Blogs I have to share . . .

Stampin' Up! came up with this "Stampin' Connection" website, for us demonstrators to go and share business tips, talk about upcoming events, share projects (pictures and sometimes instructions), and most recently . . . a place for us to link our blogs for blog-surfing.

I've gotten so many great connections through this blog-surfing . . . if you have some time, go check out these blogs! These are some very talented women!

Amanda's Blog: Krafting Kreations
Amy's Blog: Amy's Creative Corner
Andrea's Blog: Scrap Stamp and Play
Ann's Blog: The Stampin' Schach
Brandy's Blog: Brandy's Cards
Corie's Blog: Creations by Corie
Crystal's Blog: Crafting & Rambling
Debbie's Blog: The Paper-azzi Connection
Diane's Blog: Rubbers 'n Rafters
Elizabeth's Blog: Stamping Party
Elizabeth's Blog: Covered in Crafts
Ellen's Blog: Puttin'OnDaGlitz
Holley's Blog: Hello Holley
Jacqueline's Blog: Scraps of Life
Jean's Blog: JeanStamps
Jennifer's Blog: Stamptastical
Jenilee's Blog
Jeri's Blog: Coloring Our World
Katherine's Blog: Craft-a-torium
Kath's Blog: All That Scrap
Kathryne's Blog: Crafty Kat Creations
Kristin's Blog: Sunshine, Smiles & Stamps= Lovin' Life
Julie's Blog: Julie B's Stampin' Space
Katie's Blog: KBStamps
Kim's Blog: Jenkins Journal
Kim's Blog: Kim's Kreative Place
Lesley's Blog: Always Playing with Paper
Lisa's Blog: Add Ink and Stamp
Lou Ann's Blog: LouAnn's Inky Ideas
Lynn's Blog: Stamping with Lynn
Marie's Blog: From Boots to Stamps
Maureen's Blog: Crazy Stamping Lady
Pam's Blog: Stamping with Serendipity!
Peggy's Blog: My Craft Room
Rebekah's Blog: Stamp That
Ronda's Blog: Stamp Scrap Diva
Shari's Blog: Southern California Stamper
Sherri's Blog: Lost in Stamping
Sherrill's Blog: Late Night Stamper
Tashana's Blog: Honeybee's Stamping Hive
Tina's Blog
If I left someone off, I'm sorry . . . it was by mistake, believe me! :o)

I hope you have fun blog-surfing . . . I know I get inspired each time I blog-surf the above blogs . . . I hope it does that same for you! If you see something that makes your socks go up & down . . . please leave these gals comments, subscribe to their RSS/e-Mail feeds, and be sure to follow them too!

Thanks for stopping by my craft room . . . now go get inspired!
Peggy

Retirement Gift

Mark, my boss, has decided to retire after 21 years at our company. I've worked directly for him since 2002 and before that, my previous boss reported to Mark . . . so really I've worked around Mark since I've been at my job (1994). His last day is next Wednesday . . . I'll be taking next Thursday off, to mourn! :o(

I gotta tell you a funny (but lengthy) story though. A few years back, Mark mentioned that his wife was putting together a scrapbook for their oldest son, who was graduating high school. I told him how he HAD to purchase this "new" electronic die cutting machine on the market! Well . . . a few months go by and it's Administrative Professional Day . . . guess what?! He bought me one! He actually listened to what I'd said two months before!? I'd never mentioned where he needed to purchase one . . . just that he needed to buy one for his wife. I figured if he wanted to buy one for her, he'd ask. So . . . he started out at the Cricket (Wireless) store, thinking that's where you purchased them. :o) He also went to a local craft store and Office Depot, because I'd told him that it was about the size of a printer. Someone told him that you could purchase them at Walmart, but they were out of stock. He went there every morning, on the way into work, until that Friday . . . he came to work with a card and a Walmart gift card (enough to cover the cost of the machine). He knew if he didn't come to work with something, he'd be in a world of hurt (the official day was on that Wednesday). It still amazes me at the trouble he went through for 'lil 'ole me.

