What I've been up to:

Man! Has this been a crazy two weeks! Sorry I've been gone so long. No crafts to share, but I wanted to share some pictures of what I've been doing the last week and a half.

My little brother, Jeremie, has been home since the 16th and went with us to Grand Session in Wenatchee. He came as a surprise to our Dad because he was going out as state office for Job's Daughters. Now that it's over I can share the secret. :)

During the Opening Ceremony on the 19th, the Job's Daughters of the state all have a representative that escorts their American flag in during a special ceremony. Then as the BIG surprise, Jeremie brought in the State's American flag dressed in his full uniform. Seeing Jeremie presenting the colors in his Army dress made our dad tear up! It was a very emotional moment for our family, and for others that commented about it later. Wish I had a picture to share.

I do however have pictures of the AWESOME bargains I got at Wenatchee's local craft store, Craft Warehouse. You bet I found the only craft store in town! Can you believe I bought all these fun finds for only $14!! Yeah! The paper I snagged: Bo Bunny 29th St. Market, Mellow, and super cool embossed houndstooth by Making Memories. Rub-ons, acrylic sheets, and Stickles yeah! The American Crafts ribbon and Basics rhinestones were only 10 for $1! You bet I bought multiples of the argyle ribbon!

After we got back, it's just been one event after another. Multiple family events, and couple of Mariner's games and hanging out with friends. Look at who Jeremie met and talked to at our first Mariner's game on Tuesday!! Yep, that's Jeff Nelson the four time world series champion pitcher.

We "snuck" down to the lower sections and after a while I looked over the aisle and saw Nelson. I was talking to Jeremie and our cousin Tony about it:

"Man, that guy looks a lot like Jeff Nelson"

"I thinks that's Jeff Nelson"

"He's sitting so I can't tell how tall he is" (since Nelson is like 7 ft. tall)

They both weren't sure at first, but after Jeremie and I kept stealing glances at him, we saw a boy come up and ask him for an autograph. Then it was "game on" for Jeremie. In between one of the innings he went over to Nelson and asked him if he could take a picture. Then a bit later Jeremie asked if he could sit by him and talked to him for a whole inning! Way cool! It turned out that Nelson visited the base that Jeremie was stationed at in Afghanistan while he was pulling guard duty at the satellite base. He didn't get a chance to meet him then.

Last night was family movie night. We went to see "The Hangover". So funny!!! Now tonight is a luau at a friends house and then who knows what. We're all going camping over the Fourth. I'll be back to making crafts the next few days and hopefully participating in a blog-hop!

Long post, sorry. Just wanted to update everyone and let you all know that I still love crafting and blogging!

Happy 50th Kathy!

My friend and co-worker of 13+ years turned 50 last Saturday! And let me tell you, she looks more like she's 38. I guess working out everyday really does payoff. Darn it!

There's a lot going on with this card, but I really like the end result. I think it reflects Kathy's personality. If you notice, the blue cs and dp are the same I used for this Mojo card. Waste not, want not right? The "50" I pop-dotted and also applied liquid glass over.

Materials: All CTMH. Crystal blue cs, Intrinsic Background ss, Friendship Alpha ss, chocolate and cocoa inks, cocoa grosgrain ribbon, twilight corduroy brad, liquid glass, pop-dots, corner punch.

Other: dp--DCWV, flowers--Prima, fabric tag--Making Memories, buttons, skittles.

While I'm away....

This is yet another graduation card for my co-worker who graduated from Jackson High School this last weekend. I used the same dp as this card and even pretty much the same layout. I really love the simple elegance of the paper. It's fun to play it up with colors too. Jackson's colors are green, black, and white, so this worked out perfect! I random stamped the topiary cs with the same set that I stamped the green flowers on the checked dp.

I was smart and laid my dp, that I just inked the edges of, face down on my image and made a nice black line right through it. :( Oh well, she's 18 and won't care.

Materials: cs and inks--CTMH, dp--MAMBI, digi stamp--TGF, Tickled Pink ss--CTMH, flowers--Prima, colored pencils--Crayola, skittles--Robin's Nest

Scrapbooking Class

Here are the layouts I created as examples for the Jobies' scrapbooking class this weekend. I pre-cut everything for them. The single layout using the Animal Cookies B/T is an easy one for the first day. All they have to do is follow the Reflections guide to put it together, and then use stamps to decorate it some more.

The two-page layout is for the second day, but they're only going to make one or the other. This follows a LO design from Imagine. With these LOs I wanted to show them how to incorporate more pictures and memorabilia. There are picture tags along the bottom, and the right page shows how I used CTMH's flip-flops to add even more pictures. If you notice the ribbon at the top of the left page, this is to show them how to "hide" larger keepsakes like programs and what-not in between their pages.

