The good news is I've worked the last month on getting affairs in order to get back to teaching classes, workshops and adding more events to my schedule.  It's only when I started adding more events that our lives seemed to get busier.  It's natural and I expected it.  Whenever I make new goals for my business I always expect to jump LARGE obstacles to get to that goal.  I didn't realize these would be HUGE logs I would be jumping over. Ha. Let the jumping begin.  *grin*

Before I share many projects with you I have to tell you about a funny and a good deal the Prince and I landed recently.  One of our goals when he came home was to do something with our dining room.  It was bare bones.  Not a stitch of anything in it.  We didn't want to use it as a dining room but rather a sitting room or piano room.  Russ started the renovation of the room with putting new wood floors in. Then I asked for new paint on the walls.  He said this was starting to sound like a new outfit. First the dress, then the shoes… and then the accessories.  The accessories are the BEST part, right?   This is when the REAL fun has begun.  We started looking for piano's on Craigslist and estate sales. I wasn't looking for anything fancy, just a used piano.  We were so excited when we found a Player Piano on Craigslist. We were excited until the whole thing became a disaster.  The story is forever long so I won't bore you with it.  Let's just say it took 4 weeks to get it after the owner hijacked it. It took  a very large truck, $500 more than we planned, and a car was side swiped as Russ was backing the truck into our driveway. Uh huh. All that trouble and we have a 1929 really OLD working Player Piano.  Russ said I was lucky it was not on fire in our front yard.  <giggle>  It has become a great conversation piece and was 100% worth all the pain after we put the first Piano Roll on.  The kids faces were priceless.  We still need to get it tuned and then we are going to start a few lessons.  Yes, NO ONE in this house knows how to play. Kinda funny, eh?

I was also on the hunt for a Fainting Couch for the room and I am happy to say I found one.  I'll share soon.  I better share some creative fun before I really start to bore  you.  I've been excited to share this with you.  I'll share the entire creative process of the room once it's all complete. 

I've been a STAMPING fool late at night.  I have so many fun things to share.  Bare with me as I share a few Valentine pieces with you.  That holiday just whipped right by me.  Dang!  My first card is a case from Shelli at Leadership.  I didn't put all her bells and whistles on the inside because this was a card my great club ladies completed.  I just love the color combo and the sweet hearts. 

I love this sweet box because it uses the Fancy Favor Box and the inside box is hand made.  This is a great box to put a few goodies inside for a special someone.

This last project uses the little note cards.  Just a sweet little note with a few buttons and do-dads! 

Phew! That was a mouthful of news.  I hope you had a GREAT Presidents weekend.  This week is BIG for our family.  Brandon crosses over to Boy Scouts tomorrow.  We are super excited for him.  We also have a big Girl Scout and Boy Scout event this coming weekend.  I'm hoping everything comes together.  I'm a little stressed.  Once this week is through I'll be able to catch my breath. 

Have a FANTASTIC week. 

XOXOXO

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Good morning Stamping friends! It feels like a Monday to me.  It was great to have that long weekend.  Now I'm sitting at an airport waiting on my NEW flight.  Yes, had a little flight change because I missed my original flight this morning due to the GREAT traffic on 95 this morning.  I just love the traffic here.  

Now I'm sitting in the USO at the airport and must say this is a GREAT place for military members.  I have a comfy seat, free wifi, all kinds of great food and drinks as well as a nice big TV!  No wonder Russ always likes to visit these when he fly's.  

I'm trying to head to San Antonio for the week for the big Leadership Conference.  I am really excited to see all my friends.  I hope to keep you informed of some of the fun things we are doing.  I even brought cards to work on in my hotel room.  I haven't done that in YEARS.   

Let me share this Valentine I made.  

I'm still enjoying the P.S. I Love You stamp set.  I love all the sentiments so much that I decided to use more than one on this card.  I decided to make a mini banner by stamping each of the sentiments onto a 1/2 strip of Naturals Ivory CS.  I used the cute mini clothes pins and connected the mini banners onto the Linen Thread so they would hang across.  I used the Heart Framelits to cut the large heart and placed the First Edition DSP onto the inside piece of the card base.  I feel like I cannot make a card without using that DSP.  It's so fun to use.  I also stamped the Netting Background stamp onto the Real Red cardstock.  You can barely see it but I like that it's lightly seen.  I think he will enjoy this card.  I'm getting them all stacked up and  ready to swarm him with love. 

