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You will have to excuse me for a day or two as I post a little inside scoop of our trip here in Florida.  Today was just the day I wanted to see.  Bright, sunshine and warm.  We took a little trip to the beautiful white sand beach this afternoon.  The kids were somewhat upset with me because they couldn’t "swim".  Once they put their big toes into the water there wasn’t any question why mom said "NO!" 

I’ve also been playing with my Photoshop program and made this little fun thing below with my program.  First let me say this is one of the hardest programs I have ever tried to learn.  The more I practice the better it gets. 

Now as for what I did here?  Oh my… I can’t really remember.  Maybe one day I will be able to figure this out and share fun photo techniques with you as well.  Right now I am just happy I can crop and sharpen a photo.  :)  Here are a few more pics of our day. 

Hope your weekend is full of JOY!

Good morning from Florida!

What  a GREAT feeling to leave 16 degree weather and arrive in 72 degrees.  We had great flights and made it in on time.  The kids, although very tired were very excited to see their Nene and PawPaw.  Here you can see!

We had lots of hugs and kisses and then I was off to do some Christmas shopping.  I am super behind. 

I wanted to share a gable box I had decorated this past week for the teachers.  I used the Together Forever Wheel on the Gable Boxes using Basic Black ink and rolled the entire box.  Inside I placed pretty lotions and chapsticks.  They were so cute. 

I hope you are having a FABULOUS Sunday!  Time for me to figure out what lunch will be.  Oh boy!

First, I know I’m not a genius but I sure felt like one when I made this project.  If it’s been done before… don’t tell me.  I want to savor this feeling for a few more days.

I went a little over board this Mini Catalog season with the beautiful Felt Flurries.  Now believe me, I have used them.  I have applied them to cards, mini books, Canvas projects… the list goes on.  The other day I found some of these glass ornaments in my "stash" of stuff.  I wanted to make something pretty and was sitting on the floor and had an ah ha moment.  I think I scared Russ.  He was playing on my computer and I let out a big scream and he turned quickly to find this…

I was so super excited when that felt snowflake fit over that glass ball.  I made 6 of them super quick.  I just cut strips of designer paper and curled them on my paper piercer from my Crafters Tool Kit.  Then I dropped them in the ornament one by one.  I carefully put my felt snowflake on then the cap.  I loved using that beautiful Rope ribbon from the mini catalog.  Isn’t that the best stuff???  I would love to see this in the next catalog.  So many great things can be done with it. Last thing I applied was the great rub on’s that Stampin’ Up! carries.  This one is Season of Cheer.  WOW have I gotten a lot of use out of these Rub On’s.  I would say at least 70% of my craft show projects used these rub ons. 

So, again… I am sure someone may have figured this idea out long ago… but I will continue to think I am a genius for just a few short days. 

I have one more thing to share.  Some of you may have seen this project before.  I really love scrapbooking on the wall and have been teaching Altered Canvas for some time.  Last night I had my last canvas class for the season and I wanted to share with you.  These are super fun and easy.  

Lots of fun products were used on this canvas.  I used the Big Felt Flurries, Designer Brads, Season of Cheer Rub On’s, and Old St. Nick Rub Ons.  I also used that gorgeous Chocolate Chip double stitched ribbon, Chipboard Snowflake and that fun Rope again.  If you want to see a tutorial on this, click HERE!

The most common question I get asked when making a canvas are the photos.  I highly recommend that you use photos printed from a professional place such as Wal Mart or Target.  Do not use a photo printed from your home printer as the Modge Podge will eat the ink and you will be left with a blank picture.  Probably NOT the end result you were looking for.

Well folks.  That is all I have to share tonight.  All the cleaning I did the other day really did me in.  I feel like all the dust bunnies I caught on Sunday have landed in my nose and head.  Ugh! 

Have a GREAT Wednesday and thanks so much for taking a peek!

Wow!  I didn’t mean to take such a long break from the blogging world and thank you to so many of you that have wondered WHERE I have been.  Have you ever had a week (or two) that has just been crazy out of your mind?  That’s been the last two weeks for me.  I claimed to be Super Woman the last two weeks and yesterday I buried my cape and had a party.  I realized that even Super Woman cannot do it all and I surely CAN’T!  So just what kept me busy besides the usual family life?  Craft Show preparation as well as classes I am working on.  I love this time of year because I think we as paper crafters can really make the BEST gifts that family and friends can love forever.  I see so many great ideas and I just want to lock the doors to my stamp room and get creating!  Then a little one tells me they are hungry or that they have no clean underware. I thought I bought 30 pair for a reason!!! 

So, yesterday I had the realization that I really am not the Super Woman I thought I was and I’ve come to terms with it. I had to break down and clean the house and do laundry.  Instead of Super Woman I turned into a bitter soul stomping around my house as I despise cleaning.  Once I got that done, I came down into my stamp room and truly wanted to cry.  I have never seen my room such a disaster.  I cannot create unless it’s clean.  My friend Christy came into my room and I think she GASPED.  Crap was everywhere.  It looks much better now.  I broke down and cleaned that too. 

Enough chatter.  Here is what I have been working on.  Some of these were for the craft shows and some for classes. 

The Chef guy was a Thank You card I made for three of the area restraunts that donated food for our Cards for a Cure last month.  We couldnt’ have done it without them.  Macaroni Grill supplied food for 100 people and it was AWESOME!  I spent more time than I had on these cards but I loved how they came out being popped up and a little dimensional.  I don’t use this set as much as I would like to. 

Here is one of the scratch pads I made for a craft show this past weekend.  These sold out half way through the show.  :)  This made me happy!  Here is another one:

This was the only Christmas one I had on the table.  I have another show in two weeks that will keep me busy.  Lots to make for that one too. 

Time to get creating this morning.  I hope I am back to regular midnight stamping now.  Thanks for being patient with me and as always… A HUGE thank you for just stopping by!  I appreciate you!

First I thought I would start with I am alive.  This past weekend was super busy and super GREAT.  Myself, some of my downline and area demonstrators held an event on World Card Making Day that I am pretty proud of.  It was our Second Annual Cards for a Cure.  This year the event just blew me away.  We planned for the event for months and truly I think the success of the event was from all the hard work and planning on each demonstrator involved and the FANTASTIC customers that came to the event.  We rented my son’s school cafeteria and had 8 projects for our customers to make as well as one card to give to the Susan G Komen support groups.  You can see one project HERE and HERE! Our event was a fundraiser supporting Susan G Komen and the Diana Price-Fish Foundation.  Our goal was $2K.  I am so happy to say we exceeded that goal.  HOLY COW.  We raised $2637!  WOW!!!!  It was just a fantastic day filled with TONS of doorprizes, samples galore, silent auction and lots of fun stamping.  Thanks to a very dear friend and super stampin’ lady the Macaroni Grill catered food for our event.  :)  I couldn’t believe the donations we received this year and how generous they were.  Starbucks, R&R coffee, Old Chicago and Mimi’s Cafe donated a generous amount for our day.  The Silent Auction baskets were beautiful and I just can’t thank the donors enough.  They played a huge roll in our fundraiser.  As you can see, it really was a magnificant day.  I am still smiling. 

Here are a few pics of our day:

Tonight I am doing a little of my own blog hopping as I have two sick kiddo’s at home.  I hate when my little ones get sick.  It’s just a bummer.  I hope to return to my midnight stamping in a few short days.  So hang in there, and as always, thanks so much for coming to my blog. 

I will leave you with one of my last Birthday cards I made the other night. Super Easy!