Note Card Holder - I actually did it!

Well, I said yesterday that I was going to try to make this and I did! It was quick and easy and super cute! The longest part was deciding what paper and cardstock I wanted to use. This will be added to the long list of things I'd like to try to get done for Christmas gifts this year!

1-1/8 inch punch

I was lucky enough to find a 1-1/8 inch circle punch today. I wasn't sure if they made one, but EK Success does! I found it on my 3rd stop. Yea!

I finished up this card tonight, it's for my stamp club swap on Thursday. I cased it from a card I found on SCS here but I used TAC Sprigs for the main image. It was super easy and fast. I think it turned out okay.

I found a great tutorial on Dannie's Designs. I hope to get to try it tomorrow night!

Blog Award and Chistmas!

I've been discovered! Allison at Stampin' When I Can added me to her list of Newly Discovered Blogs. How cool is that?!? Check out her blog, she's got a lot of really fun stuff on there including a weekly challenge. I hope I can take the time to create something for her next one! Thanks for the shout out Allision!

Barb from Foster Design House nominated me for an award. Barb is one of my favorite bloggers, and people, by far! She is a phenominal artist and her work continues to amaze me. I wish I was HALF as creative as her! Thank you Barb!

Here are the rules of the award:

1. Put the logo on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.

3. Nominate at least 5 other blogs.

4. Add links to these blogs on your blog.- Don't forget this step.

5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

So, here goes...

1. Toni Illinois Stamper

2. Allison Stampin' When I Can

3. Cris My Addictions

4. Tara Stampalicious

5. Angie schwoooo!

My Card

Jeanie's Card

Francine's Card

Michelle's Card

These are the cards that I made with my friends today. Aren't they cute? We made 2 each, so I've got an 8 card head start on my Christmas cards for this year! Yeah! But, how many left to go?

Want some candy?

Go check out Barb's blog, Foster Design House and put your name in the hat for some blog candy! Barb is celebrating her 100th post and 5000 visitors! Congrats Barb! Oh, and isn't this card fabulous? Barb turns out some really fantastic Halloween creations! Visit her blog often, as she's always posting something Halloweenie! :)

I'm meeting with some girlfriends tomorrow (well, today I guess) to make Christmas cards. I'll post what we make later!

An oldie

Well, maybe I'll actually get something new made this weekend. I have to actually. Me and some girlfriends are getting together to do a Christmas Shoebox! So, I have to come up with a card to make sometime!

This is my lil baby Will when he was just a youngin'. I was going to try to make this my announcement, but had too many to send out and this would have been a bit much to mass produce. Anyhoo, it doesn't seem like it was all that long ago that he was just a teeny baby...and now he's almost 2!

Only 30% off?

I received this coupon in a JoAnn email last night. Am I thinking too much into this? Is it the end of 40% off coupons? I sure hope not. I can't only pay 30% off. It's got to be 40% off or BETTER, preferably BETTER!

Well, Hobby Lobby has a 40% off coupon this week. There's a link in my coupon list to the right.

Red Box Wednesday

Did you know that if you start a post on one day and save it as a draft, and then finish it and actually post it on another day it will post for the day you originated it? That sucks. It should post to the day you actually push PUBLISH! So, my original Red Box Wednesday post posted on Monday, since I edited that draft because I never got it posted. Anyhoo, here's the Wednesday Red Box code...

Rent something good, like Tremors! JK4HM5

The rest of my goodies from Barb's...

Here is the stuff that I made at Barb's. 3 cards, a box in a bag, a frap bottle, and (not shown) a sour cream container that I gave to Barb with some chocolate for having me over! I didn't get a lot done, but I had a LOT of fun, and that's what matters most! Barb and her friends are CRAZY!

Red Box Wednesday

The free code for Wednesday is....JK4HM5. Enjoy your movie!

Kettle corn - I finally tried it over the weekend. Not bad! I popped it in a regular pot, I think it would work better in a whirly pop popper or electric popper though. Anything that can be stirred...but with the sugar, it'll make for a b!tch to clean up. My MIL has an electric one like the picture, and she let it sit overnight and she though clean up was a bit easier. It's worth a shot!


Enjoy your movie and popcorn!

Barb's stampin day and Harry Potter!