You can find all these fun products on my website HERE.  Go browse awhile and look at the pretties in there.  Lots and Lots of fun stuff.  

Have a GREAT week.  

XOXOXO

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Who said Valentines had to be red and pink? Why not PURPLE? Seriously this is WAY WAY outside of my comfort zone.  I'm not super into the color purple. I hardly use it on any of my cards.  However, I thought that these two colors looked pretty good together.  I used Wisteria Wonder and Pool Party  and away I went.  I used the same set as yesterday, P.S. I love you.  The sentiments that you see on the little banners is actually ONE stamp.  I just used my Black Marker and pieced the sentiment onto three pieces of cardstock.  The Heart was die cut using the Sweet Shop DSP and Heart Framelits.  So easy and fun to use.  

I'm off to work on a few swaps for Leadership.  I'm getting excited to see so many of my friends.  I love Stampin' Up! events.  

Have a GREAT Friday the 13th.  

P.S. I love Ya! 

XOXOXO

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Over the next few days I'm going to share the start of my blitz.  I'm going to try and start working on a few kid Valentine projects this weekend, too.  It's always best to come up with these things early.  Not that I am one to talk about being on time.  I am just now getting my Christmas cards out.  I like to spread the Christmas cheer a little longer than others.  

This card uses a fun stamp set called P.S. I love You.  Love the name, Love the set.  This set has 15 stamps in it.  You can get the clear set for just  $27.95! Heck of a deal if you ask me.  Besides, who can put a price tag on something when you are making it for your lover? Check it out:

Anyways, I started this card with a Very Vanilla card base.  I then adhered the First Edition DSP to the front of the card and used my snazzy Edgelits Die and cut the bottom.  Then I added a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock to the backside of the front panel and embossed with the Adorning Accents Embossing Folder.  WOW! Just a little snazzy texture embossing packs a HARD punch on this card.  I love it.  

I cut my cool hearts using the Hearts Collection Framelits Die.  LOVE it.  I did a little sewing down the middle on two of the hearts.  I liked how that turned out.  Lastly I added my Cherry Cobbler buttons and a little Blushing Bride Smooch Spray. WOW, love that spray.  It's beautiful.  

Even though it had a little sewing machine action on the card it was still pretty simple.  Wanna know my FAVORITE thing about this stamp set? The fonts! You will love the fonts of the sentiments.  No worries, I pushed the limits on this set last night.  More ideas coming your way with this set.  

If you want this set for yourself, click HERE!  I think it's a must have this Love Season! If you want to check out more of the Occasions Mini, Click HERE!

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Just a few more fun valentines to make and honestly if I see one more heart I may scream. REALLY… VALENTINE overload! I think my card tonight could be used for many things besides Valentines.  I like these types of cards. 

You will want to check back this weekend for a video on making this card.  I have a few fun tricks I want to share with you!  It's the little things and so much easier on a video.  Or would that be my laziness in typing it out.  Bwhhahahah!  I told you long ago I am the LAZIEST stamper around. 

I used a list of great products for this card.  A few I think you should check out would be: Have a Seat stamp set, Sanded Background, Music Notes wheel, and the  Elegant Soiree DSP.  The other products used I will mention in the video.  Oh boy!

Don't forget to submit your questions.  See yesterdays post in you are clueless to what I'm talking about.  Again.. being lazy! I'm running off to watch TV with my sweets. 

Have a FABULOUS weekend!

XOXOXO

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Here is my Valentine Card tonight:

I'm determined to really use my cute Love Impressions Rub On's to the fullest.  I think I've just about accomplished that.  I love how these rub ons have images that can run the entire length across a card.  Makes designing a card very simple, really.  Have you noticed how trendy the color Gray is? You see it everywhere in the Fashion Industry and I love it because it's neutral and you can throw any color with it.  I used the Always Elegant stamp set with Basic Black ink across the top half of the card.  This is a very elegant stamp set. Almost delicate looking.  I really like it.  While this stamp set has WEDDING written all over, I think it works for Valentines too. I used the Extra Large Decorative Label punch and cut it in half. Then I used the XOXO rub on onto Sahara Sand cardstock and punched it out with the Oval Punch.  It's a simple tag, but it did the trick. 

