the Sale-A-Bration Starter Kit Price (March 13-31, 2009)
Starter Kit Payment (Payment Charged*)

Payment 1 (charged at time kit is entered)
$56.34 (+ sales tax)
Payment 2 (charged around April 15th)
$56.33
Payment 3 (charged around May 15th)
$56.33
Total Payment
$169.00 (not bad considering you are getting over $300 worth of merchandise)

*Payments indicated are for the cost of the Starter Kit. They do not include and any applicable state taxes. (Please note that any applicable taxes for the total amount of the Starter Kit, price will be added to the first payment.)

Payments Breakdown for the Regular Starter Kit Price (April 1-30, 2009)
Starter Kit Payment (Payment Charged*)

Payment 1 (charged at time kit is entered)
$66.34 (+ sales tax)

Payment 2 (charged around May 15th)
$66.33

Payment 3 (charged around June 15th)
$66.33

Total Payment
$199.00 (still a great value considering it is over $300 worth of Stampin' Up! merchandise)

*Payments indicated are for the cost of the Starter Kit including shipping. They do not include any applicable state taxes. (Please note that any applicable taxes for the total amount of the Starter Kit price will be added to the first payment.)

Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions you might have I will be happy to answer any of your questions or concerns. Stampin' Up! has an amazing support system and training program that can help you to build your business.

I can't wait to hear from you.

In Full Floom

If only Spring weather would come and stay I would be a much happier person. This weather has been a real tease, I am done with winter and over the snow!!

One of the projects we created at card club this month used a stamp set that I would never think about buying, yet every time I see something created with it I admire it. This card is no different.

The scan really doesn't do this card justice, I put dazzling diamonds in the center of several of the flowers. The sentiment on the white oval says "Because Nice Matters"

Now if only the flowers outside would start blooming and the snow melting....

Stampin' Up! a Storm

I have had some catching up to do when it comes to stamping and creating, as a matter of fact I was 3 months behind in my card club swaps. The ladies in the club are so sweet they didn't even care.

I am an avid blog reader and always get great inspiration from other's blogs. My swap card is a direct result of someones blog, I just wish I remember whose so I could give proper credit.

One of the reasons I love this card is there is very little stamping, just tons of Big Shot fun!!

I promise it won't be too long before my next post, I have tons of other swaps and cards to share.

Happy Valentine's Day

Because of the generosity of my friend and upline dawn, i am not the proud owner of the "Define Your Life" stamp set from Stampin' Up! since this stamp set has been on my wish list for awhile, I mounted it and inked it up as soon as I could- on a side note, I am so glad Stampin' Up! has decided to make all stamps die cut, because I had quite a time cutting out all of those great definitions! OK, now back to the original post, I couldn't wait to ink up that set that I decided to make my husband's Valentine's day card with it.

I realize the scan is a little unclear, the words read:
Together: You and Me; lonely no more. With another; inseparable. In harmony; in sync.

While this card looks very simple and creating it was, it has so many elements that are not part of my typical creating comfort zone- ribbons, and brads plus I used a texture plate. I have a feeling I will be creating similar cards in the future, this stamps set has so many different definitions in it, I can't wait to use them all!!

Finally Posting

I know I promised I was going to be a better blogger and I started off the year on fire; however, I have not been able to keep up that pace, not sure why. I have however been on a creative roll, I have gotten more scrapping and card making done in the past few weeks than I think I did all last year. Only maybe not that much, but lots has been accomplished. I realize I haven't posted any of the projects I worked on when I went away with Kimmie last month and I will, I just need to get them photographed.

The other day my sister came over to scrap, she worked on a project she has been working on forever and I got to play a little. She and her husband received this beautiful wedding invitation from her husband's cousin. Kimberly wanted frame the wedding invitation and give it to the bride to be at her shower. I took one look at the amazing invite and knew we had to do more than just frame it. Pulled out some Real Rust and Chocolate Chip card stock along with some Stampin' Up! rub ons and started to play. I am so please with the finished project and hope the bride and groom are too. (Even though the awful picture I took doesn't do it justice)

I have to finish my Valentine's Day cards so I can get those in the mail on time. Once those are completed (by bedtime tomorrow) I will take pictures of all the other stuff I have worked on over the past few weeks and get those posted.

Until then.........

