It was a Dark & Dreary Night...

...That's how a friend from college would start out every story.  The first time he did it, we were all huddled around a campfire in the middle of the woods.  It was a fun group of gals and guys - all just friends that went and did all sorts of things together.  Well, Jim, who was a really great friend, decided that we needed to tell ghost stories around the campfire and that was what he said to get the mood going and then get the other guys to tell scary stories.  He was one of the last to tell a story and he started out the same as all the others...It was a dark and dreary night...only his story took a funny turn and ended up with his shoe getting caught in the escalator at the mall and how he had to pull his foot out of the shoe at the last minute as everyone watched the toe of it being stuck in the and of the escalator.  He was great at telling stories and had us all laughing. 

Wow, that was quite the trip down memory lane there.  And what does it have to do with stamping & stuff?  Well that is the name of the stamp set that I used for the fun dinner/swap/stamping evening that I went to last night.  Dark & Dreary.  I really have enjoyed using this set.  And will be using it in my Halloween class in October.

If you didn't know, Halloween is my favorite time of year.  I love everything about it!  And have always loved stamping for it.  So, this is a time you will not want to miss.

Last night was great fun.  It was so good to meet up with stamping friends and laugh and stamp and have some really yummy food!  Diana and I even got the Creme Brulee - which I have never tried before.  It was fab - thanks Diana!!!

Here is the card that I took to swap and have others stamp last night.  Okay, it was a bit confusing, but I will see if I can explain how things worked last night.  We met for dinner at Keegan's.  The food was great and the staff was so wonderful for letting us loud and giggly ladies take over an entire room of the restaurant.  I got an open-faced veggie sandwich.  And honestly, I have no idea how anyone could have eaten that as a sandwich.  It was definitely a knife and fork event and even then, I could not eat it all.  YUM!  Then we came prepared with materials for 8 people to make our cards.  Since there were 19 people attending total, we pre-made the rest of the cards and just swapped with the other 11 people.  So, I got to actually stamp 8 projects but came home with my 19 new samples to share!  Woohoo!!! What a great evening.  I was so excited about it that I couldn't wait to share with you and am posting this morning instead of tonight.

The larger version of this card did not photograph as well as I would have liked.  There is glitter in certain areas and if you look closely you can see it on this card.  Just enough to highlight the baubles on the candelabra and the spiderweb.

I was going for a monochromatic look in the beginning.  At the last minute decided to add the red for the candles.  It made me think of all my Twilight friends, which made me smile.

Stamp Set:  Dark & Dreary (winter mini catalog)
Paper:  Basic Black, Basic Gray, Silver and Whisper White
Ink:  Basic Gray, Real Red
Accessories:  Black lace ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds glitter and Aqua painter

Well, I am off to get some yoga in before finishing up my work.  There were so many great projects from last night and I will be sharing those over the next few days.

Stamping Tonight

In a little over an hour from now, I will be heading out to dinner and stamping with some friends.  And that means I will have some great samples to start sharing very, very soon. 

Today was back on track for the health challenge.  I let myself slide just a bit over the weekend, meaning no exercise and I enjoyed a wonderful hamburger from a favorite restaurant - Joe's Farm Grill with family and friends.  It was very yummy & I'm glad I could enjoy it guilt free.  I still haven't been very good at getting on that scale regularly, but my clothes are getting looser and looser everyday.  I have a pair of "goal" jeans.  These were a pair of jeans that I love and have not been able to wear for quite some time.  I'm planning on getting in them comfortably by December.

So, this morning I went for my 2 mile walk with family and after getting showered and ready for the day, decided to give those jeans a try.  I got them pulled on and zipped up - and probably could have worn them all day, but they would not have been the most comfortable.  That means progress is being made!  Woohoo!!!

Oh, and before I forget, check out the clearance rack at Stampin' Up!  They just added new items.  Check them out and be sure to get them ordered.  It's so easy, you can order directly from my website.  Here's all the places you need to go:

Clearance Rack on My Stamp Website

Be sure to click on the Clearance Rack on the left hand side of the screen to check out all the great deals!

Hope you had a great Monday!

