I've Been Hiding ...

... sort of!!! Another busy week at our house! Spent Tuesday through Thursday at a church youth retreat. It was SUCH a great time. We all came home exhausted (which is a sure-tell sign of fun had by all!).

And since yesterday I've been stamping my BRAINS out!! I have to do 138 swaps for Convention ... and not just any ol' swaps ... every swap I am doing is a kinda "wow" sort of thing. I hadn't planned for it to turn out this way, but things sometimes just kind of happen. I have stamped SEVEN different samples. This is one of them. I decided that this was a bit too busy. Turned out a little more detailed than I had planned, but sometimes it's just hard to stop yourself, ya know?? I did another card with the same stamps and color scheme. I was happy with how it turned out, and I'll share it with ya after I swap some at Convention.

I finally have all my swaps planned out. I now just need to cut, stamp, trim, stamp and embellish everything. I hope I can get them all done!!

Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Curly Cute
Paper: Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight, Raspberry Ripple, Whisper White, Summer Smooches DSP
Ink: Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight, Raspberry Ripple, Midnight Muse
Accessories: Apothecary Accents Die, 3/4" Circle Punch, Punch Pack, Daffodil Delight Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Modern Label Punch, Fancy Fan Textured Impressions Folder

MDS Layouts & BIG Thank You's!

First of all, I'm gonna start with the "thank you's" ... I can't begin to tell you HOW MUCH I appreciate all of the well wishes I have received since the Artisan Finalist Announcement. I have received sooo many emails, phone calls, texts, blog comments and Facebook messages with the NICEST comments, virtual "high fives" and votes of support. You have NO IDEA how much these have meant to me. Thankyouthankyou from the bottom of my heart. I am sooo happy that the next three weeks are really busy for me (church youth retreat, senior "getaway" to southern Utah with my daughter and her friends, girl's camp). The countdown continues ...

And I am really HAPPY to be able to share some more digital layouts with you. Have I mentioned that I LOVE MDS???? (The answer??? Probably ... more than once ... winkwink!) I have enjoying going down memory lane as I have put some of these layouts together. The one above, actually, is just from 2010. My dear, sweet mother-in-law was celebrating her 80th birthday. Doesn't she look AMAZING??? Makes me all the more grateful for her spunky spirit and healthy mindset that helped her through her recent fall and long hospital stay. She is truly an inspiration to ALL of us!

Ingredients: Paper - Number One, Tickets & Tags; Stamps - Number One, Greatest Moments, Greatest Moments Two, Decorative Overlays, Bold Branches, Thoughtful Overlays, Frame It, Family Reunion; Punches - Large Arrow, 1-1/4" circle; Embellishments - Black zig-zag stitching, Button Latte, Antique Brads; Font - Banner.

And this one just makes me SMILE!! My kids have not known a summer of their whole lives without a visit to our family condo up at Bear Lake (in fact, I haven't known one since the day I met my husband). I plan to be going there for the rest of my life ... so many happy memories!!

Ingredients: Background Paper - Island Oasis DSP; Punches - Scallop Circle punch; Embellishments - Whisper White grosgrain ribbon, Flower Brads (Brights); Stamps - Calendar Kits (Sun), Sunny Days (Sunny Days), Torn Edges (Hand Torn); Fonts - Berlin Sans FB Demi.

Well, it's 5:15 a.m. and I still haven't packed a THING for our church youth retreat ... AND I need to take a shower ... AND I need to go drop the doggie off to my friend ... ANDANDAND ... you get the picture!!

Have a happy Tuesday!

Shut UP!!!

Are you SERIOUS???? Hoooooolllyyy sa-MOKES!!! I am so over-the-top-beyond-compare EXCITED at the moment!! I entered Stampin' Up's Artisan Award Contest this year ... again ... which is the THIRD time I have actually done so. This year it is a bit different than past years as well. In the past, they have announced the 10 Artisan winners before Convention. Then, while at Convention, the "honorable mention" people are announced. Kinda lackluster, actually, as the names are flashed across the big screen during a general session. It's very exciting, but it seems kind of anti-climactic.

This year, however, they decided to pick 20 finalists before Convention. Each finalist will be given a $250 shopping spree with Stampin' Up (COOLCOOLCOOL!). At Convention, the 10 winners will be announced. Each of the winners will receive a $500 SU shopping spree AND $500 cash AND they will be on Stampin' Up's Design Team for the next year, receiving new product each month with which to create lovely goodness and post it on their blogs or DBWS's (Demonstrator Business Websites). GUESSWHATGUESSWHAT??? I was PICKED!!! HUZZAH-HOORAH-HOORAY!!