Midnight Madness

Not sure what got in to me today but long about 10:30 I sat down at my craft table (that should read, folding table in between the "dining room" and "living room") and started making stuff. I started with

this cute little bookmark. I saw it on my friend
Stephanie's blog who got it from the super talented Mathilda Making these bookmarks is so easy and quick, it is a great way to turn scraps into a cute little project. Since that project took less than 10 minutes I decided to keep on going. I made a birthday card for my brother, not that the card is going to matter half as much to him as what is in it but that is okay. Since I know he will pay close attention to the inside of the card (of course looking for cold hard cash) I wanted to do something more to the inside of the card that I usually do, so I grabbed my spiral punch to dress it up just a little.... I love the spiral punch and use it every chance I get. Finally I made a card to include in a catalog pack I am sending to a new customer. My favorite thing about this card.... no stamping!! I love to stamp; however, sometimes I enjoy making cards without stamping and this is one of those cards. Of course I used my spiral punch on this card too, because as I said, I love it!!

I had fun creating today, when I sat down at the table I had no idea what I was going to work on or create which is usually very frustrating for me.... not tonight though, I just enjoyed the process and had some fun.

Historical Recap

Watching the historic Inauguration of Barack Obama today made me think about history and all of the things I have been witnessed in my life time. Not all of the events have been good ones, many tragic; however, all of them have impacted our country and world so dramatically making us better people and a stronger nation.

In no particular order, the historic events that happened during my life time…..

1. The Challenger explosion
2. Terrorist Attack on 9-11
3. The Berlin Wall came down
4. Operation Desert Storm
5. Operation Iraqi Freedom
6. Barack Obama became the 44th President
7. Michael Phelps won 8 Gold Medals in the 2008 Olympics
8. Nelson Mandela was freed from Prison
9. OJ Simpson got away with murder (since this is my list, I am entitled to my own opinions)
10. Attack on the USS Cole
11. Death of Pope John Paul II

I am sure there are some I am forgetting, and I can only hope and pray their will be more to come.

Regardless of party affiliation or political beliefs I hope you have found some renewed faith in the country I am proud to call home, the UNITED States of America.

Week 2 already?

Wow I have have been a blogging fool lately, I am very proud of myself. So week 2 of the new year is over and continue to take a photo a day (sometimes I take more than 1- how exciting is that) I have not created any of the layouts that go with those pictures yet but I have created the collages that I am going to scrap-that has to count for something!

Day 4 is the crockpot- D and I have been cooking fools lately, loving the crockpot!!

Day 5 shows how ridiculously warm it was for the beginning of January.


I love being an American and the American Flag and all it represents, I can't begin to tell you how many pictures of the American Flag I have, day 6 is the latest addition to my collection.

Since D and I have been cooking more than ever before, our refigerator has tons of "real food" in it. I don't think it has ever been this full, of course I had to take a picture of it for day 7.

The warm weather on day 5 didn't last long, which is why I had to make that over size cup of hot cocoa with extra marshmallows on day 8.

My boyfriend in brown came on day 9 I just had to take a picture of all the goodies he brought me.

Day 10 found me at the movies seeing "Bride Wars" twice in the past 2 weeks I have gone to the movies and brought snakes home with me- most people sneak food into the theater with them, not me I bring it home and take pictures of it!

Feeling Creative

I have been feeling kind of crafty lately, hope that feeling stays around for awhile, especially since next weekend Kimmie and I are getting together to scrap. Regardless I decided to participate in Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration for the first time. What Kristina does is post a picture weekly, she translates the colors in the photo to Stampin' Up! colors and gives you a few days to create something using those colors. I am not one who likes to be told what to do, nor am I someone who usually participates in challenges; however, in an effort to balance myself a little better, I am trying new things. This is what we were given,


As someone who reads tons of blogs stalks the Splitcoast Gallery, I had a design layout in mind but had no idea what I was actually going to do. I knew I wanted to use some of the new goodies my boyfriend in brown delivered yesterday and that is about all I knew. After playing around for a little while, this is what I came up with.

As usual the scan is not the best, a little crooked but you get the idea. I used the new Rub-ons called Loop-to-Loop for the birthday greeting some DSP from the Holiday Mini- Frosty Day. The layout was a total CASE from The Splitcoast Gallery of course I had to change the colors to comply with the challenge.

This is color inspiration challenge #37 and yet it is the first one I am doing, off to go see what other creations I can come up with based on the other challenges.

1 done 51 more to go.....

Project 365 contines to be in full swing, I am impressed I have kept up with it thus far, afterall it is Jan 7th, usually I lose interest in things like this by now. Again I am not going to say my pictures are impressive but they do document my everyday life.

 

This collage is pictures from Jan 1- Jan 3 (Thursday-Saturday) of course I had to include a picture of the scale to remind myself 2009 is all about Balance. The picture of my laptop and the Facebook game "Fashion Wars" is just because I play the game far too much and spend way too much time on the computer when I should be doing other things. The rest of the pictures were taken at the annual holiday party hosted by my former DM; being at the party and surrounded by people friends reminded me how important work/life balance is. However, getting up and going to work the next day reminded me how of my age, I swear I just can't hang like I used to!

