A Cup of Thanks...

A couple of weeks ago my spouse's group had their monthly social at a Russian Tea House.  I invited our new First Sergeant to come to meet the spouses and explain to them what it is that he does for them and their spouses and answer any questions the spouses had.  It was really nice for the spouses to get to see him and speak to him on a social level.  As a Key Spouse I work directly with the First Sergeant, acting as a link between him and the spouses.  I made him this card to thank him for taking the time out of his evening and joining us for dinner.

I started off stamping ALM You're My Cup of Tea in Memento Ink on Neenah, coloring with Copics.  EP For The Record 2, Die-namics, SU Square Punch, Twine, and a Button.  I used this weeks MFTWSC139.

Thank-you for stopping by!

Have a great week!!!

The Rainbow Will Come...

I made these card for my deployed spouse's.  As a key spouse it's my duty to check up on my deployed spouse's once a month to make sure that they're doing ok and see if they need anything.  I also like to send my deployed spouse's a card each month to let them know that I'm thinking about them and am here for them. 

I was a little pushed for time so I kept these cards very CAS.  I stamped MFT The Rainbow Will Come A la Mode in Memento Ink on Neenah, coloring with Copics.  I masked the umbrella and wellies with EP paper.  Stamped the sentiment then used SU Corner Punch to make the tag, a button, and SU linen thread.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Have a great Sunday!



Another Spouse's Birthday...

Is it bad that I made this card so long ago I can't remember who I sent it to?  Lol.  I do know that it was for one of my fellow spouse's birthday's but I can't remember which one...man, I must be getting old!

I started off stamping SU's Fifth Avenue Floral in Memento Ink, on Neenah, coloring with Copics.  Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette, and Old Olive cardstock, MFT Leaf-Filled Flourish and Royal Leaves Die-Namics, Old Olive Ink, EF, and a Doily.

Thank you for stopping by!

Enjoy your weekend!

Happy Birthday Michelle...

I'm still alive!  Sorry I've been MIA from blogland for so long.  Things got so crazy for me the last week my daughter and grandboys were here before their move to Idaho=(  And between getting sick, a couple of trips, going to the gym and all my volunteer duties, I just haven't had much time to blog.  I hope to be back on a regular basis now that things seem to be settling down for me=)

Anyhow, I made this card (long ago) for my fellow spouse, Michelle.  Her birthday was way back in March!

I started out stamping Fifth Avenue Floral in Memento Ink on Neenah, coloring with Copics.  MFT Royal Leaves Die-namic, Old Olive cardstock, button, twine, sentiment from The Cat's Pajama's.

Thank-you for stopping by!

Have a great night=)

Happy Birthday Roxy!!!

I made this for my husband's co-worker who's birthday was last week.  Unfortunately she's yet to receive her card, she's been out from work so it's still sitting on her desk.  After I made and sent in the card I remember her saying she didn't like pink.  Ah well...



I started off stamping the rose from SU's Fifth Avenue Floral on Neenah, coloring with Copics.  Melon Mambo and Lucky Limeade cardstock.  SU Square Punch, CB Swiss Dot Folder, MFT Royal Leaf Die-Namics, Denami Design Ribbon and Button.  For my sketch I used SSSC179.  I absolutely love this sketch!  I think I'll be using it again=)

Thank-you so much for stopping by.

Have a great weekend.

Welcoming 3 New Neighbors...

I'm usually on top of welcoming my new neighbors.  I'm embarrassed to say that the last 3 families that have moved in have been here about 4-6 weeks before I could get some goodies baked and a card made to bring to them.  About a week or so after our neighbors moved in across the street, we had neighbors move in down the cul-de-sac from us, a couple days later a military family moved in across the street from those new neighbors, then a couple days later we had new neighbors move in up the cul-de-sac from us...so gald to see those empty houses filled with families=)

I used CTS18 for all three cards and kept them all very CAS.  I used Garden Green, Black, Crumb Cake, and We R Memory Keepers Family Keepsake paper and SU Everything Baby stamp set

This is the card that I made for the first family that moved in. It had started to rain as we got to their house, he was kind enough to invite us in. We chatted for a bit, really nice guy...we look forward to meeting his wife when she returns from CA.

