The first day of school.

Well it's finally here - the first day of school. The first day of school for BOTH my babies as my baby girl is starting kindergarten today. I'm starting to cry now as I type this. Rob and I get to go to her class this morning for a little activity and then to say goodbye - - K told me this morning that she thinks she's going to cry. Not sure what it is, I wasn't like this with my son, so emotional, but I guess she truly is my baby and that's the difference.

So here's some pictures of the kids in front of the house this morning - Rob just took them to daycare so that they can both get in to the routine of getting to school from there, and then in a few minutes I'll leave for the school to go put money on their lunch accounts, pay K's tuition (she's in the all-day kindergarten that you pay for), and go to her class...to say goodbye *more tears*



And since you didn't come here to see my kids - LOL - here's a little teacher gift I made for them to give to their teachers this morning. Gifts on the first day of school - - really? I see bunches of girls on the blogs and the message boards talking about what they are sending and I guess I have to keep up with the Joneses.

Not knowing if the teacher likes chocolate or Jolly Ranchers or coffee or anything about them at all yet, I went with safe. I picked up some of those colored metallic butterfly clips for $1.44 a pack - 2 for each teacher - so a $2.88 gift for each teacher. I ran a glassine bag through the Big Shot with the Swiss Dots embossing folder, adhered some patterned paper at the bottom with my usual glue runner (but when I cut the paper, the sides opened so I had to staple too) made little taggies with the Teacher's Apple stamp set, tied that and a button on to a butterfly clip securing the bag closed, and then tied a piece of Raspberry Fizz ribbon around the patterned paper and I was done.

So now I'm off to the school to say goodbye to my baby as she starts this wonderful journey of fun and learning - - the class of 2022 she is; I bet that'll fly by. I'm off today so after that I'm gonna get me a mocha and have a moment, then come home and bake a cake for her (I did that for my son too when he started kindergarten 2 years ago) - - and then it's cards for me!

Have a great Monday!

Conversations with Mom.

Happy Sunday, Girls!

Got a fun lil' holiday card to share with you today. This card is based on my sketch over at the Studio G Group on PCP. Question though - - do you get that this is a CHRISTMAS card? The reason I ask....:

Me: Hey ma, look, this is the kind of stitching I do on my cards...
My mother: Holiday fun....hmmm....
Me: Yeah - cute, no?
My mother: So it's a card that can be for any holiday?
Me: Ma, it's got SNOWFLAKES on it.
My mother: I know, but it has hearts and stars too, so can't it be for other holidays?
Me: No ma, it's a Christmas card.
My mother: Well it's not in Christmas colors even....and it has hearts and stars.

ROTFL - well poo on her, this is a Christmas card, albeit in non-traditional colors, but I think it's cute! And I think it would be great for a kid. I'm using a new Studio G Series 37 Christmas stamp and some of that totally kickin' orange metallic pigment ink from Studio G.

Thanks for stopping in - and have a lovely Sunday!

Mommy & Daughter cards.

Happy Friday - wooooooooooooooooo!!!

Got a fun lil' post for today - a couple of weeks ago when little Miss K and I were home alone for the weekend, we made cards together. I thought it would be neat to each do a card with the same sentiment. So we're working with a little brand new Studio G action here from the Bohemian line.

This first card is hers - - I bought bunches of flowers when I first got in to cardmaking and find that I rarely use them, so I was pleased as punch when she chose these flowers to put on her card. The cards that she makes are made from paper in my scrapbox - - a piece of Scenic Route patterned paper and a little piece of Spring Moss. If you know how hard it is to punch through Papertrey Ink cardstock, you can only imagine what it was like for her with the Fiskars border punch on this one. But it turned out pretty well, I think.

My card features the new Cosmo Cricket Earth Love mini deck. I am sooooo glad CC got on board with the mini decks like BasicGrey does. A lot of stitching on this one - maybe too much (if that's possible?) - and a tree that I made myself (you'll be seeing that a lot more because I love the way it turned out). Oh! And I got the Corner Chomper ($16.65 at Ritz Camera and $24.98 at Two Peas in Bucket!) and was dying to use it. Thing is, I probably should NOT have used it on this card, but, oh well - I'm pretty pleased with my card anyway!