I think they'll have a lot of fun and learn that scrapbooking is not as scary as they might think. Maybe I'll get a few orders out of it too!....even though I can't advertise it...but you bet I'll have catalogs, order forms, and business cards available! ;)

Materials of single LO: All CTMH. Animal Cookies L2PP, Sweet Baby ss, Friendship Alpha small ss. Clover, Indian corn blue, and tulip inks.

Materials of 2-page LO: All CTMH. Bella L2PP, Buttoned Together ss, Friendship Alpha small ss, hollyhock stitched ribbon, pansy purple and hollyhock inks, flip-flops.

2AM??! I know...I'm crazy!

So, I'm leaving for Wenatchee in eight hours and instead of packing I decided to make a card for Kelly Jo's CCC#11. Am I an addict or what? Lol!

For this weeks Color Chef Challenge the colors are white and bamboo. I wanted to use some of my rub-ons, so I decided to go with bamboo as my base. To get the label shape I cut one out with my Nestie and then used it as a mask to create the background. I then used a white pen to outline and define the shape. This will be a great card to have on hand.

Materials: All CTMH. Bamboo and white daisy cs, bamboo ink, love letters rub-ons.

Other: Labels One--Spellbinders, Swiss dot CB folder, white pen, grosgrain ribbon, buckle, pearls.

Will the real Mojo Monday please stand up?

*~*Small addition*~*
What a difference photo editing makes! I took Lisa's photo tutorial and it helped a lot. My white actually looks white! What a concept!


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Here are the original "Blah" greyish photos:

Ok, here's the current Mojo Monday challenge for week #91.

Julee's sketch gave me an opportunity to use one of the Bella stamps that Nona so graciously let me ink up when I was over the other night. I have a girlfriend that is about six months along in her pregnancy. It's her first, and they know it's a boy, so I wanted to use blues and greens.

Again, all the paper is from my scrap stash! Yeah again! I actually paper-clipped all the same brand scraps together so it was easier to color match and use again. You can barely see the orange ricrac I used, but oh well.

Materials: cs--CTMH, dp-Chatterbox, stamp--Stamping Bella, sentiment--CTMH, colored pencils--Crayola, ricrac--unknown, button/brads/inks--CTMH, pop-dots.

Mojo (Last) Monday

I'm a nerd.

I uploaded my pictures, and then forgot to post them before the deadline. Oops! Oh well. So here's the card that was supposed to be entered into the Mojo Monday #90. It uses one of my new Anya's! This time I decided to color her using my ink pads and a waterbrush. Still had to use a color pencil for her face since I don't have a flesh colored ink. Should come in my CTMH delivery today though.

All the paper for this is out of my scrap stash! Even the white. I'm so proud of myself. And look at the old piece of Basic Gray dp I found! Sometimes digging through your scraps is fun. I forget about them. Used my Spellbinders embossing plate again...I love that thing!

Materials: cs--CTMH, dp--Basic Grey, glitter paper--unknown, Anya stamp--TGF, embossing plate--Spellbinders, skittles--Robin's Nest, flower--just from a silk stalk, stickles, ink colors and black marker--CTMH, colored pencils--Crayola.

For all the Ladies...

Since my computer has been a time-sucking evil life force lately, I haven't made anything.

I'm also preparing for a BIG scrapbooking class next week for the Job's Daughters' annual Grand Session in Wenatchee. It's when all the Jobie girls of the state get together and have fun along with competitions and meetings. I'm doing two scrapbooking classes to teach the girls the basics and also some cool techiniques. It's estimated for 100 girls per class. Yikes!

Grand Session is also when my Dad steps down as state office for the next year's team to move in. My little brother is even flying in from TN for the event.

So anyways.....back to the point of my post today. My good friend Becky sent me this today, and I wanted to share it with all of you to remind you that "You're worth it"!!

One Flaw In Women

Women have strengths that amaze men.

They bear hardships and they carry burdens,

but they hold happiness, love and joy.

They smile when they want to scream.

They sing when they want to cry.

They cry when they are happy

and laugh when they are nervous.

They fight for what they believe in.

They stand up to injustice.

They don't take "no" for an answer

when they believe there is a better solution.

They go without so their family can have.

They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.

They love unconditionally.

They cry when their children excel

and cheer when their friends get awards.

They are happy when they hear about

a birth or a wedding.

Their hearts break when a friend dies.

They grieve at the loss of a family member,

yet they are strong when they

think there is no strength left.

They know that a hug and a kiss

can heal a broken heart.

Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you

to show how much they care about you.

The heart of a woman is what

makes the world keep turning.

They bring joy, hope and love.

They have compassion and ideas.

They give moral support to their family and friends.

Women have vital things to say

and everything to give.

HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN,

IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

Give me TEN!!

Congrats to Kelly Jo who's had a blog milestone and posted her 10th challenge! This week's Color Chef Challenge is to use black and white with a color of your choosing. My fav color is green, and I wanted to make this one fun and punky like me! The check background was originally plain, but I stamped green designs in it to help with the color theme.

