Back from the Retreat - And A Hair Cut

I'm Back!!!
The retreat was wonderful.
We stay at a State Camp Ground.
There was still snow, and it was 'cold cold cold' in the mornings!!!


While I was at the retreat, I made this Album!
This is a BoBunny Chipboard album, that I altered.
It's my Christmas Past, Present, and our Traditions book!
Yep. All filled up! I got it done!
Super fun.... The papers are Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket, Making Memories, Little Yellow Bicycle, and all sorts of embellies, stamped goodies, and fun stuff!

I also got a few other layouts done.

Apparently I hardly sit down when I scrap.
I stand and really don't notice it at all.
All day and night.
One of the gals commented
I guess I was making her tired!
The funny thing is, my partner stood too!
We were well matched, I'd say!


After a while I was just slapping photos to paper.
That's when I decided I was done!

While on Retreat... We had some treats
Big girl drinks.... the 'bar' opened at 3pm - daily.
Whole lotta special concoctions were getting made...
Serious cocktails!
The Strawberry Margaritas were a hit!
Basically, it was a caffeine/sugar/cocktail's induced event.
I drank more soda on this trip than I do in an entire year!
One each day. Dr. Pepper. Full lead.
Super Tasty.
In addition to coffee.
With M&M's as a chaser.

Vodka, anyone?
In my little world, there is only one flavor of Vodka.
And it really does not have a flavor!
Geeze.. These girls are serious!

The retreat was awesome. I had my own cabin.
You could tell which mom's wanted some 'just me alone at night' time.
That would be those of us who had our own cabins.

Since I am an early riser, I was in charge of unlocking our building, and plugging in the coffee pot.
I could deal with that! The first morning I arrived at the door at somewhere close to 5am. It was still dark.
The next, I arrived about 6 am.
I kept getting later, and later!
Each morning after I plugged in the coffee pot I went and hit the showers which were in a separate building.

Ever showered at a state campground when it's about 25 degrees?
Dang those tiled rooms are cold! Brrrr.
So, after my shower I went back to my ever so toasty cabin, and crawled back into my sleeping bag. And took a little morning nap!
Oh it was nice... Then back to the building about 7:30 or 8am...or 8:15am...

Our breakfast was at 10 am, dinner at 5pm.
That was it! All the other times we scrapped, snacked, laughed, etc.
I actually stayed up until am Saturday morning/Friday night!
Oh my!!!!
My bedtime is usually 8 am.

I am still detoxing the sugar out of my system!
And, trying to get back into the saddle, again.

*************

Hair Cut Anyone?
Sami's Hair

The After Shot
Sami and I have had on going discussion about her hair...
She does not like to brush her hair, and
she does not like anyone else to brush her hair.
She has had a 'rat's nest' at the back of her ponytail for quite some time.
Finally, we both reached our limit.
'Cut it now' was what I heard.
So I did.
Last night was 'cut it' night.
Obviously, cutting hair is not my strong point.
It needs some professional help.
That's the next step.
But, at least now, she can brush it.

This is the 'before' shot.
I know... long gorgeous hair.

Sigh....

Once Upon A Time - CaardVarks Fantasy Challenge

My Entry for the CaardVarks Fantasy Challenge!

I discovered a new place to play! It's the CaardVarks Blog. The April 5th challenge is to post a card for the 'Good Knight' Challenge - a card that has a fantasy theme.

Actually, to be told, I have lurked and googled at all the cool creations the design team posts, at this place, and NOW I know some of the new DT members! Hello Girls from the Hero Arts playground!!! Yeah! So, I am inspired to play along with them...

Card Ingredients:
Stamp: Purple Onion Design - (Flourish) stamped in Ranger Distress Aged Mohagany, then I traced over it with a Spica Pen to give some bling.
PP: DCWV - Once Upon a Time Stack; and DCWV chipboard embellies. ('The Fantasy' is below the ribbon)
Ghost Butterfly: Heidi Swapp
Ranger Distress Stickles (on the butterfly)
Hero Arts Pearls (on the butterfly)
Ribbon: SU
Ring 'Crown with Cross' Charm - a RAK!

Thanks for looking!

Testing!!! Winterfest Banner!!!

Guess what's coming to 2 peas!

WinterFest 2009!!! Starting this weekend..

If you love to stamp, come on over! ALL abilities are welcome! We will have some challenges and it's a great way to get your creativity going!

I will be hosting a 'Little Houses' Challenge... I have a post over there at my 2peas Blog with all the details... and I will be starting a challenge thread this Friday on the Stamping Board... Here is the Blog Post to give you a head start: 2Peas 'Little Houses' Blog Post

Here's a link to the Master Thread: WinterFest 2009 Stampin' Peas

Hope to see you there!!!