CONTEST ALERT: Miss Marti is havin’ a lil’ drawing on her blog to win some free bling from Pez-A-Doodle. Head on over and get in for your chance to win!

Hope you have a super fab end to your week!

Look familiar?

If these cards look a tad bit like yesterday's cards it's because I'm using the same Dream Street papers that I got from A Million Memories. So check this out, Miss Michelle is like the coolest person ever - it's gotta be in the name *wink* So something happened with one of my orders, it didn't process but it sent me the confirmation, I waited, got orders I placed after, but never got that one. I contacted Miss Michelle, she said she'd send it, something got buggered up again, and she was sooo apologetic and I wasn't even mad, I just wanted my order - LOL So finally the order comes and it's got BONUS stuff in it - - these new super fab Dream Street papers: the entire fall and winter lines! Holy hat - how's that for customer service?! I love these papers!

I got my new Verve on the same day - and I haven't ordered Verve in a while so some of the things I got are older releases, but I thought with winter coming I would probably have the need for some of these "feel better soon" cards. I inked these stamps up with the new Studio G fall pigment inks and they are creamy and sparkly and just really good inks. Oh - notice that I'm a stitching fool these days - - I'm not even good at it, but I really do enjoy it - ha. And that's what it's about, right? Right!

These 2 cards and yesterday's 2 cards are going to a lady at work who made me some salsa. She makes bunches in the summertime but the thing is - I can't do heat - so she makes me my own special batch before she puts the hot peppers in. How nice is that? One good turn deserves another!

Have a wonderful day!

Get ready for Halloween!

How many Halloween cards does a person need? I mean seriously. But I just love this new stamp too much to stop making cards with it - LOL Not sure who I'm going to send all these cards to...

Have you checked out the new Halloween Studio G? As you know, I don't color images so it's very important to me that I have cool sayings, fab fonts and stamps that stamp well. This new line is all that and more. So I used it on my new fall Dream Street papers - and even dropped in some Glittered Skittles. I'll let you in on a lil' secret though: don't order from Pez-A-Doodle now - there's a big clearance sale coming up at Labor Day (more details to come).

FREEBIE ALERT: Walgreen's.com is offering a FREE 8X10 Photo Collage, today Wednesday August 26th only. Use promo code FUNDAY at checkout. Add a colored border....a title....upload pictures....frame it and it's a great gift - totally FREE!!

Thanks for stopping in - have a good one!

....and chase the Gloomies away.

Hello and thank you for stopping in for Papertrey Ink's August Blog Hop!

The theme for this month's Hop was celebrating all things autumn. While I love the fall as it's my favorite season, I know that there are a lot of people that get the blahs between summer and Christmas. So I wanted to have a pick-me-up card on hand - but in fallish motif. I went with a base of Spring Moss, stitched around that, and then paired some Summer Sunrise from the Bitty Box Basics pack with some of the brand new Autumn Abundance patterned paper (that I just got yesterday!). I prettied up some yummy Ripe Avocado ribbon on red line adhesive, stitched the top of it and then accented with some buttons. My sentiment is from Dawn McVey's latest Scattered Showers Additions.

See you on the Hop!

Little Miss Sunshine.

This week the Jacksonbelle Embellishments DT is making summery cards around the theme "you are my sunshine". And while I hate the summer weather (heat and fat girls do not get along), I wish this summer could last forever because come Monday, my own little Miss Sunshine will be starting kindergarten *sniffles*

So today's card was made with some old Cosmo Cricket from a paper pack called Hello Sunshine. With a name like that I knew this pack would have the perfect papers for this card. What's more is that Miss Lindsey is now carrying Cosmo Cricket mini decks - - the new ones Jolly by Golly and Earth Love! I ordered mine this weekend and just need to head out there to pick it up. Soooo excited. You may notice that there is no stamping on this card - - I really just embellished the heck out of it with some fun stitching, ruffling my ribbon, wrapping some crochet thread around it a few times, and topping that with a strip punched from a Martha Stewart border punch.

