Looking for Inspiration

Oh, my stamping desk is so lonely! I haven't stamped much of anything in what seems like months! And the few things I have created, well, I just don't like the end result! I need inspiration! I need stamping friends! I need more current stamp sets & less retired sets!

That's all I have for now. Hopefully I'll have pictures to post in my next post! Thanks!

Here's What MY Money Looks Like

Here's what my well earned money looks like!

The first collection is what $150 looks like in stamp terms.

And this is what $303 looks like in the world of stamps!

Now all I need is the time to use is stuff!

Just one question? Does anybody view my blog, or am I the only one?
OK Maybe two questions. Why can't I enter text in my Title box?

I received my very first Splitcoaststampers Blog RAK! I am so excited! Nancy made this card, and here's her blog: http://www.nancyscreativemess.blogspot.com Go see what she's made!

Thanks, Nancy! I love the card! I've been inspired to add rhinestones to my cards! I'm off to the store!

The Teacher's Tin

And here's the tin I made for my son's teacher. I used the Stampin' Up Polka Dots & Paisley stamp set and On Board Accents for the chipboard frame. The paisley paper is from Making Memories. I love the color combination. I used a tin from Oriental Trading Company.

Gettin' the hang on tins

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I think I'm finally getting the hang of these lunch tins! If only I could realize that I don't have to use two different papers! I have a great time making them and they make great gifts. I make six matching file tabs and include several hand stamped cards. It's like two gifts in one! And I found the younger girls in my neighborhood love to use the tins to carry all their treasures! .......................................................................................................................................................... I've even seen a few little girls carrying bugs in their tins! What ever makes them happy, I suppose!

This particular tin, I made for my son's reading teacher. I used the paper from the SAB Simply Scrappin' Kit! It's so girly! I'm sure her daughters have already claimed this tin! I'll hear about it in the fall!

My new love!

Introducing Sir! I met him at the Humane Society this weekend, and I fell in love! I'm ready to adopt him, but he apparently doesn't fit into my husband's schedule. I'm going to be nice, and not say the really mean things that I'm thinking, and feeling right now! If you need a new dog, Sir is wonderful! He is seriously potty trained! Like no other shelter dog I've ever seen! He actually held everything for over 24 hours, and waited until he got to a grassy area to take care of business! Twenty four hours! I hope somebody adopts him soon! He deserves an excellent home, and I wish I was able to give it to him! Poor me. Back to the stamp room! No, it's still a disaster area! Oh! Maybe if I keep my room clean, and promise to clean up after Sir, and walk him every day, and remember to feed to him, maybe then I can bring him home! Hpmh!

Here's Sir! Isn't he beautiful? I just adore him, and he's not even mine yet! He's at the Humane Society and I wish someone would adopt him, so I don't feel bad! I want to adopt him, but my hubby is being a drag! That's the best, most pleasant way I can say it! This dog is great! If you need a new dog, Sir is great! He's potty trained, and even knows a few other commands! And he's such a love bucket! He just wants someone to love him! Why can't it be me?

MY Very Messy Stamp Room

What the heck happened to my stamp room? I think one of those Kansas tornadoes went through! Good grief, it's a mess! I need to re-do my room, but I don't know what to do. I just bought a cd storage rack from my neighbor, and I'm using it to store my stamps sets. It works perfect! I can finally just pull out a stamp set, without having to move everything else in the pile! So, that was project number one. Project number two, was to deciding which retired stamp sets to part with, and boy, there are enough to pick from considering I lost 97 sets! Project number three? I need to figure that out! I'm thinking about changing the entire room, but I'm limited due to the horses, and the large shelving units that hold my crafting treasures! I took "before" pictures, and I'm so anxious to see what the "after" pictures will look like! First, I have to find the tables in the middle of the room. I know they are in there somewhere! Anybody want to help? :)

UPDATE 06/17/07: My stamp space is still a mess! A stamping friend said a messy stamping space is the sign of a great mind at work. Well, I believe I must be related to Albert, because my space is messy!

