Our Youngest Turned 9 Today

Madalyn turned 9 today! Can't hardly believe how fast this year flew by! She's our little monkey--always has been. Full of expression and such a chatterbox (both of which are understatements!) She's such a goofball! Loves animals, (especially monkeys) and her favorite color is lime green. She loves music and is taking guitar lessons since getting a green guitar for Christmas. She writes her own songs and plays them. She loves Jesus and was baptized this year by her dad. She's an A+ student and is in the TAG program at school. Her best friend at school (besides her sister Carly) is Kayla. She wants to either be a veterinarian or a singer when she grows up.

We're so proud of you Maddy, and love you more than you will ever know --well, maybe when you have a daughter of your own then you will know! ♥ Mom

A Ladybug Invite

Just a quick post tonight, but wanted to show you this party invitation I just made :) I got the house cleaned up for my daughter's birthday party tomorrow and still had time left over to do up one more invitation. Of course, this one is not for her party this year, lol--that's be just like me though to wait this long. Anyway, there's a brad under those bows that allows the wings to open up and reveal the information.

Pretty clever, eh? lol. Well, I'm sure it's been done before, but I had this idea in mind when I got this new Tilda with ladybug. She's from the Butterfly Colllection by Magnolia. (just a reminder that all Magnolias are 10% off at KL Stampin N Scrappin every day!!). Sorry the picture is so dark--but it's evening and it's thundering outside, so the lighting isn't any better out there!

Well, I've gotta run for now. I'll be back Sunday with some pics I'm sure ☺ Have a great weekend!!

My Li'l *Hula Chicks*

Is it almost Friday already?! Wow this week flew right by! Well, I have been making some cards these last couple days but I can't show them to you yet... but very soon I'll be able to give you sneak peeks at some of the very cute stamps from Inky Impressions!! I'm sooo excited to show you all, and let me also just say that you are really in for a treat because with 18 of us on the DT, you'll get a variety of different stamps to "ooooh" and "aaaah" over! :)

SO, I thought I'd show you some of my favorite pictures of my girls that I scrapped into a 4x6" album a few years ago. If you look closely at the picture on the right, you'll see that Maddy (the one in the blue) has put her shoes on the wrong feet! ☺ How SWEET!! I actually had that picture blown up to an 8x10 for our wall.

***Disclaimer: These were taken before I got into stamping, while I was still an amateur scrapbooker, hence the deckle edge and stickers ;)

And here is the opposite page in the album... Our little "Hula Chick" -- ah, I miss those days! Can't get this one to pose like this anymore!! lol

Well, don't be surprised if you see more pictures of my girls in the next couple days. My youngest is turning 9 years old on Sunday and we're having her party Sat. here in the backyard. :) Thanks for dropping by!! Happy Stamping and Scrapping!!

Anyone Up for a Recipe Swap?

Abra Leah has volunteered to host a new round of a Recipe Swap! She's done this before and you should see some of her recipe pages--they are SaWEET! I'm so "in" - you don't even want to see what I keep my recipes in, LOL!! Some are stuck loosely in a bread loaf pan, and some are in an old plastic filing box, and of course some are wrinkled up and torn magazine pages, but at least I know which cupboard they're all in! :) I would love to have a wonderful scrapped 6x6 album full of great recipes wouldn't YOU?!! If so, please visit her blog post and read all about it.

Also... just a heads up, Inky Impressions is getting so close to opening, and very soon we will get to show you sneak peeks of the new stamps!! I'm so very excited about this. Most of the DT has received our first stamps and we're itching to show you all. I'll keep you posted. I hope you're as excited as we are!!

Sneak Peek Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!!☺ As most of you know by now, Tuesdays are my day to post over at KL Stampin N Scrappin, so I hope you'll join me over there and check out the new polls and such!! Here's is a sneak peek at one of the new Butterfly Collection Magnolias called "Tilda with Lilacs." Isn't she pretty?