 

I used Crumb Cake, Cameo Coral,  Basic Gray, and We R Memory Keepers paper, SU Everything Baby stamp set, MFT Die-namic and CTS18 for my sketch. 
This was for the second family that moved in.  A female answered the door, then a male came to the door.  After chatting for a bit I asked if they had kids...he pointed to his daughter, talk about embarrassing!  She looked a bit older (obviously for her age) and he also looked very young...ahhh foot in mouth!  Anyhow, they're a military family, turns out he works behind the fence in the compound with my hubs, just not in the same squadron.
 

I used Riding Hood Red, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, We R Memory Keepers paper and SU Everything Baby stamp set and again, using CTS18. 
This was for the third family that moved in, Christina and Allen. By the time we walked up to their house the temperature had dropped (yes, it does get cold in Tucson!) and it was raining pretty good, we were really quick dropping off the cookies and card to Christina and didn't stay to chat=( Later that evening her husband Allen came to the door to introduce himself to us, thank us for the cookies and welcoming them, and brought us two plates full of food from the BBQ they had...it touched my heart to say the least. I talked to him for a while (my hubs went to bed early).  I'm grateful for three great families that have moved into our neighborhood, I hope they enjoy it here as much as we do!

 

Thank-you so much for stopping by!

Have a great week!

Happy 50th Mimi!!!

My friend Mimi's turning 50.  Her husband put together a 50th Birthday Party for her over the weekend.  We had sugh a great time, even played "Mimi Trivia", such a fun idea to do for an adult birthday party!

Mimi has a fun sense of humor so I went with the "WTF" theme I've been seeing on SCS.  She giggled when she opened it and read, "Who's Turning Fifty?" =)  I wanted to keep my card CAS so I used this weeks sketch from CTS#17.  Crumb Cake and BG Kioshi paper, BG Chip Stickers that I sponged with So Saffron, and a SU Circle Punch.  Can you believe there's no stamping???

 

I hope ya'll have a great week!

Thank-you for stopping by!

A Valentine Birthday...

I made this for one of the spouse's in my husbands squadron, her birthday was on Valentine's Day.  I (of course) was a couple days late getting in the mail to her and am just getting around to posting it=(

I started off stamping PI My Balloon in Memento Ink on Very Vanilla, coloring with Copics.  Cameo Coral, Crumb Cake, and Authentique paper.  MFT Button, SU Linen Thread & Seam Binding.

Thank-you for stopping by! 

Have a great day!

I Love Idaho...

Several weeks ago I saw a pin on pinterest that I knew I had to make into card form for my daughter and one of my friends for Valentine's Day.  My friend Marissa is from Coeur d'alene, Idaho.  I guess you could say my daughter considers Idaho "home", it's the longest place she's ever lived being a military child and all.  Both of them are missing Idaho so I wanted to make them each a card to brighten their day=)
   

I added an extra layer and changed the color they had from red to "hot pink".  The one on the left is for my friend Marissa, the one on the right is for my daughter.  My card base is Melon Mambo.  I used Die-namics, a Cricut Cartridge, and a Heart Shaped hole punch.  Very quick and CAS!

So...last week I was leaving for yoga at 6:30 in the evening, it was about 70 degrees out and all of a sudden all of our cell phones go off with this screeching noise and we get this on our phones...

It was the talk of the town for the rest of the night, afterall it was 70 degrees when we all got the message and what is the likelyhood that WE would get snow let alone a blizzard, I mean afterall...we live in the desert!  That night the evening news said the Emergency's Alert GPS had "issue's" and it was for the people living at 7000 feet and that people who lived at 3000 feet would possible see snow.  Tucson is slightly below that.  Everyone was saying there was no way we'd see snow, especially since it wasn't even cold out right now.  Well...

