I "HEART" THE LITTLE DEBBIE'S!!!!!!

This past weekend the Little Debbie's group had their summer get-together. This group of ladies is the next best thing to burgers and fries. For our meeting, we do a shoe box swap, a gift exchange, and pot luck food --- in addition to a lot of chatting and catching up. This year we had 19 women in all. So, by the end of the day, you have 19 projects (including your own) for giving or keeping for inspiration. And inspiring, they are. This group of ladies are way, way talented. I am not worthy!!!! But, luckily, they still let me come play with them.

This was my project for the swap. If you are a business demo, this baby had a lot of upsell items. Can you tell I love punches? I used the Scallop Square Big Shot die, the 2-3/8" Extra-Large Scallop Circle punch, the Fancy Flower Extra-Large punch, the 1-1/4" Circle Punch, the Modern Label punch and the Small Oval punch for my sentiment. I also used the Crop-a-dile to make the holes for running my ribbon through. At the very center of the flower is a brad. You may not can tell by this picture, but the Very Vanilla is the "back" of my card and the Concord Crush (gorgeous purple!!!) flips up as the front, with the Pretty in Pink ribbon holding it on. The other cardstock I used was Basic Gray. (I really need to learn better picture taking skills). I loved this color combo and will surely use it again.

These were my cohorts in crime (my tablemates). From left, they are Cindy Blekas, Debbie Williams, Sarah Eller and Darlene Crockett. Cindy and Debbie came down from the D.C. area and Sarah flew in from Seattle, Washington. All just to sit at my table and stamp --- can you believe it? Okay, they would have came anyway, but I am so glad I was able to sit with them. Darlene and I are both locals, but do not get to see each other near enough, so that, too, was a treat.

And, if you remember, I mentioned a gift swap. I was lucky enough to pick first --- or is that unlucky? There were 18 gifts to pick from and I am horrible with decisions. I decided on one that ended up being from my tablemate, Cindy. The bag she altered was beautiful. And it had some great goodies inside. I have visions of scrapbook layouts dancing in my head. Look at all of this stuff....

I had such a great time. I would like to thank my upline, Debbie Naylor, for getting everything together and Heather Guilliams for arranging the place to stamp. I can't wait until we get to meet again in December. If you would like to check out all of the other projects, here are some links to Debbie's blog.

Intro, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4

You can also find links to my sideline's blogs there. One day, when I get the hang of this blogging thing, I will have their links on here, but until then.....

Thanks for stopping by and Have a Great Day!!!!!

ANOTHER CHALLENGE.........

I love the sketch and color challenges that my Little Debbie sideline, Sherri, is picking out. I need all the help I can get sometimes. This past weekend she picked a sketch from Clean and Simple --- and I love Clean and Simple cards. The link to it is here.

She came up with a cool picture as the color inspiration. The colors are Bashful Blue, Soft Suede and Very Vanilla.

I really like the sketch. Don't you? And these colors are so soft and dreamy. I like the flowers they have shown and thought I would use the Punched Posies Level 2 Hostess set from the summer mini catalog. This is what I came up with:

Whatcha' think? I believe I will be using this sketch again --- and again and again....

Thanks for stopping by and have a Great Day!!!!!

ALOHA BIRTHDAY...........

I, once again, needed to make a birthday card --- and quick. It is actually late, but that happens to me alot. I used a sketch challenge from my Little Debbie's group that Cindy picked out way back in May. I save all of the sketches that I find that I like for future use. One day they may find their way into a reference notebook. Probably not, but it could happen. She found the sketch here. And this is what I came up with......

I used the Island Oasis DSP from the Summer Mini, which will be retiring at the end of August. The stamp set is the already retired Embrace Life. In addition to a couple of Rhinestone Brads to give it bling, I added a strip of the Satin Ribbon. It is a very busy card, but it fits my friend so well. She went to Hawaii a couple of years ago and loved it, so I wanted her to get a little of that island feel. She has such a bright and bubbly personality that these colors are just perfect for her. I hope she likes it, even though it was a bit late.

Thanks for looking and have a Great Day!!!!!

GREETINGS, EARTHLING......

This weekend's sketch and color challenges, picked by our lovely Sherri, are here and here, respectively. I love the colors Kristina Werner picked --- I used Pacific Point, Riding Hood Red, and Daffodil Delight with the black and white. I even used her inspiration picture of the robot toy for choosing my image. Below that is a copy of the sketch.

And now ---- drumroll, please............ here is my card. Okay, the drumroll may have been a bit over the top.... I used the Greetings, Earthling set and added texture by embossing the red section with the Square Lattice folder.

Thanks for looking & have a Great Day!!!!

GOOD LUCK, DANTE & JULIA........

Tomorrow (July 7th) is a very important day. The son of one of my SU sidelines has been battling cancer for longer than I have known them. He is receiving a bone marrow transplant tomorrow. To add to the family's worry, he is receiving it from his sister. He is 8 years old and his sister is 5 years old. What brave children they both are!!!! So, I am asking you to please say a prayer that all goes well and that this will be the treatment that will finally rid Dante of this cruel disease. You can read their mom's blog here.

I have made them each a little card that I hope will brighten their recovery. This is the one I made for Dante. I used the Mojo Monday sketch here and the Island Oasis DSP from the current mini catalog. The stamp set is the retired set called Toy Box.

The one for Julia is also using the Mojo Monday sketch and the Island Oasis DSP. The orientation for this one is like the sketch, where the one for Dante is rotated. Look at that cute little Build-A-Bear.... and I had to add a little bling for the little princess to the center of the flower.

If you would like to send them a card, handmade or purchased, let me know and I will get the address to you. Thanks for stopping by. Dante & Julia and family, you guys are in my thoughts and prayers.

A CAMPING WE WILL GO......

This past weekend we took out first camping trip of the summer. My DH had a class in Washington, DC, so the kids and I tagged along for a long weekend at Bull Run Campground, just outside of Manassass. Very nice campground!!!! I recommend it very highly. The only thing I would complain about is that the pool is actually part of a waterpark and we had to pay extra to get in. But, we did get a discount from being in the campground --- and the kids loved the park. It was not only our first camping trip of the year, it was Zoey's first trip of her life. She did much better than I expected. She traveled well in the truck and she behaved herself at the campground (mostly). There are a few points we will be working on, but all-in-all it went good. Here are pictures of all of my kids --- those with 2 legs and the one with 4 legs.

We spent Friday in DC walking our little legs off, checking out as many monuments and museums as we could fit into one day. A special thanks goes out to my "event planner", Cindy, for all of the help she gave me. Well, after all of that walking in one day, we spent Saturday chilling at the campground. Sunday was our trip home --- and back to cold, harsh reality.

I hope everyone gets a long weekend to enjoy the upcoming 4th of July. Please remember to say a prayer for all of the people who fought for and those who continue to fight for our freedom. I thank them all!!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY, EVERYONE!!!!!