Totally TURTLES

Yesterday was my stamp a stack. I keep it cheap and simple so there's no bling or glitter or dimensionals. Gasp! But I was thinking about how these cards can be just a starting point so you can take them home and make them super special using the products you already have. If you don't have glitter or smooch spray let me know and I'll add it to my next order. Here's the card we made: Pretty but it's rather plain Jane.  So after everyone left I decided to get out my Glitter Glass, ribbon and smooch spray.  Here's what I came up with. It totally shimmers and shines and is not at all Plain anymore. I smooched the poinsettias and put them on dimensionals. I love it! By the way, this flower is from the SAB stamp set Bliss. You can't buy it. Only earn it. Hee hee. The ribbon is from the ribbon swap I did last month. I really like the Old Olive with the Whisper White trim. I hope you enjoyed my Jazz It Up Monday post.

I've been seeing this on some of the blogs I visit often and thought how cool would it be if I got a stylish blogger award. Well this morning I opened my email and found two people had given me the award. Woo hoo! That means they love me. "They really, really love me." LOL. Now I have to share 8 things with you. Hmmmmm...... 1.  I love turtles. That's something everyone knows though. But if you are just tuning in I'll let you know that I own 13 box turtles. Most are babies that were born last year. They are growing so much and just now starting to come out of hibernation.  Box turtles have a great personality. Plus it's fun to watch them eat a live worm. Sort of like watching T-rex eat something. I imagine that turtles and dinos have a lot in common. 2.  I'm totally NOT organized. I'm not sure if it's a genetic disorder but for some reason I can't seem to stay organized. Once in a blue moon I'll put everything in my craft room away, ...

Today I'm going to do a step by step tutorial. I haven't done one in a while. I had some club members miss this class so this will help them get up to date on things. Here's the crayon resist technique. Start with glossy white paper. Stamp with basic black/brown or gray ink. I haven't tried it with another ink so I'm not sure how that would work. I think you should use a permanent type ink. I did a little variation on this by adding some Pear Pizazz on the leaves before doing the crayon. Now you'll need to go to your kids crafts and find a white crayon. I'll wait. Okay, got it? Let's continue. Start at the bottom and work your way up coloring the leaves, flowers and stems with the crayon. Since it's white you can't see where you colored so if you have any doubts just color it again. Next you'll sponge two different colors on the paper. I did Blushing Bride and Rose Red. Start with the lightest color first. I rubbed t...

My downline is so talented! Here's the swaps that the ladies did for our meeting last night.  Debbie's above is with the very first stamp set she ever bought from me. Below is Laura's. I love the pinwheel. The dots coordinate nicely with the embossing folder. Great job!  Here's Francesca's. I love the springtime paper. I showed her the flowers that coordinate with it and now she's gotta get those. LOL. Last but not least is mine. I love the ribbon. It's really easy to put on with the Tombow glue. Yesterday was my downline meeting. I usually don't serve dinner at this meeting but everyone was starving when they got to my house. Luckily I had made a big pot of bean soup. I did not plan to have everyone eat so unfortunately I ran out of rice. Sorry ladies! Maybe we should start the meeting a little early and have dinner too. LOL. My mind is still not quite right from being sick and I'm very forgetful and disorganized. No jokes please. LOL....

Look at this pretty card that Laura made for me when I was so sick. It's so beautiful in real life. I was thinking that the paper was some kind of fabric or handmade special paper. Nope. Just the simple technique using tissue. Seriously. I have to try this. Check back to see what I come up with. I can't wait to show all the fun swaps I got at the meeting last night. I'll be taking pictures soon and posting them. Have a great day.