It wasn't a blizzard, but we did see snow!  It started snowing in the early afternoon the next day and snowed for a solid two hours in my part of town...it was so beautiful!  My oldest grandson said, "Mommom...look, it's not raining, it's snow, it's SNOWING!"  It was so cute!  It snowed two more times that day and we got a good couple inches of snow.  This is the most snow I've seen since living here and I don't mind it one bit...I miss it actually!

Thank-you for stopping by!

Hope you're having a great week!

Happy Birthday Sabrina!!!

One of the gals in my spouse's group celebrated her birthday last week.  This is the card that I made for her... 

I started off printing my Digital Image Lollipop Sohpie on Neenah, coloring with Copics.  I fussy cut her out and added a glaze pen to her shoes.  Pretty in Pink and Black Cardstock, Die-namics Dizzy Doily Duo, CB Folder, MFT Button, SU Square Punch, Sentiment from The Cat's Pajamas.  My entry for for the following challenges- BLD40, to use a Sentiment on your card, CFC90, Black & White + 1, and SSSC178.

Thank-you so much for stopping by!

Have a great day!

An Overdue Thank-you!!!

Last month a sweet crafty friend of mine (KelliJo) surprised me with some snowflake dies that I have been wanting, but they were always sold out.  I feel so bad that I'm just now getting around to making her a card with the snowflake die to thank her for her kindness...thank-you so much for your big heart KelliJo!  You are such a sweetheart and are always thinking of others!  Thank-you for RAK'ing me with such a sweet gift!!!

I started off with a Perfect Plum card base, Die-namics Let it Snowflake, SU Square Punch, SU Noteworthy, EP Winter Wishes and a Rhinestone.  I used CTS#15.

On Saturday my friend Barb and I did the Cityscape Adventures Race.  It's like a mini version of The Amazing Race.  We had to take a picture of each task we did, we had to stay together (we couldn't divide and conquer), we could walk or use the city bus only, and had 5 hours to complete the race.  We had so much fun!  Below are a couple of pictures from the race...

Barb and I before the race started...

We had to go to a Fire Station and play leap frog...

Have other people play out "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil"...

Well, they're a lil' outta order, lol!!!

Find someone wearing a U of A shirt and do a cheer with them...

Find the Tiki Guy downtown and do the hula in front of him...

Make a human pyramid with at least 6 people in front of The Children's Museum...

(The little girls were so excited and asked us if we minded their dad taking a picture with his cell phone so they could show their mom.  They kept thanking us, it was so sweet!!!)

Barb and I after the race, we were dead tired! 

We finished in 3 hours 8 minutes.

Came in 68th place out of 102 teams.

 82 teams finished...not bad for our first time!

If you're still with me...

Thank-you so much for stopping by!

Have a great week!

Hearts Apart...

Wishing those couples that can't be together today a Happy Valentine's Day, especially those that are deployed spouse's.  I made my deployed spouse's these lil' cards for Valentine's Day.  I was in such a rush to get them done I forgot to take a group picture of them=(  My friend went in halves with me to buy all of the deployed spouses a box of chocolates, which of course I also forgot to take a picture of, sigh...

I started out stamping PI Love You With All My Heart in Memento Ink on Neenah.  I paper pieced her dress and heart with EP Love Story.  Melon Mambo, CB Folder, MFT Button, Die-Namic, Twine, Versamagic Wheat, Glaze Pen.  This is my entry for Echo Park's FB Love Story Project Contest.

Thank-you EP for the Love Story Collection!

(I won it during the Winter CHA Blinkie Contest)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day and enjoys the day with their sweetheart!

Thank-you so much for stopping by!

Sayonora MSgt West-Toles...

I made this for one of my husbands co-workers who's getting stationed in Japan.  Her going away was Friday.  We had a nice BBQ at the squadron so we could all have our time to mingle and say our good-bye's to MSgt West-Toles.  I'm especially fond of MSgt West-Toles, she asked and asked to have my husband transfered to her side.  She always tells me what a brain he is and how much she counted on him to help her and that he really would be an asset on her side of the squadron.  Well, he was moved to her side 2 weeks ago, just as she's leaving.  She told me at her going away..."this is not how it was suppose to work, this is not how I had it all planned out!"  Haha.  She is such a fun lady...her upbeat personality and laugh will be missed.  This is the card that I made for her...

