Totally TURTLES

I have to say that my hostess Cortney has wonderful friends and neighbors. It was so much fun showing them how to use the Big Shot to emboss the Tulips around the edge of the cardstock and to let them create a card using the stamp set Bliss. Such a simple card but really was pretty. Baja Breeze is such a pretty color but I was looking at the card today and thought, "What about using other colors to make a whole set of cards." Here's what I did in about 20 minutes or less. This would make a great hostess gift. Add some matching envelopes, tie some ribbon around it and you have the perfect present. Have a great day!

Here's the card we made yesterday at my monthly Stamp-a-stack. Yes it's beautiful and graceful and perfect just how it is. LOL. But of course I need to Jazz it up a little so I added a brad, library clip and extra cardstock. Here's the new and improved version.  I also added snow on the tree with a white gel pen. Only thing that I would change would be to make the tree darker. After stamping a bunch of cards on the whisper white ink it made the trees a little lighter than the first one. That's it for today. I'm doing yard work and enjoying the sun. Hope you are doing something fun too.

When I first signed up to be a demonstrator 3 years ago my big dream was to buy as many stamps as possible with my new discount. I wanted it all and I wanted it for less. I had no plans to recruit. I had no plans to build a business. I just wanted to get together with friends and stamp and craft and scrapbook. I did that. I enjoyed being a Hobby Demonstrator for three years. This past July I had a change to my Big Dream. Going to convention I realized that I was keeping others from enjoying what I was enjoying. Good customers and friends that stamp with me never were asked, "Do you want to be a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator?" I never asked them. Why? Because I wasn't sure if they would want to do this for a business. (Even though I wasn't doing it as a business.) I was afraid it would change our relationship. (I now realize it makes it even better.) I also was afraid of losing my customer base. Who would help me reach my minimums? (This probably was my biggest wor...

Recently I had to go to a birthday party and had not thought ahead to buy something. Wine is always a good gift though so I grabbed one from my stash and tied a beautiful Stampin' Up! ribbon on it with a hand stamped tag. Have a great day!

Friday night I had a workshop with a good friend who is actually the reason I have most of my downline. She held one of the first workshops I did after convention last year and from there I was able to meet so many great new friends who enjoy stamping. Since she already got my normal hostess gift before I had to get creative with this one. The weather here is gorgeous! It was in the 80's yesterday and I actually got a sunburn! Love it! This is definately flip flop weather. Oh yes, flip flops. Those amazing slip on shoes that you can wear anywhere! So I started to think about what I could do that would be different. I ended up at the Dollar General and found a pair of flip flops for a $1. The best part was they were Tempting Turquoise. How perfect! Here they are. Just plain simply flip flops. When I got them home I had to come up with a way to make them pretty. I imediately thought about our fabric called sweet stitches. I used the print with buttons on it because it has a ...

Elilzabeth just promoted so I sent her this card. I saw how to make these beautiful flowers from someone else's blog. You sew a little thread on one side of the ribbon and then cinch it up.

Tuesday night I had 9 ladies come to my supper and stamp club. It was a lot of fun! I made spagetti and meatballs.  Others brought side dishes. Here is the card we made: I wanted to make something else too but my creative juices were not flowing. Everything I tried to make looked ugly to me. I finally just gave up and decided to just do one card. I think everyone was happy with this though. Here's some other samples of cards. My very talented downline, Laura, made this one. The swirl in the corner is from the stamp Elizabeth. So creative! DSP is Springtime Vintage.  Here's a card I made for my Anniversary that's coming up. I couldn't find my spinner hands so I just added a heart on it. I think my black ink pad need reinking though. LOL.  Oh well. Have a great day!

Well this day has been so busy! But I did find time to do what I wanted to do. Make this shirt wearable for St. Patty's Day. I started with a plain green tank top from Walmart. (Cost only $3). I punched out 4 hearts from our Exclusive vinyl sheets. (I used white but it comes in every color of the rainbow). Attache to shirt where you want them. Then spray with bleach. I put it in this empty bottle of pet spray. Wait a few minutes and it turns the shirt a lighter color but where the vinyl was is darker. Peel off vinyl and wash your shirt. Make sure you put some cardboard between the front of the shirt and the back of the shirt. Here's a blast from my past. My girls were in my closet playing when they stumbled across this cute little guy. My daddy gave me this when I was a little girl for St. Patrick's Day. I love it! I remember having it on my dresser growing up. Now it's there again. :() May your troubles be less, and your blessings be more, and not...

