Happy Owlloween!

Once again I used punches to create this cute candy treat pack. The SU Top Note BigZ Die from Sizzix was used for his head and circle punches for the eyes and the small oval punch for his nose. Don't you just love the Halloween energy that abounds! Or, could that be effects from the candy corn? Haha!

And, today is my friend Cory's birthday. He and his wife, Amber, are temporarily living in Spain, so it's a bummer we won't get to celebrate with them this year as we've done in the past. Hopefully they will be back soon though.

Along Came A Spider...

We made these in our most recent Downline Meeting and OMG, isn't he the cutest. And easy peasy. You can probably determine he's made from all punches. Oh, and there is a York Peppermint Patty in between the two scallop circle punches.

Let It Snow-NO, not really!

Not yet anyway. I was especially looking forward to a little cold weather as I now have a hot tub, but since I've had a head cold for almost a week now I've really not been in the mood to get in it. Nor am I sure it's the best thing when one has a cold. However, that has not dampened my holiday card making mood as most of the card creators I see are doing as well. I love this set and just got it recently. The colors are not traditional, but I still like it a lot.

Jolliest Time of The Year!

I so love this set! I just got it yesterday and made all three cards last night. I am missing my creative mo- jo lately (probably because I have a head cold) and absoluetly CASED each one. I plan to use them for my October Stamp Class. I really need the Always Artichoke for the Tree one though and will most likely order AGAIN!

Ray's Birthday Card!

And, here is the card I made for Ray's Birthday. Yep, his birthday is three days after Ming's and the same day as his best friend, Griff. Ray happened to be out of town on business the day of his birthday, but he and Griff apparently celebrated very well on Saturday out on the river on Ray's boat and pier. :D

Ming's Birthday!

First let me say when I first typed the title to today's post it converted it to Hindi! OMG, it was too funny. I panicked and realized I changed something in error last week and quickly corrected it. Whew!!

Anyway, Ming's Birthday was Sunday and this is the card I made for her. I CASED it from one I'd seen on the SU Demonstrator site; I absolutely love the Regal Rose color. This has got to be one of my all time favorite layouts and color schemes.

On Saturday, Denisha, her son (Jacob), and Ming and Emily came over to the house/studio so the children could play in my yard and the adults could make cards and just have a nice time creating. Which we did! It was so nice and watching Emily and Jacob play was quite entertaining as well. I look forward to doing that again. Oh, and my sister's birthday was Saturday. And, Ming's husband's birthday is tomorrow along with three of my other friends. January of those years certainly was a busy month. I've got quite a few more friends who have a birthday this month as well.

Bobbi's Birthday!

No, it's not today, but it was Friday, the 26th. But I could not post these as I didn't want to take the chance she'd see them before I saw her on Saturday for her birthday celebration. Which was so nice. She's been working so many hours lately and every Saturday too, so the peeps haven't gotten a chance to see much of her. This is her birthday card and some monogram note cards I made using my JustRite Stamper.

Meaning of my name!

Okay, so I went to Paper Pleasing Ideas blog spot and found where Julie had posted what her name meant and I decided to submit my name. OMG, it's kind of freaky, but I swear I think it described more about me than any other type of thing like this has ever done. So I thought I'd share it and for those of you who know me I'm sure you'll be nodding your head on quite a bit of it. Some of it I don't agree with of course. But enjoy!

What Marysue Means

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in. You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising. You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care. You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do. You are a very lucky person. Things just always seem to go your way. And because you're so lucky, you don't really have a lot of worries. You just hope for the best in life. You're sometimes a little guilty of being greedy. Spread your luck around a little to people who need it. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Monogram Madness!

I've gone monogram mad this week in case you've wondered where I've been and what I've been doing craft wise. I'm so loving my JustRite Stampers and I think you would too if you don't have them already. But I must say I like the do-it-yourself ones they offer and not the one that's in the tubular like canister. Just my preference. Anyway, I have two of the do-it-yourself style and one of the canister style. I plan to order more DIY. Easy peasy and fun. I've got a stamp class Monday night and since I've only got 4 attending this time, I'm going to offer these in class. It should be fun.

Papasan Princesses!

Bella and Rikka truly do love their little Papsan's and when I'm in my studio they could not be happier than to be on them but close to me. But what makes them even happier is to have their calf hooves with them in their papasans, close to their mommy. A lot of times they try to squeeze into one and cuddle with each other. But last night they each wanted to spread out in their individual chairs.

Unconventional Christmas!

So here I go again with the Pink Pirouette. I just can't get enough of it and can already see I need to order WAY more CS in that color. I think this card will be one I use to send out for my Christmas Cards this year. I do need to tweak it a bit though to make it even more popping. But this was my first attempt.