So . . . I absolutely know he'll be expecting me to make something for him! I got the idea from Patty Bennett's blog. Mark and his wife own a home with alot of acreage and horses . . . so I thought the sentiment on the front was fitting. On the inside, I put two gift certificates . . . one to a truck parts place (he recently purchased a '53 Chevy pick-up to tinker with) and a local shoe place (he and I have always made a point to go for an annual shoe shopping trip). At least now I'm guaranteed at least one more shoe shopping trip with him! :o)

I sure am going to miss him . . . but I do know they'll do well through this next adventure of their lives.

Thanks for stopping by my craft room!
Peggy

p.s. In case you're wondering . . . Mark never has purchased one for his wife, but she is a bit technically challenged. :o) I'm grateful that I'll be able to think of him, whenever I use my machine and smile at the story behind it.

March Workshop Projects

Hope you had a fabulous weekend! Kansas City was hit with a winter snow, on the first day of spring . . . the accumulation varied between 7" - 11.5". I do recall, as a little girl, having to hunt for Easter eggs in our house . . . since it had snowed on Easter. I'm so looking forward to spring!

With the boys headin' back to school tomorrow, I'll be returning back to the office. I sure have enjoyed my extended weekend, with my men! Vacation days always seem to short, don't they?

Here are your March workshop projects . . . don't forget to RSVP, if you haven't already.

I downloaded the School Days II stamp set, for My Digital Studio . . . here's what I came up with. At our boys school, they're assigned a 6th Grade buddy on their first day of Kindergarten. Then, on the 6th Graders last day of school, there is an Ice Cream Party for the Kindergarten class and their 6th Grade buddies, to wish the 6th Graders well . . . as they go off to Middle School. It's such a neat tradition (can be a bit of a tear jerker too). :o)

Thanks for stopping by my craft room!
Peggy

Walking with Papa . . .

I know this picture pretty much speaks for itself . . . I just couldn't help but to whip out my camera, when I saw my Dad holding hands with our boys.

I need to branch out and do some cards, in My Digital Studio . . . but I've got ALL these pictures on my hard-drive collecting dust! They're just screaming to be put on a page! :o)

Thanks for stopping by my craft room!

Peggy

April's Christmas Card

Since the boys are on Spring Break this week, I decided to take a couple days off and hang with all my fellas.

We were going to go to the Lake of the Ozarks, but there is a likely chance of snow this weekend. Driving on those Missouri lake roads + snow = one nervous Nelly driver! Can you believe that?! The first day of Spring and it's supposed to snow in the midwest?! So . . . the we'll have to save the lake for another weekend. I think with the NCAA championship on television, Terry wasn't too upset about staying at home either! :o) I was 1st place, last night, in our NCAA bracket (there are 390 of us) . . . I'm down to 4th now. :o( No money for 4th place . . . so I'm hoping there are some upsets today!

Okay . . . you know how we're doing a Christmas card each month, at the monthly workshop? Here's the one for April! I got my inspiration from Jennifer Tribue's blog. This was one of her card swaps, from the Regional seminar she attended. She has a cute blog . . . if you get some time, check it out.

Don't forget the March workshop is next Friday @ 6:30P. Please be sure to RSVP, with how many sets you'd like to make. I'll be sure post the project pictures this weekend.

Thanks for stopping by my craft room!
Peggy

MDS Page + Sale-A-Bration

I created a couple scrapbook pages last night, with My Digital Studio (MDS) . . . of our Spring Fling weekend! Creating pages in MDS is so much fun . . . if you can drag & drop photos and like to be creative with colors & stamps . . . MDS is for you! If you have Stampin' Up! products at home, you can create "hybrid" pages and/or cards, to include coordinating products you already have . . . you can me it more dimensional that way! :o)

We're already starting to plan the next crop, so mark your calendar for October 8th - 10th at the Embassy Suites in North Kansas City . . . if you'd like to join us, please e-mail me.

