Good morning all! Well, I feel pretty special today - I have been tagged by a very talented blogger Marie - check out her blog, she is an amazing stamper! Here are the rules:
I must post 7 random things about me* Tag 7 other bloggers to do the same.* Post rules and the bloggers I tagged here.* Leave tagged bloggers comments on their site so they know they've been tagged.
Okay, let's see, seven things about myself that you don't know....
(1) I love to Karaoke and have my very own karaoke machine. Yep, that's right - sometimes I sit in my livingroom and sing my heart out with friends and family! (never alone - what do you think I am, crazy!)
(2) I have served in three war zones - Kosovo, Bosnia, and most recently Iraq. I am proud of my service to my country, but some of the things I have witnessed make me sad and the visions will stay with me forever.
(3) I absolutely love to read and will often stay up until the wee hours of the morning because I have to get to that next chapter - I average three books per week!
(4) I go days (sometimes even weeks) without watching anything on television - I am not a big fan of much that is on and seem to find myself busy with other things such as stamping, scrapbooking, and reading!
(5) I have two little weiner dogs by the names of Bonnie and Clyde and one golden retriever by the name of Cisco whom I absolutely adore and who think they are my kids instead of my pets!
(6) I love people and often find that strangers will come up to me and start telling me their life story. My mom says I wear an invisible tattoo across my forehead that says "tell me all your problems because I care". I have met all kinds of people this way and some of them have actually become friends (the ones with the fewest problems - LOL!)
(7) I love to write and have written several short stories and posted a journal of my experiences in Iraq. I have been asked to write for publications and would like to write a book someday and hopefully see it in print.
So, there you have it! Not super exciting, but me nontheless. So, I guess now I have to tag seven people - I view lots of different blogs so it is a hard choice but here they are:
(1) Tracy aka Stampingirl
(2) Kimberly aka Stampinbythesea
(3) Laura aka Lu-Las Corner
(4) Valerie aka Stampin' Gal Val
(5) Sharon aka Paperfections
(6) Heather aka StampwithHeather
(7) Beate aka Fresh and Fun
These are in no particular order BUT I do stalk these blogs on a daily (okay, sometimes more than once) basis because these gals are super talented and inspire me! Have a great day!
July 9, 2007
July 8, 2007
HAPPY SUNDAY - I LOVE STAMPING AND STAMPERS!
Good morning all! What a great day this is going to be! My son from the Naval Academy gets to make his first phone call home at 4pm today (yes, the phone is with me everywhere I go) - whooppeeee! It is only four minutes BUT I get to hear my baby's voice and tell him how much I love and miss him! His brother and sister are really excited too! Sadly, my DH is in MN on business so he misses out and he is pretty bummed about that!
Ya know, when I decided to get involved in SU! I never dreamed of the intangible benefits you receive - yes, you get the discount, and get to work doing what you love BUT I have found the most important thing to me is the friendships I have made. It absolutely amazes me how blessed I am to have met the wonderful gals I have met! My upline is my hero - Kimberly is the most giving, selfless, fun, and loving person I have met in a VERY long time. Meeting her and having her as a friend has been great for me, especially lately with all the changes in my life. So, here's to all the great stampin' friends we all have met and will meet in the future!
Okay, I actually do have a card to post, I just had to wax poetic first - LOL! Here it is: I have to
tell you I am loving the new in colors - especially purely pomegranate and groovy guava - they are definitely my favorite! For this card, I used the new petals set and I think it came out pretty good! I cut each petal out and popped them up on dimensionals, cut the center flower piece in half and lined it up on the edge of the card so it looks like only half the flower and used my blender pen and markers to color them all. I love it! I did paper pierce the edges, I couldn't help it! I also used dimensionals for the stamped sentiment and added a piece of black ribbon to make it pop! Then, I used my word window punch to add a little something to the bottom of the card. I hope you like it!
Card recipe: (all products are SU!)
Cardstock: groovy guava and purely pomegranate
Stamp set: Pick a Petal
Accessories: word window punch, black brads, large oval punch, mat stack, basic black grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals, black stampin write marker, groovy guava and purely pomegranate ink pads, and blender pen
Ya know, when I decided to get involved in SU! I never dreamed of the intangible benefits you receive - yes, you get the discount, and get to work doing what you love BUT I have found the most important thing to me is the friendships I have made. It absolutely amazes me how blessed I am to have met the wonderful gals I have met! My upline is my hero - Kimberly is the most giving, selfless, fun, and loving person I have met in a VERY long time. Meeting her and having her as a friend has been great for me, especially lately with all the changes in my life. So, here's to all the great stampin' friends we all have met and will meet in the future!
