Happy New Year's Eve .... day

Happy New Year!!!

Well, I think one of my 'to do' items is with all my playing around on my blog, is to actually figure out how to do some stuff!!! (whatever that means) How to post pictures other than my own, update my blog with new gadgets. THEN, from my saved computer files, put pictures on cd more consistently, clean out the cookies, label places with better accessability for my fading memory and just on general, think outside the bun (box).

Hope your new year is filled with new adventures and that every corner you turn, your dreams come true!!! Reach for the moon, even if you miss, you'll fall amongst the stars!!!

Cardinal Get Well

Although this card is one in the slide show inspired by Markie's Mom it needs to be shown by it's own. I just love how it turned out. Got the new nestabilities Label 1, and I'm actually using a scrap of Holiday paper (flocked red stripe underneath). I really love these birds made out of half a circle punch, they are just adorable. I also punched the flower instead of using a prima.

I'm off to work today, full day... everyone else is home on vacation... oh well... patients at work are a hoot!!

Have a great day!

Boop de doo!

Movin' on up from the holidays and creating something other than Christmas.

This card was *inspired*. I'm not sure who the design is by, but these lil kid images seem to be popping up all over. I used markers to color in the images. Stickles on the gift and hair bow, scraps of paper from my paper bin for the background.

It just says happy birthday on the inside!

The little girl reminds me of my pigeon toed days!

Inspired by Markie's Mom

Classic Pooh

" If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be
listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.”
Winnie the Pooh



I met somebody new, who loves Classic Pooh. So, I found a Pooh I liked and drew him up, used the Swiss dot cuttlebug embossing folder for the background and popped him on the card. Simple, but classic!

Almost all of our 12" of snow, GONE! It's been raining for the last 24 hours, we now have standing water in some spots... weird winter!

Holiday Letter - Part III

HO HO HO!!!

Remember to start at the third post down from this one, and read up.... I guess I could reverse the order of the letter, but I'm sure you can do that. And Cheryl, to answer your question, my 15 year old son, Bubba, volunterily wore the stocking hat.... he wore it all day in fact, and was very goofy (more so than usual) while wearing it!!

Well, Sissy is wearing it here, they actually went back and forth for the photo shoot!

And finally.....

7. Okay, I have to bring up Sissy again, she'll be mad if I don't have something positive to say about her, does she: A.) Volunteer at the animal shelter B.) Cheer for the Bears (Beardsley Bears ) C.) Maintain an almost 4.0 gpa D.) Pick up the floor in her room. If you guessed A, B & C you are correct, D well, lets just say she is the typical teenager, although she does light up a room when she is happy!!!

How did you do? Get them all right? Did you need a lifeline? 50-50? Ask the audience? Why not just phone a friend? In fact, call us! It's 815-479-####. My web blog is http://prdesigns.blogspot.com/ and Email is prdesigns1@sbcglobal.net. We hope to hear from you soon!

** The last paragraph was completely copied from the place I stole this letter idea from!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Holiday Letter - Part II

Check out yesterday's post to read the beginning of this holiday quiz!!! Merry Christmas!!


4. I'm currently A.) Unemployed, enjoying the life of being a stay at home mom, eating bon bons and watching The View. B.) Working at the middle school as a Teacher's aide. C.) Working as a receptionist at an Ophthalmology Office. D.) An Administrative assistant at a manufacturing plant. If you guessed B, you are correct. I'm there temporarily, helping a friend.

5. The big guy is the great dad, the wonderful provider and an all around good guy but he's: A .) Going to be 45 B.) His best golf game this year shot par (36) and scored a new league record C.) Greatly disappointed with the Presidential Elections, and wont even talk about it. D.) Got to calm down on the sidelines of the hockey games and volleyball tournaments. He's just too excited!!! Where's security, get that guy outta here!! Did you guess all of the above?


6. Our family was established in 1990, we've lived in 3 different states in the past 18 years, which is not correct: A.) Murfreesboro, TN 5 years B.) Crystal Lake, IL 2-1/2 years C.) Racine, WI 11 years D.) Oxford, IN 18 years. Did you guess D? The big guy is the only one who lived there.

