Last post for March . . .

Okay . . . here's your last chance to enter into the March Blog Candy drawing! If you follow, you get another entry too!

I needed to make a few birthday cards, for April. The one on the left is from the Botanical Blooms stamp set (Sale-A-Bration) and the one on the right is from the Vases in Vogue stamp set (retired). I'm going to be sending our Easter cards out this weekend, so everyone gets 'em in time! FUN! There's a new Stampin' Up! promotion starting tomorrow . . . I'll fill you in, when I announce the March winner!

I just have to share something funny! Jenny's husband, Scott (you remember, the great chef?), is going to some NASCAR race this weekend. This left Jenny as a weekend widow. I offered for Jenny to spend the night over here on Friday night and then we have our Punch class at Jeri's on Saturday morning. After Jeri's class, we had planned on coming back to my house and scrapbooking for awhile, so I thought it worked out perfectly! Oh so much girl time! Anyway . . . Jenny wanted to make Scott a little jealous and said, "I'm going to be sleeping with another man on Friday night!" He said, "Are you planning on sleeping with Nathan or Patrick?" He was onto her! (giggling) I just had to share, I just love it when he stumps her like that! :o)

We have Cousin Night, at Theresa's house, on Saturday night too! I'm just gonna be pooped . . . crafting and a date night with my hubby, all in one weekend?! Better start resting up now! :o)

I made this little explosion box . . . I CASE'd (AKA: scraplifted) it from Dawn's Stamin' Thoughts. Dawn does little video clips 2-3 times a week. I love her little "Hi Stampers . . ." at the beginning and her "Okay, Bye" at the end! Too cute! Dawn mentions that the lid is a tight fit and she's not kidding! If you want a bit looser lid, add maybe 1/8" to the lid. We're going to give this to Terry's Mom, for Easter. I figured that we could put some little pictures of the boys inside and have them write little "love notes" on the parts that fold in. Didn't it come out cute?

Have a great day . . . thanks for stopping by my craft room!
Peggy

Inspired Scrapbook Page

ARGH! I'm really getting to hate tax season! I was all ready to turn in the tax stuff and Terry said, "Where is your Stampin' Up! inventory sheet?" I couldn't find my Excel worksheet to save my life, so I had to recreate it tonight. I hope I got everything now . . . I'm sure our tax accountant will let us know, if we've forgotten anything! :o) The tax people definitely earn their money during this season, that's all I gotta say!

Okay, now onto the fun part! Since I was scrapbooking the boys Valentine's day parties, the page had to be red . . . besides, how would you have gotten color inspiration off that page?! It was a hodgepodge of colors!

I did stay kinda close to the format, of the inspired advertisement task . . . don't 'ya think?! With a 12"x12" scrapbook page and pictures that are 4" and 5.25" wide . . . there is only so much you can do!

I'm going to being honest here . . . once I trimmed the pictures, the layout of the pictures went fast, because I had an idea of what/how I wanted the page to be ahead of time.

Okay . . . now picture this . . . you could also do this with a card . . . how about matted snowflakes (glittered of course) going down the left side of the card, with two columns? Different kind of snowflakes, but all about the same size. You could put "Let it snow" along the right side. A scrapbook page, with your kids in the snow would be perfect too! I know some of you have snowflake stamps out there . . . get busy on what you could come up with! ;o) Get inspired! Who said you can't do Christmas cards in March?

Thanks for stopping by the craft room!
Peggy

Inspiration

During Jeri's downline meeting yesterday, Jeri demonstrated that you can get inspiration from anywhere.

My "assignment" was to take the Walmart ad (left) and create a card from it. I should have Cuttlebug'd the pumpkins color . . . but I still like the layout of it. Here's what I came up with (right). Although I love the colors, I love the fall colors myself, I probably wouldn't have thought to put them all together on a card?!

Just goes to show you that you can get inspiration from anywhere! This definitely has inspired me . . . I'm going to go craft now! :o) Here's my inspiration piece (below) . . . want to know what I'm going to come back with? I'll post it tomorrow . . . I love the shabby-chic windows on this page . . . gosh, anyone know where could I find some of those?!

