Over The Top!

My blogging friend Joanne presented me with this award! Thanks Joanne! This award comes with a survey that I have to fill out, and I can only use one word to answer the questions. Here goes!

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Your hair? Messy
3. Your mother? Loving
4. Your father? Silly
5. Your favorite food? Pizza
6. Your dream last night? Weird!
7. Your favorite drink? Water
8. Your dream/goal? Happiness
9. What room are you in? Family Room
10. Your hobby? Crafting
11. Your fear? Violence
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here!
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. Something that you aren’t? Skinny
15. Muffins? Pumpkin
16. Wish list item? Fitness
17. Where did you grow up? Crestwood
18. Last thing you did? E-mail
19. What are you wearing? Sweats
20. Your TV? On
21. Your pets? Princess
22. Friends? Wonderful
23. Your life? Amazing
24. Your mood? Good
25. Missing someone? Girls
26. Vehicle? Venture
27. Something you’re not wearing? Shoes
28. Your favorite store? Target
29. Your favorite color? Red
30. When was the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Recently
32. Your best friend? Dave
33. One place that I go to over and over? Berkot’s
34. One person who emails me regularly? Chris
35. Favorite place to eat? Nancy’s

I'm supposed to pass this on to six bloggers, so I'm going to pass it to six of my Paper Popsicles design teams friends: Cassie, Lora, Lynda, Robyn, Tricia, and Valerie! I hope you have a great day! Thanks for stopping by!

Award & Vertical Paper Holder

Happy Sunday! First off, I want to show you an award that the wonderful Catherine gave to me! Catherine is one of my SBS2 sisters, and she is so sweet and talented, plus she has an adorable canine brother named Charlie who I am sure Princess would be great friends with if they were to ever meet in person! Thank you Catherine, I am honored! You inspire me too!


Next, I want to show you what I made yesterday! I started off with a priority box that I was just about to put in the recycling bin. I figured . . . why not make a vertical paper holder. So, I cut in like this.


Then I decorated it! I used papers that I've had for a LONG time. It required a lot of paper piecing, but I think it turned out awesome!


I added a flower and a button to the front, because that's the only part I'll be able to see when it sits in my bookshelf. This was fun to make, and I love the way it turned out!

I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend! It's super HOT and HUMID here today. I will be inside! Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

Blog Award

I got this award from Dawn! Thanks Dawn!

I'm supposed to:

(1) Say one nice thing about the man in my life . . . well, I just cannot say one nice thing about Dave! He's amazing, I love him very much, he's a fantastic husband and a wonderful father, he works so hard for our family, he's handsome, I love to spend time with him, and he makes me laugh!

(2) List 6 ways you measure success in your life . . . I don't think that I'll worry about the 6 ways, but I will tell you that I am happy woman, I love my husband, and my girls are amazing!! I live a wonderful life, and I know that I am very fortunate! I honestly think about, and am thankful for, the amazing life that I lead every single day of my life!

Pass this on to give fellow bloggers. I pass this on to Chris, Fiona, Wendy, Jodi, and DeeDee!

I need to finish up working on a fun Valentine project! I hope to show it to you today or bright and early tomorrow morning! Have a great day everyone!! Thanks for stopping by!!

Hey Cupcake!

Who doesn't LOVE a cupcake? They are CUTE and delicious. What more could you ask for? Regina at The Cutting Cafe' created the most AMAZING set called All About Cupcakes, and I just had to create a cute card using a couple of the images!


I printed the sentiment and I cut it to size to use it as my card front. I then printed the cupcake, colored it in with pencils and added some Stickles. I detail cut the cupcake, and added it to my card front. The last additions were ribbon and a rhinestone heart trio. Does it get any EASIER than that? I don't think so! These cupcake images are ADORABLE, and the set Regina created is HUGE! So, check it out at the The Cutting Cafe', and tell Regina that Carol sent you!!


Next, my wonderful blogging friend Sharon presented me with this award. Sharon is so talented. I'm just not saying that! She creates gorgeous cards, and she is so funny! She'll play with words and create something that just makes me laugh out loud! Thank you so much Sharon! You have a lovely blog too!

I'm so done with winter. It's BRUTAL! Cleared the driveway yesterday, and oh yes, I get to do it again today. Yippee! To top it all off, the wind chills tonight are supposed to be close to -25. Yes, 25 BELOW zero. That's scary stuff! At this point, 20 degrees will feel like a heat wave! Well, have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!!