I followed Friday's Sketchers sketch this week for this card. Go here to check that out and play along :)

Hope you had a wonderful long weekend (for those of you from the U.S.) - if you got the day off yesterday it's prolly gonna feel like Monday all day today, LOL!! We had a great day...very warm here in Oregon. I got up early (5:45 a.m.) and took the dog for a nice walk, then after the rest of the clan was up, we picked some lilacs and took them up to the cemetary to lay on my father-in-law's grave. Then the girls had a couple friends over and we all planted a vegetable garden with pumpkins, cantelope, zuccini, peas, corn, potatoes, beans, carrots, and then we're going to start some tomatoes and peppers inside. :) We shall see!!

I ♥ the U.S.A.

...and so does Edwin! ☺

Happy Memorial Day weekend, stampers!! I've had this idea in my head for a couple days now, and finally got some free time today to make it. This is Edwin Under the Mistletoe (another one of those adorable Magnolias). But don't you just sit there sometimes and think what other ways you can use your stamps? I do... so here is Edwin kissing the U.S. flag! =P

I used my Creative Memories star template to cut out the front pieces in red, white, and navy cardstock. Then for the back piece, I folded a piece of 12x12 navy in half, then set my template slightly over the edge of fold and cut out the star. Then mounted my front piece to the card. Yes, I know my stripes are crooked and not evenly spaced--but only YOU noticed that though right!?!! LOL. And yes, there are 50 stars that I glued on with a quickie glue pen. Those cool bottlecap letters I got years ago, I believe from Oriental Trading. I wanted to spell out "God Bless the U.S.A." but was missing a "D" and some "S"s ... so this will do.

Have YOU made a Memorial Day card or Mother's Day card this month?? Then you can enter it in the KLSNS Girls' PCP challenge! It goes until next Sunday, May 31st and the winner gets a free Magnolia plus some other (really sweet) goodies from Kelly's store! :) Just click on the link above and leave a comment, linking us to your card!

SO, what are your plan tomorrow--those of you who get the day off? We are taking the girls up to the cemetary in the morning to lay flower on dad's/grandpa's grave, and then a couple friends of the girls are coming over and we're planting our garden. It's more of a learning experience for the girls ;) But I'm excited to have my first vegetable garden. And then we'll BBQ. Suppose to be nice weather...YAY!! Well, have a great weekend and hope you get time to Ink Something!

P.S.

For those who asked about pictures of our park dedication day, I just posted pics at our Family Blog. :)

Buzzing by to Say *Hi*

I'm so excited that my Spring Magnolias from KL SNS came today!! So of course I had to ink them up right away -- here's my first card. This cute one is called "Tilda with Bee." As you can prolly tell, I hand wrote the saying down the side and the "hi!" - lol. Well, I have to make this quick cause my girls are begging me to watch a movie with them.

Just wanted to say also real quick that Kelly is stocking COPICS in her store (perfect set for coloring Magnolias and such) and she's offering 20% off of the already low prices, plus... if you order $50 min. you get Free Shipping as well!! Carolyn has a lot more info over at the KLSNS Blog, so please hop on over to read about the specials and about our May Challenge over on PCP! Really great prizes up for grabs stampers--you won't be disappointed!! ☺

Swingin' on a Rose Vine

I don't know about the rest of you, but I just love the cute Penny Black hedgehogs! I got my Spring Swap today from Carmen and she sent me a whole set of clear Penny Black hedgies and other Springy images like chicks and a bunny--they're so adorable! She also sent me some lace ribbons, primas, buttons, brads and a bunch of stamped Magnolias & other. :) So a huge thank you to my SBS4 sister from Switzerland! This card is for you Carmen ;)

I followed this week's Mojo Monday sketch, just changed the shapes a little ☺

Hope you find time to Ink Something today!

P.s.
For those who asked, the Park Dedication was a really fun day with perfect weather--got a tad sun burned, but there was a cool breeze. I'll be posting pics on my family blog (link at top) soon in case you're intersted. Thanks! ☺

Birthday Monkeys

These little "Birthday Monkeys" are from Rachelle Anne Miller's new 2009 Spring collection and Kelly's selling these in her store so I just HAD to buy these for my little monkey... I mean my 8 year old daughter ☺ She's turning 9 in a couple weeks and she's totally monkey crazy right now, so I think she'll like this. OH WOOPS, just realized I only have 8 candles instead of 9...she'd be the type to point that out too! I generated the sentiment on my computer and candles too. How did I miss that!? LOL. Not sure how this shows up on your computer, but the stamped piece is layered onto purple c.s. -- it matches better IRL. This photo is a little too dark, but when I tried lightening it, all the little effects like the cheeks and outlining disappear, so this is the best I could do. Do you notice how shiny the balloons are? I added Crystal Effects to all of them so they are puffy and shiny :)

I found this sketch over at Paper Pretties, and so my sister and I decided to use it for this week's "Sister Challenge." This will make week 10. She'll be working on hers Tuesday, so as soon as she posts hers, I'll link ya to it. I think she's making a b-day card for my daughter as well?? We shall see! ☺

Have a super day and hope you find time to Ink Something!