This is kinda how it went down ... (names have been omitted to protect the innocent) was Skyping and pretending to clean my craft room last Thursday evening with friend #1 ... friend #2 (who also entered the contest) texted me and asked me if I had heard anything yet, to which I replied, "Nope. You?" To which SHE replied, "YES!! They called me about 10 minutes ago!!" OHMYGOSHFREAKINGOUTTHEDOOR!! I immediately called friend #3 on the phone (who had ALSO entered the contest). We were both having a spazzing-out type of conversation, "She got called??? Oh how cool!! Why haven't they called US??" In the middle of the conversation my OTHER line starting ringing. I said, "MYOTHERLINEISRINGING...ANDIDON'TRECOGNIZETHENUMBER!! Gotta go ... call ya right back!" Friend #1, still hanging on via Skype, is laughing by this time ... Caller on the phone says, "Hi, is this Wendy?" "Yes, this is she." "Is this the SAME Wendy Weixler who created -------- (omitting until the BIG REVEAL at Convention)?" To which I replied the first two intelligent words that popped into my head ... "Shut UP!!" Seriously ... that is EXACTLY what I said. I jumped out of my chair (in my basement craft studio) and flew up the stairs ... the whole time saying something intelligent like, "This is making me CRY!" (which it was!) Cute gal from Stampin' Up says, "Don't CRY! You're making ME cry!!" I honestly don't remember pretty much ANYthing she said after that ... honestly and truly ... my brain turned to oatmeal. As soon as I hung up, I ... with all the maturity and composure someone of my age SHOULD have ... started JUMPING UP AND DOWN and SCREAMING!!! My daughter and her friend, sitting downstairs playing video games, looked at me as if I had totally LOST my marbles (which I had!!)! Friend #1 is now CRACKING UP via Skype .... take a deep breath ...

I am going to admit that friend #3 is my deardeardear BFF, JanTink!! She is sooo amazingly awesome. The only thing that takes the shine out of this INCREDIBLE experience is that she didn't get a call ... a fact that I am STILL befuddled about, as she has been an "honorable mention" both of the other times she has entered. She is sooo gifted and talented ... and wonderful and smart ... she inspires me and helps me when my brain cramps up (which is way more often than I care to admit)!! In all the scenarios I imagined for the outcomes for this contest (BOTH of us winning/being finalists, HER winning/being a finalist), I NEVER thought she wouldn't be here on the list. SOOO happy she is gonna be staying with me during Convention, as I know she is going to be the most gracious and enthusiastic of supporters for me ... which is why she is my BFF. (Just know that I will have LOTS of chocolate waiting for you when you arrive, my dear friend!!)

On to the cards posted for today ... had my Stamp Club this morning. Always love having stamp-y friends over. We made the first card with, what else??? More butterflies!!! The little butterfly in the card posted waaayyyy back at the top of this post at the beginning of my loooonnnggg saga is heat embossed in Melon Mambo (both layers), as is the lattice-y looking image in the strip behind the hole.

Stamps: Papillon Potpourri, Summer Silhouettes, Fabulous Phrases
Paper: Whisper White, Gumball Green, Melon Mambo
Ink: Gumball Green, Basic Black
Accessories: Elegant Butterfly Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Word Window Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Fancy Fan Textured Impression Folder, Perfect Pennant Bigz Die, Rhinestone Basics, Melon Mambo Embossing Powder




My girls have been wanting to make this Origami Diamond Fold card for a while ... they had seen the one I had out from when I did the tutorial here on my blog (click HERE to see it). So, this is what I did. They wanted to use some Crystal Effects, which is on the little eggies in the nest.













Here is a peek under the first flap ...











And inside ... cute, eh?

Stamps: Take Care
Paper: Midnight Muse, Raspeberry Ripple, Summer Starfruit, Whisper White, Patio Party DSP
Ink: Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse, Early Espresso
Accessories: Scallop Trim Border Punch, Scallop Trim Corner Punch, Crystal Effects, Whisper White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon

It's gonna take me a while to come down off the ceiling (just ask my family ... they will tell ya it's TRUE!). I look at the list of finalists and am astounded to be among them. Many of these talented women have been idols of mine forEVER! Such an honor ... now I hafta wait about 3 1/2 weeks to see how this all plays out. Not gonna lie and say I don't WANNA win, but I consider having made it THIS far a HUGE thing. Sooo thrilled!!

Butterfly Blues

I really love being a Challenge Hostess on SCS ... one of my favorite things to do in the stamping universe!! It was my turn, once again, to hostess the Free for All challenge for today. I chose to do paper piercing ... for a couple of reasons First of all, I haven't done it a lot in the past couple of years. And secondly, I got some WONDERFUL new paper piercing goodies from the new Stampin' Up catalog!! LOVING them to bits!! (As well as this GORGEOUS butterfly punch and stamp!!)

