Little Artist Thank You

To all you generous, kind people. This is for you from Megan, Steve and me.
'Nuff said.

Clean and Simple

Someone once called me the "Queen of Clean & Simple". I took that as a compliment, (at least I hope she meant it as a compliment). That is the style I am particularly drawn to. Sometimes it's fun to pile the embellishments, glitter and paper on a card. But basically a clean card makes me happy. This one is a sympathy card using the Close as a Memory stamp set. I 'borrowed' the popped up tone-on-tone idea from my sister, Penny, another Queen! Please check out her blog, www.penguinstamper.blogspot.com. You will see why I always steal from her. She has to let me, I am older!

Delightful Dates Calendar

This cute little calendar was offered in the Holiday Mini Catalog. I had a workshop today where we put it together along with the magnetic box. Just thought I would put it on my blog because it is so cute. Love the little Mini Library Clips.

I CASED the magnet box idea from one of my favorite blog sites, Trinity Designs - Robin Merriman. Love the ribbon and Hodgepodge Hardware embellishments. No wrapping paper needed with this little box.

My Stampin' Pal, Diane

Woo-Hoo! Goodies in the mail for me! I am part of a group of stampers called the TOPICS, and monthly we exchange 3-D stamped items. My Stampin' Pal is Diane Burns who lives in Katy, Texas. I was so tickled to open the envelope and see what she sent me. She put chocolate hearts into a nugget box she made and embellished with little punched hearts. I'm in love with the Scallop Trim Border!

That's not all! She made me the cutest bookmark THAT STAYS IN PLACE with magnets. You just wrap it over the top of the page and the two magnets grab. LOVE IT! Isn't that Sweet Pea paper adorable? I have to confess, Diane, that I saw this on your blog and did pirouettes of joy when I saw the initial 'P'! I was hoping it would make it's way up here! Thank you so much, I love them!

By the way, the book is 'Julie & Julia - My year of Cooking Dangerously'. I haven't seen the movie yet. I like to read the book first. So far it is hilarious.

I'm Extremely Excited!

How would you like to have this sitting on your front porch waiting for you? Sale-a-bration is such a exciting time at Stampin' Up! Getting FREE merchandise is always exciting! The warning on the top of the box is so true. My wonderful Mr. Brown knows how happy I get when he brings me one of these big boxes. To get yours, go get your catalog and place an order today! Don't have a catalog? Call me and I'll get one to you. Find out how you can get free stuff, plus one of these fantastic boxes of your very own!

New Toys!

Mr. Brown brought me some new toys from the Occasions Mini Catalog and I just love them. Honestly, everything in this mini is delicious!

I started out with a 3" x 6" piece of Very Vanilla card stock (101650), folded in half to make it 3" x 3". I used the Pinking Hearts Border Punch (117649) on the bottom. Then placed a 1/2" x 3" piece of Pretty In Pink Card Stock to show off the pretty edge. The Scallop Circle Punch (109043) was used on Chocolate Chip card stock (102128). I put a tiny detail around it using the 1/16" Handheld Punch (101227). I love the Extra Large Two-Step Bird Punch (117191) and used it three times to make the body of the bird in Pretty In Pink, the wing (Sending Love Specialty Designer Series Paper 117153), and the branch on Mellow Moss (102898). He needed to see where he was going, so I added a dot for his eye with the Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Marker (100071). I traced the flap of the envelope with the Sending Love DP and adhered it with the 2-Way Glue Pen (100425) for a little bit of a surprise when you turn it over. A couple of hearts found their way on the front from the Heart To Heart Punch (113694). The whole thing is just so soft and pretty. Makes me happy!

If you would like to have the current Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini Catalog, please let me know, and I will make sure you get one!

Voila' - It's What's For Dinner!

One of my favorite blogs to visit is Inking Idaho, with Becky Roberts. She is so talented and her projects always catch my eye. So, of course, I have to steal from her!

On her post of October 11, she used the chef from the Voila' (115102) stamp set to make a cute recipe card holder. I have always liked that little guy, but he is kind of hard to use. Becky's idea fit him to a tee! I used designer paper for his chef outfit (hey, I'm a girl, it's an outfit!) and attached him to a jumbo binder clip with Stampin' Dimensionals (104430). His platter was stamped on Brushed Silver card stock (100712). His cheeks are flushed because he has been working so hard in the kitchen for me (Blush Blossom Ink pad 102080 and marker 100037). When I placed a recipe in the binder clip, it kept slipping and falling. So I grabbed my Dotto (love that Dotto! 103305) and ran it over the metal a couple of times and now the recipe stays where I want it. Wouldn't this be a cute hostess gift? I can just hear him singing "O Sole Mio"! Thanks, Becky! I am a loyal groupie!

My Best Guy

This is Steve, who I love with all my heart! He is the only one on earth who can 'handle me' and believe me, I am a handful at times. He just takes it in stride while giving me that loving smile. After all these years, I still melt.

Paula Deen Where Are You?

Our original vacation plan was to fly the kids back home after our family cruise and Steve and I could park ourselves on a nice warm beach in Florida somewhere and read, read, and read. But Old Man Winter had other plans. Turns out the week we chose to do this is the same week the entire country is blanketed with a record-breaking cold front. So we went to plan B...oops we don't have a plan B! I know, let's go up to pretty Savannah, Georgia and look around. And while there, we can stop by Paula Deen's 'Lady & Sons' restaurant for lunch. We are foot-loose and fancy-free! We don't need a plan, we can just go wherever we want. Sounds fun.

Paula has a STORE too! After a nice lunch in her restaurant I can shop! I am all over shopping in Paula Deen's store!

Oh no! The one week I can visit with Paula, she is nowhere to be found! I learned that I do best with a plan, and maybe even a plan B. Oh well, we will go back someday to Savannah. It is a pretty little town. Someday when it is WARM!

Just Like the Commercial, But Without the Bikini!

We were very lucky recently, to take our little family on a cruise to the Bahamas. One of the stops was Nassau, where we took an excursion to the Atlantis resort! It is huge and just 'over the top' beautiful. The weather did not fully cooperate, however. It was quite windy and cool. So we checked out the awesome aquarium and sights throughout the grounds. It's kinda fun to see the commercial on TV. We were there! And no, that is not me in the first photo, although I considered it! Easy to say now, huh?