I've had some more of my lillies open up this week in my yard. My tiger lilly bush is just huge. We have been having so much fun this year working outside. The front it almost done and we had Holey Moley out to mark the yard for all the utilities so now we can start on the back. Not sure what the plan is yet but I know it will start with a patio.

Image Queen Images :)

I received some more wonderful images from Marcia and Danni yesterday and I LOVE THEM. You ladies outdid yourselves. Thanks so much for thinking of me. Iwill have fun with these images :)

Friday Challenge - Summer Fun

This week for the challenge I'd love to see some summer fun cards. Anything that shows summer or beaches or swimming. Any set, any layout! ENJOY. Post whenever you have a chance.

Color Challenge

Last week I posted a color challenge after showing you my DH's new tractor and this is the card I made using orange as my primary color. I waited to post it becuase I mailed a couple of these out for some special birthday girls so I'm hoping they have them by now LOL. This is an older SU set that I've had for several years and just love it. Yes this one had seen ink before hahahaha. I did color it with my copics and was able to finish these up before I broke my circle punch. Boy did that teach me not to buy cheap punches. SU and Marvy punches are simply the best. Don't settle for those cheapy pink ones at HL!

Thursday Travel

Korin is having a sale - check it out! 25% off is awesome.
http://sweetnsassystamps.typepad.com/sweetnsassystamps/

Treehousestamps.com is also having a sale. You can get 20% off the American Dream set.
I have it and love it.
http://www.treehousestamps.com/index.html

A challenge just for you! Gotta love the bling!
http://craftingforsanity.blogspot.com/2008/06/bling-card-challenge.html

Speaking of bling - check out this GLITTERY tutorial. It's awesome.
http://craftstorejunkie.blogspot.com/2008/06/tutorial-embossing-templates-paste-and.html

Hope you all have a safe and blesssed Thursday!

Image Queen

Just wanted to share some wonderful images I received from MJ in Canada. On our StampCrazyColorBox Yahoo group we have a new image queen each couple of weeks and people take turns stamping off images for that person. This time it's me and I cannot wait to play with these!

Wednesday Just For Fun!

http://www.paulsadowski.com/Numbers.asp

You entered: Ami
There are 3 letters in your name.Those 3 letters total to 14There are 2 vowels and 1 consonants in your name. What your first name means:
Scandinavian
Male
The eagle rules.
German
Male
Eagle.
French
Female
Beloved. Dearly loved.
Biblical
Female
Mother; fear; people
African
Female
Saturday's child. (Ghanese).
Your number is: 5
The characteristics of #5 are: Expansiveness, visionary, adventure, the constructive use of freedom.
The expression or destiny for #5:The number 5 Expression endows with the wonderful characteristic of multi-talents and versatility. You can do so many things well. The tone of the number 5 is constructive freedom, and in your drive to attain this freedom, you will likely be the master of adaptability and change. You are good at presenting ideas and knowing how to approach people to get what you want. Naturally, this gives you an edge in any sort of selling game and spells easy success when it comes to working with people in most jobs. Your popularity may lead you toward some form of entertainment or amusement. Whatever you do, you are clever, analytical, and a very quick thinker.
If there is too much of the 5 energy in your makeup, you may express some the negative attitudes of the number. Your restless and impatient attitude may keep you from staying with any project for too long. Sometimes you can be rather erratic and scatter yourself and your energies. You have a hard time keeping regular office hours and maintaining any sort of a routine. You tend to react strongly if you sense that your freedom of speech or action is being impaired or restricted in any way. As clever as you are, you may have a tendency to make the same mistakes over and over again because much of your response is glib reaction rather that thoughtful application. You are in a continuous state of flux brought by constantly changing interests.
Your Soul Urge number is: 1
A Soul Urge number of 1 means: Your Soul Urge is the number 1. With a Soul Urge number of 1, you want to lead and direct, to work independent of supervision, by yourself or with subordinates. You take pride in your abilities and want to be recognized for them. You may seek opportunities to display your strength and usefulness, wanting to create and originate. In your desire to manage the big picture and the main issues, you may often leave the details to others.
The positive 1 Soul Urge is Ambitious and determined, a leader seeking opportunities. There is a great deal of honesty and loyalty in this character. If you possess positive 1 Soul Urge qualities, you are very attainment oriented and driven to success. You are a loyal friend and strictly fair in your business dealings.
The negative side of the 1 Soul Urge must be avoided. A negative 1 is apt to dominate situations and people; the home, the spouse, the family and the business. Emotions aren't strong in this nature. If you possess an excess of 1 energy, you may, at times, be boastful and egotistic. You must avoid being too critical and impatient of trifles. The great need of the 1 Soul Urge is the development of friendliness, and a sincere interest in people.
Your Inner Dream number is: 4
An Inner Dream number of 4 means: You dream of being a very solid citizen that people can depend upon. You strive for organization and predictable order. You want to be recognized as a person with a plan and the discipline to make that plan work like clockwork.