Joy

I am attending a stamp event tomorrow.  Meeting up with some really fun stamping friends and making each other's cards.  I'm very excited to be going.  And so, today was spent creating the Halloween card that they will be making from me.  I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do.  So, I sat and down and just started stamping random stuff on random cardstock.  And then all the sudden it just kinda started piecing together.  It was pretty fun to work on.  I was able to get them all completed and ready to go while the rest of my family was outside tending to some yard work. 

I can't wait to show the card to you, but will wait until tomorrow since I want it to be a surprise for the ladies tomorrow night.  So, be sure to check back tomorrow for a look at what I came up with.

In the meantime, since I was digging around in my stamp stuff for items to use on the card, I came across this framed piece that I made a few years back as family gifts for Christmas.  You know, it's never too early to start getting ready for some Christmas stamping.  As a matter of fact, I have already started on my Christmas shopping.  Gotta hit the sales whenever they come about!

Season's Greetings?

It's never too early to have the Christmas spirit right?  And it's definitely never too early to get a head start on your Christmas cards. 

I kinda got off track a little on my health challenge over the weekend.  Nothing terrible, just wasn't being as good about getting my exercise in.  Well, Monday I started over again.  I did get a good walk in on Monday and Wednesday.  Tuesday was a bit of an off day again.  Lots of work that needed to get done and I just wasn't feeling my best.  So I took a nap instead.  And let me tell you I felt tons better afterward.  I have been watching the amount of food I'm eating and still feel pretty good about the whole challenge.

Today's card is from my day of stamping at Amy's house.  It was so sweet of her to share her wonderful projects with us. 

Stamp Set:  Many Merry Messages
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Jolly Holiday Designer Paper

Health Challenge Update

I got to walk with my brother and my father yesterday.  That was so fun.  Don't get me wrong, it was a workout, but it was a fun one.  And, I finally did weigh myself pretty consistently over the last week.  And by the end of the week, not only are my pants feeling a tad bit loser, my shirts not so snug, the scale even confirmed it - down a pound and a half!  I will take it.  Any movement in that direction is wonderful in my opinion. 

I am busy planning my next stamp class.  Mark your calendars now - September 18.  And it is going to be Christmas stuff.  I'm thinking cards, but not 100% sure!  So, within the next week, I will be making the announcement.

In the meantime, enjoy this card using the shadow stamping technique.

Stamp Set: Baroque Motifs
Ink:  Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant
Paper:  Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive, Shimmery White

From Okay to Great

This weekend was kind of a long one for me.  There were lots of activities planned.  And that was great.  But, I had a bit of a personal issue that has taken me for a bit of a blow.  I'm not ready to talk about it yet, because it's still pretty fresh and I have not decided how I would like to handle the situation.  I do know that it does need to be handled, just not sure what the best option is.

I was looking forward to a dinner and movie planned with a couple of girlfriends all week.  Only to find out that not all of us were going to be able to make it.  And that's fine, life happens.  So we decided to reschedule for another time.  Well, at the last minute, three of us decided to go ahead and meet for lunch.  And I am so glad we did.

We met at Liberty Market, which is one of my very favorite places to eat.  We got to talking and catching up and really just enjoying the afternoon.  Before we knew it an hour and half had gone by.  One of the gals, Amy, had just had a stamp class this past Friday and brought along the projects they made.  So darn cute!  Robin and I loved them.  Amy suggested we go back to her house and stamp them.  Trust me, you do not have to ask me twice!  So off we went.  It was so great spending the afternoon with such caring and wonderful friends.  Thanks gals for such a great afternoon.  Let's do it again real soon!!!

After I got home from fun stamping, my health challenge friend, Kim contacted me to go for a 2 mile walk. Woohoo! I hadn't gotten my walking in for the day and was more than ready for some chatting and exercising at the same time. It was great to get that walk in. I am now really pumped up to get another walk in tomorrow with my family. Should be fun!


Here is one of the five cards Amy let us make this afternoon.  I simply love it!  The design is so simple and yet beautiful.  And, of course I love it because it's mostly purple!  How can you go wrong?