As a friendly reminder . . . Sale-A-Bration (SAB) is through March 31st . . . two weeks away! For every $50 you spend, you receive an item from the SAB catalog for free! Also, if you've been considering becoming a demonstrator, now is the perfect time! During Sale-A-Bration, anyone who joins can choose any stamp set--a value of up to $47.95--from our current Idea Book and Catalog or Occasions Mini Catalog. Plus, through March 31st, get 15% off the price of the standard Starter Kit or Digital+ Starter Kit!

I became a SU! demonstrator because of the quality of the products, I loved how all the colors coordinated together, I wanted to support my hobby, and obviously be surrounded by fun & creative women! :o) As you can see from the weekend scrapbook pages . . . we do have a great group of C.O.W. members and would welcome the opportunity to add you to our group. Please contact me, if you'd like to discuss this further . . . I'll be happy to tell you more about the great benefits and support Stampin' Up! provides.

Thanks for stopping by my craft room!
Peggy

Spring Fling Doors

Well . . . I made it home, got everything downstairs, and took a nap . . . notice I didn't say "put away"?! :o)

Here are the decorated doors . . . it was SO much fun to see everyone up decorating their doors on Saturday morning. Here are pictures of the doors, on the suitemates that participated.

The only stipulation was the doors had to include the names of the suitemates. See . . . didn't I tell you that we had alot of competition!? All the gals did a superb job! The suite winner was . . . Jeri & Sharon's room. They created a beautiful quilted door front! Yes . . . that texture is quilting! They did a fabulous job!


Theresa won the Passport drawing, of $45 worth of Stampin' Up! products . . . that she shared with her suitemate, Cara.

I just had to share all the suite door pictures . . . weren't all the doors fantastic? I'm going to take pictures of all the Make & Takes and upload those pictures this week. Wait until you see the projects we made! Oh my!


I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Thanks for stopping by my craft room,
Peggy

Spring Fling Photos

Well, the Spring Fling is going well . . . everyone seems to be having a good time. We stayed up late last night, crafting, and got up early!

The Embassy Suites has a Manager's Reception every evening, with free adult beverages from 5:30P - 7:30P. Here we all are having some "quality" girl time . . . it was alot of fun to sit with all these gals and visit, before everyone started crafting. We came to the conclusion that there are 16 husbands that deserve a large "thank you", for allowing all of us to do this. ;o) Terry said that he and the boys are going to come up today, to bring Mommy some lunch (the hotel is very close to our home) . . . the boys are excited, to see all the gals . . . and maybe Mommy?!

Today, we have alot of gift drawings, given by all the C.O.W. members . . . starting at 10:00A - through tommorow morning at 10:00A. About 1 drawing every hour! My fellow C.O.W. members have done a bang-up job! We also have a "Best Decorated Door" contest, with voting @ 11:00A . . . I'll be sure to post the decorated doors. This is going to be some tough competition, with all this creativity around!

Here are some pictures of our event . . . some of the Make & Takes were in the hallway and some were in rooms. I need to finish up my 'lil passport today and do mingling (from room to room) . . . to see what everyone is working on! :o) Oh my, there are some GREAT IDEAS!

Thanks for stopping by my suite/craft room! :o)
Peggy

Chiefs Digital Scrapbook Page

Once I got home from work last night, I tuned into a My Digital Studio (MDS) webinar. I have to say that whenever I sign up for one of these webinars, it just gets me even MORE enthusiastic to create some MDS scrapbook pages! This actually started as one of the pages from the Christmas Jingle designer template. I changed the background paper, kept some of the embellishments, added a stamp, and changed the red to match the KC Chiefs colors. With alot of us using digital cameras now, I don't know about you . . . but I have a bunch of pictures that have never been developed! They're collecting dust on our harddrive! :o) At least I'm putting these pictures onto the MDS pages, right?