Be sure and head over to the Jacksonbelle Embellishments blog to see what the rest of the girls are up to!

I'll see you back here at 3pm MST with my card for the Papertrey Blog Hop tonight!

Have a fab Tuesday!

It's a boy - - and a girl!

Good Monday morning, Girls!
I've got a couple of baby cards to share with you today featuring only Paper Temptress paper.

This lil' boy card is made with Recycled White cardstock and I love that it's not a stark white - has a little cream to it - lush!

My lil' pink (girl) card is made with Laser White Glossy Lustre cardstock which is perfect for all those fancy "white" occasions like births and weddings.

Paper Temptress has a few specials this month celebrating Texture. Classic Linen papers are 40% off, the fabulous Classic Columns papers are 25% off (I use a lot of Classic Columns papers in my quick & easy cards as the texture is already there for you), and Grandee Felt papers are 25% off - all for the rest of the month of August.

Thanks for stopping in - have a great day!

Celebrate today.

Ohhhh girls I cannot tell you how happy I am to see Saturday! And guess what?! - my mojo is coming back *yay* (not this card below) but I made 4 cards yesterday with some new goodies and I am just tickled to bits by the way they turned out! Today is going to be a super day of housework - ha - cards, and then Bristol is tonight. BRISTOL, BABY!! For those of you not in the NASCAR know, Bristol is a short track which means LOTS of wrecks. Casey is starting 7th - thank God - you are toast if you have to start in the back at this track.

ANYWAY - LOL - this card today is a quick & easy card. Nothing to it really, but it's still cute, no? Just took some cardstock, adhered some super fab Cosmo Cricket patterned paper, stamped a lil' sentiment, tied my ribbon and finished with a button and that's it!

Hope you have a super Saturday.
Gooooooooooooo CASEY!

Kraft challenged.

Yeah - that doesn't say kraft challenge, it says challenged - with a D. I love kraft paper. So does the uber-talented paper princess Kristina Werner. But I'll tell you what, everything I make with kraft paper just does not have "it". Maybe I'm using papers that aren't bold enough or don't have enough pop to go on something drab like kraft? I dunno, I so {heart} kraft but I just don't know how to use it. Maybe I'll work on some things this weekend and challenge myself to make kraft cards with a pop. Yes - - I'll do that. This card features a sweet Winnie the Pooh sentiment from Verve - my new Verve got here this week so I'm sure those goodies will be seeing ink this weekend too.

TGIF!

*stuff* + more A Million Memories finds

I am having a helluva week. I'm totally emo and nothing is going right - and that's a bad combination. Not only am I being unsuccessful with my eating, but I am going back to completely destructive ways. I am disgusted with myself and it makes me cry :( On top of that, work just completely sucks. We laid off a bunch of people and I got more work and now that it's getting busier (which is a good thing), work is kicking my arse. The other night when I was leaving the office, I put my bag over my shoulder and knocked this pretty big Italian glass jar that's on my desk with the bubblegum that I am known for - shattered into 1001 pieces. Last night I stopped at Starbucks for a mocha and the Starbucks chick offered the lady in front of me free samples of baked goods - an entire tray - I did not get offered anything but my receipt. I'm tellin' ya': the world does not like fat people. After I pulled out of Starbucks, this old man in a 300 went road rage on me - - apparently he wanted to go 60 in a 35 in front of the fire station - {insert expletive here}. And then we have had this case here in Boise of a missing 8-year-old boy....missing for 10 days....found dead in a canal - yesterday his mother and her boyfriend were arrested for 1st degree murder; I cried my eyes out thinking how a mother could allow her boyfriend to kill her child. So that's my week.

HOWEVER - yesterday 3 good things happened. When I got back from lunch, there was a new glass jar on my desk. I figured one of my reps got it for me. Come to find out it was from my boss - - OMG - I was completely shocked...it's a he and he's well, not that way - LOL And then! - - I was featured HERE. Nichole Heady's blog - holy schnike!! And last night Rob and the kids were outside and the kids picked some flowers and put them in a drinking glass for me - so cute. So, I am hopeful that today, a new day, is a fresh start in all directions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You know what I love about vintage? I love that it's all about taking risks. There is no matchy-matchy or symmetry - - all those things that sometimes unnerve you - - the "rules" - - go out the window when it comes to vintage. Now I don't think I'll ever get a vintage card published - because they are kind of messy and imperfect (at least mine are), but I sure do love making them. I have mentioned A Million Memories to y'all before and I just can't get enough of that place. I just placed another 2 orders last weekend - Miss Michelle has some new Graphic 45 Christmas papers that I cannot wait to create with!