Stocking Up on Sympathy Cards

Happy Saturday!! Are you having a great weekend so far? It's Friday night and I'm preposting this for the weekend because I plan to be off my computer for the next 2 days (do ya really think I'll make it?? My hubby laughed at me--we'll see!). Today will be a fun day if my allergies don't act up too badly. My daughter Carly and 3 others from her school were chosen to help build walls and paint murals on them for our city Park Dedication. They just completed the new pavillion/stage and almost doubled the size of the park and spruced it up. There's going to be live music and free food, so it sounds like a lot of fun! It's also my MIL's birthday, so we'll be going out to dinner tonight.

Okay, onto my card... I decided to make a few sympathy cards to have on hand because if I wait until I need one, I either don't get the time or have no creative juices to get it done. SO, I made a few of these with the set "Thoughts and Prayers" from SU! I used my white gel pen to hightlight each petal and then I added tiny pearls to the flower centers. It's a pretty simple card. I like the toned down look of stamping directly onto the Kraft c.s. as opposed to bright white, don't you?

OH, one more thing! Kelly posted a new poll at the top of the KL SNS blog. Will you please take a second to go vote? THANK YOU!!

Happy Stampin' N Scrappin'!! :)

My *Prima Ballerina*

Okay, in these photos, my daughter is actually in TAP dance, not ballet...that came the next year, but she's still dressed in her pink leotard and tutu...brings back memories. This is a page i scrapped years ago. This little 4 year old is now 10. Anyway, Jessica left me a comment on my last ballerina card that got me thinkin'... so I pulled out my albums and look what I found??!!! A BIG empty spot just screaming for miss Sophia Ballerina to adorn!! lol.

Awww...she was so shy at that age! ♥

Her tutu is still a little wet as I *just* added the stickles to it, but I'm so happy with the way this came out. So what if she's dancing ballet instead of tap, right? Dance is dance and I think she looks pretty on there! {*cheesy grin*} - OH, you've gotta see her Shirley Temple page--don't have any stamps yet for that, but it is cute. Maybe next time I'll show those...if you wanna see em :)

Thanks for the great idea, Jess!! ☺

Happy Stampin N Scrappin!!

Cheryl Walker... You Rock!

Have you been over to KL Stampin N Scrappin yet today?!! Cheryl Walker, this month's Guest Designer has created a beauty!! GO SEE and while you're there, please leave her some "luv" (comments, heehee) ☺

There's also a challenge going on and you can win some free Magnolias and other goodies!! Go check that out! ☺

Sophia Ballerina - Sister Challenge #9

Happy Thursday!! I finally got a chance to ink up last month's ...no, I think this was March's Stamp-of-the-Month from Paper Pretties. She's been a little neglected, so Kathy and I decided our "sister challenge" this week would be to ink up Sophia Ballerina. (click the link to see what my sister made!)

I pulled out this designer paper from my DCWV glitter stack and it pairs nicely with SU!'s Orchid Opulence! It's been forever since I've used that color, not sure why? I really like it-- just don't use it much. Anyway, I covered her skirt with light pink and clear stickles, as well as a little bit of the clear in the ♥ in the sentiment. And she's of course watercolored as I do with all my images ☺ Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you get time to Ink Something!

Little Things that Make my ♥ Flutter

**Warning: Sappy post ahead!

I received this blog award from Debbie Pamment, my friend from "Down Under" today which totally brought tears to my eyes. I've not been feeling my best this week (darn allergies are wearing me down!), so to receive such a meaningful award means a lot. This isn't an award to say how creative you are, (ALL of you are so talented, IMO!!)... it's an award that says "Thank You for your support" ... for leaving sweet comments that really lift my spirits and make a bad day better... for comments that go beyond the typical "Great card!" and really connect with you on a personal level. Thank you Debbie!!