This is one of the cards I made at Barb's house on Saturday. Yes, and it was all made from Barb's scraps! What a fun idea, huh? If you, too, have lots of scraps at home. It would be fun to invite your friends over and see what you can create with them. I have a couple other little things I did, I just need to get pics taken of them. (I scanned this one at work....shhhh! Don't tell!)

I love all things Harry Potter. The books are AMAZING! And the movies are actually not half-bad either! I just happened across the trailer (now at the bottom of this page!) to the sixth book/movie in the series...Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! The movie was originally going to be released in November of this year...but has now been rescheduled to open in July 2009 now! I can't wait that long. THAT'S A YEAR AWAY!!!!!!! How can they do this to us?

Paisley Shower

I still haven't made anything, but I plan to definitely on Saturday! I'll be going to Barb's house and helping her use up her scrap stash. What a fun challenge, she told us about it here. I hope to have some fun stuff to post tomorrow night.

This is a shower invite I made for my friend John and Erin's baby shower in June. She's having a boy...hopefully any day now! She's 38 weeks and ready to go! We are all so excited to meet Baby Ethan! Congrats John and Erin!

Red Box Code & Popcorn

Okay, so I haven't made anything in almost a week! And, I haven't even taken the time to scan or take a picture of something old to post. So, I will post whatever comes to mind...

There are now 3 Red Boxes in Gardner! One at Price Chopper, McDonald's and now at Wal-Mart! So, head on out and pick up a movie for FREE with Wednesday's free code Y72LR2. I signed up on the Red Box website to get a free Monday rental code texted to me weekly. They've added Wednesday codes as well, so I can get free movies twice a week now! Woo hoo!

Popcorn. The fair was in town last week and of course all of my kettle corn is now gone! Bummer! Good thing I'd ran across a recipe for it awhile back, I just had to go back and find it. I did, I got it in a newsletter from The Everyday Cheapskate, Mary Hunt.

Her newsletters include tips on anything you can imagine and are fun to read. Here is the Kettle Corn recipe, I haven't attempted it yet, but my MIL has and it is AWESOME! It tastes just like what you'd get at the fair!

Kettle Corn

1/2 cup un-popped popcorn kernels
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Place the popcorn, sugar and salt in a large pot with vegetable oil. Cover. Place pot over medium heat. When you hear the first pop, shake the pot and continue shaking back and forth to ensure that the popcorn kernels and oil do not burn. Once the popping has slowed, remove the pot from the heat.

Servings: 5. (Well, unless you're me, serves ONE!)

Free movie, (almost) free popcorn...all the makings for a great night! Enjoy!

All tuckered out...

Will all tuckered out after our drive to see Nana and PaPa... This was one of my favorite pictures of Will while we were gone. He finally gave in at about 10pm the night we got there. He crawled out of my lap and laid his head down on my leg and just fell asleep. Ahhh, he's all worth it! :)

Now, a survey. Why not? I was cleaning out my inbox and ran across this survey that I got from my friend Angie and thought I'd throw it up here. It's fun learning these quacky things about each other. (Plus, we've got family in town this weekend so there probably won't be any crafting done, so be prepared for a quiz on Monday!) If you re-post it, add a link in my comments!


