Portland, here we come!

Pacific Northwest, we're on our way!

OK, so we're not on the plane YET. :) But time is ticking away! I have to finish getting things ready for when we come BACK - I have two workshops the week I return, and want to not stress about that. :) Since there's a huge possibility all my stampin' stuff is going to get packed up while I'm gone and they redo my space, I'm going to get everything together today. At least, that's the plan.... :)

I'm pretty much packed - but I have the feeling I'm forgetting something, and I HATE that feeling! The dress for the wedding is still hanging in my closet; I want to make sure it has as few wrinkles as possible when I take it back OUT of the suitcase. :)

I will purchase the shoes for the wedding there; no sales tax in Oregon, and maybe I'll find something I'll just fall in love with. :D Besides my Crocs, I'm only taking some cute sandals - not to walk much in, but to wear with my "just for cute" outfits. :D

I WILL be online, and I'll have my cell phone, so if any of you near and dear to me need me, never fear - just let me know! :)

Until next time...! And please check out the links that are listed on the right side of your monitor - especially the photo one! :D

We had a GREAT time!

I am so blessed to have GOOD friends! Thursday, my best friend, Amy (far left in photo) and I traveled a ways together with her son, George, to meet Becky (middle in photo). We met at a Cracker Barrel, and swapped cards we'd made and looked at each other's albums, and had a wonderful time. Becky brought her daughter, Hannah, with her - and what a beautiful little girl she is! She looks a lot like her mamma. :)

We tried to find a scrapbook store together, but ended up taking a scenic tour of the area instead. :D It was a wonderfully fun day, and we're looking forward to the next time we can get together!

Guess what we did today? :D

FUN movie!!!!! It was what I've come to expect from Nicholas Cage: he plays a guy who can see two minutes into his own future, no farther. Action, drama, love story - you name it, there's something in here for everyone.

From here until we leave is a run downhill. I still have to pack, can you believe that? I'm glad we took the time to see the movie today, but I'm already focussing on getting stuff in the suitcase tomorrow. :D Never fear, tho: I will still be blogging! :)

An "Oldie But Goodie"

Good morning - barely! :) This is by request for two of my
customers - Hi, Kathy & Donna! :) It's an envelope that's been
"transformed" into an individual-sized popcorn holder. It's super-easy!
Take a business-sized envelope and seal it shut. Then, use the "Hot to Dot" wheel and wheel both sides of it - I used Real Red. Next, take decorative scissors and cut it 1/3 of the way down - so you'll have one piece that's about 1/3 of the envelope, and the other piece will be about 2/3. :D
Next, take your crimper and crimp the larger piece of the envelope.
Now, get out your "Treat Yourself" stamp set. I stamped the bag in Real Red, and the popcorn in YoYo Yellow on Whisper White card stock. The measurements for MY piece are 2-1/4"x3". Then cut mats of Real Red and YoYo Yellow; the RR dimensions are 2-1/5"x3-1/4", YYY is 2-3/4"x3-1/2". Adhere the TOP HALF of the image to the uncrimped piece of envelope. Next, ink up JUST the "Treat yourself" part of the saying stamp with a Real Red Stampin' Write marker, and stamp on YoYo Yellow card stock. Punch out with the Word Window Punch, and add an "!" with the writing tip of the marker. Then, adhere diagonally across the top of your image.
That's ALL there is to it!!!!! I do have to admit, the "Hot to Dot" wheel is one of those tricky ones for me. The edges of my wheel like to pick up too much ink!!! I found today that if I just hold it steady and push it quickly, I don't have as much trouble with little lines. :)
I would LOVE to hear from you, if you decide to try this! Leave me a comment, send me an email, send me a pic!! I feel like I'm whistlin' in the dark over here in my little corner of the world. :D

Isn't she LOVELY?

This is my beautiful stepdaughter, Kaisa, who is getting married May 13. We can't WAIT to see her - she doesn't fly, so we only get to see her when we go out to visit. :) Her fiance', Jeff, is a sweet young man. We had the privilege of meeting him last September, and it was fun to watch the two of them together.

Please pray for them as they begin their life together. Marriage seems like the easy way when you first begin - do you remember? :D It takes hard work and commitment, even when things are going well! :D

I'm having a hard time believing I'm going to be a mother-in-law. I wish we lived where we could visit for SURE once a year. Who knows what God has in mind?

