Monday Montage #63

I canNOT get over how much MORE FUNNER it is to create something in a CLEAN crafty space!!! OhMyGoodness!!! It's been SOOOOO very long ... and I always make a pact with myself that I'm going to "clean as I go" ... so far I've made THREE cards since the clean up and have kept on track!!! It makes it WAY much easier to tap into ANY sort of creativity in a sparkly and shiny space!!! AND it's time to play with the Monday Montage girls once again ... SOOOOO good!

Also ... I seem to be "stuck" again ... I'm stuck on the same color combos OVER and OVER!!! There are certain folders in my drawers of cardstock that have been VERY neglected!!! I need to start trying to do something different for a while!!! Between Whisper White, Very Vanilla and Crumb Cake I seem to be in a rut ... I add little bits of color to them, but I'm seriously in need of trying something NEW!!

Stamps:  Party With Cake, Writing Notes
Paper: Crumb Cake, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories:  Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies, Itty Bitty Accents Punch (Star), Fun Frames Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Rhinestone Basics, Linen Thread

Took an amazingly beautiful and invigorating snowshoe hike yesterday up to a place called Donut Falls ... the BEST part (other than the GORGEOUS views of the mountains, trees and blue skies) was the AWESOME cave at the top of the hike. You climb down in and see a most EXCELLENT waterfall coming through a hole in the top of the cave (hence the name, Donut Falls!)!! And the sound of the wind ... the peaceful sound of wind rusting through the trees ... ahhhhhhhhh ... my cup is FULL, I tell ya!!

Click "Back" for Melissa Stout and "Next" for Amy O'Neill ... you ARE gonna want to see what they have created!! ALWAYS full of great ideas and inspiration!!

Time to Sale-a-Brate!!! Control Freak Style!!

Today is a GREAT day!!! Not ONLY is the sun SHINING and the sky BLUE, but it is ALSO time to look at what the Control Freaks have done with the Sale-a-Bration goodies!! And it's an AFTER-CHRISTMAS MIRACLE ... I FINALLY cleaned up my craft room!! Holy-moley!!! I found some things I had been missing (I haven't done a good cleaning since mid-December) ... and it made it WAY so much more fun to create things!!! If you've been hopping around our Blog Tour you should just come from the blog of the very talented Connie Tumm!!! Such AMAZING things come from her brain and out the tips of her fingers!!

I scream, you scream, we ALL scream for ICE CREAM!!! When I saw this fun Perfectly Artistic DSP in the Sale-a-Bration catalog it just looked like ice cream swirls to me!!! So how COOL is it that there's a cute stamp set with an ice cream cone in it ALSO available for SAB???? Now I want a cone ....

Stamps: Honeycomb Hapiness
Paper: Tip Top Taupe, Blushing Bride, Whisper White, Perfectly Artistic DSP
Ink: Top Top Taupe
Accessories: Decorative Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Tip Top Taupe Lace Trim, Blushing Bride Sequin Trim, Simply Scored, Washi Label Punch, Sewing Machine

Hel-LO????? I LOVE this stamp set!!! My fave part??? The little sentiments that go along with the big ol' "Hello" ... so very SWEET!!! It just makes me happy!!

Stamps: Hello (SAB), Timeless Treasures
Paper: Blackberry Bliss, Calypso Coral, Old Olive, Whisper WhiteWildflower Fields DSP, Silver Glimmer DSP
Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Hello Honey, Calypso Coral
Accessories: Botanical Gardens Designer Wshi Tape, Project Life Paper Clips Thinlits Dies, 1/2" Circle Punch, Rhinestone Basics

Next up??? The super-talented and super AWESOME Cindy Elam!!! She is just about one of the kindest people I know ... AND she is so very creative!!! LOVE her in so many ways!!!

Fab Friday #81

What a crazy-awesome week!!! The weather has been all OVER the map!! (From hail and snow to 62 degrees and sunny!) I am beginning to believe that Punxsatawny Phil MAY have been right about an early spring ... much warmer than we usually are at this time of year!!! It's making me really FEEL THE NEED to stamp flower-y things!!! Thank heavens for Fab Friday!!

Stamps: What I Love (SAB), Timeless Textures
Paper: Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Love Blossoms DSP, Perfectly Artistic DSP (SAB)
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Pool Party, Pink Pirouette, Blush Blossoms
Accessories: Extra Large Oval Punch, Banner Punch, Bermuda Bay 1/8" Stitched Ribbon, Bermuda Bay Sequin Trim

I've decided I love this sketch!!! LOTS of possibilities!!










Excited to see what all of our challenge players come up with!!

