EarBling Artisan Jewelry!!!

I posted this picture back in May after I made these for a friend who assisted in my surgery without pay because it was really her day off. If you don't know what these are, they are earring dangles that you slip on and off of a single pair of hoops to coordinate with what you are wearing each day. You can wear one, two or three colors together, whatever it takes to match your attire!

I use heavy gauge sterling silver wire that resists bending and breakage. AND notice the loops at the top (that slip on and off the hoops) are made in perfect detail. With quality artisan jewelry, care is not only taken to make the loops perfectly circular, but also the same size, so that the dangles are the same length when hanging from your ears. Prices vary from $3.00 and up, depending on the amount of sterling silver and size of Swarovski crystals in each set. Hoops range from $3.00 and up, depending on the size and style of hoops.

This is an inexpensive way to incorporate gorgeous, quality custom earrings to your wardrobe without going broke! I came up with this earring line back in December or January when a couple of my friends asked me to make them some earrings. Since then, it has been an on-going request from friends and family {Kris, yours will be there next week!}.

Email me if you would like to have a selection of earrings made for yourself or for that person who has it all; this is the perfect gift! Email me your color preferences and your price limit and I will stretch your dollar as best I can! (Click on the picture to see the quality details of the loops and styles!)

See you tomorrow! Blog Candy ON THE WAY!

Turkey Italian Subs

I made these delectable Italian subs last week! These are the best, I am tellin' ya! And SO VERY VERY EASY to make, I can't express it enough! I got my Southern Living at Home Kit and it included some awesome cookbooks! This one came from the Weeknight Busy Mom's Cookbook. I doubled the recipe because we have a family of six, including my hubby who eats twice as much as a normal human. Thank goodness he works out and doesn't drink sodas, eat candy and has a high metabolism, because if he didn't he would weigh about 550 !

Anyway, I was glad that I doubled the recipe because even my three year old loved it! Everything was GONE, POOF, TOTALLY CONSUMED by lunch the next day! These recipes are awesome! I wish I had taken a picture of the Monte Cristo Sandwiches I made, they were awesome, too!

If you would like to get your hands on an awesome cookbook filled with some easy-prep and easy-made recipes, that taste gourmet and taste wonderful, GET THIS ONE! It would be perfect for a wedding shower gift, too, for those new brides! Contact me if you would like to purchase one! You won't regret it!

The JUNE FREEBIE WINNER IS..............

CONGRATS, DEB!!!!!!!

Email me your snail-mail address and your three favorite colors and I will make you a custom necklace similar to the one pictured at the top of this blog!

Thanks so much, AGAIN, to EVERYONE WHO VOTED!!!!!!

July's Freebie will be up in a few days!

Check back for the Blog candy to celebrate my 10,000 HITS!!

Freebie Drawing NEXT

Just a little update that the freebie drawing will be posted as soon as I can get to it. With OVER 250 votes to tally up and write out for the drawing, it may take longer than usual! Check back for the big announcement!!

THANKS FOR THE VOTES!!!!!!!

Mosaic Me!

This is something really really cool that I just found on Allison's blog! I just got back from my retreat and was checking out my blogger-friends and came across this. You need to answer each question below, and with your answer you plug it into Flickr's Search bar. From the pictures on the first page, pick one that moves you. Click on it and then copy the URL. Then go to Mosaic Maker and plug in each URL to make your mosaic. Each picture here DOES represent me well! I love this Mosaic and should probably print it out on good photo paper and FRAME IT!!

The Questions:

What is your first name?
What is your favorite food?
What High School did you attend?
What is your favorite color?
Who is your celebrity crush?
What is your favorite drink?
What is your dream vacation?
What is your favorite dessert?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What do you love most in life?
What is the one word that describes you?
What is your flicker name?


If you do this Mosaic, please let me know with a link and comment so I can see yours!

Here are my answers and their links:
1. The atelier - 1, 2. creuza de mä, 3. Winter Morning on Athabasca River (athabascariver_AAA1846.jpg), 4. Raspberry Ripple, 5. bored at work, 6. better be a dr. in the house . . ., 7. Aurorus Reflectus Colosseo, 8. Raspberry - Swirl Cheesecake, 9. Happy easter!, 10. When Waves Collide, 11. Moments of life .., 12. Artistic

As for the weekend, I did get more done than I usually do at a typical crop, so I will have cards to show you throughout the week! Hope you enjoyed the weekend as much as I did!