Thanks for sharing today's joy with me. :) I'm so proud of this young lady, for all she is and how beautiful she is, inside and out.

What a Sunday!!!

Whew!!!!!! It was another BUSY day. Church, then lunch, then to the store to buy some bubbles for our next assignment: taking pictures of Abby and her family. They arrived mid-afternoon, and we spent LOTS of time taking pictures - until our NEXT person for pictures arrived. By the time it was all said and done, we decided to go grab some dinner instead of cooking - it was 6:45!!!!

We had a picnic by the lake. It was the perfect temperature, and it was nice to just sit in the quiet of the evening.

How was your day? Did YOU get to blow bubbles today? :)

PHEW, what a day!

Today was GARAGE SALE DAY. Phew!!! Thank GOD He gave us good weather; it was JUST starting to get hot when we closed down. Considering nothing we sold was over $20, we got rid of a LOT of stuff, and paid Mom back for the remodel on our room - plus made a little bit for mad money for our trip to Oregon! :)

I've been running around the house trying to get ready for my classes this week, and planning the projects for a workshop the DAY AFTER I get home! My real goal is to have as much as I can ready before I go - ideally, all I'll have to do is put stickers on new catalogs, print off the retired list and put it into the manilla folders I use for my workshops, and pack everything up. :) IDEALLY, that is....

SO. Pardon me for posting no photos or scans today; it's been busy, and I'm on the run. :) Actually, don't be surprised if this turns into more of a "We did this today" blog for a while, with vacation coming up. I am SO earning a rest.... :D

Blogging!!!!

Hi, everyone! Well, there's a game of blogging tag going around, and I got tagged today(by Deb; see her blog at http://www.heydeb.blogspot.com/)! These are my favorite 5 that haven't been tagged; please go check them out, and enjoy their samples, stories, and sharing! :) I tell you WHAT, there are some INCREDIBLE bloggers out there. Put me to SHAME, for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Actually, I'm kind of scared to send you to their sites, they're so awesome!!!!!!)

Oh, and here, let me share a card layout with you.... Until next time!

http://gwensstampinfun.typepad.com/

http://amycelona.com/

http://scrapbook.dolphinia.net/

http://www.mististamps4fun.typepad.com/ (LOTS of tutorials available here, everyone! It's a great place to learn!)

http://loricraig.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

Oh, and here, let me share a card layout with you.... Until next time!

NEW paper bag album!

Sherie and I had a great time yesterday morning! She followed my sample pretty closely, the one I posted last week. But *I* had to not do the same thing - too boring. :) So, I came up with this design! I used white paper bags for this one, and covered more of the bag with the card stock. It uses the same Simply Scrappin' kit from Sell-A-Bration, but I did use more than just a half of one this time. The inside of the brackets is what you see on the squares on the front; I also used another half of the Coral rickrack strip for an inside page.

I like the way this one turned out; it's not as "girly" as the first one, and is much simpler on the inside. Tell me what you think!

Last two pages of my paper bag album!

Good morning! I've been up too long already today - Mom and I headed out to a community garage sale locally, but there were only four places participating - it was rainy, and it's been cold lately. I found a couple of little things, and then came home. The next thing on my agenda is teaching this paper bag album to my ONE customer who's coming! :) We're going to have a great time - and I think I might even do another album with her. Since I've got one more prepared - had a cancellation - why not? I can give it to a hostess, or give it as a door prize, or maybe even give it at my hostess appreciation luncheon in October!

Anyway. This is made with the Simply Scrappin' kit from Sell-A-Bration this year. There's hardly ANYTHING to these pages, but I really like how the color-blocking turned out! :)

Did you know you could click on the photos to get them bigger (if I uploaded them that way?)? Take a look. :) And don't forget to scroll through the old postings - you never know what you might find!

Have a wonderful weekend! Thank you to everyone who's looking at this blog - I appreciate the (very!!) few comments that have been left, to let me know SOMEONE is paying attention! :)

Paper Bag Album!