I know there are so many deserving people out there who I could/should give this to, but how do I list them all??! Impossible for me to do right, so I'm passing this onto a few friends who've gone above and beyond and who've really blessed me lately: (in no particular order):

• Kelly L
• Kathy W
• Tonya H
• Helen P
• Nicole M
• Lorie A
• Sparkle S
• Lisa H
• Jessica
• Julia A
• Diane L
• Melissa B
• Rose Ann
• Vicki P
• Kirby
• Nikki
• My SBS4 Sisters: Marcia, Seleise, Chris, Deb... etc... you all continually bless me over and over --Big HugsxXx

Aaack, I think you were supposed to list 5, but I keep thinking of all the lovely ladies who have truly supported me and the list goes on and on. I know there's a lot of you who are also so deserving and I'm sorry if I'm having a brain blooper* right now (for lack of a "better--decent" word!) LOL. Luv you all so much. OK, enough sappy stuff. Have a great day!!

EDITED TO ADD:
Sunday, June 14, 2009

I also received this award from Kelly and Carolyn- 2 of my very good friends and DT sisters...thank you so much!!

Wow... 200 Bloggy Friends!!

Just for a little fun... today my blog follower list hit 200! WOW!! I wasn't planning on celebrating, but I've been in kindof a little funk lately -- and such a busy bee -- so I'm just sitting back and enjoying a few moments to myself while the kids are at 4-H, and thinking how much I appreciate all of you!! I'm so fortunate to have made some really neat friends through blogging, and I'm sure you can say the same. SO, anyway, I'm not going to throw out a huge blog candy, but I would like to send my 200th "bloggy follower" Mickeydee a little somethin', along with a few of you! So the first 4 peeps who leave a comment, I'll also want your snail addy! ;)

BTW... I've been working hard on some little {behind the scene} projects to help Nicole over at Inky Impressions, and I can't hardly wait for the Grand Opening of her new store!! Woohoo! Stay tuned for more info on that--it's coming very soon!

Anyone Seen My Mojo?

Well, this started out as this week's Mojo Monday sketch, but it just wasn't coming together. I didn't like the idea of putting ribbon across the middle for her to sit on cause it was covering up too much of the pretty paper, lol. I must have sat here tonight staring at this card and trying different things for I'm sure over an hour or two... and this is just one of those cards that I'm not too thrilled with, let's say. I do think Tilda's cute all paper pieced, but ?? I don't know.

I used dp from the Porcelain pad (BG) with my newest stamps from KL SNS called Tilda with chicks and the little chicks. I don't have any sentiments that go with chicks, although I could think of a few cute ones, but the girls are asleep and I can't run my printer right now (other side of their wall). SO...I used this Sew Sweet tag stamp. Well, it's about 11 p.m. and I'm sew tired... lol ;P Hope you get time to Ink Something!

Celebrating Mom

I finally got my other Mother's Day card made--talk about waiting til the last minute! =P

Look at this pretty ensemble I found at the Dollar Tree!! (see pic below). I made my card to match as close as I could--thought that would be cute to have it match. There's a shopping list, small clipboard, pack of matchbook notes, matching pens etc. For my card, I used my sweet Tilda with Hearts Magnolia--it's the same tilda in my banner up there, you can see she's actually carrying hearts, but I used my Flower Soft so she's giving mom "flowers"! Thanks so much for this idea Kerry!! I love to use my stamps for more than what they were created for...and thanks to all the inspiration out there that make it possible for "me" to do that, LOL. This paper is the lovely "Porcelain" from Basic Grey.

I want to wish you all a very Happy Mother's Day tomorrow--for those who are celebrating! (I just got a note from a friend in Ireland that they celebrated in March!) But still--for those who are moms, have a mom, or have fond memories of your mom....Have a wonderful Mom's Day!

Where IS Everyone Today?

It sure has been quiet today! Did my new banner throw you off? Or did you not like my little sneak peek earlier?? lol (just kidding).