Okay, I actually do have a card to post, I just had to wax poetic first - LOL! Here it is: I have to
tell you I am loving the new in colors - especially purely pomegranate and groovy guava - they are definitely my favorite! For this card, I used the new petals set and I think it came out pretty good! I cut each petal out and popped them up on dimensionals, cut the center flower piece in half and lined it up on the edge of the card so it looks like only half the flower and used my blender pen and markers to color them all. I love it! I did paper pierce the edges, I couldn't help it! I also used dimensionals for the stamped sentiment and added a piece of black ribbon to make it pop! Then, I used my word window punch to add a little something to the bottom of the card. I hope you like it!
Card recipe: (all products are SU!)
Cardstock: groovy guava and purely pomegranate
Stamp set: Pick a Petal
Accessories: word window punch, black brads, large oval punch, mat stack, basic black grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals, black stampin write marker, groovy guava and purely pomegranate ink pads, and blender pen
July 7, 2007
JOYFOLD CARD ALA BEATE
Happy Saturday everyone! Although, I have to say, now that I don't "work" anymore, the weekend does not seem to hold as much importance as it once did - I am sure that will change once the kids start school again though! I thought I would try my hand an Beate's card challenge which was a joyfold card. I love Beate's creations so I hesitated to post this but then I decided WHY NOT??!! So, here it is:
I had never done one of these before so I was quite excited that I managed to put it all together and make it work :-) I am a very visual person and Beate does a wonderful job of providing stepbystep pics in her tutorials. Love that woman! Check out her blog if you haven not already done so - she is amazing! Anyway, back to the card. For the base I used wild wasabi, and the cover and the inside are done using the baroque patterned paper (love it!) The flap is made with river rock which on the outside is stamped with the flowers from the baroque motifs set. The center flower is stamped in versamark and embossed with clear emboss powder and accented with dazzling diamonds. The smaller flowers are also stamped in wild wasabi both on the inside and outside of the flap. Then I stamped the large doodle in wild wasabi and added some glitter highlights on the inside of the flap. I paper pierced around every part of this card - I can't help it, I love doing it! Then, I stamped the last flower in the set on wild wasabi paper in the same color, cut it out, popped it up on dimensionals, and added one of SU!s new circle rhinestone brads (I used the green ice). Voila - finito! I think it turned out okay, but most of all, I am happy that I gave it a shot! Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
I had never done one of these before so I was quite excited that I managed to put it all together and make it work :-) I am a very visual person and Beate does a wonderful job of providing stepbystep pics in her tutorials. Love that woman! Check out her blog if you haven not already done so - she is amazing! Anyway, back to the card. For the base I used wild wasabi, and the cover and the inside are done using the baroque patterned paper (love it!) The flap is made with river rock which on the outside is stamped with the flowers from the baroque motifs set. The center flower is stamped in versamark and embossed with clear emboss powder and accented with dazzling diamonds. The smaller flowers are also stamped in wild wasabi both on the inside and outside of the flap. Then I stamped the large doodle in wild wasabi and added some glitter highlights on the inside of the flap. I paper pierced around every part of this card - I can't help it, I love doing it! Then, I stamped the last flower in the set on wild wasabi paper in the same color, cut it out, popped it up on dimensionals, and added one of SU!s new circle rhinestone brads (I used the green ice). Voila - finito! I think it turned out okay, but most of all, I am happy that I gave it a shot! Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
July 5, 2007
A CARD FOR A FRIEND
Good morning all! I finally had a little time to stamp and decided to make a card for a good friend of mine who I feel like I have neglected this last month with all the craziness in my life. I won't tell you who she is right now since I want it to be a surprise, BUT I will tell you she is an uber talented stamper, a great cheerleader, and a wonderful friend! Here's the card: I finally got to play a little with my new stamps from the new catty - I was very excited about that! I 
really like the new baroque set so I decided to use that one. I could not choose between groovy guava and purely pomegranate paper....so I used both! I think it actually works well together - what do you think? I used groovy guava for the base and stamped the little flower in the set all over in the same colored ink. I then stamped the big doodle on the purely pomegranate in versamark, added some embossing powder, and broke out the heating tool. It is gorgeous IRL, I promise! I paper pierced the edges and used my white gel pen to faux stitch. Then, using one of the other flowers, I stamped it on the groovy guava in the same color ink, used my blender pen and added some accent of purely pomegranate, cut it out, and mounted it with dimensionals (I love these!) Using my large oval punch on groovy guava, I cut it out, stamped a sentiment from the set vases in vogue (hostess set that I LOVE!) in purely pomegranate, added a brad from the vintage set, popped it up on dimensionals, added some stickles for some sparkle (I couldn't help it) and I was done! I really like how this card turned out and don't think the pic gives it justice BUT more importantly, I hope my friend likes it as well since it is in the mail and on the way to her! Have a stampin fantastic day everyone!