Look at all these posts . . . just more chances to get in on the Blog Candy drawing, on April 1st! :o)

Thanks for stopping by the craft room! Enjoy your day and get inspired!
Peggy

Punch Rack

I found this idea on the Internet, so time ago. The blog I found it on purchased their racks from Ikea . . . we don't have an Ikea around us, so I've been looking to these little kitchen towel racks since! The other night, prior to our snow storm, I went to Nuts & Bolts (a local Ace hardware store) and found 'em . . . I was SO excited, that I purchased two . . . good thing too! I didn't really realize how many punches I had! These were ~ $4/ea . . . but I didn't have to pay for shipping. Ikea does have accessories for their racks, that are on my "wish list" . . . wouldn't the baskets be great for storage for the little corner punches, etc?! I just LOVE my new little organized punch corner!

Yesterday, during our 4" snow storm . . . I drifted off to Jeri's downline meeting. There were four of us that ventured out into the snow . . . Jeri is having a repeating meeting on Monday night, for those who weren't as brave. I only live about 4 blocks away from Jeri . . . so it wasn't bad for me at all. At the meeting, Jeri demonstrated how we could look at advertisements in a different way . . . you can get color and layout ideas from them (see other "Inspiration" post).

I had some thank you notes to do . . . so I worked on these yesterday. I hadn't used the Watercolor Vine wheel yet, so I wanted to try it out. I temporarily adhered what I wrote, on the inside, so they could use it, if they'd like.

Okay . . . going to start going through my magazines for inspirations! Thanks for stopping by the craft room!
Peggy

Dad Update +

Sorry that it's been awhile . . . Dad was back into the hospital!

The ding-dong (I had another name for him, but I'm staying politically correct) thought he could lift a 60 pound bag of sand, all by himself?! He started feeling a discomfort in his chest area and started to sweat . . . so LaDonna drove him to the ER . . . his heart was into Atrial Flutter this time! The "Electrician" Cardiologist did what is called an Cardiac Ablation yesterday and now he's good as new! He went home today! Hopefully he now realizes that he can ask for help AND doesn't have to do everything in 15 minutes?! Hell, they're retired . . . what's the rush?! :o)

Wanted to welcome Janice to my Stampin' Up! downline. She signed up to be a demonstrator today! Hopefully she'll have just as much fun as I have, or more?! (I don't know if that's possible . . .) Oh what fun we're going to have. Janice is the one sitting in the chair (left/front). This picture was taken last September, when I hosted a crop @ my house. Our little crop group, since this picture, sure has grown! We sure do have alot of fun though, when us gals get together!

This Saturday my upline, Jeri, is having her Downline meeting. We've been asked to do a card swap too . . . oh what fun! Here's the card that I've made for the swap. I just love this 'lil chick, from A Good Egg stamp set, can you tell?! The sentiment, on the card, is "you crack me up" . . . so it can be used for something other than just Easter! A multi-functional stamp set! :o) I might try and glitter the chicks too . . . everyone loves bling!!!

I hope you have a wonderful day! Thanks for stopping by the craft room!
Peggy

p.s. Welcome Steff, as the newest blog follower! Oh the pressure is on now . . . another blog follower + one week until the Blog Candy drawing!? She hasn't left any comments yet . . . so not too much competition yet girls! :o)

Busy day yesterday!

Hey there ladies!

Well, the workshop went well . . . all the projects turned out really cute. Someone left their blue basket though . . . I'm sending out an APB on a missing basket. Can you believe this?! I forget to take a picture . . . I had the camera down there and all too! :o( The girls didn't remind me either?! hmmmm, wonder why?!

Theresa, Cara, Tammy, and Steff stayed after the workshop was over (it was an early night, they left at midnight)! :o) Theresa and Cara made 'lil bunny chocolate bar wrappers, which all turned out really cute! Tammy worked on some birthday and sympathy cards. Steff worked on her wedding invitations; she's getting married in October.