Anyway, now for a FUNNY!!
My daughters, age 8 and 10 are bound to be well-rounded at the rate they're going. They've been involved in dance (tap, ballet, clogging), have had piano and guitar lessons, and are now in a 4-H club called S.E.T. (Science, Engineering, and Technology) where they learn how to build robots, windmills, and space shuttles (Who wouldda knew? My girly girls! lol. But secretly, I think it's more of a social thing they go to with their friends!)

Anyway, today they made little shuttles out of plastic bottles. This is the diagram that my 8 year old drew:

(WAIT...it gets better!)...

Are you familiar with the saying at the bottom?? So, my 10 year old says, "Maddy, you need to write at the top, "FIG NEWTON'S LAW!"

ROTFL!!!! ☺ She actually thought it was "Fig Newton's" law. OK, maybe you just HAD to be there. My husband and I cracked up laughing!! Aren't kids the greatest?!!

And just so you know... I haven't boughten fig newtons in years!! That's just what she associated it with ☺

Sneak Peek Tuesday

Hello and Happy Tuesday!! Tuesdays are my day to post over at KL Stampin N Scrappin blog, so I thought I'd give you a little peek at my card I posted today. Come on over and see my [whole] card, and while you're there check out what the rest of the DT has made! :)

Are any of you making Mother's Day cards this week? Then you might want to check out our challenge we have going on for the month of May... to make either a Mother's Day card, or a memorial card. There's a winner every month! :) We'd love to have you join in!! (and if you do, could you maybe mention that I sent ya? heehee!) In fact, if you tell all your friends about the challenge, then you'll get your name in the drawing for some free goodies from KL Stampin N Scrappin too!!

Want another chance to win?!! If you become a follower of KLSNS and add our blinkie to your blog, you'll be entered into another drawing for some goodies from the store!! Helen was our winner last week--congrats Helen!! You could be next!! :) Happy Inking!

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OKAY: Now that it's Wednesday, I'll go ahead and show you my card here ;)

Sister Challenge #8

Hola Chica!

(Hey, Girl!)

This weekend my sister and I decided to do this week's Friday Sketchers. We both just got our SOTM from Paper Pretties called "Hola Chica", so we are both using the same stamp and sketch and seeing how different our cards end up ☺

I had this idea to make pleats like her skirt out of colored tissue paper. It prolly would have looked better if it were gathered and sewn, but I am sure it wouldn't have made it that far through the sewing machine!! So I just took a couple strips of each color, made folded pleats and then picked up the whole strip and layered them on a piece of clear boxing tape, then trimmed each layer. I finally found a leafy punch--this one is a Martha Stewart one, and so is this flower. The Basic Grey designer paper is from my Lime Rickey pack.

And now, how about hopping over to see what my sister made! ☺ Have a great Sunday!!

May Challenge with the KLSNS Girls

Are you having a great weekend so far?? Lotsa good stuff going on this weekend. I just thought I'd pop in to let you know a couple of things. We have a new Guest Designer over at KL Stampin N Scrappin this month!! YAY!!! But you'll have to click on over to the blog to find out! But I'll give you some little hints: She's super talented, she makes "sweet designs" (that in itself is a hint), I've designed with her before, and she makes the most incredible ribbon bows on her cards! Can you Guess? LOL!!

Secondly, we have a new challenge up for May over at the KLSNS Girls' PCP forum. This is such an easy challenge this month--everyone's invited to come play along!! If you didn't know, the winner each month gets a FREE Magnolia, along with some other goodies from KLSNS!! How cool is that?!! PLUS, this month, if you refer someone over to the challenge and they mention that you sent them, YOU get your name in a drawing for some free goodies as well!! So, lots of incentive to go check it out! ☺

Kelly, You Are the Best!!

Look what came in the mail today!! ☺ Not only did Kelly, of KLSNS, send me my Rachelle Anne Miller Birthday Monkeys stamp that I ordered, she also sent me these pearls and 2 CUTE little alpaca finger puppets for my girls to play with!! Kelly's parents own an Alpaca Farm and she recently went to a big Alpaca fair where she saw these cuties (made with alpaca yarn!) and picked them up! Thanks so much Kel--You're the BEST! The girls are playing with them as I type! :) Carly named the brown one "Daisy" and Maddy named the black one "Black Licorice" and they've only had them for about 5 minutes! (they're sooo into animals!!) Lottsa Hugs xXx☺