Award & Jessica's PRIZE!

My wonderful blogging friend Patsy gave me this award! Thank you Patsy! I'm honored! I think your blog is fabulous too!


For this award, I am supposed to name 5 of my addictions and 5 of my favorite blogs. OK!

Addictions:

1. Papercrafting (Seriously, do I even need to list this one?)
2. Dave, Emily, and Jessica. Yes, Princess too! My family means EVERYTHING to me!
3. My computer. I can't help it. I love email, blogs, message boards, etc.
4. My home. It's my safe haven. It's where I spend time with my family, and it's where I relax.
5. Reading. I love curling up with a good book!

Favorite Blogs:

1. Chris - Not only is she talented, but she makes me laugh! We have a lot in common!!
2. Latisha - So nice and very talented! Her cards are amazing!
3. Deb - I think Deb is one of the most talented card makers that I visit! Her cards are works of ART! She is also an amazing photographer!
4. Liz - Happy blogaversary!
5. ScrapCity - Everyone on the Creative Team gets to contribute to the blog!

Next, I want to show you the awesome prize that Jessica received from Kids Can Scrap! She was getting off the bus yesterday when I checked the mailbox, and you should have seen her face when I told her that the big envelope was for HER!! She was so excited! Jessica won Challenge 3 at the site. She got this wonderful Making Memories mini book kit! It's FANTASTIC. She cannot wait to use it! Thank you to Telah and Nessa from Kids Can Scrap!

I hope you all have a fantastic day! Thanks for stopping by!

Lots of Miscellaneous!

Hi Everyone! I have some miscellaneous items to tell you about!

First off, are you checking out Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas? If not, get over there! That man is amazing! Each day I am AMAZED!

Then, I read about Peachy Cheap on Ali Edward's blog! It's dangerous! Don't say I didn't warn you! I made two purchases so far. It's one deal per day, and once it's gone, it's gone! I'll give you a review when I get the two items that I ordered!! I didn't get the one for today, but the day isn't over yet!!

I just wanted to post this because it makes me happy! I love Snoopy, Woodstock, and the whole Peanuts gang! I cannot wait to watch the Charlie Brown Christmas special! I really need to get it on DVD!


I got this award from Pearl! She's so talented!! Thank you Pearl!

I also got this award from Pearl! The meaning of this one is: "This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY -nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends." That's so sweet of Pearl to think of me! Thank you Pearl!!


Last, but certainly not least, I got this one from my wonderful, fabulous, talented, and incredibly sweet SBS2 sister Catherine! Catherine is just one of the sweetest bloggers that I know! Plus, I get to see Charlie's sweet face when I visit! He's so cute! Thank you Catherine!

OK, that's it for now! I will be back either later today or tomorrow with more "25 Days Until Christmas" pages to show to you! Have a great day, an awesome weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

Wow, I got a lot of awards!

Hi everyone! I got three awards yesterday! Wow! Before I get to them, I want to thank Liz. Liz is a blogging friend, and she recently had her 100th post. She gave out surprise blog candy to the person that had commented the most on her blog, and that was me! Liz sent me a $20 Hobby Lobby gift card. How sweet and awesome is that? Thank you so much Liz! You didn't need to send me anything at all. It's my pleasure visiting your blog!

First off, I got this award from Lisa. Thank you Lisa! I think you're brilliant too! Lisa is also my buddy over at ScrapCity, and she is amazing with the challenges!

I got this award from Fiona. This is the Wylde Women blogging award. For this one, I'm supposed to link to Tammy's site, because that where the award originates. The purpose of this award is to send love and acknowledgement to women who brighten your day, teach you new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy. Wow! Thank you Fiona! You brighten my day too!

This last award I got from Judy. Judy is wonderful and so talented! She is the blogging friend that sent me that amazing "Scrapbooking Diva" tote bag. I love that bag and use it all the time! Women look at my tote with envy in their eyes! It's true! I took it with me to Archiver's and JoAnn's recently, and I saw many a glance in my tote's direction! Thank you Judy!

