The making of Hello Love - from sketch to stamp {Fun Stampers Journey}

Hello lovely friends! Last week I shared a scrapbook layout that I created using the Hello Love stamp set, and I mentioned that I drew the sentiments for this set. Today, I thought I'd share two cards that I created, using this stamp and die set...plus I found my sketches that I originally drew. 

I have to tell you...it is really REALLY cool to have stamps that look and feel so much like ME. And I'm thrilled with the images that were paired with my words, because somehow even those feel like ME, even though I had nothing to do with creating them! 

From the sketches, you can see that I did a lot of writing things over and over, playing with different shapes, and swirls to make the letters just how I wanted. The purple one is the one that became the final version, after some tweaking on the computer. I am a doodler at heart, and writing swirly words and letters is something I've done pretty much forever, on the margins of paper and on the backs of my school notebooks. So to see something actually come from all that random doodling, is quite satisfying! 

 For the two cards I created for today, I kept pretty much the same layout, and I stuck with the same colors. I try and create two cards each time I sit down with a pile of supplies. Everything is already out and ready, and sometimes figuring out what to use is the hardest part. So I just keep going. I love the coordinating dies for the sentiments in this stamp set. It's fun to pop up the sentiment on top of a patterned background.

You can find all of the supplies I used on the Fun Stampers Journey website. FSJ sells high quality red rubber stamps, with cling back and indexing. They're all ready to pop onto acrylic blocks and stamp stamp stamp! Thanks so much for coming by! Have a beautiful day! xoxo

Supplies:

Hello Love Stamp Set

Hello Love Die Set

Licorice Sparkle Tape

Watermelon Fusion cardstock

Lemon Drop True Color Fusion Ink Pad 

{Links and Life and Love}

Welcome to February, people! I just have some stuff and things I'd like to share, and occasionally I want to discuss more than paper crafts. Can you deal? Here are some things I'm loving lately. Maybe you'll love them too - and then we'll love them together. Okay? 

Link Love:

First up, Meg Duerksen. I shall now talk about her like I know her - which I don't. But I'd like to. I'm pretty sure she'd be my BFF whether she liked it or not. Her blog makes me ridiculously happy, and I think I'd like to be her when I grow up. And she has a craft house. We could GO there. (If it just weren't so far away from me. Sigh.) But YOU could go there. And you should. It looks colorful and inspiring and pretty dang amazing. In the meantime, visit her blog. You'll be so glad you did! (Plus, ummm, her blog header matches mine. . .I think it's meant to be!)

Next, Yoga With Adriene. She is making yoga feel doable, and reasonable, and dare I say - fun?! I'm completely new to yoga, and I'm still not sure it's something I am going to commit to. But I'm sticking with her 30 Days of Yoga program on YouTube. (Although it's taking me longer than 30 days!) Plus, she's funny and quirky, and totally adorable - laughing during yoga? Yes. You will.

And last but not least, The Art of Simple Travel. Tsh Oxenreider and her family (including three children) are traveling around the world this year. For a year. Around the world. I'm mesmerized by her photos and blog posts. Not because it's something I'd ever want to do - but I'm loving vicariously living through their journey. (So much so, that I even dreamed about it last night!) I highly recommend following their trip on Instagram. I love their focus on simplicity, priorities, and slow travel. (This is the sister blog of The Art of Simple - also one of my favorite blogs!)

Other Stuff and Things:

So you may remember that I have this gig with Purex. They occasionally send me products to try out and share with you. My latest product is the brand new Purex Power Shot, which will be hitting store shelves soon. I'll be honest - my first thought, was "This is so super dumb. What's the big deal, I can't pour my own detergent effectively?" And then I tried it, and thought about it. It is actually pretty cool. I'm thinking I can teach my son to do his own laundry, and not worry that he's going to pour half the bottle in the washer, or spill it all over the place: no-spill and easy measurement. You just flip open the cap, and flip over the bottle. It automatically delivers one super concentrated dose of detergent. Then, the Power Shot feature automatically refills and is ready for the next load.  