My card is super CAS.  I stamped the image from Dream Gardens onto BG Konnichiwa paper.  Lucky Limeade and Real Red Cardstock.  SU, Square Punch, Mandarin Twine and Buttons.  For my layout I used this weeks SC421.

Thank-you so much for stopping by!

Below is the "RAK/PIF Count Down to my 40th" if you're interested, please join in...

I apologize for not posting week #27 sooner, I had no internet on Thursday and a jam packed weekend.  Without further delay...

Week #27- Remember these are just suggestions, feel free to change them up.  These are just ideas to get you inspired to do random acts of kindness and pay it forward.  Please come back and share with me what you've done, I'd love that!  And thank-you so much for the emails to those of you who wished to not share publicly, that's ok too.  If you're my fb friend, you can share there if you prefer or both.  

Please pick one-

1.  Send a thinking of you card to someone undergoing chemo or who is a cancer survivor.
2.  Thank your mail carrier for their hard work.  I know our mail carrier deserves to be thanked between all the car part and craft supply packages he has to deliver to our house!
3.  Treat a friend or co-worker to breakfast or pay for someone's check at your favorite place to eat breakfast.
4.  Offer to help an elderly person put their groceries in their car or return someone's cart for them (thank-you Kat for the suggestion).

Keeping it short this week since there's only a couple days until I post next weeks RAK/PIF list.  If you have an idea or suggestion, please share, I'd be happy to post it!

Here's what I did last week-
- I made orange blondie brownies for my new neighbors to go with the card I had made for them a few days ago.  I didn't get to meet them though, their daughter was home so I left them with her.
-  I made a card and brought in a tin of tea to my yoga instuctor who's been sick. 
-  I encouraged a friend to keep up the great job she's doing losing weight.
-  I emailed my Commander's Wife and thanked her for motivating me and inspiring me to give yoga a try. 

RAK's/PIF that were done to me-
-  A young teen age boy looked me in the eye and clearly said, "thank-you" as I placed the divider down and pushed my groceries up to make more room for his.  I wasn't expecting him or his mom to say anything and was sure surprised by his kindness, especially at his age.
-  MSgt West-Toles...everytime I see her she always tells me how good she thinks I look and how put together I am.  I always appreciate her kind words and compliments on my appearance/outfits.
-  My  new neighbor brought over a really sweet thank you card and baked two kinds of cookies to thank me for welcoming them to the neighborhood.  I wasn't home, I was at pilates, lol!!!  I finally met them yesterday!

How did everyone else do???

I look forward to hearing from you!

Happy RAK'ing!

Namaste...

I joined my local gym earlier this month and so far I love it.  It's not like the typical gym that's packed full of equipment and free weights (which I must say I do miss not being able to do anymore, dr's orders).  My gym focuses on classes...which I joined for the Yoga and Pilates Classes (dr's recommendations for me because of the EDS).  I tried out Zumba and a Bodyjam class this week, made a fool of myself, but they are a lot of fun=)  Two of my girlfriends also joined the gym with me, we've been having lots of fun taking classes together.  Anyhow, my yoga/pilates instructor has been sick this past week so I made her a card and brought her in some tea...

I started off stamping Serenity Now in Memento Ink on Neenah, coloring with Copics.  Layering with Crumb Cake and Regal Rose.  EP For the Record 2 Tailored paper.  Fancy Flourish, Mini Hybrid Heirloom Rose, Open Scallop Edge Die-namics, and a Button.  I used MFTWSC108 for my layout.

Thank-you so much for stopping by!

Have a great week!



Happy 1st Anniversary to the Meyer's!!!