I just want to say thank you for your comments yesterday. I never should have posted about having a bad day, because I've decided not to get into the reason why. I've gotten past it, and everything is fine! Thank you!! I'm totally behind on blog hopping again, but I hope to get caught up with all of you today or tomorrow. I can't wait to see what you've been up to! Have a wonderful day, and thanks for stopping by!

Blogging Award

Well, I woke up with a giant headache today, and it really doesn't want to leave me. I just took more Advil. Geesh, enough already with the headache!

I would like to thank Kathleen for awarding me with the "blogging with a purpose" award. Kathleen is one of my SBS2 sisters, and she's sweet and very talented! I love looking at her creations. I'm always honored when someone presents me with an award, so thank you Kathleen!


I'm supposed to nominate three people for the award, but that's the part of it I don't care for! I don't like picking and choosing my blogging friends. So, I won't! I hope you all have a wonderful Friday and a fantastic weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Bowling Fun

I'm trying for a guest design team spot on a site that I frequent. We had to create a layout using a sketch. I created two. This is the first one.


I love these photos, especially the bowling shoes! My girls always think it's so fun to rent bowling shoes. We don't go bowling very often, but when we do, it's always FUN! I used Basic Grey Hang Ten papers on this. How fantastic is the bowling pin and the ball? I detail cut it out of one of the sheets of Basic Grey papers. I also hand cut the scallop at the top of the page. The large circle was cut using my Coluzzle. The two photo corners were cut on my QuicKutz. I'm very happy with how this page turned out!


Next, I was given this award by Dawn, Zee, and Alexandra. I keep forgetting to post it. Sorry ladies, I blame my forgetfulness on spring break! Thank you for passing it on to me. I'm honored! The "Arte Y Pico" (Art & More) is given to bloggers who share their art and creativity making their contribution to the blogger world. I'm supposed to pass this on to five bloggers. I dislike having to choose, and I've already seen it on a log of blogs, so can I just say that if you aren't currently displaying this award, and you're reading this right now, I nominate you!

I mentioned a while back that I was contracted to make a scrapbook. It's 8x8, and I'm just about finished! The final album has 52 layouts/pages in it (26 page protectors with two pages in each). It's for a man who is getting married. His aunt created a "look at his life", and the last few pages are photos of him with his fiancee. It's simple for the most part, because I wanted it to be masculine. I'll be anxious to meet with her next week to see her reaction to it. Have a GREAT weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

Daddy's Garage Buddy

First off, I want to mention that two very good blogging friends awarded me with the "you make my day" awards, and I want to thank them! Thank you Becky and Sharon! You are both so talented, and you both make my day too! I'm honored that you awarded these to me!

Next, here's a scrapbook page. This is another page that I did for a challenge during the virtual crop at ScrapCity over the weekend. This one was called "think outside the box", and we were challenged to use some cardboard from an actual box on our page.

I came across this picture of my youngest, Jessica. Once in a while, we all find ourselves hanging out in Daddy's garage! Why wouldn't we? There's a big T.V., it's heated, there's a dart board, a refrigerator, etc. It's a FUN place to hang out! I snapped this photo of Jessica one evening back in 2005 when she was just hanging out with her Dad! She is just too cute! Since the photo was taken in the garage, I thought the cardboard frame I constructed worked really well with it! If you look closely at the four large brads at the corners of the frame, you'll see that they look like Phillip's screw heads. Very cool! I actually broke out a set of my Stampin' Up alphabets! I forget how much I love my alphabet stamps! I need to use them more often! Jessica actually chose the letters for me, and she mixed up the upper and lower case . . . a very cool look! Of course, I had to add some Primas to the layout! As you might notice, I was still digging the blank space challenge, and this one also leaves a lot of blank space. I'm loving that look right now! I'm very pleased with this page.

Here's what else is going on with me. The children's librarian at our community library knows me really well. We've been going to the kid library programs the entire time we've lived in this town (7 years now). She knows I scrapbook a lot. In fact, I've actually done scrapping classes for the kids over the summertime (and gotten paid for it! What fun!)

ANYWAY, she hired me to make a scrapbook for her nephew. He's getting married in June, and she wants to give him a scrapbook for their wedding shower. I met with her a couple of times, I sent her to buy some stuff (so she could get an album she likes, etc.), and she gave me photos and all the stuff yesterday. I told her to get 8x8 (easier to work with). She gave me A TON of photos. I'm going to get started today. I'm kinda nervous! I've done a ton of mini albums (mother's day albums, a book for my father in law, birthday books, a book for my husband, a book for one of my best girlfriends for her 40th, etc.), but this one will be hard, because I don't know him!