Stamp Set:  Medallion
Ink:  Elegant Eggplant, Cherry Cobbler
Paper:  Elegant Eggplant, Basic Black, Whisper White

I hope you all had a great weekend and look forward to chatting with you tomorrow!

One Day Left

Don't miss out on this great day.  Contact me right away to get your order placed!

Place an order by August 21, 2010 for these special prices.
Order $50 and receive 10% off your order.
Order $100 and you receive 20% off and a free catalog.

This offer is only good through me and must be placed with me and not on my website to receive my special pricing(for US customers only please). All orders and payments must be received by August 21. To place an order, email me at mlharper@qwestoffice.net

Click here to view the online catalog.

All Neutral

Another day down, another day beginning.  And another day of exercise in.  I love it when you can feel your hard work starting to pay off.  I'm not sure if I've lost anything yet, but like I said yesterday, I do feel better.  On Tuesday when I was doing yoga, I did notice that I could hold the poses longer and a little deeper and that my breathing was much more even.  That's a great sign to me!

Towards the end of the day, I settled down in the couch for a few minutes of down time.  I was looking through some magazines and came across an article showing all brown paints.  Like five different shades.  I think they were getting their inspiration from coffee.  And I got my inspiration from them.  It was interesting to see the different shades of brown together.  I decided to create a card in all neutral colors.

Stamp Set:  Baroque Motifs
Paper:  Sarah Sand, Chocolate Chip, Confetti White, Basic Black
Inks:  Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla craft
Accessories:  Chocolate Chip satin ribbon, Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon

It was fun pulling out only neutral colors and trying to come up with a way to make it not all blend together.  I really wanted to add an accent color, but none of them looked quite right.  Instead I added just a touch of Basic Black as the bottom layer on the word Cherish.  I'm still feeling the neutrals and think I will play with them again to see how very different I can create something from this card.

Middle of the Week

Well good morning all!  At least, I hope it's a good morning.  We are smack in the middle of the week and so far it's been a good one!  Don't forget you have just 3 more days to order saving either 10 or 20% off your order!  Contact me right away to get your order in before it's too late!  mlharper@qwestoffice.net
Read the entry on Sunday August 15:  Special Discount valid through August 21 for more information.

I have forgotten to update you on the health challenge for the past couple of days.  Sorry about that.  On Monday, I was so excited because I got to return back to walking after having to take a few months off.  For a little background...my dad walks every morning (except for Sundays) and has for years.  I couldn't even tell you when he started walking, it's just something that he always does.  If I had to venture a guess it would be in the early 90's.  But it could have been even earlier than that.  He walks for health reasons and we, the family, can see that he has benefited from it over the years.  He walks at the local mall.  It's great, you go in early before the stores open and make a few laps around.  And it's not boring, we are constantly entertained by the ever changing displays in the windows.  One lap around our mall is a quarter mile.  One of my brothers walks with him.  My brother's original goal was to get his endurance back up to be able to start running again.  (I think we have enjoyed walking so much that I'm not sure he is still wanting to run anymore - I can't be a runner so that's not an option).  Last year, when my son started band, he had to be to school an hour early two days a week for it.  So, at last, I was finally able to walk too.

I really wanted to start walking to help with the terrible shin splints that I had gotten from doing karate.  I had the shin splints for almost two years, been to the doctor, had inserts made to retrain my ankles to keep my feet from rolling in.  Wore those, felt better but still wanted to be able to get some good exercise.  I started walking at the mall for two reasons, to get that exercise and to consciously make the effort to retrain my feet to walk properly to avoid shin splints.  Well, it worked great.  I haven't really had any shin pain for a year. 

Once school got out, I had a pretty rough summer and was unable to walk.  Well, band started up again this past Monday and I was at the mall with my dad and my brother ready to walk.  The three of us really enjoy getting together.  I mean the physical exercise is great, but the chance to get together and chat and such is even better.  I'm so glad that I am able to start going again.  And even prouder of the fact that I was able to jump right back in to my old pace again.  Even if I do have three brand new blisters on my feet.  That won't prevent me from going again this morning!