I was a busy girl yesterday too! I took the boys to Sheer Madness, to get their haircuts. This is the neatest place for kids to get their haircuts! Instead of barber chairs, they have cars AND the kids get to watch their choice of movies, while getting their hair cut! The boys really enjoy going there and sitting in the Tony Stewart NASCAR car. TOO COOL!

I had a couple chick cards left (and cut a couple more), so I decided to get our Easter cards done at least (six of 'em). Kelly, one of the gals that came to the workshop, mentioned that she's trying to find a seed packet holder; for party favors at her daughter's wedding. I'd found this seed packet holder instructions on the Internet . . . so I decided to make it and see what it turned out like. I added the little cut out, once you open it, to make it easier to remove the seed packet. I think we're going to make this at the April workshop . . . I think this would be cute to give to our Moms, Grandmas, or Mother-in-Laws, don't you think?

I promised Terry that I would finish up all my tax paperwork today, so we can take it in tomorrow . . . so I'm going to go finish that up and then I'm going to Jeri's Make & Take today @ 2:00P. I can't wait to see everything we're going to make! Her blog showed a couple items, check 'em out . . . as she's so very talented! My card, that I took to regionals, ended up on her blog too! WAHOO!

Just a little over a week, until the Blog Candy drawing . . . be sure to leave comments and follow the blog, to get entries! The drawing will be the evening of April 1st! There is also a drawing for the Heart To Heart punch, for anyone that places a $50 order, during the month of March.

Have a wonderful day! Thanks for stopping by the craft room!
Peggy

Spring Workshop/Class

I just had to share with you what the gals are making tonight @ the Spring Workshop/Class!

• The flower card opens at the top, I seem to always forget that cards can open that way. The flower petals are punched out with the small and large oval punches.

• The little basket is made with the Sizzix Scallop Envelope (two pieces) and then a 1.75"x7.75" of designer paper (bottom) + 1"x12" of designer paper (for the handle).
• The "Thank You" card is made with the Sale-A-Bration paper and the Eight Occasions stamp set . . . it's a gift card holder (see below). I just thought the layout for this 'lil card was so cute!
• The chick is an Easter card, that is on a hinge (brad) and is on So Saffron and Kiwi Kiss paper. The Kiwi Kiss paper has the scalloped edge punch along the top.
  

We're going to have some new gals joining us tonight too! There are a few gals that are even going to stay, after class . . . no, they're not in trouble . . . they're staying to play!! :o)

You know the saying, "Do what you love and love what you do."? I can honestly say that this is what I enjoying doing . . . creating with family and friends. It's so enjoyable!

I love looking (peeking) at other gals craft rooms, so I thought I would share mine. My 'lil desk is the first table on the right side. I have a computer behind my table too, so if I need to access a website, etc. it's right there. With me bringing down another table, we're now using the kiddie table, for the White Russians/bar! :o) It works though, don't 'ya think!?

Just a few more hours, until the gals arrive . . . gotta go . . .

Thanks for stopping by the craft room!
Peggy

Theresa's Cards

Here are pictures of the cards Theresa made on Saturday . . . didn't she do a fantastic job?! Theresa got her inspiration off of Sue Nelson's website. Sue is a very talented gal . . . be sure to check her website out! Maybe she'll be the inspiration for your next card too!

Thanks for stopping by the craft room! Great job Sissy, on your cards!
Peggy

March Blog Candy . . .

Well . . . we're still not as organized as we would like, to give to our tax accountant . . . but we're another step closer! I just had to stop and show you what you could win, for the Blog Candy!!

Want to know the March Blog Candy? If you are the March winner . . . you'll win your choice of either Paperboard Fairies or Chipboard Queens! There are quite a few paperboard pieces, in these . . . perfect for a scrapbook or card embellishment!

Theresa e-mailed me pictures of all her card projects, from yesterday . . . I'll be sure to post them tomorrow! Until then, I hope you have a quality day!