Anywho - here are a couple of cards I made with Enchanted Evening & Dark Chocolate and some great Urban Lily papers that were on clearance at AMM. A note on clearance papers: it's OK to make cards with clearance/last year's papers....so long as you aren't submitting those for publication *wink*

Thanks for stopping in today!

New Halloween Studio G *kidstyle*

As some of you know, my husband and son went camping last weekend leaving my 5-year old daughter and me home together for 48 hours. We had a good time doing lots of girl stuff....including making cards!

Studio G has come out with these fantastic die-cut Halloween cards which are perfect for kids (and grown-ups) because you don't have to do a lot to them (you can, but you don't have to).

This first card is a little cut-out ghost with "boo!" cut out as well. You can see that she put a little piece of Raspberry Fizz paper on the inside to make the boo! stand out. Don't you love the colors she chose? - - Raspberry Fizz, orange (Halloween) metallic pigment ink from Studio G, and a lil' teal button. The stamp is from the new Series 34 and I absolutely love the font and the way it stamps so perfectly!

This lil' pumpkin card has a piece of Summer Sunrise adhered on the inside of it to make it look like the candle glowing inside and then she put some Studio G Halloween Glitter Glue at the top which was the perfect shade of green and then stamped the sentiment from the new Halloween stamps with the new green Halloween pigment ink. This pigment ink is seriously awesome - it's metallic, it stamps well, it's not messy - it's just fab!

This last card is my fave - she punched out some pumpkins and put them on grass in front of the haunted house and then stamped HAUNTED on a little piece of Soft Stone and then popped it up she said so that it would look like a sign. See that little thing in the top window? That came from my son's broken pirate necklace and K has been saying forever that I could use it on a card so finally I suggested it she use it on her card.


Fun stuff!
Thanks for looking - have a good one!

Someone remembers, someone cares.

What a lovely sentiment, don't you think? I needed a sentiment that would lend itself to an oval as this card is for this week's Jacksonbelle Embellishments sketch challenge. Oh momma did I struggle putting this one together. But once I pulled out my June Bug paper pack and coordinating stickers from BasicGrey - problem solved! I think that big oval sticker in the middle would normally be used to do journaling on scrapbook pages, but since I'm not into scrapbooking, and I don't believe in wasting anything, I thought this would work even though the sentiment isn't lined up on the journaling lines. If you're giving someone a card like this to let them know they are in your thoughts and prayers, do they really care about things like that? Nope!

I've also got some pretty green crepe ruche paper on here for some texture...with a base of red pepper columns which has lines scored in it as well (more texture without all the hassle!).

Be sure and head over to the Jacksonbelle Embellishments blog to see what the rest of the girls are up to! And when you're done there, head on over to the Jacksonbelle store where NEW CUTTLEBUG EMBOSSING FOLDERS ARE IN!! - - I got mine last night and can't wait to make something with the new Fleur de Lis one.

Happy Day, Girls!

On my Couch.

Happy Monday, Girls!

Hope everyone had a super weekend; I know I did. Little Miss K and I were all alone from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon and girl time was fab. Talking, laughing, holding hands, shopping, eating out, baking, making cards, sleeping in the same bed, giggling - that's what mommy & me time is all about.

Would you believe I didn't make any cards this weekend? Not 1. I helped K with hers - but none from me. And I am so ready to get home from work tonight and make a beeline for my craft table.

What I'm sharing with you today are some cards I made with the On My Couch (additions) set from Papertrey Ink. I have to admit - initially, this was my least favorite set last month but the more I saw the examples, the more I warmed up to it and made this my ONE stamp set I got last month. I preferred the sentiments in the additions set than the other, so I picked this one up.