Stay tuned for the next installment!!

Happy Holidays

Over the next few days.... Merry Christmas, by the way.... I will include installments of our Christmas newsletter.

Here is day one:In the paraphrased words of Bill O'Reilly, I will not be politically correct, I call them as I see them, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! This year I thought, as I searched the WWW to find a new way to write my annual newsy letter, a quiz... see how much you can figure out about the US. Sorry, there has to be a little bragging, but hey, that's life... get over it!

1. Upon becoming a sophomore at PRHigh School, Bubba's subjects are: A.) Foods I, where he's learned to bake a fruit cobbler, tried his hand at making a Caesar Chicken Pita and actually had to clean up after himself. B.) Chinese, the language of any future businessman. C.) Speech, standing and performing D.) Drivers Ed... a new teenager on the road, yikes! If you guessed A,B&C, you are correct, along with Advanced Algebra Trig and Chemistry we are proud to boast that Bubba on last reports was maintaining a 3.96 gpa. Drivers Ed is next semester, in the winter.

2. Our best vacation time this year was: A.) 3 day blizzard snow trip to Indianapolis for a Volleyball tournament, white knuckle drive. B.) A four day trip to Louisville, Kentucky to watch Sissy play in a volleyball tournament. Side note: we stayed in a Hotel with John McCain and his MIB. C.) Three day trip to Wisconsin Dells, 10 of us in one large suite celebrating my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary, priceless. D.) Four day trip flying in to Myrtle Beach, SC...lovely sand and the ocean breeze, rented a convertible, (that was one item on my bucket list.) E.) 3 day road trip to Toledo Ohio for a JV hockey tournament, 20 stinky high school boys with potty humor, enough said. All of the above occurred, D was probably the best!

3. In 8th grade every fashionable 13 year old girl must have: A.) Coach Purse B.) Cell phone with unlimited texting and pictures of all of her friends with pouty lips, heads together and fingers in rapper mode. C.) A Starbucks latte. D.) Use the world like at least 4 times in like one sentence! If you guessed B, you are somewhat correct. Cell phone yes, unlimited texting, no!

Check back again!!

Penguin Pal

Well, take a look at this little fun guy!! I was inspired! I CASEd this project (Copy And Steal Everything).... some creative soul on SCS and then how many card makers took the idea and made it their own??

I got the Label 1 nestabilities last week and have been trying to catch up to all the cards people are making with it... then I saw this cutey patootie little guy and thought I too had to try and make him! He's an after the holidays type of card. I used SU! punches for his eyes, wings, nose and feet. Martha Stewart snowflake punch! I like how he turned out. He would brighten anyone's day after this long winter of what? 2 days, a foot of snow and minus degree weather?

Anything, but a holiday post

So, as the card seasons pass to the next (I believe the snow theme can continue, but Valentine's is the next themed holiday) I thought I would create something other than a Christmas card.... and was inspired to create this lovely birthday card!

Used the cuttlebug and embossed half of the card, little stamping stub from Judith for the little flower, SU! for the birthday celebrations.

I love the layout and love using black framing, it sure makes the card pop. I also used my own flower punches, and using the gel pen, created the 'look' I wanted.... crumpled the flower a bit to make it dimensional. Tied on matching ribbon.

Brrrr, it's minus 5 degrees, and I'm not including the windchill. But it's sunny with blue skies!!!

Christmas Stockings

Stories were brought up over at Highlowaha about the Christmas stocking and how they were hung with care! So, I took a picture of our fireplace and the stockings. I made those about 13 years ago, and still love pulling them out of the box! Thanks for looking.

Stockings by the fireplace

Happy Birthday to my boyfriend!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet boyfriend, husband, babies daddy and best friend!!!!!

Snow day.... no school, no work..... we're all together, snug as a bug in a rug! Getting ready to find our way out of 8" of snow that fell over night!!

Here's some EXTRA big wishes going his way!!!!.