Have a wonderful week!

Washer Shopping

There is nothing like going shopping for a new washing machine, knowing full well that the average price is around a grand! I mean, this is an important purchase! They can sanitize, deep clean, even gently launder those delicate items, even silk and wool, that you would normally dry clean!

MAN, I WISH I could just get the one I REALLY REALLY WANT, you know the RUBY RED HOT machine that just makes you WANT to do laundry? Just even looking at it, I am IN LOVE! I love the design, the controls, the chrome and stainless steel! I think this is why my dad likes to car-shop so much and basically explains most mens' desire for a new sports-car! HA HA!

Oh, well, since I spent the morning running around shopping for a new washer and getting even more shopping/grocery/banking done, I didn't have time to make a newbie artisan piece for you. I pray that my hubby gets the one I need and not the one I WANT, which I KNOW he will. He takes such good care of me and the kids and never leaves me wanting for anything that I really need; just usually unnecessary things that I don't need! I guess deep-down I am glad he's frugal, because SOMEONE has to be!

Have A GRAND WEEKEND!

10,000 Celebration BLOG CANDY

.... will be an artisan jewelry piece!

I will post it as soon as I make it!

Thanks to those who voted in the poll!

And a SPECIAL THANKS to all of my customers and regular readers for getting me to 10,000 hits!

More, EVEN MORE Lampwork!!

HOWDY and Good Morning, People!

I forgot to let you all know that I have TONS of lampwork headed your way! Enough for about 15 bracelets and some matching necklaces and KeyBlings (keychains, for you newbie readers)! I am so excited!

Although I am enjoying my kids very very much this summer, and all in all, they were pretty well-behaved this past month, I almost can't wait to start working more when they get back in school! We start school back up in mid-August, so I will be able to really concentrate and tackle the artisan line, as well as have more time to be paper-creative! WOOHOO!

Ok, that is all for now! I just had to update ya on the lampwork 'cuz what is cookin' is AWESOME! I am off to finish packing for the weekend-crop I am headed to, so I should be pretty absent until Sunday, unless I find access to a computer! I will try to check back before I leave today, though. WHO KNOWS, since all my scrappin' stuff is packed, I just might have to whip out the sterling and lampwork and work on something new still today!!!

Enjoy the day!

Busy Week!

FRIDAY??? TOMORROW IS FRIDAY???? WHAAA????

I can't believe this week has flown by so fast! I know that having the in-laws drop in unexpectedly at the last minute on Monday was the first thing to spark the week. Note: they live 3 1/2 hours away, so dropping in never happens EVER! HA HA!

Then Tuesday the extraction-excitement happened { Josh is fine, on that note } !

Then Eli's Wednesday's TeeBall game kept us busy again, as well as my clothes washer breaking. Which I thought would ultimately TOP the week....
.
.
.
Until (TODAY, Thursday) when I got the quote to fix it.
.
.
.
Made me sick at my stomach.
.
.
.
THEN REALIZED: ALL HOPE IS NOT LOST!
.
.
.
I get to shop for a NEW WASHER! Uh, Maybe.... IF I can talk Scott into it! HEE HEE! It is nearly the same amount to fix it as it is to buy a new one, soooooooooooooo..... We'll see, I guess. I just better get him persuaded fast, as the laundry is piling up FAST!!!! ;o)

So, with Josh still recovering, slowly under meds, and my preparing for yet another weekend crop today, I have nothing new to show you... sad, I KNOW! However, on a good note, I will be preparing to get the online store up and running very soon! I have had too many requests now to open the online store to not listen and oblige, so it will be ASAMSAI!! OH, that means: As Soon As My Schedule Allows It! HA HA!!

I will ATTEMPT to post something from the archives, something still available in the jewelry section, how's that? I have a lot of newbie readers ( I know because they email me! ) that may not have gone back through the archives to see items that are still available. (Which is WHY I need an online store, because you can't see things listed easily on a blog!! ARGH!)

OK, then, have a nice evening! I will be back in a bit!

Medical UPDATE

Thanks to all of those who have voiced email-concern and sent prayers Josh's way. He is re-covering very nicely now. I was a bit concerned upon seeing him just coming out of anesthesia, but he has since had some applesauce and lime jello, so he is doing okay. He has even managed to take his meds pretty easily which is a huge task for him. He is not a pill-taker at all! So, all in all, he is doing SUPAH GREAT and is on the mend.