Good luck ladies! Thanks for stopping by the craft room!
Peggy

Dotte Crop

Us girls had a WONDERFUL time yesterday! There were 12 of us gals, Melanie and Laurie left earlier in the night and missed out on the Kodak moment! :o)

We had some "fresh meat" there too! Karen (grey outfit) showed up to the crop. She and her husband recently moved here from Texas, but was originally from Tennessee. Funny . . . she didn't really know a soul there, but because of common interest of crafting/scrapbooking and her personality, she fit in perfectly!

Jenny brought us a little project to do, that we'd seen @ Jeri's on Tuesday evening . . . covered Hershey Bunnies! (shhhh . . . we scraplifted!) Are they cute?! Take a 5"x6" piece of designer paper and wrap your chocolate bar . . . then you'll need the following punches: large and small oval (ears), 1 3/8" circle (head), 3/4" circle (face), and regular paper punch (eyes) or you can get googly eyes. You can cut a rectangle out, for the teeth, or leave it off . . . it looks cute either way.

I played with some of my new stamp sets and got a some cards and scrapbook pages done. Theresa's already starting on her Christmas cards! :o) She made four different ones; they all turned out really cute! I'll have her send them to me, so you could see them. Jenny reincarnated some glass Frappuccino bottles, covered some paper around the middle of the glass and pop-dotted a scalloped circle on the top . . . they were cute! Melanie came and made 3 recipe book fronts, for her sisters. Melanie and her three sisters get together every year for a weekend . . . Melanie is making each of them a family recipe book. Cute idea huh?!

I have to share this with you . . . Theresa found these @ Michael's, in the $1 section! The chipboard and jump-ring was $1 + the pre-cut paper was $1 . . . so for $2, you have a cute little chipboard album! They have the star, a house, and a water splash . . . wouldn't the house be cute for first-time home buyers? I asked Theresa to get me the star, so I could put the boys pictures of their achievements or classmates, etc.

I had a fantastic day, with a wonderful group of gals! Thanks for stopping by the craft room!
Peggy

p.s. Gotta go finish getting our taxes ready . . . I'll post the blog candy later today!

This weekend . . .

Hey there ladies! I hope you've had alot of fun, these past few days, and all is well!

This Saturday, a bunch of us gals are getting together and renting a hall for $50/day. Depending on how many of us show up, we divide it evenly among all of us equally. Jenny asked if I would bring the little triangle box, for a $1 Make & Take. (Oh darn . . . a reason I have to go downstairs to craft AND make a little money too?! Twist my arm, why don't 'ya?!) I changed the colors a bit . . . and the stamp . . . but here's what the M&T looks like, for Saturday. The below diagram is how you make the triangle box. Once you have the box made, punch some holes @ the top and string some ribbon through it (this will hold it together - see other picture, for punch placement).

I just gotta share this with you! Terry and I have a Mac computer at home and I use a PC all day at work. The problem I had most with the Mac is I couldn't do spreadsheets or a text document very easily at home. Problem solved! Terry bought me Office:Mac, off eBay, and it arrived today! WAHOO! I can do Excel spreadsheets & Word documents now! Isn't it wonderful, when it is the small things in life that make your socks go up-n-down?! Good thing I'm easy to please, huh?! :o)

Tomorrow night, I will be deciding on what to take on Saturday and packing all my stuff. I promise I will take some pictures on Saturday, so you can see all of us gals "crafting" . . . so far, I believe there is about 15 of us. We're going to have so much fun! I can't wait!

I'll post on Sunday . . . okey dokey? I'll post the Blog Candy then too! Until then . . . thanks for stopping by the craft room!
Peggy

Crop with Nancy and girls . . .

Well, yesterday, I finally got to meet Nancy, Emily (Nancy's youngest daughter), and Christina (Emily's friend)! Nancy and Jenny met years ago, via work . . . I can see why they became friends! Nancy has a great sense of humor, a kind heart, and that Minnesooota accent . . . too cute!