Wishing one of my fellow spouse's and her husband a Happy 1st Anniversay!  It breaks my heart that they are spending it apart=(  Her husband is currently deployed and she is doing such a great job handling everything...a new marriage, deployment, school, and a new baby!  My deployed spouse asked me if I would make her a card to send to her hubby.  They have a fun sense of humor, (and she really liked this stamp!) so this is what I came up with...

This is for KKS163 Something Old, Something New (kind of fitting, eh?) Challenge.  My something old is my stamp, I've had it for a couple of years now.  My something new is the paper from Bo Bunny, I got it a couple weeks ago on my monthly/bi-monthly 300 mile round trip to the nearest scrapbook store=)  There's just something about going to the scrapbook store and picking out your papers that I love...holding them, feeling them, and ahhh...and smelling them, I love the smell of scrapbook paper!  Anyhow, I started out stamping Drucilla  in Memento Ink on Neenah, coloring with Copics.  I added flat pearls to the "needles"=).  Tim Holtz Scattered Straw and Vintage Photo Distress Ink for the sponging.  Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Black Card Stock, Die-Namics, SU Square Punch, Rhinestone, and sentiment also from Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps.

  Thank-you for stopping by.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Thinking of my Deployed Spouse's...

A quick CAS card I made for my deployed spouse's.  As most of you know I'm a key spouse for my husband's squadron.  One of my duties as a key spouse is to check up on the deployed spouses and make sure they're doing ok and see if they need anything.  One way I like to do this is by sending them a card each month.  This is the card I made them for January...

I stamped Fancy Flutters in Tangerine Tango on a white base.  Added a Tangerine Tango and white layer, stamping the sentiment from Sincere Salutations  in Tangerine Tango.  My layout is this weeks Retro Sketch, RS47.

Thank-you so much for stopping by!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Botanical Butterfly Birthday...

Seems like I'm always late with my Mother-in-laws Birthday Card.  I feel so terrible every year and vow to get her card out on time.  Her Birthday was the 11th, I made her card that day...sigh.  Then it sat on my desk for like a week before I even got it in the mail=(  Fingers crossed next year she will have a card arrive before her birthday!



I started out stamping Botanical Butterflies in Memento Ink on Neenah, coloring with Copics.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks- Scattered Straw and Vintage Photo to sponge aroung the edges.  Tangerine Tango, Black, and Crumb Cake Cardstock, a page from a book, Nesties, Die-namics, SU Square Punch, Sentiment from The Cat's Pajamas, Denami Design Button, SU Linen Thread, and a Rhinestone.  For the layout I used FTL223.

Now for week #28's RAK/PIF Challenge- (for anyone that would like to join in RAK'ing/PIF, please feel free.  These are just ideas, do as you're able to, or change them as you need to...the idea is to inspire you to do random acts of kindness and pay it forward.  Please come back to share what RAK you did or how you PIF, I'd love to hear what everyone has done!  You can read my original post about it here). 

Please pick one-
1- Share your hobby with a group, child/children, or friend.
2- Bring some hot tea/container of tea bags to someone you know who hasn't felt well.
3- Make some oatmeal cookies for a new neighbor or drop them off to a gate guard (if you have a base near by), your doctor's office, a fire station, police station, or give them to a homeless person.
4- Get some puzzles and drop them off at a children's shelter, homeless shelter, or any type of crisis center that helps children.
5- If a friend, co-worker, family member etc. has recenlty lost weight, pay them a compliment and encourage them to continue with their weight loss journey.
6- Bring some Peanut Butter and Jelly to your local food pantry.
7- Make a chocolate cake for someone who needs cheering up or to celebrate a special day- got a promotion, license, a job, or just good news in general.
8- Tell your spouse/partner how much you appreciate them and love them =)

I had great intentions but was down in bed from my procedure longer than I anticipated.  So, I didn't get to do the couple of things I picked out (write an elderly loved one a letter and I was going to make our new neighbors brownies). Yesterday (the last day for the week) I had a spouses meeting at a dessert lounge.  When it was time to pay, I picked up the check for a deployed spouse.


How did everyone else do???

Thank-you so much for stopping by. 

Have a wonderful night.

Welcome to the Neighborhood...