My last Big Secret Sister was awesome! She spoiled me rotten. Being spoiled was wonderful! I already miss our daily chats. I suppose she is off to take care of her next little sibling. I hope her new little sis knows how lucky she is to have such a great big sis!

I wanted to thank my Big Sis, so I finally sat down and made her a card. I really stepped out of my comfort zone; it's not all straight lines! I used some Designer paper, and metal edge tags, and used the Cricut, too! I trimmed out the "big" and this was very different for me. In the past, I would have stamped the image on something with nice, straight lines! I'm trying to step out of my box! It's a slow process, but I'm getting there!

The baby Robin's flew the coop! We were so blessed to have such a great window into their world. We watched mama build the nest, lay her eggs, and then we watched the babies grow! They grew so quickly! I was able to capture many great pictures of their growth! They started out as little red squirmy things, and within days, they had feathers, and a few days later, they could fly! I was able to witness their first flights, and it was amazing to watch!

If you look back on the April 25 post, you can see the babies as little almost featherless creatures. The above pictures were taken on April 30, May1, May2, and the last two were taken on May3. The last picture is of the last baby to leave the nest. It walked around chirping for several hours. I don't think it was ready to leave. One baby left, two more hopped on the side of the nest and took off, and this poor little guy was just following suit. See, Mrs. Robin had a "late" egg. It showed up a day later than the others, and also hatched a day later than the others. I figure this was probably the youngest of the bunch!

They are all gone, and We're left with an empty nest. Now we're left to see if any birds will occupy our trees next spring!

Spring is Here!

I couldn't help but notice my neighbor's beautiful tulips! They are so bright and cheery! I had to grab my camera & snap a few pictures!

350 Million Cards

350 Million Cards? Yes, that's what one little boy has asked for his birthday! Here's the story!

Shane Bernier is a courageous seven-year-old boy from Lancaster, Ontario who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when he was only five. On June 6th, 2006 Shane and his family received some unfortunate news: Shane experienced a relapse after completing 108 of 130 weeks of treatment.
However, despite the bad news, Shane has managed to keep a positive outlook on his situation and has made a heart-warming wish... He hasn’t asked for money or toys or anything of the sort. Instead, his birthday is on May 30th and he would like to break the world record for the most birthday cards ever received. His goal is 350 million cards. With every card, Shane’s courage grows. Something as simple as sending a birthday card could be enough to help Shane find peace and joy in his current circumstances.
Please take the time to send a card to Shane and make his dream become a reality. Share his story with your friends, family and co-workers. If at all possible, get your youth groups, church congregations, employees, neighbours or communities to set aside a few minutes to write a thoughtful note to Shane.
With every card, Shane’s smile grows...

To read more, check out this link: http://www.shaneswish.com/index.php

Tagged again!

I've tagged again! This time, Shannon's the culprit! I'm suppose to tell you 7 things about myself, and then tag 7 more blogs! Let's see what 7 interesting, little known facts are there?

1) I love Jimmy Buffett, and I've been to the Parrot Head Meca, Cincinnati, Ohio!
2) I just added 97 stamps sets to my "retired" collection! Time to buy more!
3) I spend my free time at the Humane Society. I even adopted a dog that was on Animal Cops.
4) Three o'clock is snack time...Ice cold Coke & a Snickers bar.
5) Bumpy Cake & Strawberry are my favorite ice cream combo at Stroh's.
6) I hate to cook, but I love to bake.
7) I have a model horse collection that I started when I was 7. The herd is about 500+, and new horses still find their way here every year!

Now, I'm off to tag some more unexpected suspects!