Thinking this would be a nice birthday card from my husband to his father....

...I love the Prima felt but I still haven't mastered its use....
...like my handmade throw pillows? *giggles*

Thanks for stopping in to say hello.

Wicked Witch.

I just got my DT shipment of Studio G stuff from Pez-A-Doodle and I have to say, this is hands down my most fave release of all! I got Series 34 Halloween which has some fantastic fonts that stamp really well, Series 35 Bohemian which is heavy on cute flowers and adorable whimsy sentiments, and Series 37 Christmas which has the most sweetest big-headed snowman ever!

Something new from Studio G is these fantastic die-cut Halloween cards which I have been playing with all weekend. My first thought was that it's taking too much of the fun out of cardmaking, but not at all - I had so much fun making this card!! and, these are perfect for cardmaking with the kiddies. My daughter made some of these yesterday - - hers turned out better than mine actually...you'll see those soon *wink*.

So my card today is for Studio G Challenge 15 which starts today. The challenge is to make a CAS card (clean and simple). I'm not sure if this truly is a CAS card, but it's CAS for me. The little witch part is cut out, but I put a piece of black Bohemian patterned paper behind it to make it stand out, stamped my sentiment from the new Series 34, added a little stitching, some Glittered Skittles, and a lil' pumpkin made with my Martha Stewart punch.

Happy Race Day, girls - thanks for stopping in.
Goooooo CASEY!!

Yay - it's Saturday!

Oh man, I have had the worst few days. You know how sometimes you wake up with a kink in your neck? Well this started in the middle of the day on Wednesday - so I didn't wake up with it - and it got worse...couldn't sleep Thursday night so I went to the Doc yesterday morning. He told me I pulled something that starts with a T and I'm going to have to suffer for 10 whole days *tears* He gave me some good drugs though *wink* But Rob and D are gone camping so it's me and little miss K until Sunday afternoon. Last night we went to JC Penney to get all the clearance deals, then out to dinner and then to Target for more deals. Didn't get home until after 9 and almost missed the Papertrey release party! (thanks Rebecca!!) Today it's more shopping, some baking and some mommy&me cards - - should be fun...if I'm not in pain the entire time {sigh}

My card today is an experiment of sorts and I can't say that I'm totally happy with it; there are pieces of it that I like though. This is stuff from last month's Papertrey Ink release: Enchanted Evening and the In Bloom patterned paper.

Thanks for stopping in today - have a great Saturday!

Money-Saving Friday

I got some really good feedback on my couponing post here, so I thought maybe I can do an occasional post on couponing/saving money and all that good stuff. Might be hard to do a regular weekly one just because what's good at the stores here may not be good for your stores there, so I'll try and find things that are universal or something that you can apply to your own money-saving measures.

But today we'll start with something simple: taking advantage of freebies. There are a lot of free offers out there, but it may take you a few minutes to register. I know, I know - you don't want them having your e-mail address and sending you lots of junk. This freebie though, I have seen maybe 2 e-mails from them in my spam folder (hello, that's what it's for) and that's it.

Anyone up for some free chocolate?
That's right - FREE CHOCOLATE.
If you're anything like me, cards + chocolate = heaven.

Here's what you do - -
Step 1: go HERE today after 9am EST and type in your birthdate on the first screen, click verify to the right of that, and then type in all your information on the next screen and be sure you hit the terms of service on the bottom right to make it go through.
Step 2: repeat step 1....3 more times (maximum 4 per household per week).

What you'll get is a coupon in the mail - 4 of them every week - for a free candy bar. No strings attached. You can only do this on Fridays and it's like every Friday through September. So if you're smart, you'll put a reminder on your Outlook Calendar to remind you to go get your free chocolate every week! They are limited to 250K free candies each Friday, so get in early.

TGIF!

A Christmas hello.

Morning!

Here's another Christmas card I made - first time using this flourish punch. I see flourishes on a lot of cards in the form of stamps and punches, bought this punch months ago and just haven't been terribly successful in incorporating it onto a card. So this is my first completed card with the flourish cutouts in yummy Ripe Avocado! I accented my flourishes with some Christmas Dew Droplets that I picked up along with the punch not at all thinking that I would use them together. I think I'm more OK with the flourish use than I am this card overall, but it's another card in the one-of-a-kind Christmas pile!