I cannot believe it's the end of the week.  My body feels it and my mind is on hyper drive!  I'm whipped.  I've poured myself into a few projects this week and one project I would like to work on this weekend is sleep.  Have you ever been so tired that you put face cream on your tooth brush instead of tooth paste?  If you notice my pearly whites have no "wrinkles" on them you'll understand.   I think I'll get some rest this weekend. 

Tomorrow is another great day of stamping and meeting new friends.  I'll be sharing a fun make n take project with another 40 women at a MOPS event. I can't wait.

I hope your weekend plans are getting into shape.  I have one other thing besides sleep I would like to accomplish.  I told my Prince we are going to an antique store this weekend.  YIPPIE!!!  Vintage Treasures here I come. 

Tell me, are you up for another Burning Questions round? These are always fun! May be a good time since there are no bugs around. <wink> 

What are your BURNING questions you have for me? Business, Creative? Questions will be taken and compiled until Tuesday, February 15.  Then I will put another video together once I have them compiled.

Have a FANTASTIC Friday!

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I started with  Sahara Sand cardstock.  The card base is 4 x 4.  I used my Music Notes wheel on the Pink Pirouette cardstock and then adhered it to the Sahara Sand.  Now don't look to close to those silly music notes.  I never know if they are they upside down???  Can you tell I am totally musically talented.  Ummmm…NO!  I added a small strip of Vellum Cardstock.  I literally had to brush off the dust bunnies from the Vellum.  What is WRONG with me??? I love Vellum.  It's been forever.  We reconnected. <3

Before adding the Vellum I did wrap my Victoria Lace around it and roughed the edges of the Vellum. Oh that makes me squeal.  It's so SHABBY!  The Lace is only attached using the Vintage Trinket Brads.  They are so small and also so SHABBY!!  I stamped the Be My Valentine heart onto Very Vanilla cardstock using Sahara Sand and cut it out.  I stamped it AGAIN…. yummy… using Soft Suede ink and only cut out the Be My Valentine and attached it using snail.  I just wanted a little contrast.  I attached this piece using dimensionals.  Lastly it just had to have a button with a little Linen Thread.  I did sew the button onto the lace but you could always use a Mini Glue Dot.

The Prince has racked up a nice collection of Valentines….

Time for me to clean the pit of a stamp room I have going on.  How does this happen?  I have about a 6 x 6" space on my desk that I can work with right now.  Not workin' for me.  Time to clean and put away some toys.  The good news is it means I've been very productive. 

For the locals in Northern VA I have events on the schedule for later this month you don't want to miss out on.  They are going to be fun and we will get silly stamping.  It's a requirement in my stamp room.

Happy Hump Day! 

XOXOXO

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I love my phone call this morning.  It went something like this…

Princess Russ: "Hi Honey! What are you doing today?"

Me: "Umm… working?"

Princess Russ: "I forgot my uniform! Can you bring it to me?"

Me: "You realize that is an HOUR there and an HOUR back?" 

Princess Russ: "Uh-huh!"

Me: "Anything for you Princess!"

Off I went…. Only my 2 hours turned to 2 1/2 because of the awesome traffic here.  <Big Smile>

The Princess has new additions to his uniform this morning. I pinned sweet love notes on his uniform reminding him Valentines Day is not far away and if he forgets his uniform again he will be wearing another type of suit all day at work.  <SMILE>

In all honesty, I didn't mind at all and I would do anything for the Prince.  Tonight we will be discussing his true hair color. 

This morning he was greeted with this card:

I'm a big fan of the Broadsheet Alphabet stamp set.  I've used it for many projects!  For this card I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to make sure the letters were perfectly straight.  I stamped them in Basic Black ink and then used Sahara Sand ink with the En Francais background stamp (I never spell that correctly! I failed English! Seriously, I did!) and stamped very lightly over the letters.  All of this was stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock and then layered onto the beautiful Love Letter Designer Series Paper.  Perfect paper for this card. 

