I NEED HELP!!!

I'm just going to put this out there for someone, anyone to help me! I need help with my blog! I really, really, really want it to look good, and I am willing to spend some $$$ to make it happen. Does anyone know anyone good to help with blog design?? Specifically, I would like a new banner that looks like a moderately creative person lives here!! I am not really computer-inclined, but I would be open to trying it myself (maybe using digi-scrapping stuff) if anyone has any resources for how-tos!! So, thanks in advance for any and all help!!

The AMAZING Tami Wood!!!

A couple of weeks ago, while we were in Minneapolis for Monster Jam, I had the opportunity to stop by Artsy Tartsy, a really neat stamp store! They had some awesome activities for A*Muse*A*Palooza last summer, and it is Tami Wood's home base for her classes! I was lucky enough to be there on a day that she was teaching - so I just barged right in and interrupted her class!! It was so much fun!! I got to meet 3 great gals - Tamara, Kristina & Erin - who were taking the class! I so rarely get to stamp with other people - this was such a fun treat!! We laughed, we cried - it was better than Cats (I can't for the life of me remember what movie this line is from - anyone??, anyone???!)!! Artsy Tartsy was a beautiful shop - lots of neat stuff that I didn't have nearly enough time to look at!! Thank you so much, Tami, for letting me barge into your class!! I was so happy to get to meet you in person and see some of your amazing cards!! Tami can do things with A Muse that I have never seen anyone else do!! She had cards from her last class where she had made the A Muse stamps look positively vintage!! Looove it!! Here's the card Tami was kind enough to let me make and some pictures of the gang!!

I just love this card - Tami has such an eye for detail ... The snowflake brad has a beautiful crystal in the middle, the sentiment is stamped on this awesome paper (Cosmo Cricket, maybe??), then she mounted it on a piece of cardstock the same size and inked the edges so it all matches! Tami is also the QUEEN on decorating the envelopes and the insides of the cards - I didn't take a pic, but the inside has a two color sentiment and more snowflakes!!!

Kristina & Erin hard at work on the cards!

Kristina, Tami & I !! It was so great to actually get to meet some of my "online" friends!!
Love ya, girls and I'll be back soon!!

Tagged!!

I have been tagged by the amazingly talented Erika, one of my fellow A Muse Clear Stamp Design Team members!!

The rules of the game:
• Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.
• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


Here we go!!

1. I was raised by an incredibly capable single mother (who never remarried, or even dated for that matter) after my father died when I was 5.

2. Before my father died, my parents made their living as Hot Air Balloon pilots (a picture of our balloon was made into a Hallmark card and puzzle!)! I even fell out of a balloon when I was 4!!

3. I am homeschooling my 10 year old for the first time this year!

4. I hate to clean my house - hate, hate, hate it!! Somehow it gets done, but it is never enjoyed! I have seriously thought many times about hiring someone, but I am also very cheap and just can't justify the expense!

5. I love to bake, and I am very conflicted right now as I have not had time to make any Christmas Cards or Christmas cookies - I'm not sure which one will win. (the people that know me well are saying the cookies will win!)

6. My husband has a dirt track race car, and I am his Pit Crew! I can change tires, change oil, tighten stuff and just generally get dirty!! This is also a great "rationalizing" point for all my stamping purchases! There is no way that I could ever spend as much on stamps and paper as he spends on the race car, right??

7. I am a clearance junkie (they put those orange stickers on things at Target just to tempt me!). I often buy things that I don't need just because they are on sale! And I wonder why I am drowning in clutter??!!

It seems that everyone I know has been tagged, so if you would like to play along, leave a comment here with a link to your 7 random things!!

I am one LUCKY girl!!

Look at all these AMAZING things that I got from my A Muse Admirer over at the A Muse Addicts group on Yahoo!! The Amazing Penny Hall sent me these goodies - they are all so pretty and so well done!!

This cute tin was altered - inside and out! - and holds these cute little love notes!

This cute tin (notice the bling in the middle of every snowflake!) came packed with my favorite chocolates - and I've converted Penny into an addict! I love the penguin bookmark - but I'm not sure how you made it, Penny!!
I love the colors on the post-it note holder ... pink & kraft go so well together!!

I really love this card - the penguin with the santa hat playing peek-a-boo ... how much more perfect could you get???!! I apologize for the small smudge ... darn kids!!

And this beauty was the reveal card!! Perfection in an envelope, I tell ya!! So well done - I love the colors (the base is chocolate brown), the CB background, the green accents!! And Penny was kind enough to write on a post-it on the inside so I can recycle - not that I will be able to part with them!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Penny - this was such an amazing gift!!
(by the way - the lucky gal that has me, the lame-o procrastinator, should be getting their reveal card today or tomorrow - just in case you're wondering!)

SOS!

Whipped this up last week for Linda and the girls at the A Muse store after the "Great Flood of 2007"! The sentiments were made with Karen Foster snap stamps (retired in this size and font, I believe?), the "waves" were made with the Cuttlebug swirl embossing folder. The clouds are actually Cuttlebug Flower dies (those ones that I had to have to make the big paperclip bookmarks that have never been made!) - I thought they worked pretty well for clouds!! Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

I'm still here ... don't give up on me yet!!

More than a month ... I really should start a new "tag" game for "bad bloggers" and nominate myself first!! I really do have the best of intentions, but then I get distracted! Adult ADD - it really sucks!!

I don't want to make a bunch of excuses ... but I do want to say thanks to the 3 of you that still read this! I will be back tomorrow with some fun stamped stuff and pictures of some recent travels!! I got to stamps with Tami and Kristina in Minneapolis!! It was so much fun!!

I hope that everyone had an excellent Thanksgiving, and that the Christmas holiday (or your winter holiday of choice!) preparations are going smoothly!!

Talk to you soon!!

October Fun

Parker in the Pumpkin Patch

Henry in the Patch

This was such a crazy month for us ... a family reunion, a trip to the Pumpkin Patch, new siding on the outside of the house (two whole weeks of bang, bang, bang all day long!! It looks great, but try getting a 2 year old and a 9 month old to nap with all that going on - also explains my stamping drought!), then a fun, fun, fun Halloween!! I am so ready to get into the Christmas spirit - at least for my crafting!! I have such plans for this year, and THIS year I WILL get them done!! Start checking your mailboxes soon ... you never know how early I will get Christmas cards out!!! (those of you that know me well know what a joke that is!!) So, here are a few fun pics of the last month around our house - and the last Halloween card of 2007!!

Our 3 Pumpkins!

My biggest boy with his masterpiece!

The three kiddos ready to go trick or treating!