Here's the best part: You need laundry detergent, and I have some coupons for free bottles to share! Wasn't that sweet of Purex? Leave a comment by Friday, February 6 and I'll choose two random winners to take home a coupon (and a handmade card of course!) There's also a sweepstakes going on - you could win free detergent, or even a washer and dryer! (Just for entering, you'll receive a $1 off coupon too!)

Okay. So go visit these fabulous blogs. Be inspired by these women who do what they love, and are kind enough to share it with ME (and YOU!) And leave a comment for the free detergent. (Seriously, I mean, you need laundry detergent anyway, so you might as well get it for free!) Thanks so much for stopping by! And coming up on Wednesday - a new card or two! xoxo

Dang, you guys!!!! :)

Man, the past few days have been such a BLAST.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kind comments, and emails! It has been absolutely overwhelming! I even got these stunning flowers from my parents! Aren't they GORGEOUS!? 

I am so, SO excited. I was already having an awfully good time paper crafting, blogging, and sharing with my crafty friends. . . .but I think it's getting even BETTER!

Thank you for sharing the fun with me! 

Enjoy your Easter weekend, and I'll be back soon to share some fun, crafty messes that my kids and I have been creating over Spring Break!

xoxo

{Sizzix} Easter eggs and me catching up!

I was away with the fam this weekend, enjoying a fun day at SeaWorld. 

Love to get away.

Love to come back home! 

Our official family picture from the trip. Lovely, eh? 

Came home to enjoy Spring Break with the second-grader and the three-year-old, which we ARE enjoying. . .in between wrestling matches, arguments, and general disagreements over important things like: who has the most army men on their team, who has more M&M's in their bowl, and who has received the most attention in the past 5 minutes.  The two of them are a pretty volatile combination right now.  We'll just say my patience is being seriously tested. 

Yesterday I cut out a bunch of Easter eggs, with new dies from Stephanie Barnard and Sizzix.  I made fun little scalloped strips, flowers - CUTE stuff, and got the boys all fired up about decorating paper eggs to give to family members this weekend at our Easter festivities. 

Guess which two little people lost interest after one half of an egg? And guess who ended up making cute eggs, while the boys played and argued {about such important things as listed above.}

Anyhoo, here's a quick picture of my cute eggs.  I attached them to a length of twine, using tiny clothespins, to make an Easter garland.  I have no where to hang my little creation, but I love the way it turned out! 

FYI. . .I'll be back at 9am tomorrow morning.

Join me. . .kay? 

(project goodies: dies - Sizzix, patterned paper - October Afternoon, pearls - Hero Arts, twine - May Arts)

We Click!

I have had this sweet little stash of Echo Park's This & That Charming paper and stickers sitting in my drawer.  I've made quite a lot of projects with it, but I have quite a bit left. . .so in my never ending attempt to USE UP what I have, I created two sweet cards to share with you today! 

I super SUPER love this one - and every time I look at it, I sing one of my favorite songs. And it's a kid's song. Seriously, I am SUCH a mom.  But it is catchy, and adorable, and I love it.  It's called Click Click, by Elska. Seriously - adorable. Go listen to it  and tell me that you don't love it! I dare you! (No, don't crush me.)  We have a free year of Sirius radio in our car, and of course the kid's station, Kids Place Live, is ALWAYS on.  But I am a happy chick when this song comes on! And then we replay it over and over - my three-year-old saying "Click Click" is pretty much the cutest thing ever.

Have I digressed from the original point here?

The cards - yes, the cards. 

Refocusing. . .

I can do this.

Two cards made with Echo Park's This & That Charming. Here you go. . . .

Thanks for stopping by!

As you read this, I am probably recovering from my weekend crop with one of my bestest crafty girls, my mom, and my first night away from my guys.  I'm sure I'm exhausted and the house is probably a disaster. Hopefully I've created lots of fabulous things to share (and some to NOT share) over the next few weeks! 

Thank goodness for pre-dated blog posts, right?