Here we all are (L-R: Cyndi, Jenny, Laurie, and Nancy), before we all got REALLY started . . . you can tell, because you can still see the table in the picture! :o)

Jenny had some projects, for the teenagers to do . . . stamping on tile + decoupaging some wooden boxes, etc. and the projects turned out really cute!

Jenny and Nancy worked on their address books, the workshop from last month. I got done with my stuff, so I asked if they wanted me to help with one of their divider sheets . . . heck, they had 13 to create! I took one of the Stampin' Up! stamps with a porcupine and a butterfly on it's nose . . . stamped the sentiment, "Thanks for sharing you with me". I made a little pocket and put a piece of cardstock in it. On the piece of paper, they are to write each other a note (about their weekend together) and then swap 'em, before Nancy leaves on Wednesday. I thought it would be neat, to look back on the address book, years from now, and remember the weekend, etc. Cute huh?!

Okay . . . now onto the food section of our day! Scott really out-did himself! Not only did he make us gals Taco Soup . . . but he made these cute 'lil Phillo cups, with a chicken, taco seasoning, and cheese mixture (for an appetizer). Jenny said that he comes up with these food concoctions on his own . . . great job Scott . . . they were delicious!

We all had a great time crafting @ Jenny & Scott's house and it was wonderful to finally meet Nancy!

Thank you for stopping by the craft room!
Peggy

SU Regional Seminar in Lincoln, NE

Oh my gosh! I had SO much fun @ the Regional Seminar! Look at all the card swaps I came home with?! It was such a great experience! I left yesterday @ 8:45A . . . got to Lincoln around 12:15P. Once we got into the hall, we found seats and started swapping! It was alot like Trick or Treating, but for cards. :o) The seminar lasted until 5:00P and then I drove home . . . in some hellacious rain storms in Platte City, MO and St. Joseph, MO I might add! I was only about 1 hour from home by then, so I just threw on my wipers on high and white knuckled through it! :o)

I learned some GREAT ideas . . . a couple of them we're going to do at the Easter Workshop, on February 20th. How cute is this little basket?! I made this in a matter of minutes this morning! Take 2-Bigz Scallop Envelope die, 1-Desiger Series Paper (DSP) cut to 1"x12" (for handle), cut coordinating DSP 1 3/4" x 7 3/4" and score @ 2 1/4" and 5 1/2". Adhere together and viola' . . . you're done! If you want a thicker basket, you can cut the DSP 2" x 7 3/4" . . . it'll make it a bit wider. Wouldn't this be cute with some Easter grass, jelly beans, and Peeps?!

Today I'm going over to Jenny's house. Her friend, Nancy, is in from Minnesota, along with her daughter and daughter's friend! Jenny's having us all over for an afternoon crop @ her house. I haven't met Nancy, but have heard so much about her, from Jenny, over the years. I'm SO excited to finally meet her. I promise to sneak a picture of all of us (they think I'm bringing my camera to show them stuff from yesterday . . . HA HA HA . . . do I have news for them?!) Scott, Jenny's husband, is going to fix us Taco Soup for dinner! Scott is an absolute wonderful cook and enjoys trying out new recipes, so we know it'll be delicious!

Here are some close up pictures, of some of the cards I swapped for yesterday . . . aren't they beautiful? Thanks for stopping by the craft room!
Peggy

Getting ready for Regionals . . .

I guess I'm as ready as I ever will be, for tomorrow, at the Stampin' Up! Regional Seminar . . . I can't wait! I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve! I'd better take a sleep aide tonight, or I won't sleep! :o)

I need to thank Jeri (my Stampin' Up! upline), for all her help! She helped me map out all my projects, since I'm a newbie at all this . . . I didn't know what to expect . . . still don't, but I feel more prepared thanks to Jeri!

Jeri also created a blog yesterday too! She's a very talented lady and has a inspiring craft room . . . I've learned so much from her! Check out Jeri's blog and leave a comment . . . remember how excite we all got, when we all got our first comments posted on our blogs?