Thanks for stopping in - have a good one!

A Mother's Love.

I just love this stamp - just a really precious sentiment, don't you think? Whether you had the bestest mother in the world and felt her love and concern and protection from her all your life, or you are a mother yourself and are that way with your own children, it's just such a sweet sentiment. This stamp is from Studio G Series 30 - and just a reminder, you only have through Saturday to get your card posted over at the Studio G Collector's Group on PCP with this week's sketch. Remember, there are prizes - and so far this week there are only 2 entries!

Kinda interesting color combination, don't you think? This is for Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #14. I go back and forth on these kind of challenges because I don't like to be limited when I create, but at the same time, a color challenge does give you a chance to try different color combinations that you may not have thought of on your own.

Thanks for stopping in today!

Going Green & Saving your Green - tutorial

Good Morning, Girls!

Got a little sumthin' extra for ya' with my card today. I'm calling it a tutorial because it is a "how-to" of sorts. And this tutorial is about going green - you know, that whole reuse/recycle/repurpose thing - and making your dollar go farther.

What I'm talking about is using the packaging that your product came in. Now I just love throwing stuff away. We have a tiny house, and with 2 little kids we have a bunch of crap that needs to be gotten rid of. So when I throw something out I get an odd sense of pleasure in that I am getting more of the stuff out of the house. But then I got to thinking....

Look at this pack of crocheted flowers that I picked up at Jacksonbelle Embellishments. These flowers are sort of a dark rust/red color and could be hard to match with other things. However - look at the cardboard that they are on - it's got little polka dots on it in the same color. So now I'll have 2 things in this color on my card and that'll make it easier to use.

These are some Making Memories canvas alphabet stickers that I picked up at Archiver's. The colors are pretty, different, what I would call muted. Again, finding the perfect complementing pieces from other brands could be a challenge.

But LOOK at the back of the packaging on this baby!! It's got some of that great wood pattern that is so hot right now - AND, it's going to match the letters spot-on.

These Prima Say It In Crystals were another Jacksonbelle find. This example is a bonus one because you've got the clear acetate sheet that the pretties are on which would be a super cheap way to try that whole clear thing that people have been doing on cards (and which scares me so).....

....and you've got the backside of the cardboard packaging with black polka dots to use!!Here's another example from Prima - these super sweet old-fashioned Nursery Tales rubons.The back of the packaging has this vintage, Peter Cottontail pattern on it that is just so awesome and I would totally buy a sheet of it if I saw it out there.

And this is my card for today:
This week the Jacksonbelle Embellishments girls are making cards with no stamping. That was our challenge. I had to laugh when I heard that because hello, I'm the girl who doesn't color images, so not using stamps would not be hard for me *giggles* So here I've got some of that great Prima packaging that I got from the ribbon package (same line as the one above so the same packaging). I've also used some pewter letters from the We R Memory Keepers hardware alphabet, a Martha Stewart edge punch, Prima rubon, and Prima ribbon.

Be sure and head over to the Jacksonbelle Embellishments blog to see what the rest of the girls are up to! And when you're done there, head on over to the Jacksonbelle Dollar Days Sale and pick up some good deals while they last!

Have a super day!

ABCD

Happy Monday, Girls!

Today's card is a sweet little back-to-school card that I made for my son. I have bunches of this Cosmic Orange cardstock leftover from my son's birthday party invitations so I thought I would make good use as he really does like orange anyway. I layered a piece of Yellow Crepe Ruche on top of that and then stitched all around it. I really do love this Ruche line of paper - it's got this amazing handmade woven papyrus look to it - just really really different.

The canvas letters are from Making Memories and again I've used one of those sweet little Hero Arts clothes pins that I picked up from A Million Memories. I just ordered more of them this weekend - at $1.12 for a pack of 25, that's only 4.5-cents each!