Happy day, friends!

xoxo

PS be sure to scroll down to the previous post for a chance to win free cleaning goodies from Soft Scrub.  :)

Subway art from The Stamps of Life

TSOL released a really fun BIG stamp this month.  It's a birthday stamp, created in subway art style - I love the fonts and combinations on this stamp, and it's really quite versatile!  I'd like to show you three different ways that I used this stamp. 

First up, just straight up - the whole stamp.  I also used some solid circles, in assorted sizes, to stamp a polka-dotty delicious background on it.  (This card is 5x7)

Next up, I used about half of the stamp set to create a standard size horizontal card.  I diecut some sweet little stars (oh look, more polka dots?) to create simple embellishments.

And last but certainly not least, I used just ONE sentiment from this stamp and paired it with the pinwheel stamp.  You can trim EACH of these sentiments apart to create 10 birthday cards from one stamp! How fabulous is that!? I always need new terrific birthday sentiments!

You can scoop up this fabulous stamp, birthdays4subway, at The Stamps of Life!

I am super excited to see the days ticking by this week, because in a few days, my parents are coming to visit.  My mom, a Close To My Heart consultant, is cosponsoring a scrappy weekend here in my town!  I am escaping for an overnight with one of my best crafty girls (and all crafts aside, she's still one of my best pals) and we are going to create the weekend away! (This will be my first night away from the boys, so I'll try to stay SUPER BUSY!)  

I am beyond excited! I have NO idea how I'm going to pack everything up to take it with me, but I have some new stamp sets that I got just for the occasion, (plus some chocolate!) and hopefully I will be totally inspired to make about a million new things!

Thanks so much for coming by today!

Have a fabulous day! :)

xoxo

(card goodies: all stamps from The Stamps of Life, cardstock from www.discountcardstock.com)

We Must Ketchup!

If you've followed my blog for a while, you may remember this card.  When Kim Hughes came out with the Vegtastic stamp set at Paper Smooches, I knew I *HAD* to have it because I have a major thing for tomatoes.  Seriously.

You see, my maiden name sounded just like tomato, and there's something about school-age nicknames. . .they STICK, don't they? Eventually along the way, I grew to embrace my inner tomato and I just became Laura Tomato, Tomato, or 'Mato, (because every nickname needs it's own nickname.)

My friends gave me all sorts of tomato gifts each year - tomato candles, tomato dish towels, ceramic tomatoes - my dad even found me a tomato license plate for my first little red car!  Even my email address is still TomatoL - it was my first email address, and it's been my only email address.

Okay - so back to present day, you see why I NEEDED this stamp set.  I had to have that tomato.  A few weeks ago, I received an email from the folks at Muir Glen (you know, the organic tomato people?) They contacted me because they came across this card, from the original blog post, and wanted to share it. Of course, I said SURE!!  They've even agreed to share some Muir Glen goodies with us! And once Kim, at Paper Smooches, heard about the fun, she decided to offer up her Vegtastic stamp set!

SO - it's your lucky day. A chance to win a fabulous prize pack from Muir Glen, (a tote bag, dish towel, and even some delicious Muir Glen tomato products!) as well as a Vegtastic clear stamp set.  Two winners will be picked - one for each of these great giveaways!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thanks so much for stopping by today!!! If this was your first visit, I hope you'll come hang out with me again! Also feel free to find me on Pinterest.  You can find Paper Smooches on Pinterest, as well as Muir Glen!  Have a sweet tomato day!!! xoxo

TSOL love

The {Stamps} of Life is all about LOVE this month. Hearts2diefor and Love2diefor work perfectly together to create Valentines and LOVE cards, but they work fabulously along with all of Stephanie's other stamp sets, to create any kind of card you'd like. 

Also just released is YouAre2Square, which creates super cute small square cards, fits perfectly on a 4.25x5.5 card, as well as coordinates with the Sizzix square Flip-It's dies

These are a few of my favorite cards that I created with this months stamps. . .

 This last card is one of the Flip-It's cards.  In these two images you can see the front and the inside.

I am spending the (entire) day uploading the (entire) year of 2012's family photos.  So far, there are 742 of them. And that isn't counting our professional family photos, nor is it counting the husband's 2 week trip to Israel and Egypt. 