I would like to say long story short, but I guess I can't.  I am a bit of a talker after all.  I have not weighed myself for a few days.  I do however feel better already - more energy and all that good stuff.  I also feel stronger since I've started this challenge so that is a good thing.  I will try to remember to weigh myself today and see how that goes.  I just don't want to see no change and get discouraged you know?

 Okay, so on to stamping.  Here is a card I made a few weeks ago.  I think I wanted to get something going that was using the color Rose Red.  I stuck with colors from within the color family for easy coordination.  I am still getting use to the new color groupings and really am finding some of those colors to be quite fun together.  I hope you enjoy.

Stamp Set:  Priceless
Paper:  Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, Naturals White
Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Rose Red
Accessories:  Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon, dimensional

Thanks for stopping in!  Have a great Wednesday!

M is for...

Meatballs...yum!  Or Mashed potatoes...even yummier!  Or peanut butter M&M's.  Wow, I must be hungry.  Which is weird, it's only 6:00 in the morning. 

M is actually for Me.  That's one of my nicknames.  Given to me by a nephew many years ago.  He is almost 21 now.  Most of my nieces and nephews call me Aunt Me and even some of my brothers and sister-in-laws refer to me as Me.  It's pretty funny to watch people's reaction to someone yelling "Hey Me!" in a crowd. 

I love my M that I made at Diana's.  It is perched right up against a favorite card (from my upcoming September stamp class - I will be sharing this one later on) on my stamping desk.  It looks so cute there.

I'm not really a floral type person.  If you have ever visited my photography website you will probably be disagreeing with me right about now.  There are tons of flowers on there.  And I do enjoy photographing flowers, but here's the thing, I like to photograph them for their texture and their shapes.  Not necessarily because I really love flowers.  And because my mom really enjoys my photos of flowers.

But, this is a flower I really enjoyed.  It was so fun to make - and so easy too!  I loved the feel of the cardstock in my hand after I wet it down and mushed it around to make the soft petals.  So very fun!

Thanks for checking in with me.  And don't forget only a few days left to take advantage of discounts on your orders.  Let me know if you are interested in taking advantage of this offer!

Have a great Tuesday and see you soon!

A Distressing Day

Well, actually it was not a distressing day.  Not at all!

Yesterday I got to be the stamper.  I attended a class at Diana's (thanks for a great day yesterday) using Stampin' Up!'s new distressing kit.  What a bundle of fun that is!  We made three projects.  It was really fun using that kit to add "wear and tear" to the projects.  I think the blank stamp is so fun, and very relaxing.  The way you work it in on the edges of your projects.  Well, it just takes all the stress out of distressing.  And if that isn't enough, the sanding tools let you really work out some aggressions - that is if you have any to work out!

Anyway, it was real fun going to class and enjoying the company of other stampers that were learning this new technique just like I was for the first time.  We had a great time gabbing and stamping.

After class was over, Diana and I headed out to do some shopping.  I'm always up for shopping, but this was right up my alley.  She's been wanting a new camera.  So off we went to take a look at different styles.  She had two picked out two that she was interested in looking at.  We went to Costco first.  I haven't had a Costco membership in years, so wasn't really sure what to expect.  Really, their camera selection was pretty limited.  There seemed to be either pretty high end or low end.  And nothing in the range that she was looking for.  So, off to Best Buy we went.  It was just down the road a bit and they had a much better selection.  Immediately we had it narrowed down to two, but really it was looking like the one.  And it turned out to be one of the two that she was originally wanting to take a look at.  She did buy that one.  I think she's going to have a lot of fun with it.  It's got a lot of options and will be as simple as she wants or will allow her to "expand" her horizons if she decides.  After that we grabbed a quick bite at Paradise Bakery.  Yum!  Love that place.  And then I decided it was time to head home to see my family since I had been gone most of the day.  I finished the day out playing computer games with my husband and son.  We had fun.

Now, I'm off to take my son in for his first before school band class of the school year and then I am getting to walk the mall with my brother and my father for the first time since school got out in May.  I'm really looking forward to that.  The exercise is great and so are the conversations that we have!

Don't worry, I'm not leaving you without any pictures to check out for the day.  Just a couple from yesterday.

Here I am getting ready to go to the Distressing Class. 