I am going to take a poll for the blog candy... Which would you prefer?

Gift Certificate for an artisan item
Variety of Scrappin' Supplies
An artisan jewelry piece original (earrings, necklace or bracelet)
An artisan gift item (KeyBling, BookBling)

Take the poll at TOP! I will close the poll at my discretion, maybe in 2 days or 2 hours! SO, get your vote in now!

Thanks Again for your VOTING-SUPPORT!

10,000 HITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I realized earlier that I had just gone over 10,000 HITS! WOOOOO HOOOO!

Check my last post for reasons of time-constraints, but I can't post blog candy now, but I will get to it later tonight or tomorrow!! So, check back for something exciting!

BLOG CANDY HEADED THIS WAY!

Unexpected Visitors AND ....

.... a CLEANING RAMPAGE! What else would you be doing if you just found out your in-laws were coming for an impromtu visit? Yeah, that's right. They called this morning and will be here this afternoon to go see Eli play TeeBall tonight.

So, needless to say, I have no time to craft, create and share a post with ya'll. I have to still go do some last minute shopping tonight, too. I forgot to get Josh his requested yogurt for tomorrow's lunch. He is having four wisdom teeth extracted (dug out is more like it, since they are impacted and growing side-ways) in the early morn. Per his request, he wants to recuperate with strawberry-banana by his side.

I am also still wanting to make some potato chowder, his fave, too. Poor guy. I know what it is like. I had 12 { YES, 12! } teeth pulled as a pre-teen because my baby teeth's roots never dissolved to let them fall out, so I can totally relate to Josh's future-pain on the morrow.

I may be MIA for the next 24-36 hours due to the above activities, but I will check back as soon as I can. OH, and don't forget to vote! You have just one more week to get those votes in to collect some more entries in to WIN your own CUSTOM necklace! ($40.00 value!) Don't forget to post it on your blog or share with friends for 10 extra entries! Just CC: me the email you send to friends or comment on this post a link to your site and post about my June Custom Freebie! My email is in my profile if you have anymore questions!

Blessings on your day!

2 Sketches 4 U

2 Sketches 4 U is a blog that gives you a weekly sketch to use as inspiration. This is my take on this week's challenge. When I first saw the sketch I thought it looked easier than it ended up being. Then again, I have said many times before that following sketches are not easy for me, because I always think that I just NEED to make something different! SO, after I quit piddling with the idea on how to change it up, I got this result! I love the details in the flowers and how I cut the paper away from the first layer. The Martha Stewart glitter actually looks WAY better in real life, but I didn't capture the AH-factor of the glitter in these pictures. OH WELL, you get the idea!

The paper is by Basic Grey. inks are in Not Quite Navy and Always Artichoke, ribbon by American Crafts, Hodgepodge hardware by SUP!

Have a SUPER SATURDAY NIGHT!

K's Garage Sale GOLD!

A couple of my friends had a garage sale yesterday, and I found quite a few outfits for my KayLee. I usually don't DO garage sales, I just think it is too much work to go from sale to sale, spending money on gas in HOPES of finding good stuff.

BUT, I have to admit that they had some great pickin's for KayLee. Mostly I picked up clothes for fall, since KayLee will be starting Kindergarten and will need some good clothes for school; but I also picked up this cute outfit that belonged to Tiffany's Jordan first. I bet Jordan looked just as cute as K does in this outfit!

She thought she won the lottery when I came home with all these clothes! Thanks for the great deals, Tiffany and Kelly!

Have a SUPER SATURDAY!

Lights OUT!

Our 10% chance of rain ended up giving us 100% Power Outage! We were without electricity for almost 1 1/2 hours! SO, of course I whipped out the camera to try the candle-light setting. I lit these candles in the kitchen, even though it wasn't totally dark by 9:15pm. Yeah, I know, past 9pm and it's still light out!

The second pic is of Scott and Isaac enjoying some electricity-free activity (by candlelight) with the battery powered laptop and Isaac's rechargeable VSmile game. AND, like I said, look outside! It is still pretty light out, but that doesn't keep us from putting the kids to bed. Eli and KayLee actually slept through the whole storm, even the lightening that was apparently close enough to make us lose power for quite awhile. Isaac had a nap late in the afternoon, so he wasn't quite ready for bed yet.


My camera's time is off by an hour, if you were wondering. It is still on central time, I have yet to figure out how to change it back to eastern! UGH! I have looked and looked and pressed every button on that thing, but still it has escaped me and won't show up!