(Oh help me.)

I must find a better system. This just isn't working for me! I am out of space to store photo albums, but I am just not ready to keep them all digital, and NOT print out photos.  So do I put them all in boxes? Ugh - that just doesn't sound nice.

Family photos are stressing me out!!!!

If I find a brilliant solution, I'll let you know.

xoxo

EEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!!!

All I can pretty much say is. . . .EEEEEEEK!
Do you see the HELLO card on this lovely cover of Paper Crafts Magazine's special Cool Tools issue?
Guess who made that card!?
ME!
ME!
ME!
(can you sense me jumping up and down!?)
My artwork on the cover of a magazine. . . .
EEEEEK.
This is a dream that I was never sure would be possible!
So I am THRILLED.
(And the icing on the cake . . . two weeks later I found out that I got ANOTHER cover. Holy GUACAMOLE.)

And now, you can get back to whatever you were doing.  Thank you for humoring me, and listening to me FREAKING OUT!!!! {Giggle giggle!}

(card goodies: stamp - The {Stamps} of Life, card stock - Discount Cardstock)

i scream, you scream. . .

I have sooo not felt like blogging lately!  But these ice cream cones are too cute to NOT share, so I will press on and blog for YOU!  These stamps are from the May release at The {Stamps} of Life!  There are two coordinating ice cream stamp sets this month, that are just adorable! 

I used Echo Park paper on this first card, and paper-pieced it.  I really like the way the twine ended up, wrapped around the ice cream cone.  I kept playing with it - I knew i HAD to have twine and a button SOMEWHERE, and I think it totally worked! :)

 This second card features a few different sets from TSOL, and I just LOVE clean and simple.  I spend a lot of time looking at the cards of designers I love, and I am always drawn to a clean and simple card, with lots of white - and a great big BOW at the top!  That's how we grow - by studying the work of people we admire!

I submitted a WAY lot of cards for the latest Paper Crafts call, so I will be keeping my fingers crossed this week, (along with some of you, I'm sure!) and hoping to get a happy little email from the magazine!

And now, in my last few fleeting minutes of naptime, I'm going to go do something OTHER than sit at the computer!!! I cleaned the garage out, (the weather is AMAZING, and freakishly cool today!) and then I ate a bagel while sitting here chatting with you - and now I better get ready before my little monkey wakes up and wants food and trains! I think I might surprise B when we pick him up from school, and we'll stop at the playground on the way home - seriously, this weather is AMAZING, and it's a total fluke.  Back to HOT tomorrow I think!

Have a fabulous day!!!

(card goodies: patterned paper - Echo Park, cardstock - Discount Cardstock, pink ribbon - Papertrey Ink, ink - Close To My Heart)

the paper towel experiment. . .and a pink card

First things first - Apron Strings April kit . . . . this is the first of my cards created with the kit that I'd like to share with you today! I created EIGHT cards with the kit, and I still have a bunch of paper and embellishments left.  Lots of cute stickers in this kit too!  Definitely go check out Apron Strings, if you are looking for a card kit with bright fun colors!

Second of all . . .a few weeks ago, probably about two weeks ago - we ran out of paper towels on the paper towel dispenser.  There were more upstairs, but I just hadn't gotten up there to get them.  And hubby and I have been talking a lot about ways to simplify, cut back, and be a little more earth-friendly.  So I thought I'd see how long we could make a roll of paper towels last. But guess what? I didn't replace the paper towels.  And then I thought I'd see how long I could last without the paper towels at all.
And guess what?
It's really not that bad.
I got a package of white wash cloths, for about $6 at Ross.
I put them in a pretty little basket on the counter.
I do a load of laundry every day anyway, so I'm not adding any more laundry, and it has gone much better than I anticipated.
Granted there have been a FEW times that I wished I had a paper towel.  But in the end, the towels or a kitchen sponge did the job just fine.
I thought that wiping the toddler face was going to be the biggest drag.  Who wants a damp towel covered in oatmeal and yogurt, hanging around all afternoon on the side of the sink?  But it really hasn't been bad.
So - anyone up for the challenge?  See how long you can make that roll of paper towels last.
Or just ditch them altogether.
And tell me all about it, because I really want to know!!!
(And doesn't it figure, we had just bought a Costco sized package of paper towels before we decided to ditch them!? So now, I have a bathroom cabinet FULL of paper towel rolls!!!)