Balance.....

So it has been almost 2 months since I last blogged, not sure it really matters because my blog is not one of those blogs that has millions of followers, afterall I am not the Pioneer Woman! Even though I have not blogged in forever, I am still reading blogs at a great rate most of the blogs I read are scrap related and I forget if it is Ali Edwards or Donna Downey that talks about "having a word" and letting that word become your mantra. Kimmie and I were chatting online the other day and she asked me what my word was, without giving it much thought, I said "balance." I have come to realize how little balance I have in my life. This year I am really going to work on changing that, I am not saying it is my New Year's Resolution because that puts too much pressure on it. Instead I am going to stay it is my focus or 2009. I need to create more balance in my life (work/life balance, more time for friends/family, taking time to do things for me, etc....) one of the ways I am doing that is through Project 365, it is a year commitment to take a picture a day and scrap it. Now the pictures don't have to be anything major and I promise the layouts won't be over the top but it is something that I WILL do. Taking that time every day to snap a quick picture will help me create the balance I am looking for, it will force me to do something I enjoy and take the time for me- not to mention it will help me with my blogging because what better place to track the project than here? I have vowed to keep the entire process simple and today's picture is exactly that simple.... when I think about the word balance I always think of a scale, actually I think of the big scale that is in court rooms to represent the judical system because I don't have one of those in my house and didn't have plans to go to court today (or ever if I can help it) the best I could do was take a picture of my household scale (of course I made sure there were no numbers on it, the last thing I want documented in a photo is my weight) I think when I scrap the photo I may incorporate this blog post.....

Wow, where does the time go?

Okay, okay, I know it has been almost a month since I last blogged. I didn't think anyone even read this thing, then I started to get the harassing text messages from my sister..... usually I don't have anything to say about not blogging except I have been busy, or nothing exciting is going on; however, that is not the case this time.

Yes, I have been busy and sure there have been some exciting things (both good and bad)- Getaway was awesome this year, already counting down the days until next year, BBoy was in the hospital (he is better now, I think the doctors gave him an attitude adjustment while he was there and not for the better, the boy has been a full blow brat lately but that is okay I love him anyway!!!) Kimberly's beloved dog, Daisey passed away (no wonder BBoy has been a brat he lost his best friend), I went to a weekend crop in Hershey with Kimmie, Dawn and Misty and had tons of fun. As I type this, D and I are in Miami getting ready for our cruise, I can't wait to be on vacation, I know it is going to be a blast. I have to keep my eyes peeled for Monkeys in Honduras for BBoy. D got me a new camera lens and I love it!! Great zoom so I hope to be posting some really great pictures when I get back.

See I have had things to blog about; however, I have a new addiction that is keeping me from posting blog and reading them too (which is insane I can only imagine what my bloglines looks like right now!!!) That addiction is better known as Facebook I swore I wouldn't get sucked into yet another online craze, I had a MySpace page and deleted it about a year ago, I was sure Facebook would be more of the same and I just didn't need to be bothered with it. Then I started getting those "view my profile" emails, it was all over after that. I created a profile and was off and running. It has been awesome connecting with people I haven't talked to since college. Hell someone from my girl scout troop even found me and I haven't been a girl scout for more than 20 years, how cool is that?

I know Facebook is not an acceptable excuse for ignoring my blog but it is the best one I got right now (and it's true!!) so if you are wondering where I am and if I have fallen off the face of the earth, know I am okay, just spending way too much time on Facebook these days, don't worry though, I will be back!!

Playing from the Beach

1. Follow the Leader, Leader..... (said in my best Caribbean accent, getting ready to be on the cruise ship.
2. Camera is something I always take with me on vacation.
3. To achieve your goals, you must work really hard.
4. I have a love Math, but not a fan of accounting or things related to finance is something I'd like you to know about me.
5. I have a tattoo of a shamrock.
6. "Hope" floats. To quote two of my favorite lines.... "You stink Justin Mattice, you stink." "If you marry Justine would my name be Bernice Mattice?"
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to enjoying day 2 of Getaway, tomorrow my plans include more getaway and Sunday, I want to enjoy more time with the girls, but instead I will have to go home!