Happy FRIDAY NIGHT!

Martha's Fine Glitters

After I was informed by a girlfriend (Thanks Amy!!) that our local Wal-Mart had added some Martha Stewart items to our craft department, I headed out to see if there was anything I just HAD TO HAVE!

I found a fabulous glitter set, featuring 18 of the most beautiful bright yet, subdued colors! I used this color, Lapis Lazuli, to go with the Taken with Teal stamped flowers on this little note card I made to go with a shipment to a friend. Beautiful! The glitter is extra-fine and are in wonderful little shaker-containers! I will be using these a lot, for sure!

Shout OUT to SheetLoad!

Here's another Shout OUT to remind you to check out SheetLoad of Cards blog! They have some AWESOME BLOG CANDY you can try to win right now, too!

Be sure to check out the left hand column... SEE anyone you know???? YEP, that's right! It's little ol' me! I have been added as a new sketch designer and will be helping implement a new SheetLoad-offering. SheetLoad usually has just one new sketch posted on the first of every month. Well, now Ann and myself will be switching out months with an added new sketch on the 15th of every month! There were quite a few people who requested more than just one sketch a month, and Alicia listened! Ann's sketch is first in July and mine will debut on August 15th, so be sure to check it out!

Don't forget to get in on the Blog Candy!

Hello Again, HELLO!

HELLLOOOOOOOooooooooooo! (As Mrs. Doubtfire/Robin Williams would say!)

I came across this stamp set yet AGAIN on my shelf!!! I have been wanting to use it, but just kept finding other things to do first! Well, today I made it a priority! I colored in the image with my Copic Markers, scalloped my mini-dot paper with my new Revolution and QuicKutz LONG scallop die and wrapped it with a couple of ribbons to finish it off with a little POP. A pretty little card to send, just to say HELLO!

Now, WHO should I send it to? Hmmm...

Zach's Flowers

Our neighbor, Zach, is best friends with my Eli (6 yr old). These are flowers in his (parents') landscaping facing my living room window. I just had to sneak over and take a picture of these beautiful flowers! Aren't they gorgeous?? And, it looks like there are TONS more coming with all those buds shown there! I can't wait!

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Stampin' UP! Decor Elements

Stampin' UP!'s new DECOR ELEMENTS line of vinyl adhesive decorations were officially announced yesterday and the newly released brochure is HERE for your viewing pleasure! You can add personal touches throughout your home (or car!) on walls, glass, ceramics, mirrors or anything with a smooth, non-porous surface.

Product availability begins July 1st, so check out the brochure and see if there is anything that tickles your fancy for ordering! The DECOR ELEMENTS line will NOT be in the regular bi-annual catalogs, however the line will be offered seasonally in its' own brochure. So, be sure to check for those throughout the year, along with Stampin' UP!'s other monthly specials!

Make it a SUPAH NIGHT!

What do you Have to HAVE???

Well, what do you have to have from the Retired list from Stampin' UP!?? For me, there are just a couple things that I have to try to talk myself out of. But, other than that, I am pretty happy with the stamp sets they are retiring. I totally CAN NOT wait until the new catalog coming in a couple of months! I have already seen the new IN-COLORS and love them, too. I am glad to see that they kept a similar color (tangerine tango) to Groovy Guava; I mean, where would we BE without GROOVY GUAVA??????

I wish that I was attending the SUP! convention with my two down-line Tiffany and Kelly that are going at the end of July. Tiffany, I am sure, is in the running for the RISING STAR award! WOW, if I could only say that I helped her achieve that accomplishment! But, I didn't! She did it totally on her own! If she isn't at least in the top three I will be totally shocked!!!!!!!

Anyhoo... I just had to remind you that you are running out of time to get those much wanted and drooled-over stamp sets! Don't forget to check out the list HERE!

Have a SUPAH DAY!

Summer Blooms

I took these pictures earlier this week. I can see these beautiful clusters of lavenders, lilacs, baby blues and yellows outside my craft room window. How inspiring!

I am off to take in a movie and margaritas with a couple of my girlfriends!

Enjoy your evening!

Arbonne Inspiration

Arbonne has a wonderful new Vivacious scent in their wash and wear collection. Ever since I saw this HOT design I have been inspired to use the color combination to make some HOT cards! I finally got to it!! Aren't these just too pretty!?! VERY eye-catching! I made a variety of cards from them and still have a ton of cardstock left over! Here's just three from the batch I made. I varied the Prima flowers' brad/eyelet and color combos and card layouts, these were so much fun to make! I never ever use black, so this was hard for me at first, but now I will be able to use black more often without so much intimidation!