My Glam Girl

My Glam Girl
Click on image to check out the details

Another layout for last week's Hero Arts Challenge to use hearts. And, another fun project! I love these photos of Sami from her birthday clothes 'vamping'....



HA Supplies Used:
CL188 (little heart and sentiment in border strip); CL181 (xoxo in border strip); CL151 (bigger heart in border strip) and CL127 (dotted circle border around photo )...

Other Supplies:
Stampin' Up Patterned Papers
American Crafts Thickers
Prima Paper Flower (has hearts!)
Basic Grey button
SU Scallop Border Punch
Dotted Ribbon (unknown mfg)
K & Co. Smitten Adhesive Ribbon (bottom row of pink hearts and the brown strip behind the photos - has little hearts in it!!!)

I created a 'border' strip with HA stamps - about 1/3 down in the layout!

Thanks for Looking!

Our House

Our House
(Is a Very very very fine house!)
Click on Image to see this in a bigger format...

Do you remember that song? I loved it! Still do!

This is a layout I did for last week's Hero Arts Challenge. We had to use a heart somewhere on our project. Lots of fun stuff used for this one.. Rubons (the bottom title), Maya Road chipboard hearts and house that I colored with Ranger inks, Hero Arts stamps, ribbon, etc.

Anyway, I actually had fun doing this layout because I love houses, and this simple layout.

Thanks for looking!

Some Layouts to Share

Digi Layout of Sami's New Birthday Duds

Traditional Layout (paper, stamps, etc.)
of Jake Making His Monster Snow Ball!

Just thought I would share some things I have worked on lately! The layout of Jake was for the Hero Arts 'pocket' challenge, and the layout of Sami is for a 2peas Digi Class for January.

I have another layout of Jake, but can't find where my darn computer filed it! ARG! It's a 12x12 layout that was 'stitched'. Every time I do something different in Adobe PSE3 (take photo, take scan, or create new canvas, or save as jpg) it files it somewhere funky....

Still learning that darn program...

Have a great day!

Some Creations and Confessions from 2008

Some Distress Stickles, HA stamps,
Cosmo Cricket Patterned Paper and American Crafts Letters
Along with Kraft card stock, and super fun embellies!

Purple Onion Designs tree and little leaves stamps,
HA big leaf, distress stickles
Cosmo cricket patterned paper, American Crafts letters

More Purple Onion Designs, HA, Cosmo Cricket
And some very fun embellies! I loved the paper flower used for the tree!
(Too bad I don't know who makes it!!)

More of the Above Supplies
Can you tell I was on a roll?
This one uses some HA bling on the tree

And More!

Hero Arts Stamp (leaf), And Cosmo Cricket papers
American Crafts Letters

Hero Arts Stamps
(I forget who makes the paper and embellies!)

My Minds Eye patterned Papers & Hero Arts Stamps

Hero Arts Stamps and Basic Grey

Hero Arts, Maya Road and Basic Grey

One of My HA Christmas Cards
(HA stands for Hero Arts)
The 3 big trees, sentiment and little tree are all HA stamps.
Thanks Jennifer for the big trees!!!

Most of these are for the weekly Hero Arts Challenges
Which seem to get me motivated!
(Especially the sketch week)

Card Using a Gifted HA stamp (the little birdy)
My favorite Christmas paper of the year - My Minds Eye!
The scallops and sentiment are also HA stamps.

Thanks Sue for the sweet stamp!!!

A Little Card
HA tree stamp, snowflakes (thanks Jennifer!), sentiment and Basic Grey papers

A Valentine's Day Card!
HA stamps and Basic Grey

Another Valentine Card
HA stamps, Basic Grey papers, and Grunge Board!

A Layout of Sami
(Click to Enlarge)
I love this layout!!!! My favorite creation of the entire year...
And of course one of my favorite 'creations' (my daughter) of my life!!!

A Layout of the Kids and Bugsy
Our 'Christmas Card' Photo!
Which has not been sent.
Yet.

*****************

Do you do this? I am going through my computer files and 'cleaning things up'.

This means I am deleting things I don't think I need, shuffling files, and finding little goodies I didn't share with you!

Above are some of my favorite things that I forgot to share!

And now for some confessions:

1. Remember when I made a bunch of Thanksgiving and Thank You cards? I still have most of them! Arg! I did not send them in time, and then had to send Christmas Themed Thank you cards!
2. Remember when I asked for help on our Christmas Photo? I still have not mass produced the cards (aka ordered them from Snapfish), or made my annual letter... I got side tracked with baking! So, I do believe I will be doing a Valentine's Mailer instead!