my favorite thing -

We may have previously discussed my obsession with HOUSE STAMPS.  i love them.  so you can imagine my extreme levels of excitement when I got the sneaky peek of Stephanie's new stamps, at The {Stamps} of Life, for this month.  HOUSES! Welcome to April's new stamp set, (you're going to adore the special releases, to come in a few days too!)

 This stamp set has little houses, as seen above. . . (this card is 4x8 I think)  I paper-pieced them with Echo Park patterned paper.  I drew the line around the edges of the card with a Sharpie (I love my Sharpies!!!!)

And the stamp set also has BIG houses! So fabulous to paper-piece, I can hardly stand it!!! (The cloud is from the Kites2Fly stamp set, from last spring.)  

So, are you in love now? Please go to the gallery, at TSOL and check out all of the design team projects! They are DARLING! 

And since today is April First. . .I suppose I should wish you a Happy April Fools Day - I'm sorry I don't have a crazy prank to pull!  The funniest part of April Fools Day, is that it's the day my hubby and I started dating. . .thirteen years ago!  But it was NO joke!  We'll celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary at the end of the month, and I am SO excited, because this past week I ordered a cake from the bakery that made our wedding cake! They are going to do a topper cake, to match our wedding cake! HOW FUN is that!? (That cake was SO flippin' good!!!) I can hardly wait!

So, happy Friday, happy April Fools Day, and happy WEEKEND!

XOXOXO

clean and pretty!

Remember when I told you how I had just received my free bottle of Purex with Zout?  I've been using it for a few days now, and I really like it!  Tanner had spaghetti sauce on his shirt, that I had washed a few times and could NOT get the sauce off.  But I poured a little Purex with Zout on, let it sit for a few minutes and then washed it again - and IT WORKED!!! Hooray! No need for an extra product!  (And it works great with the Purex Crystals too!)

If you visit www.freesamplepurex.com you can get a sample for yourself to try it out! (See Mom, you don't even have to be on Facebook to get the deal! wink wink!)

If you try it out, let me know how you like it!  I'd love to share your thoughts with Purex!
Have a great weekend!!!!!

what the heck . . .a little more cake

More cake.  I just couldn't help myself!!!  This delicious little yellow cake is covered in Lemon Flower Soft.  And pearls.  Yummm. (Well, maybe not truly delicious, but fairly adorable at least!)

I am feeling blog anxiety once again.  Trying to find some balance in my life (again), and figure out what I should spend my time on, and what I should let go of.  I can't totally let go of my blog, because I have responsibilities and commitments to post certain projects regularly.  But I am letting go of the anxiety of not posting as often as I would like.  And I am letting go of the expectations and hopes that my blog would become something that it just isn't.

So that's that.  I'll probably be here once a week or so.  And then again, maybe more.  Who knows.  All I'm saying is that I am letting go of feeling guilty when it's been a week without a post.

So go eat some cake, and stop stressing out.  That's what I'd like to do.  :)
Tomorrow I am making a birthday cake for a special friend of our family.  I'm not sure yet WHAT exactly it's going to be. . .chocolate.  But what pan to use, and what exactly to create. . . .I am not yet sure! I'll letcha know if it turns out fabulous!!! :)

slowly but surely

Slowly but surely, I am plugging through my impending deadlines, and to-do's, and trying to leave the world of PC and become a Mac girl. I think the problem is that Macs are TOO simple. I get confused, because I am so conditioned to have to do a thousand steps to accomplish my goal. And on Mac, it's just easier. Which makes it harder. And more confusing. So I am in a love-hate relationship with Mac right now.

