Some more Uppercase Living

Here's some pics of the rest of my Uppercase Living that I said several months ago I'd take pics of! The "Grow old with me..." is in my bedroom above me and Steve's bed. It was our song for lighting our unity candle when we got married. The other one is above my dining room picture window. Enjoy!

Oh, and provided our plane didn't crash, Tiffany and I are in Salt Lake City!! We've picked up our goodie bags of stamp sets and shopped in the famous Memento Mall for all sorts of convention goodies and already swapped out at least one of the swaps we are in!! I can't wait to come back to show them off!

Why am I taking a pic of my thermostat?!

Because this is a pic of an air conditioner THAT DOESN'T WORK!!! Do you see it's set on 74, but the temp in the house is a hot ass 80. We've gone without a/c off an on for a week now!! Momma's getting a wee bit grouchy and not because I've not been taking my medication, either! LOL! I hate being hot. I can't sleep, therefore, I'm tired. And, if you ask my girls what happens when Momma's tired....they'll answer...."She's Grouchy!" and everyone knows to watch out when I'm grouchy. The only thing that has saved everyone's sanity around here (from me) is that only some of those days have been pretty mild, like highs in the low 80's, thank God.

I'm leaving for Salt Lake City at 4am tomorrow!!!! Stampin' Up Convention 2008 here I come!!!!!! (Oh, and it's my first time flying since my honeymoon 11 years ago. I'm a little nervous. But, a co-worker has hooked me up with a prayer for flying which I intend to read over and over and over...).

Blingy Toes!!!

Yes, this is my first pedi of the summer....Steve doesn't like me getting them, says it's a waste of $$. It's one small indulgence of mine, but hey, that's ok. It's a special occasion, though! I'm leaving for Salt Lake City, UT in a couple of days! I have to have pretty toes for convention! Even for that reason, he still frowned upon it. I got my eyebrows done, too, and he had the gall to actually call that an indulgence....spoken exactly like someone who's never had their eyebrows waxed!! Whatev. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Can you see my Croc flop tan lines? Man, I live in those things in the summer!!

Introducing Jenna Marie!!

Here's the very first layout I've done about my new little niece, Jenna Marie!! This was when she was brand spankin' new, the day she was born. I used some Basic Grey "Oh Baby Girl" that I'd been hoarding for a long time. I've got to stop doing that!!! LOL! Anyway, isn't she adorable?! McKenna says it looks nothing like her now.

And yet another convention swap FINISHED! *almost*

I got this idea from something that I saw in Stamp It or PaperCrafts magazines, I can't remember which. Anyway, it was originally done by a very talented lady, Kathleen Paneitz (I hope I spelled that last name right!). Anyway, it's *almost* done because I haven't done the inside pages yet. For that I need Steve's Excel expertise. This is a Holiday Card Planner. It's basically an address book, with a column for the address, a column to mark "sent", "received", and the last column is for the year. But, the design part is all finished, as you can see! I used Real Red, Night of Navy, Chocolate Chip, and Old Olive. I also used the new scallop punch that will be out in the new catalog!!! Stamp set is Peaceful Wishes. TFL!!

Another Convention Swap FINISHED!!

This little 6x6 layout is for the Track 7 Simple 6x6 1 page swap. This was done using a set from the new Stampin' Up catalog coming out in August. Demonstrators get to order few things early from a sneak peek that SU sends out. I just thought this set was too stinkin' cute!! Cardstock colors are Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Natural Ivory, Chocolate Chip, and ....I'm drawing blank....nother brown. Sorry, I'm brain dead right now. It's been a long day. Anyway, TFL!

Asher's name frame

I made Asher's name frame a while back....actually, about a year ago! I just never took a picture, so when I watched him a couple of weekends ago, I got a quick picture and thought I'd post it! I tried to use a bunch of litttle details on here...sewing, buttons, fabric, brads, eyelets, hemp string, double photo corners, stamping, and inking! Whew! Used my Cricut for the alphabet. The colors are all hard to see, but, it's navy blue, yellow, burgandy, and sage...all colors in his nursery.

You are NOT going to believe this....

...ya know the yard sale I was getting ready for? Sweated my arse off for 2 days setting up for? Yeah, that one. I didn't even break $100. Yep, you read that right. Total bust. We're going to give it another go in September/October. WTH?! Did I just type that?! I hate yard sales and I'm going to have yet another one?! I'm on crack. Must be. No other way to explain it.