Thanks So Much!

I guess it's a fairly accurate statement to say I'm so loving the Pink Pirouette more than any other color that SU has. I think it's just yummy. This card was made using the Pocket Silhouettes Stamp Set, which I'm also loving big time. Oh, and the Sweet Always Designer Paper is beautiful too.

Workshop Card

This is the other card I made for the workshop I did last night. It's a new set from SU. Demonstrators who attended convention received it free. I don't have my CATTY with me today, but I think it's called Eastern Blooms. Very versatile! The ladies at the workshop really seemed to like this one.

CD Mailer-Mini Album!

I first saw one of these albums at Jean's Stamp Room recently and just loved the idea of it. One of my SU Sister Demonstrators there was selling some of the blank CD mailers and I bought about 30 of them. Jean provided me instructions and I took pictures of the one on display there. Well, I really didn't follow the directions too much because once you have the dimensions of the paper it's pretty easy to figure out the rest. Plus, if you know me I always modify. It took me two hours to get one made. However, I'm going to offer this in my September Stamp Class, which won't take nearly as long for my participants as I'll have everything already cut. I think these make wonderful mini-scrapbooks and I plan to add lots of pictures and journaling. You should see the red one I did too!

Flight of the Butterfly!

This is the first chance I've had to use the new set SU gave us at convention and I think it's going to be a favorite. This card is one I'm demonstrating at a workshop I'm doing next Monday night. Bright hunh?

For the new parents!

Well, Elizabeth and Scott's new bundle of joy arrived last week and although, I haven't seen her personally yet, I hear she's adorable. And, she weighed just a little over 9 pounds; you ought to see her cheeks! A little history for those who don't know who Elizabeth and Scott are. I met them through Ming and Ray and absolutely loved them right away. So much in fact that in 05 I performed their marriage ceremony on the banks of the Mattaponi River at Ming and Ray's house. Yes, I'm a marriage commissioner for the State of Virginia. And, I actually became one just so I could perform their ceremony. As it turns out, it's very nice to be able to do that for folks who are very dear to me and I had the privilege of performing a ceremony about two years ago for my best friend's daughter. Married them right in the living room of my home. It was very special. Anyway, this is a card I made with Elizabeth and Scott in mind.

Bella & Rikka are 3 today!

I can't believe my babies are three today! To celebrate I'm going to make sure I take as many pictures as possible, which I started first thing this morning. They are going to have chicken and rice for dinner and I'm going to stop by PetSmart for some treats and a few new toys for them before I head home. Brian has been out of town all week and is coming back today and spend the day with them. They will just love that I know. We'll sing them happy birthday too. I know they have no clue about all this, but we do and it makes us feel better. So here are a few pictures I took of them this morning. I think they are just beautiful girls!

Santa!

Woohoo! I finally received my Big Shot dies from Stampin Up and was able to make this Santa! I absolutely love really cute Santa's and I think he's definitely one. As most of you can probably tell, he's made from all punches.

Hooty Who's the cutest?

OMG, is he too cute. I CASED him last night immediately upon looking at my Stampin Success and seeing him in there. I thought it would be a perfect card to send to my niece, Lauren, for her birthday which is this Saturday. And, Bella and Rikka's birthday is Friday. They will be 3! I'll have to find some pictures of them when they were really little and post; they were so stinkin cute. But of course, they still are.

Monster Card SWAP

I made this card, however, it was CASED from one I received at Convention as a SWAP. It is so easy and mostly uses punches with a little ink for shadowing and a pen to draw the mouth and eyebrows. Everyone I've shown this card to absolutely loves it!

Highlights from Stampin Up! Convention 2008

Make a Smilebox slideshow

SU Convention 08 Roomies!

So have I mentioned yet that I just had the most incredible time at convention this year? And, I really think I'd like to go back next year as well. But I've got to say it was more about the friendships I made while there and how much closer I got with my local circle of SU Sisters especially my roommates. We got along so well and never once had an issue of any sort. We meshed perfectly and we vowed it would be just us three or 4 if Jenn goes next year to share a room. I immediately missed Stacey and Cynthia when it was all over and was so glad I got to see Stacey this week at our local demo meeting. I think Cynthia is in Canada for two weeks, but I hope to catch up with her soon too. And, we're so looking forward to going together to the Regional in November at Virginia Beach. What an incredible group of women. I am honored to be in the circle with them. I'm in the middle and Stacey is to my right which means Cynthia is the one on my left. I swear I'll do a smilebox this weekend to post of more convention pictures. It was so incredible.

Emmie does it All By Herself!