BUT with my sweet hubby's help, I have figured out how to resize, and rename files today. So, here's a card to share. This week's CPS sketch is being sponsored by Stampotique. It's a new-to-me company with a HUGE array of stamps. If you look through their store, you'll find stamps in every style imaginable. This isn't actually my CPS card. . . but another one I created with their stamp, called Row Houses. I am OBSESSED with this stamp. I really have a thing about house stamps. They are so stinking cute and SO fun to paper-piece. I paired this with October Afternoon paper, because I LOVE to paper-piece with OA papers! I hope you like it!

So our new iMac is on its way, and I am going to try to learn as quickly as I can, how to do everything I used to do on a PC. Hoping to be back up and running SMOOTHLY soon. I hope your week is off to a great start! I'll be back when I can!!! XOXO

technological withdrawl

Well, it isn't REALLY withdrawl, because I still have my iPod at my side all day long . . . but dang, it stinks not having a computer! Hubby is letting me use his laptop when he doesn't need it, but he's a Mac. And I'm a PC. ;) And using a Mac (although i like it) is like trying to communicate in a foreign language. And that = FRUSTRATING. I have been trying to edit photos for a bunch of projects and duedates, and I am LOSING MY EVER-LOVING MIND. I can't even figure out how to resize the dang things! So frustrating. Frustrating. Frustrating!

At any rate, here i am, popping in just for a minute, to say HEY! and to share a card today. You are getting a sneak peek of what will be on my mom's Close To My Heart blog next week. (Because that's what I can find, and that's the file that's opened on this dang Mac. Don't ask me where all my other pictures are, because Lord only knows!)

I used BRAND SPANKIN NEW stamps from the new catalog on this card. The stamp set is called Paper Lanterns, and yes. .. . it's one of my new faves! This is also my CPS card for this week, sketch 202. . .or maybe it's 203. . .see, not having a computer is making me feel like I've lost part of my brain. :)

At any rate, the screaming child at my feet wishes I was NOT blogging right now. Dinner plans, and Girls Night Out plans must be made, and then I must get these kiddos bathed and in bed so I can HIT THE ROAD and go out with my girls. Starbucks, I need you. (I really need you NOW, but I will try to wait until 7:30pm!)

I'll be back when I can, and hopefully each day I'll be more Mac-literate, because I have a feeling that the dead Dell is going to be replaced with a Mac in the near future!

XOXO

happy new year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

we're home sweet home.

we figured we may as well come back, since the snow melted! (wink wink!)
we had THE best time.
all-time favorite trip to my parents' cabin.
EVER.
great weather, great food, great family, great fun.
but i think we're all agreed - as much as we LOVED the snow. . .
we are SO glad we don't LIVE in it.
snow pants on.
snow pants off.
gloves on.
gloves off.
wet snow.
wet mud.
dirty shoes.
dirty bottoms.
wet jeans.

for all of you that live in snowy weather, especially if you have children - i have a new found respect, and pity for each of you. what a PAIN IN THE NECK!!! the time it takes just to get them bundled up equals the time they last outside!
The scene from A Christmas Story keeps running through my brain, "I can't put my arms down!!!"
I have GOT to get everything unpacked and put away, and finish cleaning up the Christmas chaos from before we left! And the tree. . .oh the tree will have to wait another day!
I am looking forward to the fresh start of the new year, and I'll be back soon to share some projects, and maybe some thoughts about the new year! It's always a good time to think back - and think ahead!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
(If you're still reading this blog, I'd love to know what you are looking forward to in the new year. no one talks to me anymore - or still.)
OXOXO

spinning, spinning!

the days spin by so quickly, i can hardly catch my breath! we are officially (finally) done celebrating bryce's birthday! PHEW! the superhero party was a success, and i am working on a big blog post with links to all the great stuff i found, in case you want to have one too!

now that the party is over, i can focus on christmas, and on the holiday party at school this thursday. i am so proud to say that this year's calendars are printed, in my hands, and the ones being mailed will be ready to go by tomorrow morning. (even if its the last thing i do!) I create digi 6x6 photo calendars each year. the first year everyone got a 6x6 spiral bound album, which stands up, to display them. so now, each year everyone just gets the calendar to refill! I'll try to remember to take a pic for you!

but now onward to the crafty stuff. The {Stamps} of Life december releases . . . .I have three sets to show you - labels2use (my favorite - i've used it tons already!), invite2create, and minis4circles (adorable tiny sentiments!)