Steve says blogs that have pictures are more interesting than blogs without. So, let me see if I can drum something up to make my blog interesting.....

Ok, a portrait of a girl who became a nun. Because of the habit they had to wear back then, long hair was impossible to maintain, so she had it all cut off. The family had her hair woven into this intricate, beautiful "thing" for lack of a better word. I also took a close up so you could see the detail. Amazing. And yet, a little creepy. I took this picture when we toured St. Benedict's. Hope this is interesting enough! ;)

I'm a slacker and I hate yard sales....

Ugh. I was doing so well at posting to my blog everyday. Work just gets in the way every damn time. I'm working 4 days this week! Yeah, I know, OMG. Hey, I'm not use to that kind of work week, give me a break! ;)

I can't post anything crafty, 'cause I've not done anything. Why? Work. (It all comes down to that nasty little 4 letter word.) I still have 11 Christmas Card planners to make and 22 more 6x6 pages to do before I leave in 13 days. Wow....13 days. Doesn't seem real. When am I going to get this crap done?!

I spent 3 hours helping set up for a yard sale tonite. Guess what? I'm doing it again tomorrow, too. All for the yard sale I'm having with other people on Saturday. The only reason is so that I have spending $$ in Salt Lake City. Man, I better make enough to make sweating my arse off worth it. This is my second in one month. I hate having one once a year, let alone 2 in one month. Dang it, if it weren't for needing that extra spending money. And, holy mother of gawd, it's hot. I just about jumped in the swimming pool tonite clothes and all.

Me, Steve, Myra and Shelley went to Holiday World on Wednesday. Talk about busy. The water park was crammed. There was a freaking line for the lazy river! Both of them! Insane! We rode a couple rides and the lines weren't too bad....because everyone was in the flippin' water park!! We had a pretty good time, even if I did almost drown in the Bahari wave pool. We spent most of our time in the lazy river. Now that is relaxing. I could spend all day there.

Got a new bike!! An '09 Trek Navigator 2.0 and it's p-r-e-t-t-y!! I love it! Now to get ready for the big 20 mile bike ride Sunday, Aug. 3. Oh, yeah, you heard me right. Me, a bike, and 20 freaking miles. Wish me luck on that.

Also, got a new phone! We are officially a home with no land lines, cell phones only. Our home phone number stayed the same, it's just on a cell now. My cell number stayed the same, too. Steve now has his own cell and a new number. Kinda weird. Oh, but back to my new phone....it's purty. An LG Black Cherry Chocolate. Because this one plays mp3's, I had to relinquish my beloved iPod over to Steve. I was keeping myself entertained on the drive into town this evening. I have something on my phone that ID's songs by putting it up to the speaker for about 10 seconds! It then ID's it. Then, if you want it as a ring tone, it finds it for you automatically in the ring tone application. You gotta pay for it, of course, but how cool is that?! Amazing! Or, maybe I'm just easily amused. Either way, you gotta admit that that's pretty cool.

Well, I need to get off here. It's late, and guess who has to work tomorrow, for the 4th day this week? Yep, moi. ;)

Oh, Nicole, I read your blog and thanks for the "award"! I'll have to post my answer to that or whatever at a later date...like next week. When I only work my normal 3 days! ROFL!

Stamp Camp Swap....FINISHED!

Talk about procrastination! I guess I work better under pressure, I don't know. The instructions and photo of my creation was due yesterday, so guess what I was doing all afternoon? Making my little post-it notecard holder w/matching pen, taking photos, and typing up a supply and instruction sheet so I could email it to the hostess. But, it's done and over with! And, just in the nick of time!

Oh, and what a PITA! I couldn't find the template I had originally found to make this silly thing! I had to totally wing it with dimensions and stuff! I used a small bowl (but you could use the Coluzzle or the the CM circle cutter) to make the top curve part and had to freehand draw the inside handle! It's a little rough, but I was happy with it.

This is using the Summer Fun scrapbooking kit from Stampin' Up. I just love the colors in this kit, great combinations. Bunches of flowers and flourish cardstock stickers, textured cardstock, and great pattern papers. I also used the spiral punch and some grosgrain ribbon as well.