Here's a link to the Fab Friday Challenge Blog so you can play along:

Fab Friday Challenge Blog

Check out the Fab blogs of my fellow Fab Friends:

Mindy Backes
Cindy Beach
Heather Heroldt
Brian King
Justin Krieger
Amanda Mertz
Brenda Myers
Pam Steckman
Jan Tinklenberg

I did my longest run EVER this week (15.4 miles!!)! And to think, a marathon is ONLY 11 miles more than THAT!!! I also got to go to a King's Singers concert with my son (it was SOOOO very good!), and I'm planning on doing some snowshoeing this Saturday ... SUCH a GREAT week!!

Stamp Review Crew - Sale-a-Bration Edition 2016!

It's cold ... it's gray ... and it MAY last me for the rest of my life!!! We have had a HORRIBLE inversion hanging over Salt Lake City for the past week ... and it has made it SO hard to feel "sunny"!!! Good thing I have theStamp Review Crew! I needed something to brighten my day!!!

I'm not quite so sure WHY I have had the HARDEST time cleaning up my craft room ... NOT kidding!!! It's been a mess since about mid-December (NOT kidding!)!! I'm sure I would be blogging and posting a LOT more than I have been ... maybe I will do that after I finish typing up this blog post??? Wouldn't that be AWESOME???

Stamps: Botanicals for You (SAB)
Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Perfectly Artistic DSP (SAB)
Ink: Basic Gray
Accessories: ZigZag Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Silver Sequin Trim, Rhinestone Basics, Botanical Builder Framelits

I have always struggled with super LARGE sentiments ... but I absolutely ADORE this one ... and the smaller sentiments and bitty flowers that go with it!!









Still running ... a LOT!! But this past week has been SO hard because of the inversion ... ugh!!! Saturday I ran a 10K with some of my running besties! I actually set a personal best for myself ... in SPITE of air that was practically CHEWABLE!!!

The "previous" button will take you to the ever-so-talented Adriana Benitez, and the "next" button to super-awesome Holly Krautkremer!!

Monday Montage #62

I just got back from Wis-CAHN-sen ... Had such a GREAT time!! (And before any of y'all ask, I was there with my hubby doing some training for EAA Officers - Experimental Aircraft Association - my husband's version of Stamp Club). It was COLD (it's a whole different type of cold there!)! Talk about your Midwestern accents!!! We made MANY new friends and there may or may NOT have been a peanut fight in the local Texas Roadhouse Restaurant ... but I digress ... we stayed in a GREAT lodge. There was a fireplace and a HUGE window looking out over the beautiful snow and hangars at the Oshkosh airport ... made me wish SO BADLY that I had my stampin' supplies with me ... and about a WHOLE WEEK of uninterrupted time with nowhere to go and nothing to do!!! I could have made Monday Montage cards that would have lasted me for MONTHS!!!

Once I had some time this afternoon to play with my "stuffs" I just sat ... and sat ... and sat ... nothin'!!! My mojo, alas, must have been left in Oshkosh yet!!! (I LOVED how so many sentences spoken by my new Midwestern friends ended with the word "yet" ... not quite sure what it means but it's fun to say it!)

I have a little grandnephew AND a little second cousin who BOTH turned ONE in the past few weeks. I am behind on my birthday card mailings this year, so I decided to do a TWOfer with this particular card. Wink of Stella Brush??? It's my new love!!! SO much prettier in person than in is in a photo!! I sent a preliminary photo to my bestie, Cheryl, when I had finished to see what she thought of these (like, none of you EVER do that???). She said they looked like "Cat in the Hat" cards, so I'm going with that!!!

Stamps: NONE!!
Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Real Red, Bermuda Bay, Pool Party, Fresh Prints DSP (Retired)
Ink: NONE!
Accessories: Party Pop-Up Thinlits Dies, Large Numbers Framelits Dies, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Banner Punch, Large Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Bermuda Bay 1/8" Stitched Ribbon, Bermuda Bay Sequin Trim, Silver Sequin Trim, Wink of Stella Brush

And I DID go running whilst in the land of the Midwest ... one morning I got up and ran in the dark and cold. Since we stayed on the airport property I had lots of beautiful things to look at. At one point I was running down the road toward the control tower and all I could think of was that I KNEW there were people up there who could see me ... a lone runner out on a snowy road ... and I just PRAYED that I wouldn't fall and make a fool of myself!!! (I didn't!!) WHEW!!

Click "Back" for Melissa Stout and "Next" for Amy O'Neill ... beautiful, wonderful, amazing and FUN stuff from these ladies!!