(I believe the inspired card is from Whipper Snapper Designs)

Christmas Joy

Love this stamp set from SU! and love being inspired by SCS and the many ways this stamp set can be used. This looks more of an elegant Christmas card. I sponged the background sky in browns and burgandy. Then embossed the images with ink, versa mark and a rust embossing powder. Added ribbon half way with a knot, Martha Stewart snowflake punch with brad. Joy, by SU! Then used two way glue and left some glitter powder on the sky part, you might see that better if you click to enlarge the pic!!!

Brrr.... why do I walk the dog in 4 degree weather.... so I can come home and blog and drink my mystic chai tea!!!! Happy Day!

Jolly red guy

Completely inspired card! Used cuttlebug for the white fluff, and SU! punches for the nose and eyebrows. The card is red, so all the other layers are on top. These face cards are so much fun....each one you make has a personality of it's own. But, I wouldn't want every card I make to be this whimsical, it's so fun the range of cards to learn to create!!

We got about 5 inches of snow last night. It's very pretty outside. On Sunday, we had rain, so all the snow was gone.... now we're back to where we were!!! But, I don't need anymore snow... it can stop!!!

Thanks for looking!!

Holiday Thanks

Sometimes you need a thank you card around the holidays, so I created this card last week, inspired by my own card... an Autumn thank you card.... just switched out the colors and the autumn leaf, for a cool winter mitten!

I think what I like best about this card is all the textures. Thats drywall tape on the background (remember when everyone was purchasing cardmaking stuff at the hardware store?) Used the crimper and then punched the blueish circle. Used hemp for the knots. And I've always loved this "thanks" from SU! I think it was the 2nd set I purchased, soooo many years ago.

Stay warm, it was 4 degrees just moments ago from my nice 'little' walk with Cooper!!!

Hope your Christmas is a blast

Saw this cute card in Paper Crafts mag and was inspired!! Myrtle, who I work with, is repainting her grandson's room with a space theme. When I heard her story and saw this card, I put two and two together. At stamp camp earlier this year, MK had shown us how to use the SU! punches to create that saturn ring. I used thing wire to make the solar system, the gal in the mag used a sparkly gel pen.

I though the card turned out way cute... now Myrtle has something to add to her already wonderful themed room for her grandson!

What goes around comes around!

This week at work has had a few special moments. One stands out above the rest. Since I am new in the office, many patients have been in a couple times a year, for years, so they know the rest of the staff. I am just the face at reception, with a smile, I'll take their money, hand them an appointment card etc... One patient was in the Christmas spirit. As she wrote out her check for services, she asked if she could make a donation, and help pay for another patient who might have difficulty paying their bills. Myrtle our billing and insurance person, who had exchanged pleasantries with her already, said, "Yes, that would be very nice". As things wind down, she tells me that times are tough around their house too this year, and they aren't able to give out as much as they'd like, but they find when they "Give" they receive so much in return! Wished me a Merry Christmas, handed me the other check, and went out the door. I looked at the check, it was for $500.00. I was shocked! But, it has really made me think, and made me think about passing this great story along on my blog. Maybe you will share the gift of giving, anonymously too!!

Happy Holidays!!

Cheers to you

I've seen a couple card makers with this olive in martini glass.
So, I gve it a try. Used glaze over the part where the drink
would be. Can't tell by the photo, but makes it glossy. This
is a little plain and simple compared to my Markie's Mom
cards, but it's fun to work in all different ways.

brrrr, stay warm! It was 6 degrees out when I took Cooper for his walk!!! What, am I crazy??? yes!

Snowman cupcake

Yikes! I was MIA yesterday. I was shoveling out the end of the driveway after the snow plow had come through, it was heavy, heavy stuff.... took longer than I expected and then in the 8 degree weather I was sweatin' like a pig... excuse my expression.... so I had to book it to work with out posting.

But hopefully, this cute little cupcake snowman will make up for it. I'm not sure who original stamp this is... but of course you know I was inspired to create him. His top hat is popped up. Stickles line his bottom to create the illusion of snow. Cuttlebugged the background with the snowflake embossing folder. I still really like making cards look old, and love edging the corners with the brown. I just like all the elements of this card, love the checker board background paper, that's as much as I could find in my scrap bin! Fun, fun, fun! Have a great day!