Thanks for looking!

Shabby Chic - For Hero Arts Challenge

My Shabby Chic Holiday Card

Another View

Last night I just 'broke down' and dived into my craft supplies so I could create something! Oh it has been so long I am going through withdrawals. As I mentioned on my last post, I had hoped to play while the cat was away, but that boat did not float.

That ship did not sail.

That dog did not roll.

Or, that rock did not roll.

(I have been indulging in Psyche episodes. Can you tell? I have to say, it is my favorite show)...

Here are some things I had hoped to work on (let's call this the 'When The Cat Hits The Road' list):

• Such as the Walsh Girls Missouri Years Album. But heck, since not one darn sister has sent me photos, or stories, the album should be a quick and short project! HA!
• I also have some cards to send out. Thinking of Yous.
• And Thank-Yous to the Cycle Oregon Helpers.
  
• And my next batch of Fat Book pages. Which are, um, overdue.
• And a list of challenges I would love to participate in!
• And gosh, I need to setup my Fat Book Challenge for S.O.F.!
  

So.. I selected one item to tackle.

The Hero Arts Blog posts a weekly challenge, with entries due on Sundays. So, there I was, at 4pm getting my 'grove' on. I have always been a deadline driven type of Gal.

I actually made two cards and will share the other with you later. That way I can spread the love!

Supplies:
Hero Arts Supplies Used: Stamps (CL236) and Gemstones. There are four stamps used! The pine bough in the corners, the sentiment, a tree in the pp strips, and the tree toppers are cut out of one of the ornament designs!

Other Supplies:
Papers: Bazzil card stock; Cosmo Cricket Dutch Girl pp (2nd layer and sentiment layer); top pp layer is Foofala (love the vintage look!).
Inks: SU ( Old Olive & Purely Pomegranate) and Archival Brilliance Pearlescent Ice Blue.
Embellies: Buttons (Basic Grey & Rusty Pickle); SU twine, Sandylion Kelly Panacci tree stickers.

Thanks for looking and for putting up with my ramblings.

Sami and I are actually coming down with colds and I am feeling a bit punchy.

Beep Beep! We're the Sheep!

One Sheep!

Sheep #2!

And REAL Sheep with Jessie
(Grass is just starting to grow - we have had a LONG winter!)

So... I've been invited to a double baby shower.. Not a baby shower for one mama expecting twins, but a shower for two mamas both expecting one baby one week apart from each other. These gals are moms from our school PTCO group.. Now, the gal in charge requested we each do a quilt square, one per mom, of something that is somewhat about our lives... So, I chose sheep. Unfortunately, my sewing machine is kapoot so I only got one square hand blanket stitched in time for the April 15th deadline... The party is May 10th... The gal in charge is going to put all our squares together so each mom has a quilt. Rumor has it there are about 40 of us! That's quite a huge quilt for a baby!

Whatcha think of my sheep squares? This is my idea of quilting..simple. I'm more the appliqué type of girl. Just 2 squares.. That's my limit. Sami on the other hand had to get in on the action...(so I got to assist - iron her goodies, etc.). She has about 4 squares done... She just cracks me up. That girl is an inspiration to her old momma...

The other day, driving home from the school, the kids and I stopped to take photos of some of our sheep and Jessie and Betty the goat. Unfortunately, you can't see Betty.. She's a sly gal. The funny thing was she was butting sheep, and playing in the ditch... Wish you could see her!

Isn't Jessie just a sweet faced doggie? Rumor has it he was 'busted' playing with a coyote.. Keep in mind, he's supposed to be a guard dog, protecting sheep from coyotes, as in chasing them, fighting with them and getting them out of here.. Not frolicking with them! This report came from our hired hand... one guard dog and one coyote... playing together..

Well, perhaps his approach is 'get them with honey'. I knew he had a good heart!

Baby Shower Show & Tell

Peek #1 - Baby Advice Album
Supplies: Stampin' Up Stamps, CTMH ribbons, Queen & Co brads
SU Watercolor Crayons, and other embellies

Peek #2 - The Original Invitation
(This is what you see through the album cover window)
Additional Supplies: SU star punches

Inside the Album:
The right side is the 'advice' page. Each girl wrote on one of these.
The left side throughout the remainder of the book will have a photo
of Ashly with the gift given to her by the girl who wrote the advice.
This image shows my 'intro' to Ashly.

The Cake!
How stinking cute is this! The baker used a copy of the invite to
make a matching cake! Adorable.. I can't wait to show this
to my SU rep! She is just going to love it! She is also a ranch wife, and
the stamps were hers that I borrowed to make the goodies for the party!

