Bella & Rikka turned 4 on Sept. 5, 2009!

And, what a big day they had. Brian bought each of them a new blanket and a new toy. Of course pink for Bella and purple for Rikka. We then took them to Tuesday Morning and pushed them in their stroller for a bit and then on to Stony Point Fashion Park. OMG, did they have a good time there. And, of course, they are so adorable and irresistible (I'm biased) that many folks had to stop and pet them and talk to them. I fixed them some chicken to go in their food which was such a treat for them. Here are some pictures of them at the fashion park. Although, I must say their day didn't start off too well. Bella got sick before she even got out of bed and Rikka had to go to the vets first thing because something bit her on her face and it was red and swollen. She's okay but on antibiotics for a week. All in all it was a very good day and they were "dog" tired on the way home. :d They went to sleep immediately when we put them in the crate for the drive home.

Big Shot Bites the Dust!

Well, actually only one teeny, tiny gear bit the dust. However, that piece or any other piece of the Big Shot cannot be ordered seperately. So, I had to order a whole new Big Shot. It's slowed up my grandiose plans to really crank out some great cards this week. You know, being all pumped up and everything since coming back from Convention in Utah. Anywho....here is a picture of my poor dismantled Big Shot! Seems I have really gotten my money's worth out of it, or Brian's money. He gave it to me for my birthday in 07.

And, just a few more.

More cards from Jean's Stamp Room!

Here are more for you to enjoy.

Salt Lake City Here I come!

Stampin Up's convention is next week in SLC and I'm going. I'm so looking forward to it. I've got a lot of swaps to make and am behind the 8 ball big time. I'll be kicking it in high gear this weekend. In the meantime, here are some random pictures from Jean's Stamp Room. Love the things she posts.

I've also made the cutest pocket flower cards which I hope to post before I leave as well.

I made it!

To Stampin Up's Stamper's Showcase on June 16 and 18 that is. I submitted these two cards to Stampin Up for the Artisan Award Contest; and since I didn't win and they posted them, it's safe for me to post as well. If I see more of my entries I'll share. I made a whole bunch of cards this week and will post those soon too. I'm very pleased with my creations of late. And, even one I created last night which I can't share because those will go with me to the SU Convention this year. It's just next month; gosh Summer is whizzing by isn't it?

Masculinity!

Well, or how about a masculine themed card. I just figured the title would certainly grab attention. Haha! This is the father's day card I made to give to Brian on behalf of Bella and Rikka! They adore him and he's awesome with them. This card was cased from one that Ming had created. Love the little piece of wood like paper; and now Stampin Up offers sheets of it as well. The little hammer brad came from a store Ming visited on her trip to Seattle recently.

Random Posting

I know it's been quite some time since I've posted, but I've got so much going on I just haven't been motivated I guess you could say to post. I'm dealing with a degenerative disc pushing on my sciatic nerve and have been in pain for quite some time. I finally broke down last week and saw the chiropractor every day and am scheduled for 3 days this week and probably the same every week for a while. It's prohibited my activities for sure and it's getting a little old. But this too shall pass; hopefully without needing surgery. Anyway, here are a few pictures of cards that were displayed at my last down line meeting. I have made a few of my own, but I may be taking them to convention for swaps and can't post them. Bummer.....but I'm getting excited about receiving the new SU Idea Book & Catalog and the new in colors. I plan to have an Open House at my studio in August so that should be fun. I think I may like the new colors better than the ones they introduced last year; all except for the Pink Pirouette though. My absolute favorite.

Finally some cards!

You'd think I switched from posting cards to just posting pictures of family, friends and around the house. Truth be told, I haven't made a whole lot since submitting my entries to SU for the Artisan Award Contest. Now it seems that yard and house work have consumed much of my time. And, now I have a Piriformis Muscle/Sciatica Nerve issue which is prohibiting me from doing much at all. Anyway, these three were mostly cased. But still, maybe you haven't seen them before.

What a pool SHOULD look like!

Here is the much improved pool after a few weeks. It truly sparkles now and yet it still needs to be vacuumed.

What your pool should NEVER look like on opening day!

Yet, this is my pool on opening day and I was mortified. I have never had my pool to look like this. It took me over a week to finally get it cleared up and I still have some residue of that green gunk on the bottom filters. I need to find a kid who can go down there and brush it off for me. :D After much money and a few weeks later it's looking crystal clear. I'll have to post the after picture soon. And, I've learned that the shock you can buy from Wal-Mart has more stabilizer than anything and therefore was doing nothing but helping my pool maintain the cloudiness. I added 12lbs of shock and it didn't do much. Pla Mor Pools of Mechanicsville are the bomb and helped me get my pool looking amazing.

My Niece, Nephew & Younger Sister!