Snowball Hello

Now I'm deciding if I should change over to cute snowy cards, and be done with the Chrismtas cards. I've made all the ones I need... sales are slow... so no cards are hoping off my shelves.... and I do love snowmen... especially these cute snowballs from Whipper Snapper Designs. Snowy cards can take you through January, before you have to start stocking up on Valentine cards.

This card is based off of Markie's Mom designs, with the layers and dots. A few weeks ago I got the snowflake punch, it's a Martha Stewart brand. I like adding a little bling to the flake.

The one thing about winter is you always have something to say about the weather. It's about 33 degrees out and raining, hard, so the snow is melting, but the water is also semi freezing causing slushy conditions with some hidden ice spots.... ah, mid west winters!!!

A little blue bird of happiness

Love this card!! Stampin with Markie's Mom was my inspiration. Her work is totally awesome, she has hundreds of people view her work daily. I don't know exactly what papers and inks she uses, but I CASEd
(C opy A nd S teal E verything) this card. The layers, the dots, the inking of the edges. When she creates a card she develops a complete idea, it's very polished, an eye for detail. She had a great tutorial for making the littla blue cardinal... so easy once you see how she did it. Very fun!
This week I'll show you other cards I was inspired to make from Markie's Mom.

Holiday 4 pak

Sissy and Bubba

I needed to get away from the hustle and bustle of what I'm hearing on every street corner... in the air there's a feeling of Christmas.

We got a new digital camera this summer and I was experiementing with my two best accomplishments. I don't know if I posted them earlier or not, but here they are!!

The picture of Bubba is from Homecoming 2008 and Sissy's is from her 13th birthday, day. I think we can find some nice back drops in our own backyard!

It's nice to look at summer pictures when the thermometer reads 10 degrees and the wind is swirling around... much, much colder.

Hope you are snug in your bed with sugar plumbs dancing in your head!! Happy Christmas shopping!!!

Stamp Camp Cards

Brrrrrr!!!!! it's quite chilly out this morning when I walked Cooper.... 7 degrees, what, am I nuts! But we both need the walk. He can get all snuggly on his pillow, and I'll get ready for work... after this...

Made this cute Happy Holiday card at Stamp camp a couple of weeks ago. I love the variety Marilyn offers us. I never think of using vellum paper, that's what is laying over the joy & tree. Her color combos with the silver thread really are nice!!!

Stay warm!

12 layers

If I counted right, this card has at least 12 layers of paper and or embellishments. It is kind of heavy. I guess if you like the layout, you find more light weight papers to make up the layers, leave the cardstock just for the base. Used the swiss dots cuttlebug, an old SU! stamp, oval punches. Well the patterned paper is lighter weight, but with that many layers, anything would be heavy.

Thanks for looking, have a great day!!

Zindorf week of 12-1

As you know, I love to do the tutorials with Michelle Zindorf, her work is awesome. Although she has had many tutorials in between my last post and this, I can't say I always like the look, or that I'm able to be inspired.... but I love this one of the trees (hand drawn, because I don't have the stamps she uses, she must have thousands). Not only do you have the light source coming down, you have the snow and light on the left side, and then the tree shadow in the snow. So cool... if I were to do this one again, although I've created ONE, I would have to use her tutorial and copy hers... that's how my mind's eye works.

Turkey Day Table Setting

I should be posting a picture of the three inches of snow we got during the night, and now that it is December 1st and all.... but I'm going back in sequence order of how life happened with the camera. Here is our dinner table, with beautiful flowers I got from the doctor I work for!

And then the family, working hard to get that bird off the bone, even sissy is taking the picture.

This weekend was filled with holiday shopping, the boys off to Toledo OH for a hockey tournament, Christmas decorations are now up. it seems like 13 load of laundry were completed, Christmas cards are being worked on and the stockings were hung by the chimney with care!

I don't work until later today, the pooch needs a walk and it seems like there is always a pile to move, somewhere. Now it's snow piles!