Friday Fill-ins

1. One of the best concerts/plays/movies I ever saw that I really didn't think I'd like was The Police (could it be because we were in the 3rd row?).
2. _________ is a recipe I recently made (or meal I recently ordered) that was delicious! (I don't cook)
3. It's time for getaway (going to the beach with some scrapping ladies in less than a week).
4. A good fountain soda is quite refreshing.
5. If I never hear the word "dang right" again, it'll be too soon.
6. To one side of the curving road was a ________, and on the other was a ________. (no clue)
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting out of work on time, tomorrow my plans include work and Sunday, I want to watch football but instead I will be working!

Bon Voyage

So excited, D and I have been talking about going away for awhile and tonight it became official, we are taking another cruise!! This time we are leaving from Miami, going to Grand Caymen, Isla Roatan, Hondoras, Belize City, Belize and Cozumel, Mexico. I know Cozumel won't be as much fun as it was last time I was there because Kimmie and I did Cozumel right, can you say Carlos and Charlies and Fat Tuesdays? None the less it is going to be fun, I am looking forward to getting away and relaxing before the insane holiday season begins.

Where does the time go?

I really can't belive it is Friday already. I have been off since Monday, got next to nothing done that I needed to but that is okayh because I didn't have to work for a week and let me tell you I needed the break.

I didn't post my Friday Fillins last week because to be honest I forgot, I will do my best to make sure these are really good. (wow talk about pressure)

1. October means warm days and cool nights, love sleeping with the windows open!!!
2. Frogs scare me!
3. Leaves are falling all around, it's time to go apple picking.
4. My favorite horror movie doesn't exist because I don't like horror movies, they freak me out.
5. College = good memories.
6. It was a dark and stormy night and I ran outside to watch the lightening.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to chilling with D, tomorrow my plans include watching the boy (stay tuned for some great stories) and Sunday, I want to watch football but I can't I am going back to work!

Card Club

I attended my first card club on Thursday, we had such a great time. Made 2 cards, an adorable box and a banner. We were only supposed to make 1 card but Dawn had to run upstairs to do something with her children leaving the rest of us unattended with the brand new "Stampin' Success" in front of us........... of course the ink on the magazine was barely dry and we wanted to try every project featured in it. We thought the turkey card was too cute not to try it. Of course we had to change what we saw in the magazine just a little and add googlie eyes to it, how stinking cute is he? Funny how the idea came out of "Stampin' Success" magazine yet there isn't one bit of stamping on the entire card! Everything was created with punches and the sentiment is from the holiday rub-ons.


Nothing says Halloween like Frankenstein- this card was super easy to make and again very little stamping. Only the Sentiment and the background are stamped, everything else was created with punches or the big shot- gotta love that!!!

Scrappy Stuff

Creative juices have been flowing a bit more than usual lately could be because of all of the blogs I read and get inspiration from, or it could be all of the pictures I have been taking lately just waiting to get on paper. Regardless of why, I am excited to be getting pictures out of the envelopes they were shipped in and onto paper and into albums.

Had a great time with my family in the Outer Banks of NC this summer. One of the nice things about being part of a big family is there are always little kids around- I can't think of a better subject to photograph than little kids. I had almost as much fun creating this layout as the girls did at the beach.

Like many scrappers when I started scrapping, stickers were the one and only embellishment I used. I quickly realized there was a whole other world of embellishments out there and abandoned stickers; however, I have tons of them in my stash and need to get rid of them. I saw a layout recently that used an entire sheet of Making Memories WordFetti and thought "I could do that" and I did....... Felt pretty accomplished, I finished yet another layout and I got rid of an entire sheet of stickers, go me!!!

Happy Birthday Kimberly

As I mentioned in my Friday fill-ins this past weekend was my sister's birthday party. I think she had a great time. Her birthday was actually September 14th but because of her school schedule she couldn't really celebrate so her party was the following weekend. I didn't get to see on her on her actual birthday which means her gift from me was a week late, unfortunately so were all of her other gifts. She was convinced her husband didn't get her anything and was really hurt/pissed about it. I knew differently and had fun playing her game. She asked me often if her husband got her anything and I kept saying I didn't know and various other things. At one point I even said to her "Don't you think if I knew he got you something I would tell you instead of sitting here watching you be upset?" I decided it would be fun to display the gifts I got her Friday night and not her open them until Saturday afternoon. When it was finally time to open gifts I could tell she was nervous.... what if her husband didn't get her anything, or worse what if he got her something she hated? Her husband and I decided to drag it out a little long by making her open my gift first it was hard to tell if she was excited about her camera or not because after opening it her husband handed her a box, she was very confused at to what was in it, speechless has a matter of fact, Her husband got her EXACTLY what she wanted, a sapphire ring with no diamonds that she could wear with her wedding band.

All in all, I think/hope Kimberly had a great birthday, she deserves it!!