After placing an order on Friday night at The Greeting Farm, would you believe that I received them in the mail on Monday?! That's AWESOME! What bums me out is that I didn't check my mail until this morning, so I missed a whole night of play. Oh well. So I bought 3 Anya stamps and this super cute Reeta stamp. I loved that she reminds me of myself and that she has a cat too. In honor of my cat, Simon having a positive visit to the vet yesterday I decided to ink up the Reeta stamp first so I could color the cat to look like him.

***Simon update....he hasn't lost more weight (which is good), but hasn't gained any either. His skin color is less yellow (also good) and he is becoming more active. He's even started to chew on items that he know he's not supposed to (back to his ornery self).

Materials: Reeta stamp-The Greeting Farm, dp-MAMBI, cardstock and ink-CTMH, color pencils-Crayola, flowers-Prima, brads-CTMH, skittle-Robin's Nest.

Color Chef Challenge #9

Two Anya's in one night?! Yippee! This card fit perfectly into Kelly Jo's CCC #9 of cranberry, honey, black and white. Another friend graduated from Central Washington University this week. I don't know if the honey color is really one of CWU's colors, but the card definitely needed it. Did you notice that the yellow dp is the same as the other Anya card? Waste not, want not. Don't you just love the glittery Prima?!

Materials: All CTMH. Cranberry and white daisy cs, Silhouette L2pp, cranberry ink, sponge, sanding kit, corner rounder punch.

Other: Digi stamp-The Greeting Farm, yellow dp-DCWV, flowers-Prima, skittles, Crayola color pencils, scallop punch-EK.

My first Anya!

So I like to follow Sparkle's blog regularly, and I have always loved here work with The Greeting Farm stamps. I'm a big fan of the "Anya" stamps and I finally caved and used my extra allowance this week to order some. I ordered four actual stamps and this digi stamp. The fact that I can use the digi now is AWESOME! I can also resize it to my needs and since it's printed off, it's easy to color in because the ink doesn't smudge. Totally cool!

I used this "Grad Anya" digi stamp to make a graduation card for my Jobie friend, Taylor who graduates from high school next Saturday. Her school colors are blue and gold, and after much digging to find a blue that matched my colored pencil, I came up with this. Check out the close up of the sparkle paper I found in my old scrap stash! We all call her Tay, so the sentiment was a no-brainer.

Materials: All CTMH. Simple Stitches ss, Friendship Alpha ss, Caprice L2pp, crystal blue and black ink, crystal blue and buttercup buttons.

Other: Digi stamp-The Greeting Farm, yellow dp-DCWV, sparkle paper-unknown, colored pencils-Crayola

Color Chef catch-up, with a Mojo

You know you're a blog addict when....you come home on lunch to eat, but end up posting a new entry. It was perfectly sunny again today, so I wanted to take a picture before it moved.

This is for the Color Chef Challenge #8 from last week. This is a great combo for a Father's Day card, so tah-dah! I had fun with some old-school embossing on the bottom half. You can see the detail in the second picture. I also used the sketch from the Mojo Monday #89 for the design. It was a fun layout, but I don't know if this is the card I will submit on their site. I might make another one.

Yep, decided to enter the Mojo with this card. No time to make another before there was no more room for entry into the Mojo Madness contest. Hopefully I have a chance this time!

Materials: All CTMH. Crystal blue cs, Emporium L2pp dp, Intrinsic Backgrounds ss, Treasure Life ss, Connections ss, Say it in Style ss. Crystal blue, desert sand and grey wool inks, hemp.

Other: Green Stack dp-DCWV, silver embossing powder, scrap tan ribbon, metal rim tag, brad-Making Memories, Label One dies-Spellbinders.

Color Chef Challenge #7

This card is for the CCC #7 from TWO weeks ago!! I know....mega late, but I totally loved the color combo. I sat on it for quite a while though. I knew I wanted to use my new Impressability die, and thanks to YouTube I was finally able to find the right combination to run it through my Cuttlebug properly. ;)

I found the pieces of ribbon scrap in my large ribbon box that has been "unearthed" in the move to the new scrap space. I must say that it's hard to scrap when your stuff is in limbo. I want to paint the walls the new scrap/guest room before I move everything in. Hopefully on my day off on Monday. I toyed with putting more embellies on the card, but decided to keep it simple and clean. (well, not so clean if you find my stamping goof) I 2nd-g'd my Intrinsic stamp behind the sentiment in olive to add more interest.

Materials: All CTMH. White Daisy cs, Stardust L2pp dp, Spot on Backgrounds ss, Connections ss, Say it in Style ss, Intrinsic Backgrounds ss. Topiary, olive and black inks.

Other: Punches-EK, scrap ribbon, Impressability embossing die-Spellbinders.