The distressing Kit in it's cute little pouch.

Here are the contents all laid out.  We all joked that the sticks on the bottom were weapons.  But they sure made distressing things easier.  And everyone fell in love with the cute little sanding block.  I didn't even use mine yesterday, it's just too cute!!!

Here are the three projects that we made in Diana's class.  She had put her initial on her Distressing Kit.  I love my M.  It's so darn cute and those flowers were so easy and fun to make.  I'm not sure where I'm going to put my M yet, for right now it's on my stamping desk ready to help inspire me to create.

Special Discount valid Through August 21, 2010

Good morning! Looks like today is a two for.  Meaning you are getting two posts for the price of one.  Since I apparently did not check a simple little box, my post for last night did not go through and I had to manually send it this morning.  I also did not want to miss out on getting my sale info out, so you are getting two posts today!


This week only (for US only), when you order you can take advantage of a discount on your stamping supplies. But, hurry, this offer ends on Saturday. I accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover.

Place an order by August 21, 2010 for these special prices.
Order $50 (before shipping and tax) and receive 10% off your order.
Order $100 (before shipping and tax) and you receive 20% off.

This offer is only good through me and must be placed with me personally and not on my website to receive my special pricing. All orders and payments must be received by August 21. To place an order, email me at mlharper@qwestoffice.net

Click here to view the online catalog.

Contact me with any questions you may have.

Well, I must get ready for the rest of my day.  I am attending a stamp class this afternoon with my good friend Diana (can't wait to see you and stamp with you).  I will be learning how to use our new distressing kit.  Can't wait for that!!!  And then, she is in need of a new camera so I am going to help her pick one out - since I speak camera language!  Have a great rest of your day and I will have some fun samples to show you later from class today.

First Official Stamping Event

Today was my first official stamp events. I setup my sale items this morning. Lots of wonderful memories of stamping items here that are looking for a good home - to be used and loved. I had some stamp friends take advantage of these great deals, but do have lots of items left. If you are interested in a list of what's left and prices send me an email mlharper@qwestoffice.net.


After my sale, I had my first class. We did three cards. I wanted to keep things a little simpler for my first event. We did use some bleach, some glitter and ribbon of course. It was fun. I think everyone had a good time stamping, chatting and just enjoying a little girl time. Thanks for supporting me in my new adventure. I can't wait for next month - Christmas!

After the class, several members of my family went out to eat. For me, it was kind of in celebration of getting back into stamping. It's been a fun experience. I look forward to challenging myself again and reconnecting with this side of my creativity. We went to eat at a Mexican restaurant. We had plans to eat at a local Olive Mill, but decided at the last minute since it was so hot out (it's an outside tour and stuff that you go through) and they have an event planned for today that we did not want to participate in, that maybe we should save that for another day. Thanks to my mom & Brittany for the support with stamping today and to their families for joining us for lunch today.

All around a fun time!  I took some pictures as I was setting up and fully intended to take more during the class and such.  But, I was distracted with the actual stamping and forgot to even get my camera out.  Next time I will be much better.  So here's the garage sale.

Spots, spots and more spots.  Oh and some cardstock too.  This is what was left at this point, after having sold several unopened packs and loose sheets as well.  Before the day was over, several more packs of paper and spots left as well.

A look at the stacks of stamp sets.

Various accessories.  Items needed to add that special touch.

My day ended with a very nice surprise.  My health challenge friend, Kim, and I went for a walk around the neighborhood.  This was no leisurely stroll.  We had a good pace from beginning to end.  I just wish it wasn't quite so humid out.  The heat no problem, but I am so not used to the humidity.  I'm glad she asked me to go.  It felt great to get out there and get in some exercise after a non-stop day.  It was great company, great conversation and all working towards a better me.  Gotta love that.

Now I'm gonna put in some quality time with my book - The Empire Strikes Back.  Yes I have seen the movie more times than I can count, but the books are way better.  Aren't they always?

Tune back tomorrow for my ordering special announcement.  I know I said today was the day, but I'm still working out all the details so tomorrow it is.  See you then!

You asked for it...