I think these cards look as Vivacious as the body wash and body butter actually smell!

I bought this stamp set just for this type of card; using different textures to create backgrounds that look great together. I have always loved dots, stripes and plaids or diamonds together. I could have also used a floral stamp, but felt it would have been redundant since there are flowers already in the design with the Primas.

I used versamark watermark ink for the designs on the strips of colors and I used versacolor black pigment ink so the black would be very dark. Some black inks tend to look purple, so using a pigment-based black gives it a strong deep color.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

TeeBall with Eli

Eli has really been enjoying his first year of youth baseball. This year he plays TeeBall, and then next year he is pitched by machine. One of his best buddies, Quentin, is on his team, so that makes the games extra fun! These pictures are from last week's game; they won, squeaking by at the end with just one more run than the other team!



They change the kids' positions around during the entire game. Eli says he likes playing on first base the best; here he is on third, with Daddy in the background.
He is getting better at hitting off of a T stand. He is used to Scott pitching him the ball, so hitting off the T is difficult for him. Next year should be bettter for him with the machine.

That helmet is bigger than he is! He just turned six in April, but is smaller than his teammates, obviously! HA HA!

He is the little guy there, #9, giving the other team a High-Five for a game well-played! Oh, and that is my honey, Scott, there on the left. He is an assistant coach for our awesome Devil Rays!

Check back later for a cool card collection, inspired by a BODY WASH!

Got ya curious, don't I?

My Heart is with You!

Once again using the Infuse Basic Grey Paper line, I made this card, TOTALLY inspired by Liz of The Crimson Moon . I feel like I need to lighten my load sometimes when I make cards. I usually tend to layer, then layer some more, ribbon, ink, tear, embellish and layer some more and then pop-dot to finish... Well, as you can see the layers are limited, the inking is minute and NO ribbon and NO tearing AND NO POP-DOTTING! Just a little splash of glittered-brad-bling with a double-dash of paper Prima flowers and a simple sentiment to match this more simplistic card. Appropriate for someone going through a tough time or an illness or having experienced a recent death. Thanks to Liz for the inspiration!

ENJOY YOUR EVENING!

I am off to see Eli play TeeBall; GO DEVIL RAYS!

Good Morning, DEER!

I just had to share what I saw this morning! YEP, a cute little doe under the apple tree in my backyard. Our lot backs up to some woods that are surrounded by streets upon streets of housing, so it is always neat to find deer meandering around in the yard. It must have some type of taste-disorder to be wanting to eat those tart apples that are obviously not ready to eat yet! I can't believe that my hubby didn't SHOO them away as he was leaving for work after I told him about it.

{ OH, yeah, I said "THEM" because there was actually a little baby deer off to the right behind the shed in this picture having her morning apple-breakfast, too. I couldn't get a picture of both without going outside and exposing my neighbors to my frightful hair-do from just waking up; and I would have just ended up scaring them off anyway! }

My hubby was apparently okay with them stealing apples, and I guess he was assuming that I would keep watch so they didn't eat out of the garden which is closer to the house. There's not much to eat in there anyway, just some flowering tomato and cucumber plants. The watermelon cantalope, zucchini, radishes, lettuce and carrots are just sprouting. We got a late start this year. Oh, and we do have a nice row of corn growing and we planted another yesterday in hopes of getting another meal or two of corn on the cob out of the BBQ grill. You have never seen kids eat corn on the cob like my children; they are like mini-typewriters gone wild! HA HA!

Catch ya later with another card!

Thank You Cards

In my opinion, you can NEVER have enough cards that say THANK YOU!!!! Whether it is for someone who helped mentally OR physically, I can never have enough of these on hand! I love the new Basic Grey Infuse paper-line. I almost didn't buy this package of patterned paper because of this peagreen yellow and neon pink, but I am sooooooo supah glad I did! There is NOTHING detailed to these cards; just one 4" x 4" patterned piece of paper and some ribbon from Hobby Lobby and VOILA!... POOF, beautiful notecards!

Sometimes less IS more! Check back later to see another newbie card, it uses this same paper line, but looks totally different!!!!

Enjoy your day!

Pool Party!

