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!

More coffee love!

I am really enjoying the new clear A Muse set Coffee Break!! It is just such a fun set!! And these notecards ... I just love them!! Ever since I got them, I have been thinking that they are the perfect size and shape for a pocket card! This came together so nicely ... a bit of punching with a corner rounder for the scallop edge, a little sponging, two brads and voila!! - a great pocket card! There's quite a bit of sparkle on the steam - love the Quickie Glue Pen!

By the way ... do you know that you can buy the A Muse Clear stamp sets AND the awesome 4-bar notecards right on the A Muse News Blog?? Girls, warm up your paypal accounts!!

More fun cards!

This card was made for a very, very special woman for her birthday ... of course, I screwed around with it, then ended up casing myself, then wasn't sure if it was good enough ... now it is embarrassingly late, but oh well, what are you going to do?? She'll forgive me! All stamps, paper and ribbon by A Muse!

This cutie is also for a very special chickie who recently suffered a loss! I was trying for the so sorry, yet upbeat card! The dino's little heart is covered with A Muse twinkle stickers! Bling, bling! The sentiment is from SU (a retired set called something sayings), ribbon by A Muse, punches by SU and Marvy.

Blog Bonanza!!

Still here??? Contrary to what you have seen here, I really have been stamping some! I have just been battling with my picture-taking skills, so I have refused to post anything until I felt like I had some decent pictures to show!! I still don't think they are perfect, but they are better!! So, sit back and prepare yourselves for multiple posts today!!

First of all ... Happy Halloween everyone!! I hope your day is spooky, scary and FUN!! We are heading to a friend's house this afternoon for a little party, then trick or treating in the neighborhood! We have had lots of fun in the past few days visiting the pumpkin patch and carving our pumpkins last night! I'll post pictures of all that soon!! Okay, on to the cards! I'm not going to go into a ton of details, so if anyone has any questions, please post a comment and I will answer them!! Thanks for hanging in there with me!! Have a great day!!

I was playing with my rocket boy, and I decided that he needed a rocket ship! Do you recognize it?? That's a tag from the new A Muse Clear Tag set! How awesome is that?? Stamped it on white, matted it on orange and trimmed around it with my mini pinking scissors! I love these new clear sets!! And the A Muse ribbon ... I just keep reaching for it!

I made a few of these coaster post-it note holders for my aunts and cousins who were in town last week for a family reunion! They come together so quickly - a bit of modge-podge to hold the paper down, some sponging on the edges and the big clips from Wally World! I punched matching circles with a 1 3/8 inch punch, then stamped the "notes" from the A Muse personal stationary set, and covered the whole thing with a circle A Muse Creative Candy!! Easy-smeazy!! The girls were quite impressed! Most of them live in RV's for about half the year, so they were so excited to have something magnetic to keep close!

Stay tuned ...more cards to come!

It's a boy!

My husband's best friend from high school had a baby last week - his third, and it's a boy ... George the Fourth!! George the Third is the youngest of 7!!! - his dad wasn't stopping until he got a boy, and George felt much the same with his 2 girls! We are so happy for them and their new little boy!! As we say around here - "Yeah, boy parts!!" I made this card for them because it is so awesome that they have a boy, and they live in Texas! I forgot to take a pic of the inside, but I altered the A Muse "bundle of joy" stamp by omitting the "j" of joy and hand lettered a "b" so it says "bundle of boy"!! Don't worry, I won't break my arm patting myself on the back - I'm sure I have seen others do that before!!

Details: Stamps by A Muse, CS by A Muse and SU!, ribbon & hemp twine by SU!, punches by Marvy, eyelets by Making Memories.

I {heart} Boris!

