Love Me?

 

Remember watching the Li'l Rascals growing up and Alfalfa loved Darla so much?  I'm in the mood for loove!!! He would sing to her with that hair sticking straight up, and she would bat her little old eyes at him.  

 

That was a fun show, and then the one where Spanky was bug huntin' and he was hitting the cockroaches with a hammer...ha! Not that cockroaches are fun in in your house, but the episode was cute. I couldn't find that one, but at least you get to listen to Alfalfa sing...

This is one of the cards I showed in my Demonstration.  I used some watercolor crayons and some ink pads. I love this set, and I can not get enough of this DSP...It is gorgeous.  Speaking of which I just have a few DSP shares left, so holler if you want one.

Stamp Set: Greeting Card Kids

Paper: Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, Watercolor Paper, Love Letter DSP 

Ink: Jetblack Stazon

Misc: Chantilly Crochet Trim, Pearl, Circles Die, Scallop Circle Die, Perfect Polka Dot Embossing folder, watercolor wonder crayons, blender pen

So today this is what my elbow looks like...

...all the blood under the skin has kinda just worked itself around my elbow and my elbow has some red marks on it I think from the swelling.  Where the heck is that blood going to go? Jeepers Creepers...blech!

So tonight Cindy came to pick up her DSP share and look who she brought along to say hi... 

...this is Daisy, is she not the cutest thing?  I remember when Toby was little like this.  Cindy got her from the same lady we got Toby, but Daisy has different parents.  You can already see the silver coming into her hair.  She is so spoiled, she goes everywhere with Cindy, the movies, shopping etc. She even has a travel bag thing and Cindy says lets go bye bye and she gets in it...super adorable. Sorry the color is horrible, this is why I am saving up my pennies and I am going to get a new camera before Founders Circle, this one I have is so frustrating, I want to pitch it across the room.

 

If you are itching to get some of the new stuff out of the Idea Book and Catalog, this is a great time to be a Hostess, you get extra Hostess Benefits!!! What? Really?

Yep!!! You will receive an additional $25.00 in Hostess free merchandise dollars when your workshop totals $350.00 or more.

This offer is good from July 27 through August 31. Online orders do not qualify so give me a holler if you are interested.

Have an awesome Saturday and thanks for stopping in!

 

Nothings Worse-a

Then breaking your Bursa!

Today I had such a great day. Lynsay Mahon, my Canadian friend and fellow Demonstrator came over so I could teach her how to color (shhh.....she really didn't need my help, she did very well on her own.) She even brought me a caramel machiato, yum!

I snagged these off her blog. She has a better camera.

Here she is learning how to use the blender pen, and the watercolor wonder crayons.  Here's a little tip for ya, one I shared at convention that seemed to get the most "are you kidding me?" response.

 Scribble your watercolor wonder crayon(s) on one of your acrylic blocks for Stampin' Up! clear mount stamps.  Then using your blender pen or your aqua painter get the color off the block and it makes coloring so much easier. You saw it here folks! Ha!

Here she is with her finished card.  She turned the DSP over and so she used a different color ribbon and button then the original card.  Cute eh? The card aint bad either!

Afterwards I took her to The Deli, I mean come on, you knew that was coming eh? She loved it and the stinker even treated me. How sweet eh? Thanks for a fun day Lynsay, I can hardly wait to hang out more at Founders Circle.

Here is the card that I demoed at Convention.

 Stamp Set: Greeting Card Kids

Paper: Basic Black, Cajun Craze, Watercolor Paper, Wicked Fun Specialty DSP

Ink: Jetblack Stazon

Misc: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Blender Pen, Satin ribbon, Neutral button

So after we got back from lunch, Bruce (Lynsay's hubby) and their two girls came to pick her up.  So later I cut some cardstock and sat down to color and work on something and when I laid my right arm on the table I was like "ouch" something felt weird, it was like my elbow hit the table before it should, so I bent my arm to look and it was huge, it looked like popeye or something, it did not hurt right then but it made me laugh cause of how odd it looked, I went in the house, and Jeff was like "Woo that don't look good, you better call the Doctor" and I was like "take a picture first", so here it is...