I think the kids had more fun on Father's Day than their dad! Scott had to work today, but just getting the pool up for the kids. As you can see, the hose is still filling it up, but they just couldn't wait! Our other pool had a hole in it, so while we are repairing it, we dug this old one up out of the garage! Glad we did! They had SUPAH fun jumping and splashing each other! They were in it for over 2 1/2 hours! If I didn't know that we would be moving from Jasper, I would seriously invest in an in-ground pool, but for now, this will have to do! I hope you all enjoyed your Father's Day as much as the kids! { Stay tuned for some new cards I cooked up late last night! }

Get'R Done!

In honor of Father's Day, I would like to share some pictures that my father sent me just last night. He is in a photography club and went out scouting for barns. He came upon this one and took a picture. He then got closer to see what it was made of or what type of paint it was covered in because it seemed to be falling off....

Can you tell yet???

What are those things??

SHINGLES??

NO!!!!!

YEP, some one Got'R done with License plates! Apparently Tennessee has a bunch of cars running around without them, ha ha! What I found interesting is that if you look closely, some of the license plates are numerically in order!! GEEZ, some people have Sooo much time on their hands!

Great pictures, DAD!

Thanks for sharing your wonderful excursion with us!

Happy Father's Day!

Stampin' UP! Retired List HERE

Click HERE for details according to page number...

Click HERE for details alphabetically...

Happy Father's Day, DAD!!!

Here is my dad's Father's Day Card I made for him earlier this week. He is a lover of Corvettes and, of course, WOMEN (only mom obviously!) ! So, I made this card for him, claiming that NOW I MUST be his favorite daughter (I have one sister, no brothers) because I not only gave him a Lowe's giftcard, but also a Corvette and a hot chick to look at too! HA HA!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

Wish we were closer so that I could take you out to eat!

I love you and will be thinking of you today!

{Patterned paper is by Basic Grey, image is by Stamping Bella (provided by my wonderful friend, Robbi, in Canada!) & colored in using Stampin Up inks and blender pen, and scalloped circles by Spellbinders/Nestibilities, ribbon by Hobby Lobby}

Stampin' UP! Retired List Reveal TOMORROW!

Just a quickie post to remind everyone that the SUP! Retired list is revealed tomorrow! So, in between the BBQ's and foot-rubs that you will be lavishing the men in your life with for Father's Day, be sure to check with your SUP! demonstrator for the list! Of course, I will have it, too, so if you are interested in getting the list ASAP, comment here or email me and I will send you the list, NO PRO-BLEM-O!

Enjoy the rest of your night!

Happy Father's Day, HONEY!

Here is a card that I made this afternoon, following Jen del Muro's sketch on her blog. It is really hard for me to follow a sketch! Everyone says that it does the thinking for them, but for me I just feel like I have to switch it around a little! I did pretty good with this one, though. See Jen's sketch HERE.

I had one Father's Day card for Scott from the kids, but not another for me to give him. So, this will be for him from ME! I do need to thank him for taking care of me during my recent surgery and for being so great and understanding during the recovery. I am still NOT fully recovered and it has been almost 6 weeks! He has been so supportive, I can't even begin to tell ya!

I wanted to embellish this one a bit more, but figured if I did he might think it was 'girly' for a man's card, so I refrained! HA HA! All paper is Basic Grey's Periphery line and the stamp is from Stampin' UP!'s True Friend stamp set. Be sure to take care of the 'Fathers' in your life tomorrow! Whether it is a hubby, dad, step dad, father in law or ex-hubby/father of your child/ren together, they deserve to be acknowledged for their role in our lives! Click to enlarge to see the purty details!

Happy Father's Day, Honey!

Thank U for being my hubby

AND

the father to my three little ones!

You are an awesome Daddy!

Isaac's Saturday Suggestion

I think we should all take some advice from Isaac on how to enjoy a Saturday afternoon! Play some video games (notice his vsmile at right), lay down to watch some car-races and then let the lids get heavy until you fall asleep and drool on the leather couch!

A neat new card coming up soon. Check back in a bit!

I LIKE MARKERS, TOO, MARIANNE!

Marianne Walker, who works for COPIC, has started a blog and has been posting helpful tips and techniques using COPIC markers. Today she posted this sketch, WHICH SHE DREW HERSELF!!! Yeah, I know, totally amazing, isn't she???? Anyhoo.... She also posted it BEFORE she colored it! AND she said that we could print it out and color it in ourselves, SO I DID!!!