"Thanks" using some "old" but wonderful october afternoon papers, Kraft cardstock from DCS and the labels2use set.

You're Invited, featuring My Mind's Eye paper, invite2create, plus the hat from birthday4cookie
Be Mine, featuring more My Mind's Eye, and the minis4circles set!

Okay, the little one is fussing, and its time to wake up the big one, so we can all start SPINNING AGAIN!!!!!! It's a good kind of busy - don't get me wrong! We are having fun . . . but I could use a long winter's nap!!!

Love you all bunches, thanks for stopping by!!!!! Leave me a comment, and let me know what YOU are staying busy with!!!
XOXO

Love love love love!

I LOVE this time of year!!!! The anticipation of the season as a whole, and having so many fun activities to look forward to, and participate in! The weather is cooler (although not REALLY cool yet .. . .it's supposed to be 80 degrees on Thanksgiving! YUCK!)

Today we made an early morning run to WalMart, (and picked out a new bike for little man's Christmas gift!) and then came home to make pumpkin cheesecake, and put up the Christmas lights! The boys decorated the driveway with an assortment of chalk drawings, and I am decluttering toys from the living room, to make room for the Christmas tree which we will get later this weekend.

This card is my CPS card for the week, featuring stamps from Kitchen Sink Stamps. I think this is my favorite of the multi-step stamps that I have used from KSS. I used a few different shades of ink, and paired the image with the November kit from Discount Cardstock. (cardstock, ribbon, and button are all from the kit.)
In other news, there have been a TON of amazing deals lately, and it seems like every time I check in online, there's another great deal. Here are a few of my favorites:

Hallmark - $10 off, when you spend $10!!! (And I am sorry to report, that when I just went to link ya up, the deal has expired! So thankful I printed my coupon last night! PHEW!)

Scholastic Books - so many great books and games for kids. Discount code for free shipping, and 20% off!!

Discount Cardstock - free shipping on Black Friday! Use discount code 100%FreeShip

Kraft coupons and More Kraft coupons - holy cheap cheese (and other stuff), Batman!!!! Match these babies up with some sales, and you can score an awesome deal!!!! LOVE Kraft Q's!!! I got shredded cheese for 30 cents a bag yesterday at Target, thanks to some awesome coupons!

Okay - back to the festivities and cleaning!!!! I hope you have a MOST blessed Thanksgiving (and successful Black Friday shopping!) I am thankful for YOU! Thanks for stopping by today!!!

Lovely Fall

This is one more of the cards I created with October's Apron Strings Card Kit. It makes me think of fall. . .all warm and snuggly. It got COOL here last night!!!! Although the sun isn't up yet, I can tell it's going to be a GREAT day! Despite the sniffles, and a few other bumps in my path, I am ready to spend some time in the kitchen, and do some cleaning - all with the windows wide open, enjoying the weather! I am going to attempt two firsts in the kitchen - baking a cheesecake (pumpkin cheesecake to be exact) and drying a big bag of cranberries. (I'll be using the oven instructions here.) Wish me luck!!!
The days, as always, are whizzing by, and I am doing my best to stay focused on the must-do's, and repeat my mantra, "do-not-procrastinate!!!" so that I can spend more time doing what I want to be doing - enjoying the season!!!! So my blog posts may be a little less frequent - but I'll be around. I've given up the idea of being a "big-time, tons of readers, update every day, always something fabulous to post" blogger - I'm glad I have a blog, but really, dear old blog. . .what have you done for me lately? Is it really worth spending quite so much time? (Certainly no offense to the six of you who read my blog. I am QUITE happy you stop by, and I hope you will continue to!) So look for me once or twice a week, and perhaps posting less frequently will allow me more interesting things to say!!!
HAPPY NOVEMBER!!!!!!
XOXO