Friday Fill-Ins

This week my friend Michelle provided most of the questions; thank you, Michelle!

And...here we go!

1. When I'm sick I'm good for nothing.

2. When I take a walk, I think about nothing, when I take a walk I want a clear head.
3. Money can't buy happiness but it can buy great handbags.

4. Cotton makes me warm and cozy and leather makes me confident and sexy.

5. The strangest person/character I've had lewd thoughts about was ____. (no clue)

6. My favorite color these days is Kelly Green because it is named after me.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to hanging out with my husband after work, tomorrow my plans include working and Sunday, I want to sleep in but I can't because I have to work!

Pick a Petal, Any Petal

I am still trying to figure out how I am going to organize all of the swaps I got at convention, almost a month after being home! So far I have gotten as far as grouping them together by stamp set, I guess that is a step in the right direction. One of the classes I attended at convention was about investing in your business and buying stamp sets that are going to "pay you back" one of the key features to such a set is one that is versatile, I can't think of a more versatile set than "Pick A Petal" I loved all of the swaps I received at convention but these have to be my favorite. I love that you can create all of these different things with just one stamp set, how cool is that?

First you can create a dragon fly like Cheryl Parker did.
Mara Bates created a dragon fly too.
Of course you can create flowers and that is just what Jenni Hogan did Nichole Nelson made a flower too Tracy Belvens said "Thank you" with a flower

Pick a Petal is a great stamp set for all holidays, you can wish someone a Happy Mother's Day with this card created by an unknown artist Ann Leek came up with this adorable Thanksgiving card. And if you just want to say Thank you, there is always this card made by Suzanne Lawrence.

Make Something Monday

My Upline Dawn is amazing, she is always coming up with new things to keep us connected and motivated. Her latest idea is to post a creative challenge on our website weekly. Some how I was appointed to be the one running the challenge so here goes nothing.........

I want you all to “Light me Up” it doesn’t matter what you create: a card, a scrapbook page, an altered album, anything you want, as long as it “Lights me Up.”

They could contain stamps that have beams on light; it can be a birthday cake with candles that light up, what about a scrapbook layout including pictures taken around the camp fire? When all else fails, there is always bling!!

So you've been given the guidelines, you've got your supplies gathered, you're warmed up and ready to go...your assignment is simply this:
1. Be Inspired.
2. Create something you love.
3. Have fun!

There is no deadline to create this; however I will be posting new challenges every Monday!! Of course, I want to see what you come up with so be sure to post a comment with the link to your creation so I can check it out.

Hope this challenge lights your fire!

Friday Fillins

This week Amy provided the questions; thank you, Amy! And...here we go!

1. Dancing in the living room while looking into D's eyes makes me feel like the luckiest woman on the planet.

2. The last time I watched football I nearly had a heart attack (after all the Giants were in the Super Bowl).

3. When I drive I enjoy having the moon roof open.

4. I saw the almost full moon standing alone in the sky on my way home from work.

5. Give me love, give me loyalty, give me friendship.

6. Next week I am looking forward to enjoying my 1 day off.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to going to D's cousins wedding, tomorrow my plans include driving home from Rhode Island with enough time to be at work by 2pm and Sunday, I want to work on my Fantasy Football team!

To Have or To Have Not......

I was off yesterday and was lucky enough to spend the day with my friend and upline Dawn and her family. The day started with swimming lessons for 2 of her 3 kids to swimming lessons, then we grabbed lunch and went back to the pool to enjoy the sunshine. Whenever I spend time with people who have kids it amazes me how they do it, Dawn is no exception. Her oldest daughter is in 3rd grade (I think she is 8) her other two children are 5 year old twins. Talk about having your hands full.... Dawn makes it look so easy, it I had to do what she does every day I am sure I would have lost my mind by now and if not my minds, at least one of the kids. I always say days like this are really good birth control, they remind me what the life of a parent is like and why I have decided to NOT have children.

After spending the day at the pool we got to spend some time stamping and hanging out with some other people from our group. It just so happens one of the other ladies (Doris) has to go to a wedding this weekend. (so do D and I) so the first priority for Doris and I was making wedding cards. After looking through what felt like thousands of samples (Dawn has millions!!) we came up with our inspiration. We decided we wanted different colors, changed some other elements and this is what we came up with (as always it isn't the best scan but in person the card looks great if I do say so myself)
Recipe:
Stamps: Always and Wonderful Words
Card Stock: Whisper White and Brushed Silver
Accessories: Silver Embossing Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Retired Ribbon and Ribbons slider.
It really felt good to stamp and paper craft with friends. I need to do more of that, based on my work schedule it is hard to go to crops and other things because they are almost always on the weekends so when I get the chance to craft with other people I jump on it. After making the wedding cards we worked on some projects Dawn needed to complete, then we played around with the BigShot (can't wait to order mine, kind of impressed I haven't ordered it yet) and planned some activities for the rest of the year. All I have to say is watch out because it is going to keep getting better and better as the year goes on!!!

Playing with Paper

I am a huge blog reader. My Bloglines has about 120blogs that I try to read every day.... crazy I know. One of the blogs I read often is Anne from Canada Anne and I met because our SU! up lines are friendly. I have never met Anne because she didn't go to convention (she promises me she will go next year!!) but that hasn't stopped me from reading her blog. The other day she had this card on her blog.

I fell in love with the colors and knew when I got the change to craft I would be doing something similar. My card is a little larger than usual, not sure what the heck I will do with a 6x6 card but that is something for me to figure out later. I couldn't wait to use the new "Say it with Scallops" stamp that we got at convention from UPS and of course I wanted to use the new In Colors.
I was able to kill two birds with one stone. I used Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss and Pink Pirouette paper. I stamped the sentiment with Chocolate Chip. I am thinking of adding buttons to the center of the flowers, but like I said I don't know when I am going to need to give this card to anyone so I have a little while to perfect it.

Am I missing something?

There is a new stamp set in the Stampin' Up! catalog called "Sock Monkey" everyone loves. I don't, as a matter of fact I am going on record here and now saying it freaks me out a little. It is definitely not a stamp set you will ever see on my wish list. That being said I received tons of really cute swaps made with the sock monkey that I just had to share.....(as with all of the pics I post I apologize for the clarity or lack there of of the pictures, blame it on my scanner)

Created by Barb Coblentz of Marshfield, WI

This one is from Krista Jensen of Corona, CA

Then we Megan Verhoeven of Parker, CO creation which really got attacked by my scanner. In real life the card is straight and even!

This was created by Susan Miller (not sure where Susan is from)

Jill George created this one, again I am not sure where Jill is from.

Finally I received from an unknown stamper.

I think all of these cards are adorable (obviously, I shared them with you) but I just don't see the big deal about the Sock Monkey..... oh well it must be me!