I've Been Tagged

I was tagged, and now I'm no longer a "tagged" virgin! I feel so special! What a happy day! Kim http://weluvcardstcok.blogspot.com/ tagged me, and I in turn tagged a few of my favorite bloggers! There is so many great blogs out there! I don't have enough hours in a day to study all of my favorites! I would like to thank everyone for sharing your beautiful works of art with us! Here's who I tagged:


Jen70 http://www.stamping-therapy.blogspot.com/
Emily Giovanni http://emilygiovanni.com/
Taylored Expressions http://www.tayloredexpressions.blogspot.com/
Paper Possibilites http://paperpossibilities.blogspot.com/
Kim Wilson http://craftdoc.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

Baby Birds

Mama Robin left the nest, so I was able to get some good pictures of the babies. They have grown so much! Just last week, they barely filled the bottom of the nest! Mama Mourning Dove doesn't appear to leave. Maybe Daddy is a good provider! A little concerned, though. We found a dead Mounring Dove in the neighbors yard. Well, this may be graphic, but it was a partial bird. I hope it wasn't Daddy!

It has been raining all mornig, but the mamas have been doing a great job of protecting their babies. You can see the rain on Mama Mourning Dove.

I love eBay!

When all else fails, go to eBay! I just won the Alphalicious Cricut cartridges on eBay! And I didn't have to pay an arm & a leg for it! Forty dollars, plus shipping! And it's new! Woohoo

What a beautiful spring day! I decided to take a few pitures of the world around me, and I noticed how pretty my little tree was! It's in full bloom, unlike the neighbor's trees, which haven't sprouted yet. The bees are loving the tree! They are dancing all over the blossoms! I just hope they build their nests elsewhere!

Babies Have Hatched

We have two bushes outside our front bay window; one has a Mourning Dove nest, and the other a Robin's nest. Well, today, we have babies! They are so small and so sweet! Mrs. Dove is very protective and I've only been able to catch a glimpse of her babies. I did catch Mrs. Robin feeding her babies. Mrs. Robin laid one egg two days later than the other three, so I'm waiting to see if it will hatch! I was able to get some pictures of the Robin's eggs two days before they hatched. It has been so much fun to watch the eggs grow! Now, I hope we'll be able to watch the babies grow, too!

Alphalicious

I must have Alphalicious! I have loved this font cartridge since Cricut introduced it! And of course, since I want it, nobody has it! When it does become available, I'll buy it, and the next day, Cricut will announce another cartridge that I'll have to have! That's just my luck! Does anybody know where I can pick up this cartridge? Nobody has it in stock. Also, I refuse to pay $90 for the darn thing! I may really want it, but I won't pay "extra" just to have it! I'm all about those lovely 40% off coupons! And my search continues.

SouthEastern Michigan SU Demos

Are you a Stampin' Up demo who lives in or near SouthEastern Michigan? I started a Yahoo group so we could organize gatherings. Since I don't have an active upline, I am always looking to swap ideas with other demos.

I would love to get our first gathering arranged!

Whew! It's Monday!

Woohoo! It's Monday & the kids are back in school! I am so happy! We didn't go on vacation, and the weather was crappy, so we were stuck in the house. And since the youngest was sick, we didn't leave the house! So, Baby is napping, and I have four hours left until the older kids get here! I should be stamping, not typing!

I've posted a picture of my latest B-day RAK card. It was fun to make. I usually don't like to spend time cutting out shapes, but I found the flowers to be relaxing!

Spring is here!

Woohoo! It's the first full day of spring! I am so ready for warmer weather! I'm tired of the snow & the cold, and even the rain is getting old!

I've once again, swamped myself with swaps! I signed up for 6 swaps within a month! What was I thinking? It's those darn ATC's! I am totally addicted to them! This weekend, I have to go shopping for card pages. The swaps are great, because I just love seeing the great ideas! I've been so inspired by other ATC's! I love making the ATC's, because it's the perfect chance to use my scrap card stock!

Speaking of scrap card stock...Today, I sat down and organized all my scraps! I was storing them in a shoe box, but not anymore! My scraps are now filed away in hanging folders! I really need a 12 step program for... hmhm retentive compulsions!

I've posted some of my latest ATC's! And now I have to retreat to the basement for more stamping!

A new day!

I survived a week at home with a sick kid, and I'm so glad he's feeling better! He's off to school today, and I can get back to a normal schedule. Whatever normal is.