Love the bellas

Do you ever realize you haven't touched a paticular stamp for awhile? I haven't used any bellas in so long! I love the bellas!!!! This card was made for another special spotlight Diva who rescues animals. I thought she might enjoy it. I used my copics and then just added a touch of sparkle for her top and eyeliner of course! She's a true DIVA. Have a wonderful day.

Treehouse Frog

This was such a fun card to make! I can't believe how much this little guy has grown on me. When this stamp first came out I couldn't understand why anyone would want a frog - after I colored him and let him sit for awhile I just fell for him. He reminds me of me - hanging on for dear life LOL. Anyhoo - this card was made for a very special spotlight Diva and now that she has it in hand I could post it. The image is from www.treehousestamps.com and was colored with my copics and brilliance ink. Gotta love that stuff. I hope you enjoy it.

The Five Finger Prayer
1. Your thumb is nearest you. So begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our loved ones is, as C. S. Lewis once said, a 'sweet duty.'
2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers.
3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God's guidance.
4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact that this is our weakest finger, as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.
5. And lastly comes our little finger - the smallest finger of all which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, 'The least shall be the greatest among you.' Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

Spotlight Card

I just love this new stamp set from www.treehousestamps.com it's so cute. We had a challenge in my CTRUS group to make a spotlight card and I thought the Koala was perfect. I can't believe I've never made a spotlight card before and it was so easy. I used an older SU background set for the back of the card and my Brilliance ink and Copics. If you have any you have made I'd love to see them.

Friday Challenge - Color

Happy Friday! I am so thankful it's the end of the week, it's been a long one for me. In honor of my DH's newest toy that is way toooooo large for our yard.......hahahahha.........my challenge for you today is a color challenge. Use any stamp, any ink, any methods but make the primary color ORANGE. What a fun summer color and I could use some summer fun! Have a great weekend.

Reminder - the challenge does not need to be any certain time, just post a link so we can all share your creation!

Gift Card Holders

Look at these beautiful gift card holders I received from Julia in our CTRUS group. She only needed to send me one but instead she sent four really pretty gift card holders all ready to be personalized for the recepient. They are just gorgeous. Thanks Julia.

Thursday Travels

Check out this chance to win an entire new storage line. Way too cool!

http://inkinitupwithkendra.typepad.com/inkinitup/2008/06/storage-units-i.html

Deb - have you seen the new retro botique stamps at Gina K? Man they have some really pretty sets out right now. I can't decide what to get first.

http://blog.ginakdesigns.com/2008/06/16/preview-party-day-1.aspx

Bella RAK

Just wanted to take a moment and share with you this great Bella RAK I received from Sistah Kimberlee. I was suprised and loved it. Thanks for thinking of me :)

Wednesday Funny - For Cat Lovers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHXBL6bzAR4

So I live with three cats and two dogs, two kids and a very patient husband. When I saw this video I laughed and laughed. My favorite thing is how well they understand cats and a cats attitude. All three of my kitties are very different even the two who are brother and sister. You will love "corporal cuddling". One of mine howls just like this cat. ENJOY!

Lillies all around

The different lillies in my yard are beginning to bloom and since we spent a lot of time working outside on Sunday I was able to sneak in some photos. Still waiting on my tiger lillies to open but they have blooms on them. I also thought I'd share a photo of my little princess Lillian aka Lilly. She is a such a stinker and thinks she can take on all the big dogs of the neighborhood. She weighs 4 lbs 9 oz as of last week at the vet and she loves to bark at the Great Danes who live a couple houses down. Thankfully they ignore her. She just turned 2 on June 2nd and she's quite something :)

One more Father's Day Card

This was made for my father in law using the same SU set that I inked up for my dad's card. WOW is it a versatile set.......no clue why I didn't use it before :) Anyway I wanted something simple yet masculine and I think I like the way it turned out. I hope he does too.

We had another round of bad storms last night and it took our power out for a few minutes but not too long. But it was bad enough that we unplugged the pc's and the big tv so I didn't get a chance to load this until today. Hope you all have a great Monday. Back to work!

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day! This is the card I made for my dad using an oldddd SU set from 1997 that I had never inked up. GASP. See why I'm on a NO BUYING spree right now LOL. I laughed when I saw the date on it as I was mounting it and putting the stickers on. This was a fun card to make and when I saw the individual stamps it just sort of looked like if you put these 2 stamps together you could make it look like a golf course. When I was younger at home my dad used to take us golfing with him because we loved to drive the golf carts. My sister and I had so much fun doing that. No I never learned to golf. My vision is bad and I lose the ball in the air........no clue where they end up. Maybe if I used one of those hot pink ones I might be able to see it??? I wonder. However I have so many other hobbies I am sure not to find out this summer :) My dad lives in southern TX so he can golf year round now and I know that makes him happy. I did ink this image using versamark and brillance ink then embossed it. Once I did that I colored the image with my copics and then went over it again with my versarmarker and embossed it again. Then I used my brayer and sponges for the back ground. These are all techniques I learned off of Michelle Zindorf's blog. She is so fabulous. If you have not seen her blog you must check it out. She's a wonderful teacher. I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.