  ...freaky eh? So it got bigger then this and it did start to hurt and I got where I could not bend my arm cause it was stretching the skin, when I looked at it in the mirror it looked blueish like it might be blood inside, and it did feel like fluid in there. So I sent the picture to my good friend Sharon, she is a nurse, and the poor girl gets all my medical questions. So she was saying it might be bursitis and that I should have a doctor look at it, but I could probably wait till tomorrow.  Well I envisioned the circulation being cut off and having to go at midnite to the doc and it was my right hand which I stamp with, so I said I was going to go to urgent care. 

Jeff also told me to wait till tomorrow....so as I drove to urgent care (those who know my freaky worry wart side...are saying of course you went to urgent care) I was talking to Sharon on the phone and she said it looked like what is called Popeye elbow. She said "do you want me to meet you somewhere?", so we met in the parking lot at a shopping mall and she checked it out, thank goodness it was not on my tushy, that might have been funny to see in a parking lot...ha!  Since I was almost at the urgent care, I hated to drive all the way home, only to have to drive back in the morning.  So Sharon said "want me to go with you?" and I said "yeah", so off we went....she is such a great great friend she stayed with me the whole time, and we seemed to be there for hours, they finally called me in. The doctor asked what I was doing when it happened and I said I was coloring and then it felt weird and poof it was big...he was like "you were coloring?" and I said "yeah, I get paid to color" so he checked it out and it is either bursitis, or the doc thinks I might have burst a blood vessel cause of the blueish color...and I probably could have waited till tomorrow.  He wrapped it, and told me to take some aleve, and ice it now and then. I asked him if I could use it, and he said yeah.  So I said I could color and he said yes you can totally color. The world is good!!

So what a wacky day eh? 

Well this old gal...I am old I mean my body is freaking out with old-ness.  I am headed to bed.

Have an awesome Friday and thanks for stopping in!

 

The Electric Slide - Stampin' Up! Style

Gotta love it! Isn't this the neatest video? The music is the theme song from this year's convention.

 

Tracy and I always say that it's not convention till someone pees their pants.  Now I won't tell you who did, but it definitely WAS convention.

The last night we were at convention we had a couple wine coolers and we wanted to drink them but we needed ice.  We both had our nighties on, that almost were identical. In fact I carried around the grey nightie for a while at the store and then decided on the green one, and Tracy had the grey one..ha!

So anyway, we figured it was almost midnight no one would be in the hall, I grabbed the ice bucket and Tracy had the room key, we figured it would be a good weapon, it looked like it could take out an eye.

So we get over to the ice machine cubby hole thing and we are loading up the ice bucket, clunkety clunk as the ice falls into the pail, first we had to fix the bag liner as the first few ice cubes bunched it all to the bottom, and then some guy walks by, and I don't think he seen us, so we stood really still, and then I peeked my head out to see if he was gone and he was turning around to come back, so we ran lickety split back to our room, ice bucket in hand and flip flops, flapping the whole way...and that is when the peeing happened.  Not a lot, but enough to warrant a change of underpants...don't ya love it?

I am so excited Lynsay Mahon is coming over tomorrow, she wants to hang out and have me teach her how to color.  She is in AZ just for a couple days, and won't be here for my watercolor class.  I am going to take her to the Deli.  Yum!

Have an awesome Thursday, I'll be back tomorrow with some more display cards.

Thanks so much for stopping in!

 

Wanna See My Girls?

 

 

Huh?

What?

Really?

Well this is not that kind of blog! ha!

Let me introduce you to the new additions to our family.  For the longest time it has been me against 3 guys. Jeff, Eric and Toby...well ha! Now there are 5 girls to 3 guys.  I like those odds better.

Drum Roll please.......introducing the Gnomes...a.k.a. Chickens!

This is Alice (Black Sexlink), she seems to be the boss, and the know it all, so the name suited her perfectly (for all my Twilight Diehards)

This is Clara (Golden Comet), I love her, she seems so dainty. Thanks to Anna Wight, chicken, and stamping extroidinaire, she told me the breed.  I knew it was Golden something.

This is Gertie (Barnevelder), I love her coloring, and can hardly wait to see what she grows up like.  

Last but not least...