really like the new baroque set so I decided to use that one. I could not choose between groovy guava and purely pomegranate paper....so I used both! I think it actually works well together - what do you think? I used groovy guava for the base and stamped the little flower in the set all over in the same colored ink. I then stamped the big doodle on the purely pomegranate in versamark, added some embossing powder, and broke out the heating tool. It is gorgeous IRL, I promise! I paper pierced the edges and used my white gel pen to faux stitch. Then, using one of the other flowers, I stamped it on the groovy guava in the same color ink, used my blender pen and added some accent of purely pomegranate, cut it out, and mounted it with dimensionals (I love these!) Using my large oval punch on groovy guava, I cut it out, stamped a sentiment from the set vases in vogue (hostess set that I LOVE!) in purely pomegranate, added a brad from the vintage set, popped it up on dimensionals, added some stickles for some sparkle (I couldn't help it) and I was done! I really like how this card turned out and don't think the pic gives it justice BUT more importantly, I hope my friend likes it as well since it is in the mail and on the way to her! Have a stampin fantastic day everyone!
July 4, 2007
HAPPY FOURTH EVERYBODY!!
I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday. It is always hard to do when it falls right smack in the middle of the week! We are having a quiet day here - we will watch the fireworks tonight but I have been under the weather the last couple of days and don't really feel like doing much. It's just me and the two little ones and they are off playing with their friends so maybe I can find some stamping time today! Here is a card I made in honor of the holiday. Very simple card using the retired patriotic set (I really like this set though). I wish it was still around! Anyway, I hope you like it!Recipe: All supplies stampin up! unless otherwise noted:
Paper: Brilliant Blue, Ballet Blue, Real Red, Whisper White
Stamps: Land That I Love
Accessories: Real Red Ink, Brilliant Blue Ink, black stazon ink, slit punch, large oval punch, white gel pen, paper piercer, dimensials, real red adn brilliant blue brads, real red stampin write, sponge
June 30, 2007
BACK FROM MY TRAVELS - AND MISSING MY SON
Hi all! Well, it has been a very hectic two weeks - some very happy, fun moments, and some very sad, emotional ones. We spent four days in Orlando hanging out at Disney and then drove to Williamsburg, VA and went to Busch Gardens and the big waterpark they have. Then, it was off to Annapolis to take my oldest son Zach to the Academy to begin his plebe year. Plebe summer is a very intense bootcamp atmosphere and let me tell you, even though I am a career Navy officer myself, leaving my son there was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Zach really wanted to go to the Academy and even though he had numerous scholarship offers, this is the one he chose to accept. I am very proud of him and know he will do well, but this will not be an easy path over the next four years. It is a military academy, designed to make him into a combat-ready officer - and that scares me to death. Having spent several months in Iraq myself, it is hard for me to think about my young son going over there as well. But, I am proud of who he has grown up to be and know he will excel at whatever he chooses to do. I would like to share some pics of the last few weeks, especially the ones at the Academy. Those of you with military backgrounds or affiliations will really appreciate the intense emotions of that day. So, here goes:
This first pic is my three kids, my mom, Zach's best friend, and Zach's girlfriend of two years, Nikki. We are heading into a 3-D ride about Mickey and his orchestra which was amazing to see! Then, there is a picture of Kayla posing with Cinderella which is her ultimate favorite princess so of course she was thrilled to death! Isn't she cute!
Cinderella doens't look too bad either!
Here we all are with Pluto who is one of my favorite Disney characters. We waited in long lines to see these guys but it was worth it once we got in there. There was Mickey, Donald, Minney, Daisy, and Goofy plus all the princesses - how fun! Then, is was off to Busch Gardens - this is us right in the entrance of the gates - one of the few pics of all of us. And, the big water ride - I could not believe I actually caught them coming down the giant hill but there they all are in the front row! I don't do rides with hills since I am afraid of heights, so I am the official photographer most of the time (which I like and am perfectly happy doing)!