I'm off to have a procedure done today...some biopsies and possibly my esophagus dilated.  I don't do well when I go under so I admit I'm a bit nervous.  Fingers crossed they get to the bottom of my GI issues soon. 

Anyhow, I had some neighbors move in a couple weeks ago. My husband has met them (he's a bit of a neighborhood social butterfly) but I still haven't=( I plan on baking for them this evening if I'm feeling ok from the procedure. Here's the card I made for them...

I can easily spend 2 hours on a card with all the copic coloring, detailing, embellishing...easily. I've been wanting to cut back on the time I'm spending creating my cards so I can create more and send out more cards to people. I'm not sure how I'm liking the simpler look, but I'm going to step out of my comfort box and play with my creative style a bit. Anyhow...I started out with a Pool Party card base and a Melon Mambo layer. EP So Happy Together paper, Recollections $1 stamp from Michael's, Sentiment from SU's Everything Baby, Denami Design Buttons, Denami Design Rhinestone, and SU Linen Thread . For my layout I used CTS#11.

Thank-you so much for stopping by!

Have a great day!

Butterfly Birthday Wishes...



One of my fellow spouses has a birthday coming up so I made her a CAS card to wish her a happy birthday.

I stamped the image from Bliss in Rasberry Ripple on Neenah.  Butterfly from SU's Beautiful Butterflies, then ran it through my CB and sponged some White Craft Ink on it.  Sentiment from The Cat's Pajamas Stamps.  This is my entry for JUGS 171-adding ink to your dry embossing.  This is my first time playing along in a "Just Us Girls" Challenge=).

I posted this on fb and thought that I would share this with my fellow stamping/crafting friends since so many of you do RAK's all the time=) 

Today is Ditch New Year's Resolution Day=(.  As I mentioned in My Year in Review post I didn't really set any New Year's Resolutions, but my goal is to continue to work on being the best me I can be and RAK/PIF, give...more.  A few days ago I read a friends fb post about her thanking a couple who fed a hungry man a meal and the couple explained they were in a race group to complete these tasks for the ladies 40th birthday.  I commented on the post and mentioned that I'd be turning 40 this year and maybe I should do a RAK countdown to my birthday.  My friend said I should and post daily RAK's and challenge  everyone to do them.

I decided to do just that!  Here's what I came up with- since there's 29 weeks until my birthday...I'll post challenges once a week with a few ideas of things you can do. Some weeks you will be asked to complete two RAK's and the week of February 11th-17th, you'll be asked to do daily RAK's since it's RAK Week.

So...who's with me???

Week #29 (counting down)- July 17th-23rd:

Pick one of the following-
Hand write an elderly loved one a letter
Make a pie for a neighbor
Bake brownies and bring them into the office
Make soup for a sick friend
Or if you're able to...donate blood.

I'd love for you to join in and share which one you picked, what you did, etc. 

Thank-you so much for stopping by!

Have a great evening!

My Year in Review...

Happy New Year!!!  I hope everyone had a fabulous night ringing in the new year!  I rang in the new year with a milkshake and a fever=(  My hubs was really surprised I made it to midnight...actually so was I!  Each year I have a little list of New Year's Resolutions or Personal Goals that I'd like to achieve.  Usually they're along the lines of eating better, exercising, getting more organized, or crafting more.  Not so much this year.  I've had an interesting year (to say the least) and I've learned a lot.  I'll be 40 come August and I'm finding some things aren't as important to me as others.  So really all I want more than anything is for my family to be happy and most of all for them to be in good health.  I'll continue to work on being the best me I can be, and I'd like to RAK/PIF and give...more.  What are your New Year's Resolutions or Personal Goals for 2013?

It's nice to go back through and take a peek at how you grew or how your style has changed in the last year.  So, I thought I'd share my year in review...if you click on the month, it will take you to the original post=)

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

Yikes- No August posts so I picked from...

September

Two from-

October

October

November

December

There you have it...my year in review=)

Thank-you for stopping by!

Have a fabulous 2013!!!