I have been trying to get in the Halloween Spirit! We are homeschooling this year for the first time, and it's kind of strange to not be thinking about teacher gifts and classroom treats! I think I will use some of my extra energy to put together a Boo Basket like this (Lexi is so incredibly talented!)! My neighbors would appreciate it! Sarah thinks I should use my extra energy to make a bunch of teacher treats and classroom treats and sell them to my non-crafty co-workers at the hospital! I may do that for Christmas, if I start now! My mom makes this killer chex mix that everyone at work always buys anyway, so I could come up with some cute packaging and sell them as ready-made teacher gifts! So, all that rambling to say here is my first Halloween card of the year! I played with this layout for-ever and finally got it to work!
There is really a lot more sparkle going on than shows up in the picture ... there are stickles on the blue jars, stardust jelly pen on the spider jars and Boris has some sparkly silver on his buttons and his test tubes! I am loving the new A Muse ribbon - this orange is just AWESOME!! Did you notice the Rick Rack line under the jars? It's from one of the new amazing A Muse Clear Sets - Fancy Borders - you can get your very own set HERE! Happy Sunday!
Details: Stamps, Notecard, Ribbon, white CS by A Muse, purple CS from my stash, Diamond Stickles, Twinkle dot by A Muse.
P.S. Disregard my last post - for some reason it is working now!! Arrghh Blogger!!

Arrgghh Blogger!

I've been trying all day to post some pictures of some neat cards ... alas, Blogger will not let me! AARRGGHHH - I guess it's time to stamp instead!! Have a good Sunday evening ... by the way ... Anyone see my Chiefs win today?? Yeah Chiefs!!

Henry's Creation!

My 10 year old son, Henry, wanted to do some stamping last week, so he made a card for my mother, his "Gaga"! He has so much fun putting things together, and I have to say his color combo of Ruby Red and So Saffron turned out great!

Stamps & CS by Stampin' Up!

It's official!!

Check out the A Muse News Blog for the big announcement! Do you see all those wonderful women that I get the pleasure to work with!! I am honored and humbled to be in such amazing company! I can't wait to see what comes next from this team!

For the one that I love! (Warning: long, personal post!)

My baby sitting on his race car - he's so cute!!

On this day, 5 years ago, I married the love of my life! I feel so incredibly blessed to have such an amazing husband! He is an excellent father - very hands on! - and my best friend! When I was a single mom, living with my mother, I never thought that I would have this! Thank you, God, for bringing Ben into our lives!

There is a funny story of how we met ... you can stop reading if you don't want to delve into my personal life! My mother and I had been taking our cars to this independent shop for a lot of years. My mom is an awesome baker, so she had made carrot cakes and such for the guys at the shop to say thanks for a job well done. So, one day about 6 years ago, I took my car in for an oil change and to check out a noise I was hearing in the back. They decided that one of the guys should ride with me to hear the noise. So, Ben gets in the car with me and we drive around for like 3 minutes. Ben swears that I was flirting with him that morning - I don't remember that - I think I was just being my normal, friendly self! I leave my car, not really thinking anything of Ben. I had seen him at the shop for years - he had started working there in high school, and I just remember him looking so YOUNG! Later that day, they call me and say that my car needs ALL this work - like $650 more! I was a bit in shock! I go back in to pick it up and it's not quite done ... so I'm sitting in the lobby. The owner is talking to me, and says that they would love to have another carrot cake. I said that I brought my car in for an oil change, and I am leaving $650 later - if anyone deserves some dessert it was me! Paul, the owner, picks up the phone and pages into the shop on the loudspeaker that I want dessert! Ben yells - I could hear him through the wall - OKAY, WHEN! So, then I say, well, if he's that aggreeable, how about dinner and a movie - so Paul does the whole loudspeaker thing again, and Ben says Yes. I just laughed, thinking that we were just joking! By this time, I am incredibly late to pick up my son, who had a therapy appointment, so when Ben finally brought my car around, I just threw my stuff in and was ready to run. Ben stops me and asks - What about our date - and I'm like, Oh, were we serious? He says yes, and I literally was pulling out of the parking lot yelling at him to get my number off my info at the shop and give me a call!

Well, he called, we went out, were engaged 3 months later and married less than a year after that! I never really believed in the whole "happily ever after" thing, but I am so glad that it came true! These are the cards that I made for Ben (I am horrible about actually making cards for people in my family, so I was pretty proud of myself for getting these done on WCMD!) They aren't anything over the top, but he'll like them!

P.S. Sometime I'll tell you all about the wedding, and how Sarah was a bridesmaid but had to run out in the middle of the ceremony puking!! Poor Sarah!

A quick card - I used the stars from the new clear Sports set by A Muse to make the background on the Cabana Blue band. You can but it HERE.