Emily was so excited to show me how she could swim in my pool "all by myself" and she did too. I was amazed at how she just wanted to get right in and dog paddle around. She is growing up! When Ming enrolls her in swimming lessons next year I can just see her wanting to be even more independent. She'll graduate to arm floats and then she'll eventually not need them. But she'll still be our little Emmie!

Eggplant Fritters!

So I tried my hand at Eggplant Fritters for the first time a few weeks ago and I think I did pretty good. Look how pretty they turned out. And, fresh eggplant from Bob and Terry's garden. That and some of their tomatoes was such a treat. I put the skinned eggplant in my food processor and processed it to a fine chop, then added milk, flour, baking powder, egg and a little salt. You have to make it to a pancake batter consistency in order for it to work well. Oh, and if you use self-rising flour you don't need the baking powder, but I didn't have any of the SRF so I used the BP. I was very pleased with my first attempt. I so badly wanted to add sugar to it because I felt like I was making pancakes, but I refrained. Haha!

Baroque Motif

This set remained in the Fall/Winter 08 Stampin Up Catalog and for good reason. It's beautiful and versatile. I did not make this card, but took a picture of it from last fall's downline meeting. I'd post some new ones from convention but I can't put my hands on my camera cable. I know I can download using my camera card, but the last time I did that I had to reformat the card. Meaning I'd lose everything on it and I'm not going to chance that until I can get all of them burnt on a disc. Hopefully tomorrow I'll find the cable.

Lovely As A Tree

This is the other SWAP I took to Convention. But I only made 25 of these. And, I'm sorry I didn't make more because so many folks really seemed to like this one a lot. Next year if I make another one that falls in the category as this one I'll make more. Listen to me, seems like I'm thinking about going to convention next year. Well, only if it's not on Jess' birthday (7/31) because I don't want to miss her 13th birthday. And, according to the Salt Lake Convention Center the convention next year is on their calendar for August 5. So I'll have to see if they stick with that. I already tried to reserve some rooms at some of the hotels closer and they are already booked. Hmmm....not sure what that is about.

Pumpkin Pie!

This is the card that I made 50 of to take to Convention. Love the Pumpkin Pie color. And, a lot of folks at convention seemed to like it too. BTW, I'm still in Utah as I write this. However, convention is now over and I'm waiting to go home later tonight. I had a fabulous time in Utah though.

1 Day Left Before Departure!

I cannot believe that tomorrow I will leave for Salt Lake City and be attending Stampin Up's 20th Year Anniversary Convention. For the most part I'm ready. Of course, I have done absolutely no packing. Hopefully since I'm only planning on taking a carry on, it won't take me long. Anyway, I will post pictures of what SWAPS I decided to take tomorrow and the next day. I'm doubtful I'll get to download pictures of cards from convention while I'm there, but I'll try.

Anywho, I was admiring my kitchen yesterday, like I do everyday, and thought it was time to take some updated pictures. Ask Katie, I am so enamored with my stove it's beyond belief. It's an original 1940's Okeefe & Merritt that I found on the internet. It was in Burbank, California and I had shipped to Virginia while I was having my house built. Of course, my luck, it was being shipped right in the middle of a hurricane that had landed in Atlanta (where my stove had to go through), but it made it without harm. It's totally refurbished and came with a one year warranty. And, it cooks like a dream. Plus, to me, it's just absolutely beautiful. And, what a conversation piece

6 Days till Convention!

Wow, where did the time go? And, with that means I'm scrambling to get everything done in time. I did manage to get 15 full card swaps done last night for convention. The card above is what I decided to make for that. These are to be traded with my circle of sister demonstrators in my senior downline's group at dinner Wednesday night in Salt Lake City. I guess I'd be more pumped, but with having so much to do and having Bella's recovery on my mind, it's not hit me too much yet. It probably will when I'm actually at the airport next week.

BTW, I love the SU new Scallop Punch which I used to make these cards. And, their Brushed Gold Card Stock is just fabulous. I wish they had more pieces in a pack though. 10 is just not enough. Maybe I'll talk to Shelli about this at Convention; Haha! Seriously though, something needs to be done about SU's shipping; way too slow.

The Tummy Difference

Bella is making such great progress and is starting to feel herself. TMI, but she finally went poo last night. Yay!! A big step given what she's endured. She's gotten a lot friskier too and wants to play with her sister, which she's done but slightly. No running or stairs for her for a while. But I've got to say her incision is looking great and I hope it heals so that it can hardly be seen once her tummy fur grows back. I thought I'd post a side-by-side of Rikka and Bella so you can get an idea of her incision. It's huge IMO.

And, it seems that Rikka can sense Bella's mood and is paying a little more attention to her too. She seemed a little standoffish at first, but is coming around. She wants her to play too.