Now for the photos of the Academy. I was not sure if I could share these but then decided it might actually be good for me if I do so here they are! First, I should explain about Induction Day or "I" Day as it is known. This is the first day of a very intense seven weeks of training. I dropped Zach off in the morning, and twelve hours later, I was allowed to swear him in to the Academy and spend thirty minutes with him saying goodbye. It was very hard - harder than I ever imagined. My other children Tyler and Kayla had a hard time saying goodbye to their brother - I am blessed with children that are very close to each other and this is a big adjustment for everyone. So, here I am swearing him in with Zach wearing the official plebe uniform (not very attractive, I know). Then, just a pic of Zach. Lastly, the goodbye picture which really hit home for me. You see, the emotion was so real, it was amazing really. Gosh I miss him! 
Well, I hope I did not bore you guys with this long post - not much about stamping or scrapbooking, but what I did the last two weeks nevertheless. I hope to be adding some projects over the weekend once I get settled back in. So, for now this is it!
This first pic is my three kids, my mom, Zach's best friend, and Zach's girlfriend of two years, Nikki. We are heading into a 3-D ride about Mickey and his orchestra which was amazing to see! Then, there is a picture of Kayla posing with Cinderella which is her ultimate favorite princess so of course she was thrilled to death! Isn't she cute!
Cinderella doens't look too bad either!
Here we all are with Pluto who is one of my favorite Disney characters. We waited in long lines to see these guys but it was worth it once we got in there. There was Mickey, Donald, Minney, Daisy, and Goofy plus all the princesses - how fun! Then, is was off to Busch Gardens - this is us right in the entrance of the gates - one of the few pics of all of us. And, the big water ride - I could not believe I actually caught them coming down the giant hill but there they all are in the front row! I don't do rides with hills since I am afraid of heights, so I am the official photographer most of the time (which I like and am perfectly happy doing)! 
Now for the photos of the Academy. I was not sure if I could share these but then decided it might actually be good for me if I do so here they are! First, I should explain about Induction Day or "I" Day as it is known. This is the first day of a very intense seven weeks of training. I dropped Zach off in the morning, and twelve hours later, I was allowed to swear him in to the Academy and spend thirty minutes with him saying goodbye. It was very hard - harder than I ever imagined. My other children Tyler and Kayla had a hard time saying goodbye to their brother - I am blessed with children that are very close to each other and this is a big adjustment for everyone. So, here I am swearing him in with Zach wearing the official plebe uniform (not very attractive, I know). Then, just a pic of Zach. Lastly, the goodbye picture which really hit home for me. You see, the emotion was so real, it was amazing really. Gosh I miss him! 
Well, I hope I did not bore you guys with this long post - not much about stamping or scrapbooking, but what I did the last two weeks nevertheless. I hope to be adding some projects over the weekend once I get settled back in. So, for now this is it!
June 25, 2007
STILL ON VACATION AND LOVIN' IT!
Hi all,
Just a quick note to let all of you know that I am currently in Virginia and will be driving to Annapolis today because my son will be starting at the Naval Academy on Wednesday and I will be swearing him in! What a nice honor - I swear my eyes filled when he asked me if I would (as if I WOULDN'T!) We have enjoyed spending the last week and a half together at the different Disney parks and yesterday we spent the day at Busch Gardens Williamsburg which we all agreed was the best one yet! Not crowded at all, the weather was beautiful and of course, I was with my children which was really fun. I am liking this whole retirement thing although I don't think it has really hit me yet that I don't have to go back to work - LOL! I am sure it will once the bills start rolling in.....but for now, it's pretty wonderful!
I will be back in Jacksonville this weekend and hope to have some really nice pics of the ceremony to share with you. Until then, Happy Stampin' and talk to you soon! Toodles!
Just a quick note to let all of you know that I am currently in Virginia and will be driving to Annapolis today because my son will be starting at the Naval Academy on Wednesday and I will be swearing him in! What a nice honor - I swear my eyes filled when he asked me if I would (as if I WOULDN'T!) We have enjoyed spending the last week and a half together at the different Disney parks and yesterday we spent the day at Busch Gardens Williamsburg which we all agreed was the best one yet! Not crowded at all, the weather was beautiful and of course, I was with my children which was really fun. I am liking this whole retirement thing although I don't think it has really hit me yet that I don't have to go back to work - LOL! I am sure it will once the bills start rolling in.....but for now, it's pretty wonderful!
I will be back in Jacksonville this weekend and hope to have some really nice pics of the ceremony to share with you. Until then, Happy Stampin' and talk to you soon! Toodles!
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