The other thing is that I don't know what to charge her for the completed album. I have no idea how many pages it's going to be. I don't know if I should charge by the page or by the hour. Hhhmmmm . . . should be interesting! I'm sure once I get started, it will all flow . . . at least I hope so! Wish me luck!! I need to have it done by April 6th! I need to get MOVING!!

Have a WONDERFUL weekend everyone! Thanks for stopping by!

Thank You and Scrapbook Page

I want to thank some wonderful blogging friends!


I want to give a long overdue THANK YOU to Nicola at My Paper World. My card was selected randomly from all of the participants that completed one of her wonderful sketches, and she sent me one of her gorgeous cards and some goodies! Thank you so much Nicola! Look at that sweet elephant image! The felt flowers are GORGEOUS, and I love how you sent ribbon that coordinates with the felt flowers! I love it all! Your card is just amazing in person. The details are perfection! Thank you!


Next, Fiona at Fe-Fe's World! presented me with the "you make my day award". Thank you so much Fiona! You make my day too! I really appreciate you thinking of me when you passed this award along!


Then, Dawn at Buggin' Around presented me with a different "you make my day" award! I've never seen this one before! Thank you Dawn, I'm honored that you presented this to me! You make my day too!

I also have a scrapbook page to show you. I created this during the virtual crop this weekend at ScrapCity.


This challenge was to use your "stash". We were supposed to scrap a photo that was over 6 months old, and use supplies we've had for a long time. Well, I scrapped a photo from 2005, and I used Basic Grey Hang Ten papers that I've had for quite some time! I tied American Crafts ribbon around the photo, and through the tag. This is my father-in-law with my girls. We got him a big cookie for his birthday! A while back, I made my father-in-law a 6x6 album that he keeps with him, and it features my girls through the years. I'm behind on keeping it updated for him, but this is a step in the right direction. I have a new page for him!

I'm sorry, but I'm still very behind on blog hopping, and I need to get tons done today (laundry, dusting, vacuuming, errands, shopping, etc.), so I'll be catching up with all of you in the next day or two!! Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks for the Award!

I want to thank Deb very much for giving me this award! I enjoy Deb's blog very much, she is very talented, and the fact that she likes to visit me too makes my day! Thanks Deb!


I met a Cricut message board friend at our local Archiver's yesterday. She had noticed that I was from Illinois, so she sent me a message, asked me where I lived, and it turns out that we're only about 15 minutes away from each other. I got to meet her and her cute daughter. It was really great to meet Kim. Maybe when it warms up a little, we'll go shopping somewhere else!

I'm totally behind on blog hopping again. I'll catch up with all of you later this weekend. Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

SNOW DAY, You Float My Boat, and an Award!

It's a SNOW DAY! My girls are home from school! We have a lot of snow outside, and it's still snowing. My husband is stuck in Florida, and he can't get a flight home since they are all getting canceled. Well, I guess if you're going to be stuck somewhere, it's good to be stuck somewhere with warm weather! I don't actually know how to work the snow blower though, so I'll be shoveling in a little bit. My back hurts already just thinking about it!


I got some great images in a small SBS2 image swap. These came from Lori, and I just had to do some gamsol coloring last night with these Stampin' Up images. I think this boat is so cute. I added the Prima as an afterthought, and now I'm thinking it looks out of place on a nautical card. Hhhmmm . . . I love those little clouds of smoke! Aren't they cute?


Next, I got an award from my SBS2 sister Kathleen and from my very good blogging friend Andrea. Thank you ladies. I'm seriously honored when someone presents me with these awards! I think they're so fun! I'll be happy to spread the love! This time, I'm going to concentrate on some of my SBS2 sisters. I'm spreading the love to seven of my sisters: AnnMarie, Becky, Bonnie, Flossie, Lori, Lori, and Maria. It's hard to give these awards out, because I want to give it to everyone! Thank you Kathleen and Andrea! I'm thrilled that you thought of me!

Thanks for stopping by everyone! Have a great weekend!

Bursting with GREAT News!