Here's what Silverhill looked like the day after the tornado. Pretty scary images. This tree was huge and it was just pulled out of the ground like it was a weed. The historic building is moved off it's foundation 10 feet. Roofing is found a block away in some trees that look like toothpicks broken in half. Here's a picture of the street from in front of the Elementary school. Right before the water tower is were the tornado touched down. It's a block and a half from the school. So scary. Here's another tree that was just snapped in half. Apparently a lady was struck by lightening that day and went to the hospital and was in a coma. Unfortunately I found out that she did pass away. Storms can really wreak havoc on our world. Mother nature is very powerful.  It's hard to image that wind, something you can't even see, can snap these trees, tear off roofs and move houses.  My prayers go out to the people of Silverhill and Mobile who are now ...

Make flowers! Here's what my jeans looked like before (Sorry no rear view shots with me wearing them.) This is what they look like now: I also added some other fabric to it that my friend Flora gave me. I haven't hot glued it all together yet but I still need to get some pins for the back. More pictures: I love this new flower die. It's great! Here's a card I made the other day. I really like this Crosses of Hope stamp set. I used markers to color in the cross. Make sure you use sticky strip to put the ribbon on though because if you don't it will look like this the next morning. Not very pretty and not very nice if you gave it to someone. Luckily I hang on to my cards for a good few months before I give them to anyone. LOL. Hope you are having a great day!

Well I have to say that this has been a very memorable Ash Wednesday. The morning started off with a tornado warning coming from the radio alarm clock. I have heard this before but the ladies voice seemed different this time. Plus they were very specific about where and when the tornado might hit. So I got up, got my kids ready for school and then watched the news like a hawk. I did manage to drink some coffee to try to wake up. (No I did NOT give up coffee for Lent). So the storm was coming and it was fast moving. My friend Francesca was silly enough to go to work today and was headed straight towards the worst part of the storm. She's very lucky that the tornado decided to hit just South of her. I'm actually one of those people that likes storms. I stare out the window and watch lightening strikes and I love the boom of thunder.  Well the news was saying we had 7300 lightening strikes in five minutes throughout Mobile and Daphne.  I watched out the window as the cable we...

Tonight is a Mardi Gras Parade! I'm looking forward to going to it because there's a teacher riding one of the floats from Amanda and Jessica's school. Plus Aunt Ginnie is back in town and she loves Mardi Gras! At the last minute I decided to make some goodie bags for friends that I'm meeting up with tonight. Here they are: I started by cutting out 12 Top Notes in Rich Razzleberry. That's the die for our Big Shot Machine. Love it because you can do so much with it. It also fits perfectly over our cello bags. I dont know how I survived without it. Then I punched 12 Decorative Lables out of Wild Wasabi. That's one of my favorite colors! Then I punched 12 fleur di lis. Not SU! but they should have something like this. It's great! I smooched those little guys after I punched them. They look like gold! The cardstock is More Mustard. Then I punched out 12 of the Modern Label punch. I hand wrote Happy Mardi Gras. I attached them together, stapled the top ...

Recently I made a bunch of thank you cards using the stamp set Bliss from the Sale-a-bration catalog. These thank you cards I made were for my club members and for special customers. Here's the card: Only before I sent them I decided to add another element on it. If you received a card I hope you liked it! I'm still planning some new cards to send out. Are in one of my clubs? No? Then you should send me an email and ask me if there's an opening. I also do classes. Check my events calendar. I also spoil my hostesses. Want to earn free stuff? Contact me today to schedule your own girls night out party. I'll provide the good time and you provide the friends. Enjoy your day. 

These are so cute and easy to make. Francesca made two of these for my little girls. It was filled with chocolate but now it's mysteriously empty. Hmmmm.... She used the scallop envelope die to make the base. It's wrapped in DSP and a satin ribbon. The handle is a solid piece of cardstock that she did the scallop edge on. Then added matching DSP in the center. Maybe we can get her to post the measurements for them. The bunny is so cute! She used 1 3/4" circle punch, the large and small oval punches and the nose is a brad. Now hop on over to Francesca's blog to see what she's up to. Check back soon for a post using the stamp set Bliss.

I've been toying with the idea of starting a prayer journal. This would be a written version of what I do verbally at night now. Actually I do verbal with my girls and then silent when I go to bed. I think the power of writing something down makes things happen. They always tell you to write down your goals. Perhaps writing down prayers would be just as powerful. Either way it can't hurt right? Here's a journal I decorated recently as a gift to the girl that hosts the prayer group that I go to. I used Baja Breeze Seam Binding and cardstock, Springtime Vintage DSP, the stamp set Crosses of Hope, Crumb Cake ink, and Very Vanilla cardstock. Punches: Decorative Label, scallop edge Accessories: Rosettes, (Mini Catalog), 5 x 5 chipboard journal book (big cattie, pg 185) Really simple but so pretty. I was inspired by the video on the demonstrator website that's about our upcoming promotion. Can't wait to tell you all about it. Everyone will love it! If you come to...