Speaking of deals - Paper Temptress has a few specials this month celebrating Texture. Classic Linen papers are 40% off, the fabulous Classic Columns papers are 25% off (I use a lot of Classic Columns papers in my quick & easy cards as the texture is already there for you), and Grandee Felt papers are 25% off - all for the whole month of August.

Here's to a super fab start to your week!

Thanks for your kindness.

Happy Sunday, Girls!

I am having a great weekend - we have lived here in Idaho for 14 years now with no family or friends here....up until last November when my mom moved up here and now my aunt & uncle moved up here. Was so weird yet cool to have them all over for dinner last night. Really good for the kids to enjoy family time with people other than us - LOL Today it's church, laundry, NASCAR (goooo CASEY starting 11th on a road track wooooo!!) and cards - - fun times for me!

This card is pretty simple, but I really love the colors together...pretty bold. I've used Summer Sunrise from Papertrey Ink and June Bug paper by BasicGrey along with a lil' Pure Poppy ribbon. Oh and I did a little stitching on it - I love that stitch! I made a bunch of these with different thank you sentiments and different ribbons to send to Rob's family in Wisconsin who were just so nice and hospitable to us when we were there last month.

Thanks for stopping in today.

Hope your Sunday is stellar!

Happy *late Birthday.

It wasn't that long ago when I would have never needed a card like this. I used to have everyone's birthday down on a spreadsheet, their sizes, what they collect, what they enjoy doing, what teams they root for, all that good stuff. I would get packages there on time if not early. People used to always say how "good" I was. Now I still have this insane way of shopping for people - I do have my spreadsheet information and inventory all my gifts, AND, I am done Christmas shopping by my birthday (October 5th) and I start Christmas wrapping on October 6th. However, I have to admit that even with all the planning and good intentions, I have been slipping over the past few years in getting things out on time. So I added this Prima chipboard *late lettering to the little Verve sentiment.

I figure even a late birthday wish is well-received, isn't it?

Happy Saturday, Girls!

92%

OK Girls - no card today, but something I want to share and maybe you can pick up something from me. A few of you know this about me, but for those of you that don't: I am a COUPONER. Yes, I am. I am a PROUD couponer at that. Basically what I do is get all the coupons I can - from the newspaper and online. I never throw away a coupon. I know sometimes you'll see a coupon and think "I'll never get that because even at $1 off it's still too expensive", or "we don't use that brand" but I am here to tell you, when you can save tons of money or even get something for free, you buy things that aren't your brand - - you can donate them to the church, you can give them to a family member whose pantry may be a little bare right now, or you can send it to your Secret Sister *wink*

This week was "the big one" - the big General Mills promo. The way it works is simple: spend $30 and get $15 back. So your first transaction you have to get certain products that are on sale and in the promo and they have to total $30. However, because this week was essentially the perfect storm of couponing, my first transaction was far less than that for I had coupons to use. So my first $30 spend, I bought the products to hit $30, but then taking off my coupons and my double coupons, my first transaction was only $3.45 - for $30 in product at the sale price - AND they gave me a $15 Catalina (voucher for your next visit - good as money). My next visit was quite similar - totaling $2.91 - and again with the $15 Catalina. The Catalinas keep rolling as you buy along with the promo.

The perfect storm isn't just that this was a doublers week, but there was also a Unilever promo going on at the same time as the General Mills promo. So get this!! Certain items like the Q-tips and Vaseline lotion were part of (2) promos. So here you spend $30 and get your $15 back from General Mills AND THEN Unilever gives you $12 back too! Oh my sweet heavenly couponing goddesses!! And this is all instant coming out of those little machines at the registers. So $30 worth of Q-tips (that's 12 boxes on the promo - LOL) you pay $3, but using your $15 Catalina from the last transaction, you're MAKING MONEY ding ding ding!

Here's what I got:

12 packs of Knorr pasta & rice sides

2 jars of light Best Foods mayonnaise

8 bottles of Wish Bone salad dressing

121 jars of Ragu

2 boxes of Kix

6 boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios

2 boxes of Chex Mix bars

2 boxes of Pop Tarts

1 (4-pk.) of Yoplait

4 packs of Bic pens

4 packs of Betty Crocker cookie mix

3 bags of Chex Mix

2 packs of Granola Clusters

2 bottles of Sobe light water

36 boxes of Q-tips

6 Dove body washes

18 bottles of All laundry detergent

6 bottles of Vaseline lotion

- - total price for all this was $933.00.
However, using coupons, doublers, and taking advantage of all the promos, my out-of-pocket expense was $85.59; that's a 92% savings, Girls!