You can see her blog at : I LIKE MARKERS . BLOGSPOT . COM (just click on that and it will take you right to her!) I really enjoyed coloring in this image this afternoon, and my kids enjoyed seeing it come to life. The sunrise was a happy accident. After I thought I was done with it, I decided to crop the picture down... well, it turned out that some type of ink residue was left on my paper cutter and left some ink in my sky. SO, I did my best to color it in and it got worse. I couldn't believe it! Here I was finished and it looked great (at least to me and the kids!) and here I cut it down to take a picture of it and the stupid paper cutter left crap in my sky!! UGH! (you can see it above the mountains) So, I decided to color in the sky darker and then it was tooooo dark. SO, I added the sun to add yellow and lighten the sky. {NOTE: I do realize that the back of the tallest rock should be dark gray, but didn't realize that much of the rock was still showing until AFTER I took the pictures, so I will color it in for myself, but you have to imagine it darker, ok?? HA HA!}

What do you all think? (Click to enlarge) I don't think it is half bad for not having gone to art school or had ANY type of classes teaching me how to use these markers, or just to teach me how to illustrate in general. I totally could do this allll day long!!! It was the best Friday afternoon I had in a long time! I soooooo enjoy coloring, I told ya'll that before, remember?

Thanks, Marianne! You are so talented and still I think you need to design your own stamp line!


These are the colors I used in the picture; I think there were close to 30 that I used, and still I found myself wishing I had some certain oranges and blues for the sky and starfish.

Have a Great Friday Night!

Postage Change

I forgot to post about my latest experience at the Post Office. I was sending a card that I had made, which (of course) was thicker than a normal letter due to its embellishments of ribbon and a pop-dotted image.

In the past all it took to send this exact type of card was an additional .17 stamp. Well, since I was sending some other packages at the same time (Lisa & JenMarie, they are coming!), I had the post office gal double check to be sure that I had enough postage on it. I had even put on TWO of the old .41 stamps. OKAY, lets do some easy math here.... .41 + .41 = .82 !! ((I couldn't find my .17 stamps, so I figured I would just make sure it got delivered with two of the old .41 stamps.)) Well, the gal weighed it and put it through a 1/4" slot to ensure its pass-ability (I am sure that is a word!) through the automated machines. And she comes back to tell me that it needs .83!!!!!! WHAAAA??? I said, "I used to have to just put on a .17 stamp to ensure hand-cancelling the stamp, in case it was too thick and couldn't go through the machine." And, she said that since the postage went up again, that this policy has also changed. The only time that .17 is needed is when it just weighs more than an ounce (heavy paper layers) and is of normal paper thickness; and that when it is thicker than normal, that basically an additional stamp (.41) is needed on top of the first current .42 stamp. SO, I gave her a penny for the additional postage and NOW I guess I will be using those old .41 stamps for sending my handmade greeting cards!

If anyone has any information that negates this or has experienced something different, please let me know with a post here on with an email. I know that the gal I was speaking to is not the head post master of this office, and I know she hasn't been there very long (that's not to say that she hasn't worked at another post office in the past though) so, I really question the accuracy of the info she has given me. I certainly don't want to pay for extra postage when I don't have to.

This may just warrant a trip to the post office in the next town over. That gives me an excuse to see one of my favorite customers anyway, PLUS, SHE WILL KNOW 100% how much I should be paying for sending thicker cards. I say this because on more than one occasion, she has corrected information that Jasper's post office has given me. IF I can manage it, I will head over there today and get the info from her and let ya know! Until then...

Have a FABULOUS FRIDAY!

COPICS, as far as the eyes can see!

I had a few requests to post some pics of my Copic markers... Here they are in their wonderful rainbow-beauty! I will clean off my desk soon and re-take pictures of my hobby room. I have changed it a weeeeeee little bit.... hee hee. So, for now, this will have to do! I have 4 other grays that don't fit in the racks, but I don't tend to use the darker ones anyway, so I have them nearby on another shelf. I apparently don't know how to add, so I ordered a few too many markers in my last order. (This is my excuse and I am sticking to it!!)

As you can see, I arranged them in a certain order, not only according to ROYGBIV colors. I tend to use the lighter colors, so I positioned them closest to me in front with their coordinating colors away (behind them) from me.

After the blue-violets and violets, I put the earthtones on the end, with the blacks and grays, and ever-so-popular blender pen with "magic juice" wrapping up the right side. I know where every single pen goes by memory! HA HA! Nah, just joking!