I made this card for Ben because we are going to Mexico next month for our Anniversary. We spent our Honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta and had a blast! This time we are going to Cancun!

Thanks for sticking with me on this long post! I hope you have a great day! Hug the ones you love!

Two of my favorite things!

I made this card using two of my new favorite things (the A Muse Madeira 4-bar notecards - buy them here!! - and the new Coffee Break Clear Stamp Set - it will be back in stock next week!) to celebrate two of my other favorite things - coffee, particularly with Coffee Mate Fat Free French Vanilla Creamer, and pink and brown together!! There is a lot of bling going on here ... clear rhinestone stickers on the polka dots on the mug, quickie glue pen (love that thing!) and clear ultra-fine glitter on the steam, and the sentiment (much easier to read IRL!) is embossed with sparkly EP! The ribbon is May Arts, I believe - picked up at the A Muse shop in Seattle on my first visit last March!

Details: Stamps, Notecard by A Muse, Ribbon by May Arts, Punches by Marvy and SU!, brads by SU!

Happy Birthday Sarah!

I am a day late in getting this posted ... but Happy Birthday to Sarah! I made her this card using the MFT set Say Charge because we all went together and got her a Gift Card to the County Club Plaza (a shopping area here in KC) and we are planning a girls' night out for Thursday evening so we can take her shopping for some new duds! Yeah Girls' Night!!

I also covered a can of her favorite cookies! The plate stand and goodies are from one of the new A Muse clear sets - check them out here! This patterned paper came from Paper Source a while ago! I needed something bigger than 12x12 and this worked perfectly! The "S" on the top is from the A Muse Large Polka Dot Alphabet with a bit of Sakura Stardust Clear Gel Pen and a Circle Scallop Creative Candy on top! Thanks for checking in! I'm off for 12 hours of fun, fun, fun at the hospital! Have a great Monday!

Pink Super Hero

This card was made for a certain Royal Stamp Queen (i.e. JulieHRR)! When I was looking at it today, I realized that it could be perfect for someone battling breast cancer! I may have to make some more of this card!

Details: Stamps, notecard by A Muse, Photo Corners made with Marvy Mega Scallop Square, brads and CS from my stash, A Muse twinkle on her belt!

More goodies in the mail!

Lookie at all this great stuff from my friend Aura (sister to the great Sarah of Suki's Blog)! Aura - that's her in the picture with me and Sarah - keeps saying that she is starting a blog so everyone can see her cool stuff - she is an absolutely amazing party planner - I can't wait!! These are a birthday card for me, a sympathy card and some Halloween goodies that she sent to me! She is such a sweetheart!!
I am so incredibly blessed to have such an amazing friend!

Hee, hee, hee - Did you see!!

Did you see my amazing news?? Check it out here!!!!

I am now a member of the A Muse Clear Stamp Design Team!! I feel so very honored to be involved with such an amazing company - not to mention the fact that they are the absolute coolest stamps ever!! Stay tuned - new clear stamp sets will be revealed on Saturday October 6th - which is also World Card Making Day and the A Muse Anniversary Sale!! Oh, how I wish I could be in Seattle to party with Linda and the girls!!

Big, big hugs to Linda and Julie for giving me this amazing opportunity!! The whole team should be announced soon - it's amazing!!

Almost 1000!!

Stay posted, friends! My bog has almost reached 1000 hits!! I have always maintained that I really don't care about the "numbers", I am just in this for the fun, but when I was changing up my blog today, I noticed the counter! 1000 hits and World Card Making Day - what a great excuse for some BLOG CANDY!! Keep checking - there may even be a sneek peak coming soon!!

Going Pink!!

I am going pink for October! Join me in supporting our sisters who have battled or will battle this crazy disease! Cancer sucks ... 'nuff said!

Splendiferous Shopper!

Good morning, friends! I wanted to share this cute card with you ... I just love the shopper girl, and when I look at this sentiment, I see "have a SPEND-iferous day!" Perfect for a day of shopping or a birthday wish! I colored my girl in with my Copics - I'm getting better with them - now I just want more to expand my options! I'm off to enjoy a day of fun at work! I hope you all have a great day!

Notecard, stamps by A Muse, ribbon by Paper-Source, eyelets by We Are Memory Keepers.