A visit to St. Benedict's

When my FIL and stepMIL were visiting over 4th of July, we all took a trip to the St. Benedict Monastery over in nearby Ferdinand. We, personally, aren't catholic, but Lillian is Polish Catholic so we thought this trip might be interesting for her. Plus, having lived in the area for the last 9-10 years, we've never even visited the place! We made sure to get there for one of the guided tours of the church. Then we were able to tour the grounds on our own. Lots of photo ops! The grounds were beautiful. The church was breathtaking. Here are just a few pics I took. The sanctuary is filled with angels...angel faces in the arches, angels in the stained glass, angel statues surrounding the dome. The top of the dome is gorgeous. All the work is amazing. So much detail. Can you imagine getting married there?! Evidently, only relatives of the nuns can get married there.

Fun with Photoshop

Just messing around with some photo fx in photoshop. Took it easy, nothing too out there....I think the ones I did on Mara and Micah are like charcoal and chalks or something like that. The one of McKenna is just simply b&w. No, I didn't know how to change photos to b&w, so this was an accomplishment for me! Now, photoshoppers...is it possible to change a photo to sepia? I can't figure that one out. I don't suppose they make a Photoshop for Dummies book, do they?

Until next time,

Wishing You the Best

A card I did several months ago, but I don't think I posted on here. If I did, and you remember it, so sorry. Just enjoy it again! LOL! I did this card based on a sketch by Lucy Chesna from her sketch blog (link on the side of my blog under "It's All About the Sketches!") and I used what little leftovers of pattern paper I had from the December 2007 BYOM kit and some leftover embellies I had from a Scrap-Tastic kit and a SU stamp in the corner! TFL!

Oh, and if you haven't noticed, I'm trying to post to my blog at least once a day this month! Nicole introduced me to a way to post on my blog without having to log in everyday! GENIUS! I'll try to post something scrappy everyday, but I just don't think that's going to be possible. But, I like pictures, so hopefully, I'll have at least a photo to accompany my posts! Wish me luck!

Make a Wish!

Here's the other card front I'm making to swap at convention! Told ya I like Ruby Red and Cameo Coral together! ;) I used the 5 petal flower, ticket corner and 2 sizes of star punches that SU has + 2 different stamp sets....Independence Day and ?? (it's the birthday set that has a candle in it....where's Tiffany when I need her?! Oh, yeah...Florida!! Must be nice!)

Missin' my Kenna Wee this week. She's staying several days with Kasara and Asher. I know she's having fun playing with Asher and hanging out and helping Aunt Kasara, but I miss her when she's gone! I'll be picking her up Thursday after I get off of work. Oh, geesh, you should've seen the fits Mara and Micah were throwing because McKenna got to stay with Kasara. Horrible. I made it up to them with a Taco drink and choco chip cookies. :)

Dare to be FABULOUS!

Here's one of the card fronts I'm making to swap at convention at the end of the month...I'm stuck on the Ruby Red and Cameo Coral together. My other card front uses the same colors!


Just spent the last two days back home in Mt. Carmel helping Kristi edit the wedding video we took last month. Wow, what a lot of work and we still have a ton of editing left to do. But, it's kind of fun when we get going on it. Confusing, but fun.


Chatterbox design team finalists were announced. Not that I thought I had a chance in hell, but still, a girl can dream. Big surprise, though, all the normal names in the industry were on there. Bitter, party of one, please! LOL!! I can't help it, though. It just reminds me of why I haven't tried submitting anything in a long, long, long time. When I start to submit to things like that, I always seem to lose sight of why I really scrapbook...for me, for my girls', for future family. It's really easy to get wrapped up in trying to make a name for yourself. Ok, rant over. :)

Tiffany, I hope you're having fun in Florida! Say "HI" to Mickey for me! Nicole, hope your having a fun, relaxing time with family! I miss my BFF's!


Time to go pick Mara up from volleyball camp! Later!

Isn't this pretty?!

I had a Girl's Night Out with Tiffany and Nicole a couple weeks ago...we ate at Los Bravos and went to see Sex in the City. Good times. Well, everyone knows that Tiffany goes nowhere without her camera! She took some pics of our gno and made me and Nicole a frame with her favorite picture taken that evening. Isn't it pretty?! This pic and frame was sitting at our scrap space when Nicole and I got to the scrap-filled weekend (June 27-29). Tiffany is always so thoughtful!! Love her! ;)

Oh, and I need to wish my cousin, Josh, a Happy Birthday! I don't normally remember most of my cousin's birthdays, but his is just too easy not to forget....7/7/77! How cool is that?!

Pretty in Pink!

