Sneaking up to Montrose

I tried to surprise my friend Mike Saturday night with a trip up to Montrose to see our buddies Byron, Darrin and Darrin's wife Kathy, and their 3 kids. (Byron's wife Brenda was out of town.)

I say "Tried" because after getting a little turned around (i.e. lost) with our directions I had to tell Mike where we were going so he could help us get there relatively on time. We were trying to get to Montrose Church in time for the 6:30 service, where Byron leads worship and Darrin is the Associate Pastor, but were were about 10 minutes late, so we missed most of the worship set. Bummer. We still had a wonderful time, and after the service, headed over to Glendale to a very fun outdoor plaza shopping center "extravaganza" place called "Americana." Gorgeous place! Tones of shops and restaurants, all in a big square with fountains, statues, and even a playground for the kids! Dinner, laughing, great conversation, jazz music in the background, beautiful atmosphere... doesn't get much better than that!!!!!

It was so great to see some of my favorite kids in the world, Megan, Kevin and Connor, and love on them for the evening, and get caught up with my sweet friend Kathy. And P.S... it was hysterical to watch Mike giving Byron lighting advice inside their worship center... Mike just can't help himself! I think he does this in his sleep! It was a super fun way to spend a Saturday evening!

Coffee... My Favorite Thing

Wanted to share some cards with you made with "My Favorite Things" set called "Hot Stuff." I have several coffee and/ or tea sets, and I'm always looking for just the right one! I love this one because of the cute cups/ mugs, and the sentiments! The brown polka dot card says "Coffee and Friends" on the outside, and "The Perfect Blend" on the inside. The1 3/8" holes are punched through the DP, and then another set of holes is punched with the smaller punch (1 1/4") is punched through a layer of chocolate paper and then lined up underneath. That was tricky. The mugs are stamped directly onto the vanilla layer, which is also scalloped with scalloped scissors, and watercolored with ink from the lids of stamp pads and the aquapainter, before being attached to the chocolate card base.

Next is a double fold card. It opens UP with the main coffee image, and then it also opens DOWN, to reveal a large writing space. You could also include a coffee gift card very easily. The caramel shadow around the image is made with 4 post it notes attached around the edge of the white layer and then colored with markers. Have a great week!

Stamping Like Crazy

Last week when it was SOOO hot here in SoCal, I took a little table into my own bedroom, where I had an air conditioner, to stamp where it was cool. Well, it's now freezing cold outside, but that table is still in my room! I've been busy with several new stamp sets: Wild About You (Stampin Up!), Hot Stuff ( My Favorite Things) and Small Fruit (Stampendous). Life is Good!

Lakewood High School's Grease

I forgot to post some pictures of Emily in GREASE at Lakewood High School a few weeks ago. It was the last weekend of April and the first weekend of May. In between the first 2 shows and the 2nd 2 shows, I flew to Atlanta for the Orange Conference and BACK, so I was able to squeeze it all in and still see her opening night, and closing night. Of course, she was fabulous and had the best time ever. She really made some good friends through the experience too. Emily had the part of MARTY MARASCHINO.... remember her? The one with all the boyfriends in the Marines? Sang "Freddy My Love"...

She is a born NATURAL on stage... so confident, so happy, so talented!
I love this picture of her Grandma Scheevel and her 2 cousins Jessica and Kayla who came to see her show on opening night! Four Blond Beauties! The four of them have a very special bond, and I'm so glad we all live close enough to each other to spend time together.

Now we're in the all the final rehearsals, set up, costume fittings, load in, etc. for "Annie Get Your Gun" at Biola Youth Theater, which opens June 11 and runs through June 21. She's pretty tired already!

For my Fantastic Mom

Here is the mother's day card I made for my mom... I made it a few weeks ago when I first got this new set from the Occassions Mini, but thought I'd better wait to post it til after she opened it. Don't you just LOVE this Berry Bliss Paper? I know I sure do. And I'm so glad I bought this pomagranate ribbon at Christmas time. The set is "Time for You" and the baskets of flowers are from the bicycle in the set and are popped up with dimentionals. Happy Mother's Day Mom... I'm so lucky to have you as a mom... I don't know what we would do without you.

Georgia on My Mind

Heidi (one of my assistants who leads our KidStuf program at church) and I went to Atlanta a few weeks ago to attend the "Orange" conference, sponsored by ReThink and Northpoint Community Church (Andy Stanley's church). It was an amazing conference. I will have more about it on my other blog: http://www.lakewoodkidconnection.blogspot.com/ But after the conference, I was able to stay a few extra days to visit old friends from when I used to live in Georgia. It was a bitter sweet time. I have such a mix of memories from Georgia. My kids were born there. I was involved in ministry at 3 amazing churches: Piedmont, Woodstock, and Faith Community, and have dear friends from each of those 3 churches to this day. But it is also where my marriage disolved and I began the journey of single mom-hood, and much of my energy during the last 2 years of living there was spent on that journey. But life moves on no matter where we are, and going back to Atlanta occassionally is good for me. It shows me that God is still faithful, that He is on His throne, that He took care of me THEN and continues to take care of me now. All the kids I had in my ministry then are all grown up and getting married and having kids of their own, so it's a great reminder of why I do what I do.

Me and Pam... the most amazing friend in the world. She was also Emily's 4 year old preschool teacher! (We met when we were both teachers at Woodstock Baptist Preschool.) This is taken upstairs in her new house in her CRAFT ROOM/ office, counseling room, quilting room, former home school classroom. It's bigger than my kitchen and FULL of fun stuff. I could live in this room for a long time and be very happy!

This is Connie McLemore, me and Terri Nordine. It's hard to believe that they were among there very first people and friends I ever met in Georgia, way back in 1988, and we continue to be great friends and have such a wonderful time when we get together (every 3 or 4 years!) This is taken at a Lebonese restaurant in Marietta, where Terri likes to hang out, and she also painted the Mediterranean scene behind us! