I'm Sure I'm Not the Only One....

I have been SO busy, it's been almost unbelievable!!! For about the whole month of December someone in my family was sick just about every day, and sometimes it was more than one of us. I was busy taking care of sick kids and trying to keep myself healthy too (didn't succeed at that). Then, my dad came to visit for Christmas and to help us do some improvements on our house in town that we will be selling ASAP since we will be moving (that's the Air Force life for ya!) in February. That is ALL we've been doing since Christmas - painting, re-building, tearing off wallpaper ( I HATE WALLPAPER!!!!!!! ) and trying to keep three children on a couch and out of our renter's things. Our renters have a little girl so there's very tempting toys sitting in the living room, but I wouldn't want someone's kids playing with my stuff if I didn't know about it, so we're trying to do the same for them.

Anyway, I haven't even gotten to do any after-Christmas shopping, I've just been working all day, every day, except Sunday (we went to Church and spent some family time together). Sunday, after church, we went home to spend time with my oldest daughter Emma before she leaves Del Rio ahead of us to go to Kentucky with my parents so that she can start school at a Montessori school there (the one I attended through the 6th grade!) when they return to school after the 1st of the year. I'm so excited for her to get to go there and I know that she will really blossom socially and intellectually. Emma is SO smart and is so sweet and will really do well under the Montessori method. I just can't wait to go join her in February. The only downside is that because my husband has so much training to do before we move to Dover in June/July, he won't be going to KY with us. Daniel might have his 1st birthday without his daddy. I guess we knew this could/will happen though, we are owned by the US government, after all.

Well, now that I've gone on and on about what I've been doing (I haven't even mentioned all that I have to do to get ready to move and actually deal with selling the house) I'll just say that I hope you've had a wonderful holiday season and that your new year brings you all that you've hoped for. I hope that you will be blessed with all that you stand in need of and that you will know and feel that you are special and loved. I will try my best to post in the coming weeks, and will at least get my retired stamps for sale up on here ;) Take care, and happy new year!!!!

News From SU! That Demos Might Want to Know

If you're a SU! demonstrator, you might have seen this on the SU! website today. If not, here it is, followed by an address to which you can send sympathy cards. Someone on SCS called Demonstrator Support and asked where to send them. I can't imagine what it must be like to lose your mother, and I'm sure we all would agree that at this time of year when so many gather together and celebrate the season it is probably even more difficult. It is good to know that Shelli's mother doesn't suffer anymore and is, as Shelli says, in a happier, better place.

A Message from Shelli
December 17, 2007

It is with great emotion that I write to you, and I hope you will forgive me for the personal nature of this message, but I wanted you to hear this news from me. Last night (Sunday, December 16), my Mom Heather died peacefully in the Kanab Hospital as a result of a liver disease. She has had this disease for years, but it had been dormant until the last few months. Last Sunday, she went to the hospital in severe pain, and on Friday, she started Hospice care. Even so, we weren't expecting her to go so quickly.

My two sisters and my brother and I gathered in Kanab on Saturday to spend some time with her. I was surprised at how quickly she had deteriorated, and we knew her death was imminent at that point. She entered the hospital late last night, and my sisters and I, along with her husband, Paul, were by her side when she died.

While this is an extremely difficult time for me, I am so thankful for my mother. She has been and will continue to be an incredible inspiration to me, both personally and professionally. Her creativity has been a part of Stampin' Up! from the beginning, her work has been featured in our Idea Books & Catalogs for years, and her support and encouragement have been invaluable. I will miss her dearly, but I know I will see her again, and in the meantime, I know she is in a happier, better place.

Mom Heather was simple and private. At her request, we will be holding a small, family-only service later this week. During this time I draw great support and comfort from my Stampin' Up! family, and I thank you for being there for me in so many ways. I wish you a heartfelt peaceful holiday and encourage you to spend a few meaningful moments during the coming days with your loved ones.

If you're interested in sending a card to Shelli:

Originally Posted by whoopsie daisy

I just called and support said to send it to

Shelli Gardner
P.O. Box 550
Riverton, UT 84065

I've got some uploading to do....

I've taken lots of pics lately of the projects I've found time to work on, but haven't gotten to upload them yet. My camera photo uploading program stinks.

Anyway, here's a card that I CASE'd off of a card-front that I got in a swap. Some of you may recognize it. Evie used to blog, and here's the link to her swap card. I didn't change anything - it's a very blatant CASE :) I did probably go overboard with inking the cracks with my sponges - Evie's looks much better, but you'll have to take a look and let me know if you agree. I love doing cracked glass. Hopefully you like the close-up! For a tutorial on cracked glass, click here to see the SCS one.

I just love this stamp set, Natural Beauty. I wish it hadn't retired last year, it's one of my favorites!!

Well, take care!

For You Small Town Folk....

I finally got around to uploading the Advent calendar that I made. Please click on it to see it in it's full glory.  It's almost an exact CASE of the one that Beate did on SCS. You can see hers/the tutorial for it here. I loved hers, so I kept all of the colors the same I just omitted the round tags that she used and I didn't use the craft ink and emboss the numbers. I just used Classic Inks. I originally thought I would make mine out of the SU! Wintergreen paper (BTW, have you guys seen the Retiring SU! Accessories list?!?!?! All those gorgeous papers!!! :( ) but decided that the Dashing DS paper was just more "Christmas-ey". I'm grateful for the creative genius that is Beate!!!! In case you didn't know, her husband is going to be leaving at the end of this month for a ONE YEAR assignment for the Air Force (called a TDY - Temporary DutY) so she has eased up on her blogging and I sure do miss her, but TOTALLY understand why. Keep her and her family in your prayers.

Inside of our tins I put scriptures to read (like Luke 2), activities (go caroling, drive around and look at Christmas lights, watch specific Christmas videos, invite friends over for Christmas treats, etc.), things to do for others (such as leaving a surprise gift on their doorstep, taking someone Christmas treats, give away a personal item to a charity, etc.), and treats (have hot chocolate, make S'Mores, make Christmas treats, etc.) and I also put in things to prepare for Christmas (like putting out the Christmas globes our family collects - we get one each year, or putting up the outside Christmas lights, putting up the tree, putting out our stockings, etc.). Anyway, that's just for you to have some ideas of what to put in 24 little tins! :) Enjoy!!!

***All ingredients (minus the ones I mentioned omitting/changing above are listed in the SCS tutorial which is linked above)

So, what's of interest to those of you who live in small towns? This!!! Here are the links to the best deals that I found (there's a chance there are better ones out there, but I spent a lot of time looking) and two really great companies to work with. I don't have anything but a Wal-Mart here, so for the tins and the canvas' I had to buy them on-line. The tins are slightly different than the ones Beate used, but I like them better because they close REALLY well. My calendar was made spending OVER $20 on the ones at Michaels (I sent a friend who was in San Antonio and neither of us had a coupon) so that it is exactly like Beate's. I had 10 friends make these also so I ordered on-line and found cheap prices for individuals (and about a 10-cent discount PER tin for bulk orders) if you're like me and can't just go into town and buy these items. Making the calendars takes some time, but it's well worth it and they would make a wonderful Christmas gift for someone you love. Anyway, here are the links:

- 16 x 20 blank art canvas' at Cutting-Mats.net where the service was EXCEPTIONAL and the shipping was very quick!

- Metal tins with clear-view lids at WeddingAccessories.net where they cost only 55 cents each or if you buy 100 you get them for 44 cents. Just get four friends together and buy 25 each. Use 24 for the calendar and one for an ornament (I'm posting one I made tomorrow for an idea). They sell these tins in the same 2" diameter you need, but have both silver and WHITE finishes!!!

Hopefully these links will help someone out - I was glad to find decent prices. The cost of one of these comes to less than $25 (if you don't have to expedite shipping) - what a nice gift idea!

Take care and have a great night!

Black and White

I really like black and white cards, and I was asked to make a gift set for a group of us to give a friend so I just knew I needed to include a black and white one because Chelsea (the birthday girl) really likes that combo. So, this was the card I made to include in the gift set. I will show the others, after I figure out who I cased for some of them. A few, to save time because I had to get all 10 made in a short amount of time I can claim no credit for. They were CASE's of swaps I received. Some were exact replicas, others there were slight changes. I think there were 3 or 4 of the 10 that were CASE's. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

Stamps: So Many Sayings, Jumbo Outline Alphabet (love it!!!), Short & Sweet
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, unknown 12 x 12 patterned paper
Ink: Basic Black, Tombow gray shadow marker
Accessories: White Taffeta ribbon (SU!), corner rounder punch, 1/8" circle punch

Cutie Pie Birthday Cake

Here's a simple but sweet card I made for a friend using the Eat Cake stamp set and the Cutie Pie DS paper. I LOVED that Paper Party promo that SU! did and took total advantage of it and stocked up on some papers I might not otherwise have gotten. I hope she likes it and you do too!

Stamp Sets: Eat Cake
Paper: Purely Pomegranate, Brocade Blue, More Mustard, Whisper White
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Brocade Blue, More Mustard, Certainly Celery, YoYo Yellow
Accessories: Corner Rounder Punch (for scallops), Brocade Blue Brads, Purely Pomegranate Double-Stitched Ribbon, Dimensionals

Can Everyone Just STOP Blogging?!?!? :)

So, if you need an excuse to take a day (or three) off from blogging, here it is: ME!!!! I have gotten so far behind on reading and posting that I have OVER 340 posts to catch up on on my Google Reader and I will NEVER catch up!! We're all sick, I've been super busy, and to top it all off, I started getting sick last night and today my DH is going on an over-night trip so he won't be home tonight to help out. Poor me, I know, where's the tiny violin playing my sad, sad music? ;) I need to upload the pictures I've taken over the last two weeks and hope to do so this evening when the kids are (hopefully) in bed and I will post then. So stay tuned, and take a day off "on me" from your own blog! Just post that "Marie made me do it." Have a great day and I hope to post to you later!