Saturday I went to watch my niece for her weekly horse back riding lesson. And, I took some pictures since it was a good day weather wise for such. Albeit a bit windy and chilly. After her lesson my sister along with her two and two of their friends and Brian and I went to Ashland for dinner. It was a very nice time with them. We don't get to gather too often since Tyler is 15 and seems to just want to hang with his peeps all the time. But he's a good child and does well in school, so nothing wrong with that. So here are a few pics of our time together. They are growing up so fast it seems. I remember when Tyler was born (12/1)@ 10lbs 12.5 ounces; he was beautiful and on Christmas Day he looked like he was 3 months old.

I'm looking awful in this picture with my sister.

My Birthday Celebration!

The 24th was my 46th birthday and what a great day I had. First of all there was a Ukrops cake on my desk from a colleague who is a very good friend as well. That was such a treat. Later about 13 of my girlfriends met me at Cafe Caturra for a lunch celebration and it was just the best. Here is a picture of Katie and me while there. I love her new hair style and color. And, OMG, Brian had an amazing basket of fruit delivered to my office before I left to meet my friends and I took it with me. It was so impressive and the fruit was awesome. I've posted a picture of it here. I also received many, many well wishes from my friends via FaceBook which was way cool. I can't thank everyone enough for making my day spectacular. Of course, I'm still celebrating as Ming has arranged for my massage therapist to come to my house Sunday for an hour massage. And, Ming's coming over for one as well. Then we plan to have some champagne and sit in the hot tub for a while. But we have to do some stamping as well. I'm entering the SU Artisan Award Contest, so that's why I've been MIA lately.

My Snow Covered House!

So here is what my house looks like in a full snow storm and on the first of March no less. It really was neat. Not having electricity for 34 hours was not! And, the babies being tummy deep in snow was not as much fun as the night before when it was barely past their paws.

Reliable Pick A Petal!

I can always count on Pick A Petal to make a neat card.

Sorry for the absence of new posts lately, but I've been preparing my entry for the Stampin Up Artisan Contest and I've only started on my first item. The requirements are 3 scrapbook pages, 5 cards and 2 three dimensional projects. They are due to SU by 4/20. Wish me luck!

Masculine in Mind!

This is a card I created Sunday in preparation for the Birthday-Stamp-A-Stack I offered. It turned out okay. It's hard to create masculine themed cards I must admit.

Petal Pizzaz!

Now this stamp set is awesome and I truly feel it will be around for quite some time. All of these cards were CASED. Can't help it, they are, IMO, just such great layouts and colors. Although, the Mellow Moss and Riding Hood Red was my color combinaiton idea.

Pocket Silhouettes!

I hope this set stays around for a long while because I think it's very versatile.

Stampin Success!

For you SU Demonstrators, I hope you got yours this month. As usual, it's full of useful ideas and it also included the Occasions Mini Catalog which will be in effect April 1. It's loaded and I know already I want Forest Friends! Anway, here is a card I just had to make immediately upon reviewing the magazine. Of course it's CASED because I liked it so much.

Brian's Valentine Card

So this is the card I gave Brian for Valentine's Day. Yep, it's cased...sort of. I did actually take various stamps from my SU sets to make the heart though. And, it actually does look like one I made last year. I liked it a lot and so did he. He gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers that he picked up from the local florist, which is a nice contribution to the local community. Of course, the card said Happy Anti-Valentine's Day cause he knows I'm just not that into the celebration that comes along with it. But he did take me to the seafood restaurant Friday night, which IMO, was better than going out Saturday night with every other human from the community. Not that I don't like my community folks, just not so many at one time is all I'm saying. He also gave me the coolest little Valentine's Day present; which I'll post a picture of tomorrow. It's a Wonder Woman metal bracelet. Too cool since I've said for years my goal is to be Wonder Woman and sometimes I feel like I am. Now I'll be even more invincible since I have the bracelet which for sure makes me that much closer to being Wonder Woman right?

Rustic Rooster

When I first saw this stamp set from Stampin Up I just knew I had to have it. I really don't know why though as I'm just not as creative with stamps like this as I am with simpler ones. However, here is my first attempt at making a card with it and without casing. I think I really will need to find some to case as this just doesn't do much for me. But it lends some interest to me, so here it is.

CD Case Project!

Even though I have a huge amount of blank paper CD Cases they just aren't quite like the one I've made here. I actually think I like the one I made better. In this post you'll see the front side (decorated) and the back side of the CD Case (slightly decorated) as well as the back opened. I am thinking about doing this at Ming's workshop this month. So easy and yet so nice, especially for picture card CD's you may share.

Not quite cased!

On this card I started out to CASE, but changed it up a bit as I didn't have all it took to duplicate the one I'd seen. But I actually like mine a lot as well. Everything but the sentiment is Stampin Up.

A serious case of casing!

As a Stampin Up Demonstrator I am privy to many card ideas from sister demonstrators. As well as from the Stampin Up Idea Book and Catalog. So, as time for creating is precious and minimal, I have cased a lot lately. A lot of times I'll change up the colors, but I will definitely copy the lay out. Here are a few of my casings!