Well, ladies, I'm going to post about this album today. :) It's what I'm teaching at my class this Saturday (For more class listings, go to http://poohisstampin.stampinup.net/Events.aspx), and it uses the Simply Scrappin' kit from this year's Sell-A-Bration. I absolutely LOVE this kit; it's SO easy to use, and has great self-adhesive die cuts. Plus, the colors are so springy! :)

I alternated the paper bags, so every other page has a pocket - that blue tab you see sticking out is the tab on the first pocket. My little book has a total of 10 pages not including the front and back covers, and I used less than half of a SS kit on it! I think they make wonderful gifts - and with Mother's Day and Father's Day coming up, you could do one for both parents with one kit! :) The only things I used not in the SS kit were the brads, the ribbon - wide organdy and Prep School Ribbon Originals - and adhesive. Easy peezy! :D

Maybe tomorrow, I'll show you my favorite interior pages.... :) Have a wonderful evening! Thank you for reading my blog - and please let me know you do!!!!!

Hi, everyone!!!! A REALLY quick post for this one tonight - I should be leaving as I type, but I can't resist putting this up for you to see! :D

The 5"x5" art journal is from the Spring mini, as are the Au Chocolat designer paper, the round tab punch, and the spiral binding punch (used for the inside dividers). The other things I used are the 1/4" square punch (Thanks, Amy!), chocolate chip and pixie pink card stock, brushstroke alpha (and a little retired set), a sponge, and my white gel pen. EASY!

In case you're wondering why I don't embellish my covers more: I'm VERY hard on items, especially ones I'm going to carry with me. I figure the less stuck on the front, the less I have to worry about tearing off and hurting my prized article. :)

Let me know if you've been altering anything lately! Can't wait to hear from you!

First pages are done!

Hi, everyone! I just wanted to share the simple first interior pages of my envelope book.

Again, all supplies are Stampin' Up!®, including the cool Round Tab Punch from the Spring Mini. I wanted this book to be pretty simple, because it's going to be bulky by the time I get it home, and it will be the things tucked into the envelopes that will matter to me the most. I decided to put the Cool Carribean note piece in the outer pocket, so that small memorabilia can be kept safely in the other pocket - it will be harder for it to fall out when the book's closed. You can click on the picture to get a bigger view, or tell me you'd like to see the real thing! :)

I hope you're enjoying your day. After a big rainstorm last night, the tulips in the back yard are bravely recovering, and the birds are swimming in the fountain. Enjoy God's creation today!

Starting to get ready!

I don't suppose it's obvious how excited I am about
going to my stepdaughter's wedding in May. :)
I'm starting to plan, and scheme; last night, I made sure to check with her - we're going to go shopping for her memory book sometime in the first week Ken and I get there! She's asked me to put it together for her. I'm SO honored and proud that she would ask me! I want to do a phenomenal job, so I know that's what I'll be working on a lot when we get back.

Until then, there's still a lot that we're going to do NOT related to the wedding that I can prepare for. This is my first envelope accordian book; there are six (I think, can't remember!!) envelopes joined together inside. I then made two covers, and hinged them with ribbon strips. The actual size of the book is 8"x6", and the inside envelopes are white. All the supplies I used for this so far are current Stampin' Up!® supplies; check out the online Idea Book & Catalog© on my website for prices, ideas, etc.: http://poohisstampin.stampinup.net. The background paper is Slumber Party designer series paper, and I love the colors!

As I get the inside pocket stuff together, I'll let you see those pages, too. I've already got plans - but no more motivation to stamp at this moment. It's too pretty outside! :)

HAPPY APRIL!

What a GLORIOUS day today is! The sun is shining brightly, and the tulips, dogwood, azalias, and lilacs are all nodding gently in the spring breeze. It is just beautiful!

Well, the show is over, and now I am counting down until we leave for my stepdaughter's wedding. Four weeks from today, we'll be on a plane - with just one more hour to go until we land! (Yes, we're leaving at o'dark thirty!:D) There's LOTS to do between now and then - including two workshops to prepare for. I can't wait!

After re-doing the Inspiration Station last week, I realized I didn't have too many spring-y 3D projects. So, today I decided to do up this mug insert really quickly. These mugs are really fun; I've found them at garage sales, and Walmart and Hobby Lobby both have had them. This is one of my favorite verses, and I've been blessed by just being ABLE to stamp today! I've also sent out my customer newsletter today; if you're interested in receiving it, please email me - and don't forget to visit my website at www.poohisstampin.stampinup.net! I just updated all my samples there, too! :)