Well kinda.  I had a few people let me know that they would like to see my swap card.  Well, I'm just not ready to show the whole thing.  So, instead I will give you a sneak peek.

Ain't I a stinker? I just love these new brads. They are very fun and beautiful. I'm trying to figure out how on earth I can add them to my clothing or jewelry somehow.

Let's see, it's day five of the health challenge.  I've been pretty good.  Sticking to my calorie intake and have worked out everyday.  Today's workout was a little bit lighter than I had anticipated but that's okay.  Sometimes you just have off days.  Maybe I was too excited about seeing a couple friends this morning that I rushed a bit.  It was fun to visit with them and share goofy stories about our kids.

Now, I need to finish getting everything ready for my Stampin' Garage Sale and Welcome Back to Stamp Class in the morning.  I'm looking forward to both and hope to see some fun stampers tomorrow!

Be sure to come back tomorrow for a special for ordering that is being announced tomorrow!  And to see some fun pictures from tomorrows events.

This just in . . .

Yesterday came the most wonderful knock on the door. It was the UPS man coming to bring me some new goodies. I mentioned the other day that I joined a swap.  It is featuring items from the upcoming Holiday Mini Catalog.  One of the items that I ordered in include on my swap are these beauties right here!  I couldn't wait to share them with you.

I designed my swap today and am pretty excited to get going on that.  I also already cut out all the cardstock  for it too.  Now comes all the fun - stamping, stamping and more stamping!  And sorry, you are just going to have to wait until  after I get the swaps back to see the final card.  Although, I may be enticed to show you a "sneak peek" of it, or part of it before then.  But, you will have to let me know you'd like to see it.  So, leave me a comment and let me know if you'd like to see something of my first official swap.  I can't wait to see all the wonderful cards that I will be getting back too.

So, it's been a fun week so far.  My health challenge is going well.  I haven't lost any pounds yet.  But I feel better.  More energy.  And even better than that I feel in charge.  Like I'm actually doing something good for myself.  I have been easing back into working out.  I am one of those weirdos that really enjoys working out.  I mean it.  Strange, I know.  But true.  I look forward to them.  This week I have worked out with weights and a stability ball on Monday and Wednesday and have done yoga everyday this week.  On the weight days, I did a lighter yoga.  Tomorrow morning the plan is to get an hour in before I shower and meet up with a wonderful friend for some much needed girl chit-chat time.  Hopefully I will at some point lose some pounds.  I just really want to have to go shopping for new clothes because the ones I have now just do not fit anymore.  Wouldn't that be awful.

And, my little boy started 6th grade yesterday.  That's been pretty exciting.  He's a smart kid, schoolwork isn't a problem for him.  But, he really does not enjoy school.  He loves learning things.  Discovery channel and the likes are always on at our house.  I'm not sure what it is either.  Well, his first day went really well.  He came home with a smile and in a great mood, so I will take it!  I'd like to keep that trend going.  Here he is on his first day of school.

Thanks for stopping in.  See you soon!

Looking forward to Saturday Stamping

Phew!  I finally have everything ready for my stampin' garage sale.  That took some serious sorting and pricing and moving around.  But, my stamp area is looking very nice and clean - and almost empty!  The horror!!!  Anyway, here is a copy of the email that I sent out to my email list. 

A friendly reminder about upcoming stamping events this weekend. I have openings in my class on Saturday and would love to see you there! Please sign up by Thursday so that I can be prepped and ready for you that day.

I have three great projects planned. You can view one of them on my blog. Just check out the entry for Thursday July 29 titled Unique.

As always please contact me with any questions you may have!

Welcome Back to Stamping Class
Saturday August 14, 2010
9:30 am to 12:30 pm
Cost $10 for 3 cards
Class special - bring a friend and you stamp for just $5
Recommended bring your own Snail adhesive

Stampin' Garage Sale
Saturday August 14, 2010
7:00 am to 9:30 am
Whether you are needing to add to your stampin' collection or you are ready to start a collection, you will not want to miss out on these deals. I have boxes of items that are priced to sell. Items including stamp sets, ink pads and refills, full packs of paper as well as individual sheets, and lots of accessories including ribbon, brads, buttons and much, much more. Get here early for the best selection.