I am totally excited today, too! My mom's house has been on the market for well over two years (almost two and a half, actually!). She has been with 24-48 hours of closing on a sale about 5 times!! We are FINALLY going to close this morning!! The buyer had a BUNCH of cash to put down, his loan has been secured, and he already has a cashier's check for my mom!! This is SUCH good news!! Such has had sooo much anxiety over this (which has been felt by all of us!). Sooo happy to have this going well!! What a relief!!

Is it really going to be the weekend already??? Boy-oh-boy! This week has just ZIPPED right on by!! Gonna by a WARM weekend (up in the 100's+)! YAY Summer!!

Stamps: Papillon Potpourri, Itty Bitty Banners
Paper: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Island Indigo,White Signo Gel Pen
Accessories: Elegant Butterfly Punch, Adorning Accents Edgelits Dies, Paper Piercing Pack Essentials, Whisper White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Folder, Pearl Basics, Designer Label Punch, Extra Large Oval Punch, Bitty Banners Framelits

Freakin' Into the New Catalog!!

Welcome, friends! This month the Freaks are sharing some of the new stampy goodness from the AWESOME 2012-13 Stampin' Up Catalog. You should have just come from the blog of my freakishly and abnormally-on-time buddy, JanTink!! She is sooo amazing with color ... I wanna be like her when I grow up ...



First off, y'all KNEW I was gonna have to share something with BUTTERFLIES, right? We have a NEW butterfly punch!! Joy!! Happiness!! Rapture!!! I am IN LOVE!! And the coordinating stamps are GORGEOUS!!!! Sigh ... more butterflies for me to chase!

Stamps: Papillon Potpourri, Create a Cupcake
Paper: Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade, Tempting Turquoise, Wisteria Wonder
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Fancy Fan Textured Impression Folder, Basic Black 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Extra Large Oval Punch, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" Square Punch



On to my second card ... which is also kind "buggy" ... I am also a HUGE fan of bumblebees!! And this one just HAD to be accompanied by some red polka dots, don'tcha think?

Stamps: Bug Me
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Polka Dot Parade DSP, Vellum
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8" and 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Delicate Designs Textured Impressions Folder, Pearl Basics, Daffodil Delight Seam Binding


And last, but certainly NOT least ... here is a great little quick and easy gift. I am ALWAYS buying stuff at Bath and Body Works to give away ... so here is a fun way to jazz up a bottle of anti-bacterial soap.

Stamps: Reason to Smile, Itty Bitty Banners
Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Lucky Limeade, Floral District DSP
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade
Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Extra Large Oval Punch, Whisper White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Bitty Banners Framelits

And now ... on to the marvelous Yvette Ashe!! LOVE her creativity!!

Squares for Dad

It's been a whirlwind several days! My daughter and I headed up to Logan and Utah State University last Friday for new student orientation (I was doing just FINE with it until she went and got her student ID card ... came back and proudly showed it to me ... nearly cried!). Then, we hustled off to our family condo at Bear Lake on the Utah/Idaho border. The boys and their dad were down in southern Utah with their uncle/cousins for some hiking in Zions National Park. We were all spread across the state ... happy to report that everyone made it home safe and sound yesterday afternoon.

Which brings me to a confession ... I hadn't done a SINGLE THING for Father's Day. I've been battling a nasty cold/sinus issue for about a month. My brain is fuzzy, so I guess I can blame my lack of action on that, right?? So, my husband reminds me that we need to go visit his dad ... and I didn't have a card or anything!! So, I pulled this together and we picked him a large bowl of fresh raspberries from our garden ... so that took care of that!

Gonna head out to the ENT clinic this morning where they are doing a CT scan of my head to see what is in there (if they happen to find NO brain, it will confirm what my husband has suspected for years!). Hopefully they will find where they need to pull the plug so everything can drain out!! Ewwww!!

Stamps: Family Reunion
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Polka Dot Parade DSP
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: 1 3/8" Square Punch, 1 1/4" Square Punch, 1" Square Punch, Large Oval Punch, Chevron Textured Impression Folder, Neutrals Button, Paper Piercing Tool/Template/Mat

Surrounded ...

... by flowers!! I am embarrassed to admit that most of the new stamp sets I bought from the catalog are floral ... of one sort or another! Embarrassed??? Okay, maybe too strong of a word. But I do think that it is funny that I am drawn, over and over again, to flowers!! (and it's not like I don't have about a gajillion flowers stamps already!)!

I made this for my niece and nephew who are celebrating their 13th wedding anniversary (and getting ready to welcome baby #6!). Soo happy for them and their beautiful family!! (And is it weird to admit that I am in LOVE with this Whisper White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon??? I'm using it on EVERYthing lately!)

