Thank You!

Everyone needs a good stash of thank you cards to have on hand. Here are some that I've come up with.

Black & White

In honor of our new NBA CHAMPIONS, my home-team, the SAN ANTONIO SPURS, we were challenged this week in my Stampin' Up! group to create using only black & white (and some silver if we wanted). So here's what I've come up with so far.

I love creating with black & white. It gives everything such an elegant & classy look. It's not over powering, so you can add a ton of little embellishments without it getting overwhelming. Love, love, love this challenge!

Too Much of A Good Thing...

...is most definitely a GOOD THING! Lol. I absolutely LOVE creating things- cards, scrapbooks, tote bags, hair bows, t-shirts. Oh the list goes on & on! Right now I'm lost in pure bliss playing with my newest goodies from Stampin' Up! 

I've been a SU demonstrator off & on since around 2006 & this is the longest I've committed myself to it 150% and I must say, I'm glad that I did! I'm learning so many new things & meeting so many amazing new people...bonus, I'm getting some much needed - and very much deserved - ME TIME to create! Here's some of my latest creations from this week before Fathers Day.

 Hope you enjoy looking (and "casing" lol) as much as I enjoyed creating! 

Balance

So it seems that every time I get some "me time" it's so few & far between that I tend to go a bit overboard & then I suffer so-called burn out from one of the things I love most- CRAFTING!!! Lol. So I've placed 3 new Stampin' Up! orders in the last few weeks & have yet to use ANYTHING I've ordered- until yesterday! I broke out all my new "Big Girl Toys" & got creative! I managed to make 36 cards to use as my swaps at our monthly meetings - which means I'm good for the next 3 months! I also made several single cards of varying sentiments to always keep on hand. Being that I've been at my lovely craft table the last two days, I'm in need of a little break. But here's where the title of my post comes in... I need balance! I love being a stay at home wife & homeschool mom, but I'm also a woman who loves to craft! I know I need more me time. Time in my Word & prayer, time to rest & meditate on God's plans for my life & time to kick back, relax & have fun! Soooo, here's what I've done the last TWO DAYS! 

Me Time!

Finally! Some much needed me time! I was actually able to create some super cute cards using my newest Stampin' Up! sets, punches, cardstock & designer papers. I had a blast! 

Feeling Crafty

It's so rare for me to get some time all to myself to create. Being a stay at home mom, many people assume I have all the free time in the world. Ha! How I wish that were true! With homeschooling all 3 of my kids (ages 12,13, & 14), taking care of cooking, dishes, laundry, & all the other miscellaneous housework, I cherish the few moments I am finally able to sit down & get "crafty". I love crafts! I'm a craft hoarder! Lol. One day, I'm going to carve out an entire weekend devoted to just me & crafting...maybe then I'll finally get to use up some of the massive amounts of craft supplies I have! But for tonight, I was able to steal away for 15 minutes & came up with this cute card. I enjoyed it!

 

Sickness Sucks

Ok, so when your kids are sick, it's naturally your mothers instinct that kicks in & allows you to fight off the fatigue & illness & care for your kiddos. But what happens when your husband gets sick? Yup, that's the boat I'm in now. Daddy seemed to have escaped the "plague" (flu) that had visited us all a couple of weeks ago, but yesterday, it hit him & it hit him HARD! So, I've been running around ragged caring for my sick hubby. He's actually got it WORSE than the kids had it. So what to do? 

Well obviously, the ONLY thing to do is suck it up & care for him. Lol. Whoever said being a homemaker wasn't a job has clearly never been one! 

Long Break

Obviously it's been a while since I last posted. Being that as I yet I still don't  have any followers, I don't really see a problem with this (lol). 

Things have changed (obviously) in the past couple of years. I'm getting ready to celebrate my 15th wedding anniversary this April, my youngest "baby" will be 12 this March, my oldest will be 15 in May & my middle child just turned 13 in October 2013. I'm almost 33 & the mother of two teens & a pre-teen. Where did the time go? 

Hopefully I'll be able to actually maintain my blog this time around, if for nothing else, so I can write these notes to myself. Ha!

Valentines Rosette Wreath

Here's a wreath I made for valentines day out of paper rosettes.

Working Out...

Ok so let's be real, it's New Years and the gyms are packed with people like me determined that this is the year the weight finally comes off. Ok, great. So I'm at the gym right now on the treadmill going 2.5 mph & thinking, " How did I let myself get like this? Am I destined to be the fat girl forever?" working out I'd hard, I don't care how in shape you are. But the good news is I already did the hardest part... I got out the door and into the gym this morning. Lets hope tomorrow I can repeat today's progress! :)

Christmas Wreath

More Paper Rosette Wreaths

Super cute, but VERY time consuming. Love the finished product though!

First Service at the Land!

How exciting! Our first service of 5.14 ministry at our land has arrived and starts in 30 minutes! I have such an expectancy!

Halloween Wreath

Been working on this project for the last week (these little rosettes are time consuming!) & I'm finally finished. I started out working in this to use for Brynn's birthday party & then decided that it can definitely be used every Halloween (as long is it doesn't get smashed!). I'm very pleased with the finished product. :)

Taylor Swift Concert!!!!

Whoo Whoo!!! In the parking lot of the At&t center getting ready for the Taylor Swift concert tonight. Will post pics soon! :)

Themed Parties Are Awesome!

So today is my cousin Hannah's 12th birthday & it's 50s themed. How fun is that?! Here are my two girls, Brynn & Ciersten in their 50's themed ensembles. Brynn is supposed to be a "tough chick" (kinda like Rizzo in the Pink Ladies from Grease) & Ciersten is supposed to be a sweet studios girl (Like Sandy's character from Grease).
:)

Hand Made & Personalized Gift Set

So my cousin, Hannah Rose will be celebrating her 12th Birthday this coming Sunday. Recently I made a couple of altered notebooks & pens. When my girls took them to church with them, Hannah really, really liked them. So instead if just making her a similar notebook & pen set, I decided to make her an entire "gift set". I decided to include a small altered spiral notebook, altered composition book, altered clipboard, altered pen/pencil box & altered pen. All the altered products were very fun to make, just very time consuming. I started at around 8pm tonight & now it's 1:30am. Being that I'm still working on details for Brynn's party & Hannah's party is this Sunday, I wanted to be sure I had adequate time to finish everything I needed to get done. Here are the finished products I created for Hannah.