Family Vacation

This has been our first full week out of school and it's been a very busy crazy week. We've had a tornado watch and flooding and several thunderstorms. In between we have had lovely sunny HOT days as well. I decided to share some of our vac week photos. My DH took my son to his very first concert for his 14th birthday and then visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and had a great time. Andrea couldn't wait for school to get over so she could get some highlights added to her hair (she chose blue and yes it will wash out hahahah). She also got about 6 inches cut off the length and it looks so cute. I hope you all have had a wonderful week as well. Enjoy Fathers Day!

Friday Challenge

Happy Friday! Hope everyone is doing well and having a good week. Since we've all had so much rain and flooding I thought we should do a challenge that makes you happy. Use a stamp that makes you feel sunny, warm and happy. It can be weather related or beach related or whatever you'd like to use. Plus if you've made fathers day cards I'd sure love you to share them with us.

Enjoy your weekend!

Indiana Storms

We've had some really bad storms off and on since last Friday here in Indiana. We actually got caught outside in some pretty frightning weather last weekend while we were at a local festival. My family and I ended up taking shelter in the local police station (I thank god I parked there!) while the storm and funnel clouds went over. After I got home my daughter looked outside and said OH WOW and we saw a double rainbow. What a beautiful sign. I was so thankful no one was hurt here in town and the damage was minimal. Unfortunately my dear friend Nina down in Terre Haute has probably lost her home to the flooding and levy breaking. Right now they are trying to assess the damage and get it pumped and emptied while they wait on news from FEMA. Say a prayer for her family this week. We are all grateful they are doing fine.

Thursday Travel

Sorry I've been slow to post this week but we are on vacation and somehow even not at work there is never enough time in the day. :)

Did you hear there is a new release from www.treehousestamps.com? Go check them out. I think I need the "snail mail" it's simply too cute for a BUG :)

Korin has new preorders for Rachelle Anne Miller - they are too cute. I seriously don't know which one I like the best. The owls are wonderful of course but the kangaroo is adorable and so is the lamb.
http://sweetnsassystamps.blogspot.com/2008/06/have-you-heard.html

Have a wonderful evening!

Gift Card Holder

http://flourishesnewsletter.blogspot.com/2007/10/gift-card-holder-instructions.html
With grauations, fathers day etc. I thought this was a great challenge. In one of my yahoo groups we had to create a gift card holder. Here is just one tutorial, they are super easy and quick. ENJOY!

Favorite Flower

I think it's probably safe to post this now since I mailed it about a week ago. Sorry about the back light I was hurrying to take a photo before I mailed it. I made this card for a favorite flower swap I'm in and I wanted it to be retro looking. I hope she likes it :) And yes tiger lillies are my absolute favorite flower. We have some growing in our yard at the corner of the house and I cannot wait for them to bloom. They have been dug up and transplanted now several times and they just keep getting better and better. This paticular bunch we have outside was a gift to me from my husband on my birthday one year before we were married so that's why when we've moved I made him dig them up and take them with us! Once they bloom I'll take a photo. Enjoy your day.

Congratulations Lexie!

My niece Lexie just graduated from high school and is going to be off to college in just a few short weeks. Where does time go? This is my son Brad and my dad with Lexie at her party. This photo is so fun I'll have to make sure my sister gets a copy. LOL. We are so proud of you Lexie.

Can't Believe It

14 years ago I was a new mom who didn't have a clue. Now I have a son who is growing up to be a handsome and great kid. I know he sort of likes my card making but I sure wasn't about to make him something "un guy like" so I found some old stickers and paper from our local school and came up with a card in his school colors. P.S. He loved it. :)

First Card

I have a very good friend who lives a few hours away from me and she made her first card. I am honored I was the lucky recepient and guess what? Not only is it pretty and sparkly I can remove the "a" and wear it on a chain. I'd say I'm a pretty lucky girl. Thanks Nina I love it!

Thank you!

I just want to say thank you to all three of you, my loyal readers LOLLLLL. Seriously my family has been here from TX for my niece Lexie's high school graduation and then I had a meeting for the past couple days at work and sorry to say I've been totally consumed with all this. No time for stamping, blogging, doing much of anything! I do have a couple of cards that I've finally taken photos of and will upload them to share tomorrow. Thanks for being patient with me the past couple days and stay tuned!