Now - this is a lot of work, many trips to the store, and a fair amount of planning involved. However, I have 2 kids, a husband and a full-time job, so I don't want to hear anyone talkin' about they ain't got time for that. Just think of all the money you save and all the extra cardmaking supplies you can buy with - - and of course, how clean your kids' ears are going to be until they leave for college *giggles*

TGIF!

Thinking of you today.

Here's a fun lil' card I made with the Lemonade paper pack from BasicGrey. I don't know when it happened, but all of a sudden, I have to get all their paper packs - they are just too fun. What's fun too - in a fancy-schmancy kinda way - is this ribbon!!! This ribbon is from Melissa Frances it's just sooo pretty. Now I ain't gonna lie to ya', it's a little spendy - the pack of 5 different ribbons is $6.75 - but if you are mindful and don't wrap the ribbon around and use it to embellish instead of making it a huge focal point, you can stretch your uses and get your money's worth on this one. Or, you can always just have it in the back of your mind and wait for Lindsey at Jacksonbelle Embellishments to have a sale and then get it *wink*

Speaking of sales - have you been to A Million Memories yet? Oh how I love that store. And the owner, her name's Michelle too, is like super nice and just has the bestest customer service ever! It must be in the name, because people say I'm super nice too (not really - ha). Anyway, she has super sales all the time - and clearance all the time too. The little clothes pin here is from Hero Arts and Michelle has them on clearance a pack of 25 of them for $1.12 - that's 4.5-cents per!! Now that is a cost-effective embellie right there, girls. And by the way - that was just a plain wooden clothes pin that I dabbed in my Scarlet Jewel ink to match my sentiment and the rest of the card.

Have a super day, Girls - thanks for dropping by!

Sketchy.

Alright Girls - here's a little card created from a sketch. Somewhat of a special sketch because I created it! I've sort of taken over as the Studio G lead for Pez-A-Doodle which means I'm running the challenges. Challenges start on Sundays and run for 2 weeks - and there are prizes!! And sadly, participation is very low which means your chances of winning are very high! So head on over to the Studio G Group over at PCP and give this sketch a shot.

For my card I'm using Studio G Series 30 and Series 32 - the celebrate is from the 4th of July set but obviously I have it here on a birthday card: stretch that dollar, Girls! I've also got some Glittered Skittles and for those of you wanting to try them, there's a little combo pack that gets you 10 each of 10 colors in 2 sizes each. I did some fun stitching around the edge of my patterned paper - hard to tell the white on white but it looks way cuter in person. Ohhh and see that little clothes pin? That's a little acrylic one - found it at the party store in a pack of 12 for like $1.49 - - you never know where you'll find cardmaking supplies!

Happy Wednesday, Y'all - nice to see ya'!

Vintage Halloween....or something....

Not fishing for compliments (although posting on your blog kinda makes it obvious that you are - ROTFL) but I'm thinking this card is a big ol' FAIL. I'm not sure where I went wrong with it - - maybe the whole thing? Ha....

Anyway, this week the Jacksonbelle Embellishments girls are working with Martha Stewart punches and I suppose I should apologize to Martha for how I am showcasing her goodies - - OK, that sounds funny. I used the double scallop edge punch, plus a little pumpkin punch - both from Martha. I've also got some June Bug paper by BasicGrey on here as well as Pink Paislee, Bo Bunny and some Papertrey Ink Spring Moss for my lil' pumpkins (I do like that part of this).

Speaking of Martha, did you know that she Tweets? She does! You can follow her HERE. And if you want to follow someone even more cool than Martha who will actually respond and appreciate you following them, you can follow me HERE!

Be sure and head over to the Jacksonbelle Embellishments blog to see what the rest of the girls are up to!

Have a super day!