1. DO YOU LIKE BLUE CHEESE? never!
2. HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED HEROIN? never!
3. DO YOU OWN A GUN? Jeff has a BB gun and one of those guns that shoot nails into concrete. Oh, I do have a STAPLE gun. I don't think I even own a GLUE gun!
4. WHAT FLAVOR DO YOU ADD TO YOUR DRINK AT SONIC? I guess cherry, cause I get a diet cherry limeade, yummy!
5. DO YOU GET NERVOUS BEFORE DOCTOR'S APPTS.? yes
6. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF HOT DOGS? I like em.
7. FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIE? Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Burl Ives rocks!
8. WHAT DO YOU PREFER TO DRINK IN THE MORNING? anything with caffeine
9. CAN YOU DO PUSH UPS? haven't tried for awhile, and I'm not going to try now!
10. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU BEEN IN A WEDDING PARTY? one, just my own
11. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE PIECE OF JEWELRY? wedding ring
12. FAVORITE HOBBY? paper crafting :)
13. WHAT SONG USUALLY PLAYS IN YOUR MENTAL CD PLAYER? Probably a theme song from one of Will's cartoons, ugh!
14. DO YOU HAVE A.D.D.? yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes (I agree with Angie!)
15. WHAT'S ONE TRAIT YOU HATE ABOUT YOURSELF? Is body a trait?
16. MIDDLE NAME? Briana
17. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS AT THIS EXACT MOMENT? uh, hello, filling this thing out.
18. NAME 3 THINGS YOU BOUGHT YESTERDAY? lunch, kettle corn, Will's game chance at fair!
19. NAME 3 DRINKS YOU REGULARLY DRINK? water, diet dr pepper, diet pepsi
20. CURRENT WORRY? money
21. CURRENT HATE RIGHT NOW? heat!
22. FAVORITE PLACE TO BE? anywhere with my family
23. HOW DID YOU RING IN THE NEW YEAR? Frick, do any of you know where I was? UPDATE: I'M A HORRIBLE PERSON! HOW DID I FORGET THAT WE WERE AT JAY AND JEANIE'S HOUSE (JEFF'S AUNT AND UNCLE)?
24. WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO? somewhere temperature cool to hang out with my boys and stamp
25. NAME THREE PEOPLE WHO WILL COMPLETE THIS? I don't know, will you?
26. DO YOU OWN SLIPPERS? yes
27. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? white with black and yellow
28. DO YOU LIKE SLEEPING ON SATIN SHEETS? no
29. CAN YOU WHISTLE? yes
30. FAVORITE COLOR? blue
31. WOULD YOU BE A PIRATE? I guess
32. WHAT SONGS DO YOU SING IN THE SHOWER? normally too tired to think of songs
33. FAVORITE GIRL'S NAME? Hmmm, not sure.
34. FAVORITE BOY'S NAME? I'd be bad if I didn't say Will.
(Wha happened to #35???)
36. LAST THING THAT MADE YOU LAUGH? Angie's answer to #48
37. BEST BED SHEETS AS A CHILD? I only recall the Strawberry Shortcake ones, they came with scented throw pillows!
38. WORST INJURY YOU'VE EVER HAD? Perhaps when I caught a softfall with my face.
39. DO YOU LOVE WHERE YOU LIVE? The town is nice, as are the people, but I could think of other places that sound more appealing.
40. HOW MANY TVs DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR HOUSE? 5 plus the computer has a tv tuner in it so I guess 6.
41. WHO IS YOUR LOUDEST FRIEND? Ashlee
42. HOW MANY DOGS DO YOU HAVE? 3
43. DOES SOMEONE HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU? doubtful
(There's no 44 either!)
45. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK(S)? I enjoy reading Nicholas Sparks and James Patterson.
46. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CANDY? chocolate, right now, Hershey Bliss milk chocolate meltaway. Heaven.
47. FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM? Kansas Jayhawks
48. WHAT SONG DO YOU WANT PLAYED AT YOUR FUNERAL? Hope I don't have to decide for a long time. But Angie's answer was AWESOME! My Humps!
49. WHAT WERE YOU DOING AT 12 A.M.? surfing, looking at the TAC catty
50. WHAT WAS THE FIRST THING YOU THOUGHT OF WHEN YOU WOKE UP? Where's Jeff?

Pretty!

Isn't this pretty? One of the guys at work was nice enough to bring this for me this morning! Ahh, what a sweetie! Thanks, Ken!

I'm back and two cards!

I'm back from vacation. We had a great time visiting my family! We went to Ikea (I got stuff for my craft room), went to see the ponies at the horse track and went to the zoo! It was a jam-packed couple of days, and I know Lil Will had a good ole time with NaNa, PaPa and D.

I decided to attempt making a couple of cards tonight. My inspiration came from my memory of this sketch I saw, but it didn't turn out exactly the same. I used scraps again, and I kind of like how it turned out.

This is the other card I made, also with scraps. I was again inspired by the above sketch, but couldn't figure out a way to finish it. I really liked the ribbon, but it was so big there didn't seem to be much room for anything else. So, I just threw the giga scallop circle on there and punched the individual holes. Eh, it's alright. It just seems too simple, but I do like the pink and black. Thanks, Barb for the color inspiration!