This is Stella (Rhode Island Red) - I took all these with My Precious and made a mistake into zooming in so she looks digital-y.  I hope to get better pics of them as they get more used to us, they are still a little skittish, but Alice did let me pet her this morning when she was in her nesting box.

Chicken butts...ha! In our excitement to go get the girls last night, we forgot the feeder and waterer at the dang store...I ran back and got them today. So I was using substitute stuff in this picture. They seem to really get along well.  In fact they practically lay all over each other.

This is where they live.  We moved the garbage pails (that hold the feed and nesting materials) to the back porch, we had a big wind and rain come tonight, and one lid went flying, so Jeff got it, and we figured the porch would probably be better.

So this is another one of the cards I demoed.  I love this one.  It shows the Getting Started Collection of colors.   

Stamp Set: Morning Cup

Paper: Basic Black, Real Red, Daffodil Delight DSP, Daffodil Delight, Watercolor Paper

Ink: Jetblack Stazon, Marina Mist, Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Certainly Celery, Old Olive

Misc: Paper piercer, Square Lattice Embossing folder, 1 1/4" Striped Grosrain Ribbon, Jewelry Tag medium, Basic Rhinestones

I am going to do one more round of DSP shares, so give me a shout if you are interested.

Have an awesome Wednesday and thanks so much for stopping in, I really appreciate it.

 Past Demonstrators Can Join My Team for Only $35.00 paperwork needs to be to SU! by July 31

 

 

Moment to Remember

 

Well today was my first full day home after a whirlwind adventure at convention.  I still feel like a zombie, I still have to go back and add recipes to the cards on my last few days posts, I will get to it, just give me a bit to re-coop. Oh and speaking of "coop" we went to pick up "the girls" tonight.  Clara, Stella, Gertie and Alice.  I'll take pictures of them tomorrow, by the time we got home it was late and a wind storm was blowing, so I got them all situated in their roosting nest things, and we let them get settled.  We got 4 different kinds and I need to call Bobbi and find out again.  I know its Rhode Island Red, Black Sexlink, Barnevelder, and a Golden one, not sure of that name. 

I have some fun pictures to show you from convention and the next little while I will show some every day.  I did not take tons so I am having some of my sweet friends that took pictures send them to me, or I am getting them off of Facebook.

This is little ol' me on the big stage.  I demoed at Regionals in Phoenix which was a smaller stage, and it lasted about 8 minutes, this was a big stage, and it was 20-25 minutes. I was nervous during rehearsals, and Paula yelled out "just breathe" and then I took a breath and slowed down and used my cue cards more and that helped. The more I did it the better I felt, and it was actually easier with the audience there.  I had to do it 6 times including rehearsal.

 

This is the card I was demoing. Here I was showing the poppin' pastels technique using the one sheet wonder method.
 

 Stamp Set: Home Grown

Paper: Garden Green, Basic Black, Crumb Cake

Ink: Versamark, Jetblack Stazon

Misc: Stampin' Pastels, Sponge Dauber, Linen Thread, Garden Green brads, Log Cabin Smooch Spritz

So I kinda hinted as to a special bag I received when I sent to the awards booth.  I was hoping I would get it, but you just never know.  I had the best year of my Stampin' Up! career I had earning cruise with sales alone and earning Founders Circle on my goal sheet.

When I signed in online it said I had earned an award and to make sure to pick it up.  I knew I had earned a reward for sales, recruiting, and also the cruise.

So Shiloh, she was my special friend from Stampin' Up! she called to ask me to demonstrate and she helped me most of the time I was at convention.  She is super sweet. So anyway, I was able to go into the memento mall early cause of recruiting, but also all us presenters could go in so we could get to rehearsals on time.  She went to pick up my convention tote while I was shopping.  Then when I was done, I grabbed my BFF Tracy and MAMMa, and we snagged Rhonda on the way too, we pulled her right out of the memento line, just in case I got that infamous "bag".  So I went to the awards booth and gave them my Demo number, and the girl said it would take a minute to get it together.  So this other girl went back and got stuff, and came back with a Stampin' Up! plastic bag and then the girl read off what I was getting, this stamp set for this, that stamp set for that, a pin for this and that, and then she handed me the plastic bag, and I thought ok, maybe I'll get it next year.  Then the girl said "oh yeah and this bag too" or something like that at that moment, I think my ears and brain turned off.

