Random Acts of Kindness (also known as RAKS)

I am definitely one lucky little girl! As my dear friend Beatrice tells me...(also known as Lady Di)....YOU ARE SPOILED!!!! And she is right about that....that is for sure! And I LOVE IT! I am a firm believer that God gives you the desires of your heart, without asking if you believe that He will. So many times I have been thrift shopping or garage saling and have found something that I have needed at a price I can afford. Or one of my friends "gives me something that I need" and sometimes they just brighten my day with some little thing that they know I will love. In the stamping world we call this Random Acts of Kindness. We RAK some one with a card, or a little gift of stamping supplies. Do an unexpected kindness for someone else. Well...I wanted to share with you some of the RAKS I have received in the past week. Melissa RAK'ed me with this stamp on a day I needed a little pick me up and she knew it. Doris RAK'ed me when she came to stamp camp with this cute little quilting notebook. Susie RAK'ed me today with two bags of clothes. This was an answered prayer that I didn't even pray. She had exactly the right size of jeans that I need that were headed for the thrift shop and she thought of me. I have been wearing baggy jeans the past couple of months because I have lost 20lbs so this was a wonderful unexpected gift plus there are some very nice shirts. When I was trying things on, it felt like it was my birthday or Christmas! I especially love the snowman sweatshirt and I put it on top of the pile so you could see it! Then there was Eric who RAK'ed me with a bunch of crafting stuff that was his mother's. I was especially thrilled with the box of embroidery floss. Think of all the stitching I can do with that! And I have been RAKing other people with craft books that I know they can use. I challenge you to do a Random Act of Kindness for someone else. It will make you feel so good inside!

So Many Scallop Sale-A-Bration Stamp Set !

Only 3 more days till the Sale-A-Bration Sales Starts! Woo Hoo! You are going to want all of them! I have been having a blast making up samples for you this week. This is day "2" of sample making. Today I worked with the set So Many Scallops and I just love it! My goal when making up my samples with these sets is to only use this set and no other's when I make up my cards so that you know that anything I am stamping is in this one set. Punches, designer paper, ribbon, buttons, etc. are fair game to use! I hope you are enjoying the cards. Please leave some comments!

Birthday Whimsy Stamp Set

Today I have been playing with the new Sale-A-Bration set Birthday Whimsy. Here are 5 samples that I made with this set. It is a cute set and fun to use for all those "birthday cards" we make. This set can be yours for "free" by making a $50.00 purchase starting February 1st. I will be making more samples with the other 4 Sale-A-Bration sets and Rub Ons. Come back soon and see the other samples. This sale will end on March 17th. It is a good time to stock up on your supplies and earn these free sets! There are no limits as to how many sets you can get!

January 08 Stamp Camp Pictures

These are the projects we did at stamp camp this month. We would love to have you join us....give me a call!

Winter Bright's #3 & #4

Winter Bright's #2

Winter Bright Simply Scrappin' Kit

Today I have been working on the pages for the scrap booking class that I will be teaching with the Winter Bright Simply Scrappin' Kit that Stampin' Up sells. Registration for this class is closed but if you are interested in taking a scrap booking class in the future. Please let me know. I love the color's in this kit. The pages look much more pretty in real life. I will be uploading more pages as I get them finished. Have a great day! Boo

Sympathy Card

This is a sympathy card that I just finished making. The leaves are from the stamp set Artfully Asian, and the very is from Close As A Memory one of my favorites sets as I send ALOT of sympathy cards. The card stock colors are Ruby Red, Close To Cocoa, Pumpkin Pie and Soft Sky Designer Paper. I used Brads from the Earth Element Brads, stamped the leaves with Garden Green, and verse with Chocolate Chip. I used the corner rounder to do the scallops on the bottom of the card, and 1/8" hole punch to punch the holes in the scallops. The final touches were made with the stipple brush and Close to Cocoa Ink. I hope you like it ! Boo

Chevrolet Hater gets Caught in Chevrolet !!!

Diane just sent me this picture that she captured with her camera phone in Michigan of Mike driving my van. We just about died laughing...and he just about died PERIOD! Mike does not like Chevrolet's at ALL! He has been telling me since we started talking about how inferior Chevy's are....harasses me endlessly about owning one...etc. So when Diane got the opportunity to catch him IN A CHEVY....she took it. We have decided to sent this photo in to Chevrolet so that they can use it in their future AD campaigns ! See ya on all the billboards soon Buddy! Love, Goober

Happy Birthday Dear Diane.....Happy Birthday to You!

Yesterday, Diane and I took a little road trip to the Plover/Stevens Point area. Bernie needed to go in for his "scalping" (also known as haircut). I hold Bernie on the way there in the car and "offer" to help him make a quick "getaway" when we arrive. So far I haven't been brave enough to try it as I know that Lady Di would give me a good "scalping" if anything happened to precious Bernie. But it always makes Diane laugh....and that dog can run fast so I wouldn't even attempt it! While Bernie was at his appointment we went to the Driver's License center so Miss Diane could get a new picture taken for her Drivers License. Then we were off to the Golden Corral where I treated Diane for a late birthday lunch. Her birthday was on January 8th but I was sick then with my post-Michigan cold so we decided to wait till I was feeling better and also so that Diane didn't catch it. I convinced Diane that I needed to take a picture of her as this was her birthday celebration and for the blog. I wanted to go take a picture of the sign that is above the desserts that says Chocolate Fixation Station but she convinced me otherwise...that they might take away my new camera! Actually she told me I should ask permission as some restaurants won't let you take pictures because of there trade secrets. Anyways I tried to get her to go get another plate of desserts so I could take a picture of them at the table but no such luck! But we sure did enjoy them. The turtle cheesecake brownies were to die for! We ended the trip with a stop at Walmart and I bought a cart full of groceries which won't all fit in my cupboards. You would think I was born in the depression era as I always have way too much food stocked up. But I never have to worry after paying my bills that there isn't money for groceries as there is always something to eat around here. We had a delightful day as usual. Enjoy your friends!