Some birth announcements I whipped up during the scrap-filled weekend for my neice, Jenna! Actually, "whipped up" is really not the phrase I should use. For some reason, I struggled like you wouldn't believe with these. It even reduced me to tears for a minute! I was ready to pull my hair out. They just weren't coming together for me. In the end, thanks to input from Nicole and Tiffany, this is what I ended up with. They have grown on me.

Stamp sets used were I'm Here (retired), Amazing, and another set I'm blanking on (but it's retired as well); cardstock colors are Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, and Natural White; ink colors are Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, and Blush Blossom; eyelets, ribbon, circle, ticket corner and scallop punch; and used the Cricut (Alphalicious font) for the "J". Everything is SU products except for the "J". TFL!

Swap pages for convention

Ok, as most of you know, Tiffany and I are headed to Salt Lake City, UT at the end of the month for the Stampin' Up convention! Yay! Anyway, there is major swapping going on ala SplitCoastStampers.com. Tiffany and I are in 4 different swaps and that doesn't even include the card front swap that EVERYONE does!! One of the swaps we're in is doing a double layout of 6x6 so that we have finished pages to put our awesome convention pics in! Tiffany and I are both signed up for this swap...twice! LOL! Anyway, here's one set I got done during the scrap-filled weekend. Everything is SU stuff, of course. Pattern paper is Ginger Blossom; cardstock is Natural Ivory, River Rock, Blush Blossom, and Cameo Coral; jewel brads in Fire; ink is River Rock; punches used are photo corners, 5 petal flower, and boho blossom; stamp set used is Office Accoutrement. TFL!

P.S. Evidently the window I took this photo in front of is in desperate need of cleaning...hence the shadows on it! How embarrassing! ROFL!!! So, just know that there really aren't random smudges all over the layout IRL.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Not too sure of what our plans are today...spending time with family & probably watching the fireworks in Huntingburg after the Dragons game. Pretty low key stuff. I hope everyone enjoys the holiday & stay safe!!

This was a make-n-take I made for one of Tiffany's parties a couple weeks ago. I was borrowing this stamp set to make some of my card front swaps for convention, but she wanted to use the set at one of her workshops. Well, I forgot to bring it to her in time for her to whip up a m-n-t for her workshop, so I made one really quickly for her! I can't remember the name of the set (shame on me!!), but I used every single stamp in the set! Cardstock colors are Real Red, Night of Navy and Natural White; ink colors are Real Red and Night of Navy; hemp string was used on the firecrackers and 2 different sized circle punches. TFL!

Circles galore!

A 6x6 double layout for a convention swap at the end of the month! This swap is for finished pages to put our convention pictures in when we get back. There really aren't smudges all over the layout, so try to imagine it without them. I used Cutie Pie pattern paper; Simply Circles stamp set (retired), Make it Count stamp set (hostess set, soon to be retired), and So Much stamp set (soon to be retired); cardstock used is Certainly Celery, Rose Red, and Natural White; ink colors are Certainly Celery and Rose Red; and all 4 different sized circle punches (the big white circle is cut from the Cricut). TFL!

I've been tagged...

I've been tagged by Tiffany and Nicole! Well, guess what...scroll down to find out who I've tagged (don'tcha just love these?! LOL!)

Ok, here are 7 random weird things about myself:

1. I'm deathly afraid of spiders...like so bad that I literally get sick to my stomach to just look at them.

2. I was refused a job at Shoe Carnival because I came back as "high risk" for shoplifting after taking a personality test!

3. I could eat ice cream for dessert 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

4. I never wanted to have kids! I had to agree to have at least one or Steve said he wouldn't marry me!

5. Speaking of kids....I was sooooo sick during my first pregnancy that I lost 20 lbs, was hospitalized 3 times, at home with IV's, PICC lines attempted 3 times and had a Hickman catheter in my chest to "feed" me 24/7 and I still continued to get sick until the day Mara was born!

6. I learned how to barefoot waterski when I was 13 years old. I'd been skiing (on one ski and 2 ski's) and kneeboarding (doing 360's!) since I was 9 years old.

7. I had gout in my big toe (talk about PAINFUL!!!) on me and Steve's very first date. My Mom didn't want me to go out because I was in so much pain and could barely walk, but I was not going to miss my date with him!! (Good thing, eh?)

There. Good enough? Totally embarrassing.

Now, here's who I'm tagging!! (Maybe this will be the kick in the bootay that some of these people need to update their blog!)

1. Shan

2. Liz

3. Monica

4. Laura

5. Krystn

6. Carmen

7. Susan