I must share a story. I was having a pretty bad day yesterday, so I decided to escape to the local JoAnn's store. I was ona mission. I wanted a Cuttlebug, and I wanted a new Cricut cartridge. After shopping for an hour on line, I decided to just go to the store, so I could use my coupons! As I was getting ready to leave, the mailman brought me the latest JoAnn's sale paper. The Cuttle bug was on sale for $49.99! It was $69.99 on line! Now the trick was to actually have them in stock. So, off to the store I went.

While I'm in the car, I said a prayer and asked for everything to be in stock, and the ability to use all my coupons. I really needed something to brighten my day! I couldn't find the Cuttlebug, so I decided to check out the Cricut cartridges. Much to my surprise, they have been reduced from $89.99 to $64.99! Again, on line they were $89.99 and I couldn't use a coupon! Now, I just had to hope I could find the font I was looking for! I found it! What a great day! OK, now if I get to use my coupon, since it's not on sale, I'll be really happy!

I wondered around a bit more, and found the very last Cuttlebug, but it's not marked at the sale price! Now I'm getting nervous. Then, I notice all the Cuttlebug items are on 40% off! Oh boy! So, I began to hunt for the four embossing templates that I just had to have! I found them all! Oh, this day is getting better!

I get to the register, and the lady starts ringing up all my goodies. Then she grabs my coupons & applies all that she can! I can use the coupons! The Cuttlebug is on sale for $49.99! The templates are 40% off! I was literally doing the Happy Dance at the register. I'm sure the clerk thought I was crazy, but I'm OK with that! I spent all my birthday money and only had to pay a little bit out of my pocket, but I saved over $100! What a great day!

When I got back in my car, I was sure to give thanks for the great shopping day I just had! The power of prayer even works on goofy shopping trips! And when the sick, grouchy babies were finally in bed, I was embossing any piece of paper I could find!

MY First Coaster Album

I finally had a chance to make an album with coasters! It was so much fun! For the first book, I used Mr. Bonz as my subject! I put pictures on the right hand page, and the wrote on the opposite page. This was a great project for my scrap paper! I was able to use my scraps to decorate the pages! I can't wait to make the next album!

It's cold outside, Baby!

Wow! It's a whoppin' -6 degrees out there this morning! And the kids don't have school. No, it's not a Snow Day, it's just a Cold Day! I don't know what the temp is with the wind, but I'm sure it's in the double digits!

With the kids home, I don't know if I'll get any stamping done! That's so sad for me. I have projects to make and "make & takes" to prepare! Over the weekend, I made a photo box & a photo wallet. They turned out fairly well. The photo wallet remains to have a mystery step, but I think it turned out just fine!

The next 12 hour crop is this weekend. I have to figure out what to put in the goody bags. I put tags in the bags last time, so I need to find something different. Hmmm...What can I make that scrappers can use?

The Yahoo Group is going good! There are lots of ladies requesting to join! I hope we can plan a gathering soon! Maybe somewhere tropical, so our ink doesn't freeze!

I have to tend to the children! Maybe I can get them to stamp!

New Yahoo Group!

I've got a new Yahoo group. It was started as a place for Stampin Up demos in South East Michigan to plan gatherings, but any demonstrator is welcome! IT's by invite only, so let meknow if you're interested!

Winter Mini Catalog

Don't miss the great sets in the Stampin Up Winter Mini Catalog! There's still time to get Love Notes Paper in time for Vaentine's Day! And every one needs a Small Tag Punch! It's so much fun! And as long as you're getting the Small Tag Punch, you have to have Tagger's Dozen! The images fit the Small Tag Punch perfectly! Contact me today to place your order!

Sell-A-Bration

It's not too late to get your free Sell-A-Bration sets! You have until February 28! With every $50 Stampin Up purchase, you can chose a free Sell-A-Bration set! How doesn't like free stamps? I know I love free stamps! Contact me today to place your order!

Today's Challenge

Today's challenge-just get to the stamp room and stamp! Wish me luck!