Stitching on Scrapbooking Paper

These are some photo's of scrapbooking paper that I stitched on while we were in Michigan. Diane and I had great fun doing this. I also taught Mike's daughter Sarah how to do this and she loved it. She is suppose to send me some pictures when she gets her pages done. I will add photo's to my pages at a later time. The flowers are on two separate pages but I have the sheets over lapping so that they would be easier to photograph. This is a paper piercing technique. Then you stitch them with a back stitch using embroidery floss. I used special stencils that I picked up at Pages In Time scrap booking store in Michigan. It was an AWESOME store! Diane and I just loved it. But you don't need to have special stencils to do this technique. All you need to do is to stamp an image or print a word or image off the computer on to some typing paper and then poke holes about every quarter inch with your paper piercer and use the mat pack underneath your card stock. Remove the typing paper after poking and stitch. You may need to look at your original print to see where to stitch. It sometimes can be confusing to figure out where you need to stitch because once you take the paper off you don't know the direction of the design. Start with a simple shape to begin with before advancing to writing. Try this out!

Winter Wonderland!

Good Morning! This is the site I saw when I looked out my back door this morning. Of course I had to go run and get the camera! It is absolutely breathtaking here today. A very good time for you to come to visit. I was teasing my dear friend Colleen from Oregon this morning that her boys would LOVE to come live with me. They were so excited when they saw some snow on their recent vacation before Christmas. She said "Yeah....until they get COLD !" Well...you have to pay a price with everything in life to a certain extent. They have beautiful temperatures where she lives but have awful wind storms, etc. living near the coast.
This tree on the right is my most favorite tree in the whole wide world and lucky me...it is right here in my front yard! I can see this tree from my computer and when I look out the back door and turn slightly to the right you can get this beautiful shot of it. Many pictures have been taken in front of it through the years. Lots of "first day of school" pictures, Homecoming and Prom pictures. I hope some day to shoot "wedding pictures" and pictures of "grandchildren" by it. Jenna was teasing when she was home because I was upset about some tree's being taken down. She said "Mom...have you become a tree hugger"? I said yes ..I guess I have. Too many trees are being needless taken down in my humble opinion. Hug a Tree!

Quilting News

The 7th Annual 2008 Sewing and Quilting EXPO will be held March 14 and 15 at the Fox Valley Technical College - Riverside Campus 150 North Campbell Road Oshkosh.

To receive a catalog and choose one of the 16 day long classes on Friday and then you may choose 5 - of the 1 hours classes (63 choices) on Saturday AND the opportunity to attend the lunches and dinner prepared by the Fox Valley student chefs - please call or e-mail at the information below. All this at a very low price (especially if you are older than 62. Being younger it not a bad price for all the info being received. Also this is a room full of vendors and they extend down the hall. Of course the are door prizes, and if you enter something (and I hope you do -lap & bed quilts, wall hangings and table toppers or runners, and wearable art) there are some great, great prizes,

NEW ********** HUSQVARNA VIKING AND BERNINA SEWING MACHINES and baskets with sewing supplies worth $300., $200. and $100.

OH, did I mention that there are 28 teachers coming, most are from Wisconsin (2 are not)

I'm sure that Sew "N Sew in Waupaca has some catalogs and maybe the other area quilt shores also. If you would rather call Fox Valley Technical College - 920-293-9191 or Marie Thull - 920-5882-4025 www.fvtc.edu/ContinuingED

Get your catalog now and then send in the entry as they are due by March 7th.

If you do decide to enter something read instructions carefully. Deadline for entering items is February 29th.

COME AND ENJOY!!!! ENTER SOMETHING - YOU COULD BE A WINNER - WINNER- WINNER - WINNER - WINNER -WINNER

The big leap!

First of all....what would the start of the new blog be without a picture of the Queen of Mayberry. Let me introduce you to my third baby, Molly. She is the light of my life and brings much joy into my life. She is spoiled rotten, of course. She thinks she rules the house or at least I let her "think" she rules the house. I just got a new Kodak Easy Share Camera, 8 megapixels with a 3" wide screen. I had been saving my Best Buy Bonus bucks and was able to pay for over half of it with that. Plus I found a great online deal and free shipping. Can't be that. I liked my old camera but could not see if people were smiling or not on the screen or view finder so it is amazing that I had been getting such good pictures. But I want better ones. This also has zoom lens, and a bunch of cool setting so I will have alot more options to get better at my picture taking. I do love to take photo's and carry a camera with me all the time. This one is also slimmer and lighter. It amazes me how small the camera's are getting and I love digital technology and the fact that I can shoot pictures to my hearts content and not have to worry about "wasting" film or having to pay to develop bad pictures. I just listened to a podcast recently about shooting pictures and they said in it that most people with digital cameras still have not discovered this freedom. Just keep shooting and don't be worry about editing etc. Just live in the moment and shoot. You will get much better photo's and you can always do your deleting later at home.