Have a nice evening!

NOTICE to my regular readers

This is to inform you all that I have implemented comment moderation on my blog as of now.

Unfortunately, someone decided to post a comment in one of my posts that I don't feel was appropriate for public viewing, so I have since decided to moderate ALL comments. After you comment, I will be sent an email and will "decide" whether or not it gets published.

OF COURSE, this person didn't leave contact info or a way to figure out who they are, {{ although I know they are near Lincoln and Culver Blvds. in Marina Del Rey, California }}, so that in itself says something about the comment/posting they left; and I think it says a little bit about them, too, don't ya think??

Isn't it sad that there are people out there that just can't "live and let live"?

And, what really angers me is that the comment, basically, insulted my father! Suggesting that he needs to go to some religious website (or so I am assuming, but will not indulge them by actually going to the website they suggested) because he used to have a saying (20 years ago!!!) that involved a curse word. OH GEEZY PETES! Give me a break! I mean, I don't think he is going to go to hell for saying a cuss word in the past! And, if they only knew that he is very active in his church and has Christ as his right hand man, they would feel so silly and embarrassed!

So, just know that after you leave a comment, it will be saved and then posted unless you decide to insult me or someone else in my family!! Thanks for understanding having to implement this change on my blog.

Have a good afternoon!

I stink you're sweet!

Isn't this little skunk CUTE?? AWWWWW! This is the ONE card that I made at last weekend's Fundraiser/Scrappin Crop event in Evansville. YEP, took me all day! HA HA! Of course, we had to make a quickie trip to Hobby Lobby and Chic Fil A, because my friend Tiffany swears it is the best place to eat on earth!

I also had to chat with my two newbie friends, Sheri and Shari, so making cards had to come second after those things! I used Always Artichoke, and Groovy Guava and this Scrappin Kit (edit in name of it later) by Stampin' UP! with this cute stamp set called PUN FUN by SUP!, too. I used my cool COPICS to color in the image! I will post pics of the COPIC stash later!

I do want to add that I DID start making three more copies of this card at the crop, too, so I did get MORE done than this ONE card, I guess! (I finished up the other three cards last night!) It is always that first initial card design that holds me back. Oh, well! Here it is FINISHED! ENJOY! (click to enlarge!)

UPdate

I spent the evening with the scrap-girls making some last minute cards... SO, uh Dad, when you read this, know that I DID think of you DAYS BEFORE Father's Day and that it is of course the United States Postal Service that made your card late YET AGAIN!!!!

{do ya'll think he's buying it??} ;o)

I worked on the house today, the cleaning is WAYYYYYY behind, and I started getting the online store ready for it's big Grand Opening!!! YEAH, you heard it! The store should be open soon! I am aiming for the end of the month, so let's see what happens. I really do hope to get it going soon, but with four kids you can just never tell what is going to happen next around here; SO, let's keep our fingers (and toes) crossed!

Oh, and I got my second shipment of COPICS today. I have two full racks of these lovely sketch markers and am SUPAH DUPAH HAPPY! I will post a picture of them tomorrow for those of you who care to see that type of thing. I am going to seriously hit the paper hard with these suckers and make some FAB-U-LOUS things!

And IF you were wondering, YES ~ The online store IS going to have a paper-craft section, as well! WOOHOO! Some items will be already made for purchase AND others will be Custom examples that you can order similar items from. WHEEE!

I am too pooped to poop, so I better head to bed! I hope everyone is doing well and having a wonderful summer so far like I AM!

HUGSSSSSS!

KeyBling for Ms. Lisa

Happy WEDNESDAY Hump Day to you all! My hubby took my laptop to work with him today, so I have been forced to resume to my son's computer. I cannot believe the difference in the photos on my blog. From my laptop computer they look bright and crisp and the right colors in life. THEN I get on his computer and they look dingy and yellow. OK, so which is it? What is it you all see? And if they look dingy and yellow, why didn't you tell me to take a photo-editing class, HA HA HA! Oh, well...

Here's a YUMMY KeyBling for Ms. Lisa in GA. I had to share this beautiful summery keychain with you all! Isn't it purty, MA? HEE HEE! This color combo is just awesome and the little splashes of the Carribean (blue) Opal, Crystal-Satin (silver) Swarovski crystals and chunky silver just make it POP!

Custom made just for Ms. Lisa!!

Hope you like it!!