Our Little Ashly!

I love this photo of her baby tummy and the balloons!

We had a great weekend! Ashly's baby shower was a great event filled with fun, family and lots of playtime! The kids had an absolute blast this weekend.

Ashly's mom, who is Dick's older sister manages (with her husband) the largest ranch in Idaho.. They are running about 2000 head of cattle and are in the process of calving out 650 heifers.. BUSY! The baby shower was at their place.. Between checking mommas (cows), bottle feeding babies (calves), and burning the daylight oil, my sister in law threw a lovely shower. The food was awesome! All weekend we played, ate, laughed, and ate some more. The diet starts again.
The kids got to walk to a lake and see swans and geese. Jake rode on the back of a dirt bike (without asking) and Sami wants to be Sherry's buckaroo this summer... cousins were everywhere, which is good for our kids who are so far from relatives.

My in-laws were also there, and they loved their new albums (one in shutterfly story book form and the other the original scrapbook pages)!

So, that is a wrap! A busy, long weekend.. and I am now tired!

Yes, Still Here!

Sneak Peak - In-Law's 50th Album

Sneak Peak #2

Howdy!
Sorry I've been MIA, got quite a few things going on. Here, I'll share some quick sound bites:

1. Co hosting a baby shower for my husband's neice - Ashly. Yep, little Ashly who was 5 when Dick and I started dating! (Oh.. and for any spelling/definition freaks, Ashly is the way her name is spelled.. Don't email me that you know better). Anyway, Ashly is going to be a mommy next month!
   

• The baby shower is this Saturday, so leaving tomorrow for Idaho.
• Which means, gotta get all the 'stuff' ready to go! As in shower do dads, pack for three, etc.
  
• No sneak peaks until I get back. I made the invites, advice cards and bingo game cards!
  

1. (format issue here.. should be #2, just in case anyone was gonna correct me)
2. My In-laws will be at the shower, and I am delivering their 50th Wedding Anniversary Album that I made! BIG Event tomorrow night for this roll out! Hope I don't forget it. Pressure!
   
3. Meat sales are hectic right now.. Easter and all!
4. Have a sinus infection.
5. Gotta run! PTCO meeting at the school.
6. OH! got a cute new PINK phone! HAD to since the provider has new technology that my old phone did not have..
7. It snowed again today.. dang.
   
8. OK.. really leaving now...

Catch you all later...

Everything - Another Sample from the Always Set

A 6x6 Page Featuring the Always SU Stamp Set

Another sample from my weekend play date! Lovin' this stamp set... I used the bird, the two sentiments, the floral spray and two of the little circle do dads... The background patterned paper and scallop paper are from the Jan. Self-Addressed Kit, featuring Collage Press papers.

This is one of the pages I am working on for a LOVE book/journal... just playing~

Advent - Day 2 - Stay Cozy & Warm & Sneak Peaks!

Look Who is Staying Cozy & Warm with Hot Cocoa..

A perfect Sunday... the kids and I are still in our jammies.. and it's almost 4pm!



Sneak Peak #1 - CD Calendar January & February 2008

So, this year I decided to make a different sized calendar for my Christmas gifts
for family members. I need some input - do you prefer a wall calendar or desk
top calendar? Mr. Sexton is not 'digging' this size... something about his eyes and small photos.
The stamps used on January & February are from Purple Onion Designs.. the snowflake stamp is part of a new RAK directly from Purple Onion Designs!!!!

Sneak #2: CD Calendar
Here are all the pages, but since I do have my little sister checking out my blog,
it's just a sneak! Paula, let me know what size you prefer... Desktop or Wall?

So, the idea of a CD calendar is to put all the pages, into a CD case, then you flip the case top around, so it holds a page 'up' on your desk. Great concept, but, uh, my pages are longer than the case and I can't package them in the case!!! DRAT!!! I am playing with the idea of binding them instead... decisions, decisions...

NEWS FLASH - WEATHER STORM REPORT:

Huge storm going on outside!!!

I'm looking out the big windows and I cant see past the wheel-line - which right on the other side of the yard's south fence (good thing it is staked down)... My view white, blowing trees, blowing snow, and the making of drifts.... It's been like this all day... which means tomorrow morning's drive down the driveway will be 'interesting'.. Usually, I have to go fast through the drifts so I don't get stuck...even though I have 4 wheel-drive.. When the county plows the highway they leave a huge berm at the end of the drive, and I have to go through that, land on the road, and hope no one is coming... Oh Joy!


At 5pm we are 'scheduled' to put up the tree and decorate it! The tree is still on top of my car, but it's nice and safe in the garage.. Good thing I didn't put it outside! It would have been buried by now, or blown into the next County.