On Tuesday night . . . Pam, Tina, and Jeri, and I got together to put the Spring Fling welcome packets together. Tina's daughter came and helped out too; she did a fantistic job! My fellow C.O.W. members are so creative and we always have a wonderful time together. It'll be great to spend the weekend with them.

I'm packing up my laptop, my Make & Take passport projects, and half my craft room (kind of kidding) for the Spring Fling weekend! :o) I can't wait until 3:00P this afternoon! A weekend with great food + a few alcoholic beverages + creative friends = one fun girl weekend! I'm so looking forward to seeing how everyone is decorating their suitedoors. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures!

Thanks for stopping by my craft room!

Peggy

Glass Gem Name Tags/Pins

When I went to the Stampin' Up! sale, last Saturday . . . I purchased a basket (for $1) with some small glass gems/bubbles and a few completed project ideas, in the basket. She'd done a great job in coloring a ladybug stamp (on the larger glass gem). I've been racking my brain on how we could incorporate some type of name tags at the Spring Fling this weekend. Well . . . viola! What do you think?

I made one for each of the attendees. I had to figure out how she attached the stamped image though . . . because the basket didn't come with instructions. I stamped and colored on Whisper White cardstock and then used Sticky Paper (over the stamped image). I used the 1" Circle Punch to punch both the cardstock & sticky paper. Once you adhere the sticky paper, to the stamped side . . . then peel off the other liner and then adhered it to the back side of the glass. I tried different types of glue for the pin closure . . . the only one that I could get to work is the 'ole hot glue gun! :o) Because of the glass . . . it kind of acts like a magnifying glass too, so the images (even though they're small) look larger.

We're already talking another "girl" weekend . . . so if you want to join us, mark your calendars for the second weekend in October!

I hope the Spring Fling girls like their name tags! Thanks for stopping by my craft room!
Peggy

Pinwheel Card

All the SU! demonstrators have a wonderful one-stop-shop where we can share ideas, business advice, etc. Whenever we post something to our blogs, we just include our blog link, so other demonstrators can go check it out. I have found so many cute ideas this way. There are so many creative people out there!

Michelle Fairbrother posted this card on her blog . . . she in turn found this card on Barb Mullikin's blog. Barb even has an awesome instructional video, on how to create this card! If you have a chance, check out their blogs . . .

I just love pink & brown together, don't you? These are actually "Sweet Pea" DSP, "Pretty in Pink" & "Chocolate Chip" cardstock! :o) So . . . those of you attending the workshop . . . you want the Oval Flower card or this one? I'd switch out the middle brad for the Chocolate Chip Corduroy Button brads, since we haven't used those before. This card is a little time consuming too . . . so don't let it fool you, but about 1/2 the punching time & no smudged edges. Majority of the votes win! :o)

Thanks for stopping by my craft room!
Peggy

Oval Punch Flower

I'd seen this on Tami White's blog Friday and thought it was just so stinkin' cute, yup . . . you guessed it . . . I just had to make it! She even has a YouTube video tutorial too! If you don't subscribe to her blog, I would highly recommend it . . . she's a very creative and talented woman.

Theresa & Cara came over Friday night, as I was making this card . . . the verdict is still out on this, to make it at the next workshop or not. There are 19 ovals to punch out + smudging up their edges . . . it is some work . . . but gosh it's cute?! For those of your coming, on the 26th, are you up for the challenge? :o)

Yesterday, I met up with a friend of mine at a Stampin' Up! sale. I picked up this paper stand + some stamps and paper (of course)! I think (back in the day) it used to be for greeting cards . . . but it's a paper stand now! :o) Terry was sweet enough, to help me rearrange my craft room once it got home. I'm thinking that it's going to need some "embellishments" on the bottom drawers . . . but it's perfect for my needs! Believe it or not . . . there are some empty spots! :o)

Got a busy week . . . Jenny & Laurie are coming over tomorrow night, to go over our Spring Fling door decorations . . . Tuesday all the C.O.W. members are getting meeting, to put together all the Spring Fling welcome packets . . . gotta to pack up projects, for the crop weekend, on Wednesday & Thursday . . . and then Friday is the Spring Fling! WAHOO!