I am heading up to Utah State University with my daughter tomorrow so she can do the orientation thing, and then we can go to our family's condo at Bear Lake. YAY Bear Lake!! My weekend begins tomorrow ... HOORAY!!

Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Whisper White
Ink: Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party
Accessories: Word Window Punch, Itty Bitty Circle Punch, Adorning Accents Edgelits Die, Paper Piercing Mat, Whisper White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Pearl Basics

Polka Dot Birthday

I lovelovelove this polka dot paper!! FUN!!! Which is why I made this card for my nephew's birthday ...

I went a little crazy with the dots here, but it makes me happy!

Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Family Reunion
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Polka Dot Parade DSP
Ink: Basic Black, Real Red
Accessories: Apothecary Accents Framelits Die, Large (Wide) Oval Punch, Whisper White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Silver Brads, 3/4 Circle Punch

Had a fun weekend. We had a barbecue with my daughter and all the kids in our neighborhood who have grown up together and graduated together. All of them (except one who moved here in the 4th grade) have known each other since they were born. VERY cool that they have kept friendships close all these years. I hope they can keep tabs on each other a bit as the years go by ... :)

Passages ...

It almost seems as though you blink and whole chunks of time just pass you by. I honestly feel like the older I get, the more rapidly things go whizzing past ...

My youngest daughter graduated from high school yesterday. Can I have a do-over? I sooo miss the days when my kids were small (I thought at the time I had NO control over my life ... little did I know that the REAL "no control" zone was during the teen years!). It is such a bittersweet thing. While I am thrilled at her accomplishments and excited for the things she will experience the next few years as she heads off to college, I am sad for the passage of time and the things that I won't get to go back and do again ... sigh ...

I made her this card yesterday morning while she was getting ready to go. While it was REALLY fun to play with some of my new SU goodies, I couldn't help but reflect on so many of the events that had transpired to get her to this special day. No idea where the time went ...

Stamps: Stippled Blossoms, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant
Ink: Always Artichoke, Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant
Accessories: Whisper White Satin/Organza Ribbon, Delicate Designs Textured Impressions Folder, Word Window Punch

Here is my baby ... and I actually made her the lei with the flowers around her neck figured paper flowers would last longer than "real" ones ...

Now if I could just get the antibiotics to kick in so my sinus infection would go away ... sigh ... would LOVE for this to pass on by!!

NewNewNEW!!

Got my box of new Stampin' Up goodies yesterday ... it's so much fun when the new catalog comes out and there are a lot more things to choose from ('cause y'all know I buy up pretty much most of the stuff I want from the previous year long before the new year starts!!).

I am afraid to admit that most of the stamp sets I bought were flowers ... go figure ... LOVE me some new floral-y stuff to play with, so this is what I came up with! This set, "Reason to Smile" is available through a promotional offer in July. If you place an order for $50, you can get THIS set for a mere $5!! How COOL is THAT???

My daughter is graduating from high school this week. So many events and things going on. And time is just whizzing by!! Tomorrow is the annual carnival at the grade school (have been doing this for YEARS and YEARS with a dear friend of mine). It is also my #2 son's 21st birthday!! And then graduation on Thursday (followed by an all-night party for the Seniors ... which really doesn't last all night ... we hafta pick the kids up at the school at 3:00 a.m.!! Sounds FUN, right??).

So it's off to the races again!!

Stamps: Reason to Smile, Family Reunion
Paper: Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, Soft Suede, Polka Dot Parade DSP
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede
Accessories: Chevron Textured Impressions Folder, Small Oval Punch, Designer Neutrals Buttons, Daffodil Delight Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon

Finally!!!

I got a bunch of stuff from the new Stampin' Up catalog via a preorder ... WEEKS ago!! My life has been so out-of-control busy since then that i haven't had time to really look it over and play with it!! Sad, sad, sad!!

So, today I FINALLY go the chance to play with it (should REALLY have been working on my daughter's graduation announcements, but I did this card instead ... gotta do those darn things ... SOON!)! This card is a big plain and simple, but I am really liking the colors and the images from this set. I used this card as the sample for the Free for All Challenge I hosted on SCS today. The challenge was to make a graduation/congratulatory card that DIDN"T have a cap, diploma or owl on it! (Which basically means that ANYthing goes!)

CanNOT believe that my "baby" is going to graduate from high school next week. I have NO idea where the past 18 years have gone ... and I am NOT old enough to have three grown children. Sigh ... I sure miss my little ones. (Not like they "left" ... they just grew up, dang it!!)

Stamps: Betsy's Blossoms, Itty Bitty Banners
Paper: Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, Whisper White
Ink: Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, Gumball Green
Accessories: Itty Bitty Banners Dies, Whisper White Grosgrain Stitched Ribbon, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Folder, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, Rhinestone Basics

Happy weekend, friends!