Here's an idea of what to look for at the sale:
25+ stamp sets - all marked at over 50% off
Over 10 different styled punches
Glitter and embossing powders
Brads, eyelets and beads
Over 15 different ribbons - some brand new
Coloring tools - pencils and more
Over 30 cardstock colors some brand new - never been opened
Retired stamp pads and ink refills

The stack of cardstock that is ready for the garage sale.  Tons of colors here and several have not even been opened yet!

On a personal note, today started my health challenge.  Kim approached me the other day with the idea of tracking our calories and workouts for 14 days.  I was so excited to jump on board.  I love this kind of stuff.  I'm not a very competitive person.  Actually competitive people drive me crazy.  Mostly because I am not.  I have never felt the need to compete with anyone else.  I can only do better than myself.  I have always heard that you should automate your meals and such.  I guess I am going to be hardheaded about this though.  I am going to eat as I normally do with minor tweaking - and with keeping track of the calories as I go.  This way I won't feel as though I have missed out on the things that I love.  The biggest thing I am looking forward to (that's right I said looking forward to) working out again.  I have always enjoyed a good workout and miss them when I don't do them.  There's just something about getting the good physical workout to get the brain cleared out.  So, today I got out my weights and my stability ball and went to town.  It was really fun and set such a great tone for the rest of my day.

And now for tonight - some yoga!  I know I'm gonna feel it but soon I won't and that will be awesome!  Wish me luck!

Getting Ready for some Stamping Fun

Since school starts on Wednesday, this weekend was all about family fun.  And that left little time for my computer.  Sorry for not posting.  We spent a bit of time with family and friends.  Went to movies and out to eat.  Thanks to everyone that made our weekend so much fun - The Halls, The Higgins and The Andersons!

I did manage to get a little stamping in though.  Mostly, getting things organized and ready for my upcoming garage sale.  Please don't forget to come.  I am pricing things low- most more than 50% off.  I really want to see my supplies find some really good homes.  Keep an eye out tomorrow, there will be some postings to remind you of upcoming activities.  And for those of you on my email list, watch you inbox too!

Okay, enough about all of that.  Here's the sample for tonight:

Stamp Set: Priceless
Paper: Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, Naturals White
Inks: Chocolate, Baja Breeze, Rose Red
Accessories: Dimensionals, Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon

Two of my Favorite Things . . . and then one more!

What a crazy busy day - but what an awesome one!  I got to do two things that I absolutely love!  How can you go wrong there?

My day started nice and smooth.  I was up and getting things done earlier than I needed to and that makes for a happy me.  Then, due to a communication issue, I was suddenly an hour behind.  Oops!  I hate being late.  But, what I was late for was a good thing.  I was taking my oldest brother's family pictures.  I got there at about 8:40 in the morning.  And already it was hot.  I finished up all the photos in about an hour.  Really, I was doing my best to get them done before we all melted.  I haven't had a chance to look them over yet, but hopefully there are some fun ones in there.

After that I had to do my "day" job.  I work at home, so really I cannot complain.  I get to work at my own pace and schedule for the most part.  There are some parameters that I must follow, but really it's not bad.

Just before I sat down on my computer just now, I spent the past hour or so stamping.  My husband and son are outside getting some much needed yard work done and I was informed that that would make a great time to get some stamping in.  You don't have to tell me twice.  I jumped right on that.  I was feeling a little bummed because I hadn't had a chance to get to my stamp desk for a couple days.  So, it was a good day all around!

And since today was a double good day for me, the item I have chosen to share with you combines these two things - and another "thing" that I love.  I made this a few years ago and so some of the items have retired and are no longer available, but you will get the idea and hopefully be inspired nonetheless.

This used to sit on my desk. It's fun to look at. I have moved it to rest on my dry erase board for the moment, or until I can find another place for it. Don't you just love all the attitude in the last picture. He is definitely my child. I can't get mad at him for all that attitude because I know exactly where he gets it from!