We had a yummy shrimp dinner last night. Here's Steve and Amanda peeling shrimp. Amanda really likes to peel things. She loves to peel the egg shell off of hard boiled eggs. She also is great at shucking corn. Even things that aren't supposed to be peeled she finds a way to peel them. LOL. This past weekend I got some sad news. Steve's aunt Ginnie told me her mom passed away. I knew she was sick with the flu and that she was already battling Congestive Heart Failure. I was worried about her and then the next day Ginnie called and told me she didn't make it through the night. I know how hard it is to lose your mom and I felt so bad for her. She's got to drive all the way to Maine for the funeral. So even though it's not the best occasion I did make her a sympathy card. Those are the hardest cards to make but to me are the most special and treasured cards. Here's what I made: and the inside: I hope she turns to God for support as well as her family an...

My class went great today! I had 6 ladies come. Most of them are in my downline. Hee hee. They love the Simply Adorned Charm and making inserts can be addictive. One of them was worried about me being ready for the class. (I wonder why.) But I do my best creating under pressure. Here's what I came up with. We did 5 inserts plus a Monogram for the back. I think they all turned out great. Tomorrow is my turtle meeting. We're going to have soooo much fun! I'll have a raffle, swaps, prizes and more. Thinking about joining Stampin' Up! and having a group of ladies to get together with and stamp with? Then email me. We'd love to have you! I'm heading to bed now. Seems like I'm still pretty tired from my illness. Night.

My husband's cousin, Charlie, just retired and had a huge party this past Friday. I asked Steve if he needed me to make a card. He said yes. So here's what I came up with. I used the madallion background stamp, Plant Hope stamp set, Bashful Blue, River Rock, Wild Wasabi, Sahara Sand. Sponged some Crumb Cake ink or maybe it was Basic Brown. I didn't want to add any ribbon or "girlie" stuff on it. Just simple.  The saying is from Teeny Tiny Sayings. I love this set. It's also the one I used for Valentine's Day.  So many different sayings that really it's the only set you need.  I guess that's it for today. Gotta plan my stamp club projects for tonight.  I'm feeling better so I'll go ahead and do the class. See ya all soon.

My daughters had fun making the Valentine's for their classes yesterday. Here they are cuting, gluing and putting it all together. We used the new DSP paper in the mini catalog. I really like the gray, red and pink in it. Amanda's Valentine's were the heart treat cups with a Dove chocolate heart inside each one. I punched a hole at the top and added some gray ribbon.  I have her name in a stamp so we just stamped her name on the back. Here's her's. Jessica's class got pencils. But I couldn't just send in a pencil by itself so we made little toppers out of the owl stamp from SAB and the punch. The color is Poppy Parade. Jessica picked it out. Daddy helped by punching the scallop circle.  Jessica glued it all together. We also stamped her name on the back. Turned out cute I think.  The teachers got a cake pop made by Francesca. Lookie: They are super yummy! Francesca sold a ton of cake pops this Valentine's.  She's ready for a break from b...

Okay stampers. I have totally felt the love from my downline lately. I've been sick with the flu and then a secondary infection after that. I haven't been able to do much in the last week. Luckily I have a super team that takes care of me. Laura brought me some candy in this cute little box she made. She made my two girls some too. I'll post pictures tomorrow because I can't find my camera right now. Then today I was suppose to do a Valentine's Day Card Class for a group of moms. I had a fever last night and I couldn't get out of bed at all. Well actually when I hear the Star Wars music playing on TV last night during the game I had to drag my booty out of bed to see that commercial. Hee hee. I loved the little Darth Vader. How cute!  So I asked my downline Francesca if she could take over for me for the class. Now Francesca hasn't done her own workshop before and she just signed up in November but she's so talented and she's great at talking! LO...

Well the flu totally hit me on Tuesday. I've been in bed for three days and today I'm finally sitting up and able to work on crafts/blogging/stampin'.  Still feel achy but I'm not as weak. Here's a little card that's simple to do. Pretty much one layer if you don't count the flowers. You need the embossing folder from the mini cattie and the five petal punch. Stamp with whatever stamp set you have and add a glimmer brad for some bling. Super easy and it's really pretty in person. I used the naturals white paper. I love it! The little specs in the paper make it more fancy. Okay, Just had a coughing fit so gotta go.