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend! Thanks for stopping by my craft room.
Peggy

March Workshop

With the Spring Break week coming upon us, I needed to change the March workshop to March 26th. The one in April will resume back on the 3rd Friday of the month, on April 16th . . . so be sure to mark your calendars!

Here are two of the projects, for the workshop . . . I'll post the other two projects later! Gotta tease 'ya some how . . . right?!?! I just love the In Colors . . . the Soft Suede and Rich Razzleberry are my two absolute favorites! I sure hope that SU! keeps them around! You could make this little "Bitty Box" for Mother's Day or put a pair of earrings in it, for a girlfriend's birthday. It's similar to a itty-bitty pizza box . . . they're cute little boxes!

I can't believe that the Spring Fling is ONE week away?! OMG! Do you gals have your door decorations planned? Everyone attending, including the C.O.W. members, are eligible to win the Best Decorated Door prize!

Got a pretty busy month in March . . . the Spring Fling, Spring Break, March workshop, and the Kids Crop! Oh twist my arm?! :o) LOVE IT!

Hope you're having a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by my craft room!
Peggy

Note Pad Photo Frame

Found this via an e-mail, from our Yahoo sideline group. Once I saw it . . . I just had to go and make one, 'cause it was just so stinkin' cute! It's made with the Big Shot Scalloped Square die. If you'd like the instructions, just e-mail me and I'll send 'em to you. The brown 3.5" square (on the inside) is where you can place a picture.

Last Saturday, the boys school had their annual auction. Oh my did we have fun. First . . . BIG thanks to Jenny, for watching the boys. They had so much fun with her . . . of course the always have fun with Aunt Jenny! :o) There was three V-Smile Pockets up for auction . . . we'd seen these in the store, but hadn't bought them. We got 2 Pockets + 12 games, for what we would have spent on just one of the Pockets itself! Caleb, Nathan's 'lil buddy, got one too . . . his parents bid on the third one. We also got a reserved parking spot, at the end of the drop-off lane, a lunch out with one of the teachers, and a music bag (from the music teacher)! I thought I was going to have to hurt someone, if they outbid me again on the reserved parking spot! :o)

Here's a picture of boys, Monday, morning. We'd gotten dressed, eaten, and ready to go a bit early, so I let them play with their new games, until the clock to said 7:50A! It was picture day even! :o) Can't wait to see their pictures!

I hope you're having a wonderful day! Thanks for stopping by my craft room!
Peggy

Milk Carton Bird House

Being very productive today . . . took the boys to school . . . went and had lunch, with them both (I should say "power lunch", since I had 2o minutes with each) . . . then came home and did a little crafting for a bit too! I'll share these craft items throughout the rest of the week. Here's one of the hot items, with all the SU! demonstrators right now . . . the Milk Carton die Bird House! I changed mine up a bit, in adding more shingles to the roof. Since I had some left over birds, from the February workshop . . . it worked out perfectly! :o)

For those of you coming to the Spring Fling Crop Weekend (March 12th - 14th) . . . we are going to have hourly drawings, courtesy of the C.O.W. demonstrators. Each of us donated 2 items for the drawings. Here are my two items. I saw, on Saturday, what the other demonstrators are doing . . . all I can say is "WOW"! We're going to have alot of happy winners!

Do you have some left over scraps? What 'lil crafter couldn't use some paper? I took some of my scraps (from odd cut pieces when preparing for my workshops) and cut them up to 2.5" & 2" squares . . . a little variety scrap pack + a friend to friend notebook. The other is a Hostess stamp set and paper pack. I wish you gals the best of luck . . . I can't wait! Just a week from Friday! WAHOO!

Now I'm onto watching all the shows I've been DVR'g . . . thanks for stopping by my craft room!
Peggy