Some good, some not so good

Yesterday and today were a bit of a whirlwind.  Yesterday being a little better than today.  Today had me fighting a headache all day long until finally around 1:00 I gave in and took a two and a half hour nap.  Waking up with an even worse headache than before.  I am very happy to say that after some Advil and some caffeine, the headache is finally gone.  However, I think I'm going to take the rest of the day pretty easy and catch up on some recorded television shows while chilling out on the couch - maybe with a yummy bowl of ice cream.

One highlight of the day yesterday, I placed my first order from the new catalog.  I have joined a swap - my first one in years.  For those of you unfamiliar, a swap is real fun.  Here's how it works.  You commit to make one card for the number of people that have joined the swap.  You complete your card, making the same design that many times.  You get those cards to the swap hostess by either hand delivering or mailing.  She then swaps them out by making sure that each participant receives one of every participants card.  These are so fun.  Not only do you get samples from many different stamp sets and accessories, but you also get to see many new ideas and sometimes techniques.  I will be sharing what I get back in my swap after it is completed!

In the meantime, here is the card that we made at the stamp meeting I attended the other evening.  Thanks again Rhonda for creating this card - and thanks Diana for taking me there!  I had a great time!

Stamp set: Birthday Bakery (Level 1 Hostess set)
Ink: Basic Black
Markers: Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie and Baja Breeze
Paper: Pumpkin Pie and Greenhouse Gala Designer Series Paper
Accessories: Pear Pizzazz 1/2" stitched-poly ribbon, Scallop Circle punch and circle punch

Surprise

Yesterday morning started off pretty well.  It looked like I was going to have time to get some fun crafting in and then as the day starting going on and on and on and on, it started to look like that was not going to happen.  Bummer.

So, late in the afternoon, we were getting ready to go get Ryan's (my son) school supplies.  Which he was not even remotely interested.  I told him that if he didn't want to go I would be more than happy to pick out everything for him.  It would be all matching and in fun me colors.  He said that was fine.  He was not fooling me at all.  Well, just before we left, I got this text from Diana, my upline, inviting me to go to a stamp meeting that night with her up-upline Rhonda - who is also a friend of mine (Twilight buddies, a story for another day).  As far as I knew she had not yet been informed that I was once again stamping and definitely had not been told that I would be coming.  So, I worked it out with the boys - hubby and son - to be able to go.

It was such a nice surprise!  I had a really fun time.  Not only did I get to see the fun new items that Rhonda had already ordered out of the new catalog and to see the fun things that they did at convention.  But, the best part was seeing some wonderful stamping friends again.  It was a nice surprise for me and for them!

We even stamped.  I don't have it ready for posting yet, will be taking the photo later today for that.  So, instead I'm sharing my favorite card from the stamp class that I went to at Diana's house last month.  This card is so cute.  (And I understand she "borrowed" the idea from Marlene - another wonderful stamping friend).

Have a wonderful Tuesday and see you soon!

Let's Stamp Together

I have been planning and stamping and cleaning and getting ready for the very first stamp event!  I can't wait any longer to let you know all about it!

Welcome Back to Stamping Class
Saturday August 14, 2010
9:30 am to 12:30 pm
Cost $10 for 3 cards
Class special - bring a friend and you stamp for just $5
Recommended bring your own Snail adhesive



Stampin' Garage Sale
Saturday August 14, 2010
7:00 am to 9:30 am
Whether you are needing to add to your stampin' collection or you are ready to start a collection, you will not want to miss out on these deals.  I have boxes of items that are priced to sell.  Items including stamp sets, ink pads and refills, full packs of paper as well as individual sheets, and lots of accessories including ribbon, brads, buttons and much, much more.  Get here early for the best selection.

I have been trying to get a little stamping in every day and this weekend was great for it.  With all the rain and such, it was nice to have some quiet time to stamp.  I'm thinking this is going to be a card for the first stamp class, but can't promise that I will not come up with something that I like even better between now and then.  When it gets closer to the class date, I will definitely let you know what projects will be included.  One I already know for sure, but will save that for a later date!

Stamp Set:  Inspired by Nature
Paper:  Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive and Crumb Cake
Inks:  Old Olive and Chocolate Chip
Accessories:  Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Paper Daisies, Metallic Brads and bleach