Dad is back home now! He had his first physician appointment and his BP was 120/70 and his HR was in the low 80's! SUCCESS! Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers ladies!

Okay . . . gotta get up early tomorrow . . . got a 3.5 hour car ride (by myself)! Oh Sissy, you can only imagine all the songs I'm going to be singing on the way to Nebraska . . . I'll have my own 'lil rock concert! :o)

I'll upload all my swaps, once I get back home! Thanks for stopping by the craft room!
Peggy

Get Well Wishes Dad . . .

I went downstairs again today! :o) I had to, to be able to watch the season finale of the Bachelor . . . oh Terry . . . twist my arm!

Theresa had sent me a link to this little tea bag holder, the other day. I decided to see if I could tweak it . . . since I coincide tea bags with being ill . . . you know who I immediately thought of! Dad! The first little section is for our get well sentiments and the second little section is for the tea bag.

Dad had another Cardioversion today . . . listen to me whip out those medical terms! :o) I Cardioversion is "a brief procedure where an electrical shock is delivered to the heart to convert an abnormal heart rhythm back to a normal rhythm." In non-medical terms, they used those paddles on him. Well, guess what?! It worked! WAHOO! They had to shock him FOUR times, but so far . . . so good!

I'm going to stop by the hospital again tomorrow . . . so I decided to make this for the big guy. Hope he enjoys it (the tea bag is a flavored decaffeinated tea)!

Going to go finish watching the Bachelor finale . . . have a great night! Thanks for stopping by the craft room and all the well wishes for our Dad!
Peggy

Finally crafting today!

Awww . . . thank you Sandra! That is exactly what I did this afternoon . . . Theresa & Tammy came over to "play" AND a matter of fact, there was chocolate involved! It felt wonderful to go downstairs and craft. I'm still not all done, with all my cards that I'm taking to regionals . . . I'll save those for tomorrow night. Here are a couple cards I did, when Theresa & Tammy were over. I just got the little chef (Voilà Stampin' Up! stamp set) and the scallop envelope (it's a Sizzix brand, but I ran it through my Cuttlebug just fine) in the mail this past week . . . it sure was fun to play!

Theresa and I started "Cousin Night" last year. Once a month, the other ones kids go to the cousins house for a sleep over. Last night it was our turn for Cousin Night. The boys sure do enjoy their time with their cousins! Can you guess which two are mine? Give you a hint . . . they take after their Mom?! :o) The boys do like cutting things out with the Cricut and coloring together, so they really had to twist their Aunt's arm to craft! We had our traditional Pancake Puffs (something different than just pancakes), for breakfast and then Theresa & Bruce were here to pick the boys up. :o( It is not only fun for the boys to have time with their cousins, but it gives the non-hosting parents get a date night! ;o)

Dad had a pretty bad time, when Theresa and I went to see him this morning. His blood pressure was 55 over ?, the doctor couldn't hear his systolic number at all. I can honestly say, the doctor & nurses were ALL over it/him! He had about 10 people in his room . . . pumpin' drugs in him, taking blood, and hookin' him up for an EKG. After about 35 minutes, his blood pressure (BP) was getting back to where it should be and he started getting some color back in his checks. You could tell he was beat and he was yawning alot . . . so we took that as a clue to let him rest. Just hung up with him and his BP and heart rate were both doing pretty good. They're doing another test tomorrow . . . we'll keep our fingers crossed that this goes well, so he's on his way to recovering.

Thank you for the thoughts and prayers . . . and stopping by the craft room! :o) Talk at 'ya tomorrow!
Peggy

The February Blog Candy winner is . . . Tammy! Congratulations Tammy!!

1. Tammy

Timestamp: 2009-03-01 18:09:41 UTC

I've made up some of my swaps, for the Nebraska regional seminar . . . I'll upload them later today!

Thanks for stopping by the craft room! Have a great day! GO KU!! :o)
Peggy