Birthday RAKs!!!

My birthday was last month! I would have liked to forget it, but all these beauties came in the mail and just kept reminding me! Thanks so much to my friends and the great gals at the A Muse Addicts Yahoo group! I feel so loved!


Pretty Birthday card from Jennie (mocjen on SCS)! Love the color combo!

Birdy Birthday card from Penny Hall! The A Muse ribbon is so shimmery and I love the punch turned on it's side!


Sparkly patterned paper made into a really cool card from Ingrid (ottchix on SCS).


An AMAZING stampy birthday from Rhonda! A perfect card!


This beauty is from my bestest friend, and partner in all things crafty, Sarah! She is just amazing! The level of detail, the composition - it just blows my socks off!! AND, she gave it to me on time (I can never seem to hit all of those things!)!! She is an amazing stamper, and an even better friend! I feel so blessed to have her in my life!


This is the beautiful envelope that came with my card from Sarah!


I have a few more to share ... I'll get them next time! Have a great day!

Big Cyber Thank you card!

I just wanted to say a big thank you to all of my cyber friends for the well wishes and support in the past week or so! For those of you who don't know, my older brother died 2 weeks ago today. He had been sick for a while, and I knew it was going to happen sooner or later, but it was still a bit of a shock when he died. We have been doing pretty well ... sometimes you just have to keep going! I just want you all to know how much I appreciate your support - the cards, the prayers - it really does make a difference. This sad situation does make me take a moment to appreciate all the people in this world that love me and my family ... so thank you!

Details on this card - Stamps by SU and A Muse, CS from Papersource, ribbon by SU - colored with SU classic inks and an aquapainter - there is a bit of bling in the center of the flower!

I am pretty sure that I saw someone else do a similar card to this when Doodle This first came out - I'm sorry I don't know who! If you do, please let me know so I can give credit!

SWAPS in the mail!

Somehow, the time got away from me on these swaps for Tracy (check out her great blog here!), but they are in the mail now and will hopefully arrive in time! So, if you are in group 1 or group 4 and want to be surprised, then stop now!

Details - Stamps by A Muse, CS by SU, ribbon by SU, punches by SU and Marvy, Paper by Paper Source, Liquid applique, Creative Candy by A Muse.

Details: Stamps by A Muse, CS by SU, brads by ??.

I can't wait to see what everyone else has come up with! Now, I really need to get to work on my ATC album!! Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Think simple, think A Muse!

I spent a bit of time last week with some of my new goodies from my trip to the Northwest! I was trying to remember all the goodness of A Muse - simple, elegant, easy! I also wanted to play with my new Copics - what the heck was I thinking spending that kind of moolah on markers that I REALLY don't know how to use? I guess I was using the wrong ink ... I will try them again when my frustration wears off! So, here's a few pics, and a shot of the goodies that I picked up on my trip! It really is amazing when I go shopping somewhere outside the KC area ... makes me realize just how limited our shopping options are here! I did see somewhere that there is a stamping store in Lee's Summit - The Stamp Patch - I had heard of it a few years ago, but not lately so I just assumed it had closed! Anyone know anything about it?



Stamps by A Muse, Notecard by A Muse, CS by SU!, blurry image courtesy of my new Copics!
Stamps by A Muse, ribbon by May Arts, notecard by A Muse - oh look, another product that I am not very good with - slightly bumpy pond for my baby penguin courtesy of my Glue Pad.
This card I was actually 100% pleased with! Love Florence, love my new blue (can't ever remember what size that is!) scallop circle, love the soft sky with the ruby red - this one just made me happy! Unfortunately, it left the house the same day I made it - off to the hospital with my mom for our friend! I may have to make another one just for me!

Stamps by A Muse, CS by SU!, Ribbon by A Muse, eyelets by Making Memories.
Here are my goodies! I think I showed a lot of restraint ... okay, a little bit of restraint! That new Basic Gray pad - Mellow - is just gorgeous!!


Thanks for sticking with me, blogland friends! I am going to try to post more often! Things are starting to settle down! I have just started homeschooling my 10 year old, so we are in a big adjustment phase around here! Things are going well ... there has only been a few minutes when all three kids were crying!!