Valentines is just days away.  I hope you are making a few sweet notes for someone special.  The kind that gives you the warm fuzzies inside. 

Have a FABULOUS Tuesday.  I'm excited about my DSWA meeting tonight in Alexandria, VA.  Two reasons: First, I get to meet new friends and second… I get to share my love of Direct Sales with other women.  This is a sure way to have a FABULOUS Tuesday!!  

XOXOXO

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I stamped the sentiment on the upper half of the Crumb Cake cardstock using Early Espresso ink.  In between the sentiments I used the Small Heart Punch. At the bottom of the card I used the Love Impressions Designer Paper.

I LOVE this paper.  Lots of great textures and really fun patterns. 

The circle "LOVE" stamp was punched using the 1 1/4 Circle punch.  Perfect fit!  I added a 1/2" strip of Real Red cardstock and sponged lightly around the edges using Early Espresso ink.  I punched the Early Espresso cardstock with the Designer Label punch and put the punched "LOVE" circle smack dab in the middle-with a dimensional of course. There was ONE last thing I added.  Lately, I can't live without this AMAZING tool… The Color Spritzer Tool!

In other news… today was an amazing day.  I was able to make Valentines with a little over 40 new friends.  WOWSER!  That is exciting.  Then later this afternoon I stamped with little stampers.  21 little Brownies.  They made handstamped Valentines too.  Overall about 60 cards were made.  Holy Moly that is amazing.  My cheeks hurt today from smiling a lot. 

I hope you have an amazing weekend and make a lot of Valentines.  We have lots planned.  Lets see if we can fit it all in two days!!

XOXOXO

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Here is my first card.  I also had a workshop on Saturday and we made this card.  This card has all kinds of elements so let me share!

I started with the Petal Cone Die Cut (#121810) in the Spring Mini Occasions.  WOW! I love this die cut.  There are a ton of great things you can do with it. I die cut two of the Petal Cones and then adhered them together but kept it flat to make the heart.  SWEET!  I used the Delight in Gladness Builder Wheel (#121950) from the Mini Catalog and wheeled Real Red ink onto the Real Red cardstock.  I used the Hearts & Brackets Die Cut (#115955) with the Red Glimmer Paper (#121790) which created that amazing heart!  Now this is where the card gets tricky!  I used all kind of stamp sets.  I couldn't choose just one and they kept getting more fun!  Let me start on the front! Those three chubby birds ROCK MY WORLD! They are from the Clearly for You (#121976 clear) stamp set.  It's a GOTTA have stamp set. The banner with "Amour" came from the same set.  Just yummy! The inside of the card I used Crumb Cake cardstock as my base and punched the top using the Spiral Punch.  Fit perfectly for my "love note!"  The Note and Line images comes from the stamp set Notes & Details (#122060) and the Love image comes from Valentine Defined (#123057). The last element I added was a punched Red Glimmer heart using the Heart to Heart punch.  Ta-Da!  It's a Big Love Note!  Believe it or not I was super excited to find that this little gem fits in a square envelope.  Yippie.  You have to manipulate it a little but it does fit.  Now I just have to right some sweet somethings on it and give it to my Prince. 

I have one more….

I think this one is perfect for a Prince.  Kinda "guy-ish".  Wanna know what else is PERFECT??? It's a Sale-a-Bration set.  Yippie! It's the BEST sale in the whole Stampin' Up! world.  So fun!  I used the Sweet Summer stamp set. YOU could have this for FREE when you spend $50! Oh I love this time of year.  The XOXOXO came from Fundamental Phrases (#114968).  Again, the little birdie just ROCKED my WORLD!

Okay… One last thing! I think this is the BEST! It's my girl.  Remember I told you recently that both of us had to get new glasses.  We both have never worn them.  It was a BIG deal here at the house.  She has been so excited about getting them.  I only pray that the excitement continues.  Looks like these will be a part of her life for awhile.  Here she is modeling for me.  I think she looks adorable. The only thing she worries about is, "Do you think Justin Bieber will like them?" Oh good grief!

Have a fabulous week.  For those of you getting snow… start marathon stamping!  It makes us happy!

XOXOXO

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