I'm going to make a crock pot full of Mexican Hot Cocoa for our decorating party, and perhaps some tasty snacks.. I've got some of that ever so tasty spinach dip and some sour dough garlic bread. Yum! Just need some celery and carrot sticks, lamb salami, a tasty big girl drink and dinner is served!

Have a great evening! If we get done, I'll take a photo of the tree...

Be sure to leave a comment and help me with my calendar dilemma! Again, do you prefer a desktop calendar or wall calendar???

Christmas Goodies, RAKS & My Blog Candy!

Check out These Magnets I found!

Can you see the Bahumbug Sheep? Too darn cute... I love the birdies, the trees, and the girls!
I bought these. I love them.. I had to have them. I might part with one or two.. still thinking about it...

This is a project from stamp camp last month... A Christmas Box... All supplies are Stampin' Up (except the box )
Inside of the box has some premade tags... I really should give this package away - before Christmas!!!
Hmmm... Blog Candy anyone? Read below if you want to win this!!!

Here is an awesome package of great stuff I rec'd! I won a RAK at Buzz & Bloom!

These are my fantastic new toys to play with! Thanks Buzz & Bloom!
Go check out their fabulous products - and be sure to tell them Andi send you!!! By the way, they have a design team call out right now.. Applications are due Dec. 1st!!!! Go get 'em my creative friends!


And, another RAK I won from Wendy V. she is a designer for Maya Road, and makes some aswesome stuff!

This cute train chipboard album already has a purpose! I helped with Sami's 3rd grade field trip last April to the Sumpter Valley Rail Road. Chuga Chuga Chuga, Toot Toot! I have lots of photos and ephemera to put into this baby!!!! Thanks Wendy! You all go visit Wendy's blog. Check out her art and tell her Andi sent you!!!


So, my cup is truly running over! Seriously... I'm busting at the seems here... I also had a visit from Charlie Brown (our UPS guy is named Charlie, the kids & I call him Charlie Brown) who brought my new Zutter Bind It All... and, get this, My new Prisma Color Pencils arrived (not the ones from E*rotten*bay - I totally was taken advantage of on that rotten egg of a deal - lost $)... Mr. Dick Blick sent me a better set...

Anyway....
How lucky am I to get all these great goods, eh? So, let's do a give away!!!
Blog Candy Time!!
Who all wants the Christmas Box I made above with the tags inside????

Here's how you can win it:

1. You must leave a comment on this post - no anonymous folks..
   
2. Share with everyone a funny Christmas memory....
3. And, if you had a Secret Santa, tell us what you would wish for!
   

I'll pick a winner in 1 week! Uh huh.. That's right.. one week...next Wednesday, as in December 5th!!!!!

Hope to see lots of posts!!!

fa la la la la!

Gratitude

The Front of a Gratitude Journal I am Working On

Today I was thankful for a day spent in my jammies and playing in my crafty zone. A fabulous rainy Sunday! I lit a candle, put on the XM Christmas tunes station, and just had a day to indulge (in between laundry, fixing lunch, cleaning the kitchen, etc.)...

I spent the majority of the zone working on a project that I've been wanting to get done
for Thanksgiving. My idea is to pass around a journal/book/album on Thanksgiving and have each person in our little family of four write down what they are thankful for. I might have to give them their own separate papers instead, to make it go faster, then put the papers into the book. Later I will add photos of each person, and pictures from our Thanksgiving Day as well as journaling about what we 'traditionally' do on this day of giving thanks.

Supplies: Most of the papers and ribbons used are from the October & November Self-Addressed kits (Sassafras Lass patterned papers... oh my aren't they yummy!). The stamps are from Purple Onion Designs (Thankful, journal blocks, flourishes, and alpha used on inside title page) and Stampin' Up (gratitude sentiment & from the heart sentiment). The book is from 7 Gypsies. I used Mod Podge to attach the papers to the front and back boards as well as my crop-o-dile to add some big ol' metal. Take a close look at the front cover! The ribbon on the side says 'a heart full of thanks'. I just love it!




Inside Page
I'll come back and add more stamping..


Sample of Each Family Member's 2 Pages
The left side has a 'card' to open up, and it says what I am thankful for about each person.
The right side is for that person to write what they are thankful for. I will add a photo of
them and date it. Might add a few more embellies...


The Book
Still some work to get done... Add tabs with names of each person, things like that!


A closer Look
My pages.

So! That is a wrap! Hopefully I will share the 'after' photos after each of us gets to add our personal touch on Thursday.

Have a great week and lovely Thanksgiving with those that you hold dear to your heart.