 So they pulled the Founders Circle bag out from under the counter.  We all started screaming.  I could not believe it. My SAM Max rushed over and gave me a big hug, she knew it was going to happen.

I started to cry and I got hugs from everyone, here is Tracy and I (big bawl babies), and MAMMa smiling in the background. Rhonda took these pictures or I would not have any. Thanks Rhonda, I love you! 

Here we are after, showing off the tote.  Shiloh took this picture. Seems she knew I was going to get the Founders bag, what a stinker...ha!

So what Founders Circle means is (a bunch of you asked), that means you are one of the Top 100 Demonstrators in the United States.  If you are from Canada, it is top 15 I believe. So they get the number based on, Sales, Recruiting, and Leadership. If you earn Founders Circle, Stampin' Up! takes us all expense paid to the Courtyard by Marriott in St. George Utah for 5 days in September. I am still trying to wrap my brain around it, cause I have seen pictures of the girls on this trip, and it is lots of pampering and gifts, and chocolates, and pajamas...I think the one thing I am looking forward to is the rubber playground, how silly I know, but it is a playground with the Stampin' Up! rubber there for the kids to play in. I just remember always seeing the girls when they show the video putting their feet in it, and I was always saying to myself. Someday I am going to put my feet in that rubber.

So here I am up on stage with Shelli the night of awards (you can't see my Eclipse shoes, but I was wearing them!), cause now that the nervousness of "did I get the bag" is gone, now the nerves kick in to "what number am I". I was like, I didn't care what number cause I made it, that was the main thing.  So I said maybe number 99, I had never earned it before, then that night, they got through the 90's, then the 80's, then the 70's, the 60's, and then I thought oh they forgot me, then they got through the 50's and I definitely was waiting for someone to take me aside and say oopsie we made a booboo, then they got to number 40, and said from San Tan Valley, Diana Gibbs.

  OMG! Number 40.  I kept saying #40 out of 100, that was amazing, and then Tracy was like "no you were Number 40 out of 40K Demonstrators" or however many their are. Ohhhh....

Here are a couple of the fun girls that helped me hit my cues and be on time.

 Shiloh and I. Isn't she cute?

Paula, me and Holly. Paula was there to make sure we got to makeup and got miked, she is so sweet. We waited in the green room, and then before we went on we had to wait in the bullpen.  There were tv's in there so we could see the girls on stage.  Oh and wait till I share the candy pictures with you. Paula is the one that made them, it is amazing. Holly was the MC, and she is super cute too.

But I must admit, meeting so many people was a highlight too. I am so glad people came up and said hi, cause that is what makes being a Demonstrator so much fun, we are all one big family.

 

Tracy (look how long and curly her hair is!!) and I got to hang out with another pair of BFF's, Becky Roberts and Kim Sinclair.  We set the camera on the TV to take the picture.  We did not get near enough time to hang out with these two, but definitely we will at Leadership, and most definitely on the Alaska cruise.  Kim was actually one of the lucky 10 that had their name picked to go on the Alaska cruise.  Kim was in such shock and so emotional, I can hardly wait to hang out with her, and her hubby.  Our BFF"s won't be there, so we will be BFF-less.

I can't wait to share more pictures with you, like I said people are emailing them to me.  I actually got to meet Jan Tink for the first time at Linda's Evening to Remember event, and she is so nice and cute.  I met lots of other neat people too, and this old brain is racking trying to remember names, to name a few, Amy, Rose Ellen, Martha, Stella, Debbie, my BFF in training Sally, Kim and her sister Dana, Catherine, Joan, Jenn (who even brought me Ketchup chips and real smarties!!)so many more, I didn't want to start naming names and then have someone offended I did not say their name, but believe me, it will come to me. Thanks to all the emails and comments too, I would love to email back everyone, but there are like about 400 of them...yowza! Just know it makes me so tickled you would take the time to email and comment. Big hugs to everyone!!!

Well this old girl is headed to bed, still trying to catch up on my 40 winks.

Have an awesome Tuesday and thank you so much for stopping in!