I do believe that I'm walking under a lucky star. Yesterday was a FANTASTIC day, and today is starting out as another amazing day! I think you're going to absolutely hate me after you read about all of the stuff that I have to tell you! Be warned . . . this is a LONG post. Sorry!

First off, I wanted to answer a question from Becky. She asked me about the red border on the page that I posted yesterday. It's not a border. The page is black zig-zag Bazzill die cut cardstock on top of a red 12x12 sheet of cardstock. Sorry, I should have explained that when I posted the page. I've seen this die cut cardstock in Michael's too in a DCWV pad. Very cool. Hopefully that clears up how I did the "border".

Next, check out these goodies! These are all from my secret sister on the Cricut message board, and my very good friend, Jana! This is my big finale package from my wonderful friend. She went crazy, be prepared!! Your mouth will be hanging open. There's SO MUCH!!

These are Halloween items, including the Halloween Backgrounds Stampin' Up set, towels with an adorable dog dressed for Halloween, and instead of saying "Boo", if says "Boof"! Totally appeals to my sense of humor! A spider mug (that I was drinking out of yesterday! I don't think I'm going to save it for Halloween!), autumn buttons, Halloween tissues (which are too cute to ever use!), and two Halloween figurines!

Next, WOW! There is Magic Scraps glitter, snow for shaker cards, adorable buttons, Primas in a tiny magnetic tin, two tins to alter, gorgeous ribbon, a mini medley spring pack from CTMH, a glitter mat stack (which just so happens to match the mini medley CTMH items perfectly!!), more buttons, snowflake brads, more round fantastic Making Memories brads, and a 1/8" circle hand punch! It's actually amazing, I think Jana has ESP, because I love my hand punch, but I've been having problems with it. It's not giving me a clean cut, and I need a new one. I never told her that. Very cool!!

That's not all! This shows the Stampin' Up set Riveting (which I've wanted for such a long time), a fantastic box that I can alter, a small album (in the brown and cream) that Jana made for me (she DESIGNED the album -- it's so cool!), and mini cards that she made for me in two of my favorite scrapbooking / card making colors of all time . . . pink and brown! Can you believe it? I'm OVERWHELMED! Jana is so generous and sweet, and I'm so very appreciative! Mwah Jana! You're the best! Thank you so much!

Next, Terrie B presented me with the "you cheer me up award". Is this photo the best or what? You gotta love Lucy and Ethel! They're fantastic! Thank you Terrie! I'm going to tag just a few of my many wonderful blogging friends. Believe me, you ALL cheer me up, and I hate to leave anyone out, but here goes: Andrea, Becky, another Becky, Dawn, Deb, Jana, Kathleen, Kristy, Marlou, and Samm. Seriously, I could go on and on and on!! The visitors I get and the comments I receive put me on Cloud 9. You're all the BEST! Thank you!!

THEN, I uploaded my Valentine layout of my girls on ScrapCity. It's a blog that Dawn told me about, the ladies there all seem like so much fun, and it's where I'm trying to be a Guest Designer! Anyway, my Valentine layout was picked as the ScrapCity LAYOUT OF THE WEEK! I'm floored! Thank you ScrapCity! I'm honored!!

Then I received an email yesterday and then another one today that I won two items from two of the wonderful ladies over at the Paper Crafts Blog! Seriously . . . TWO things! I'm walking under that lucky star people! WOW! I'll post what I won when I receive the items. I'm just THRILLED beyond belief! Thank you ladies at Paper Crafts!

Last, but definitely not least, I wanted to show you my daughter's poster that she created for her science class. Thank goodness for the Cricut! Her entire class needed to present information on an interesting invention. The inventions were handed out randomly, and she ended up with the ice cream cone. Check out her poster!

The ice cream cone and the scoops are on the Doodlecharms cartridge, and we used Base Camp for the title. Doesn't this look fantastic! She designed the whole thing, and she did a great job! She's almost 12 (Egads!! How is that possible??), and she's in 6th grade, and I'm sure you'll agree that she's pretty talented! She was thrilled with her poster! So was I!

OK, if you read this whole entry, you're wonderful, and you deserve a HUGE pat on the back! Sorry, but I had A LOT to tell you about! I'm just one happy lady over here! I'm also one very appreciative lady! I'm walking under that lucky star . . . !! Thanks for stopping by!!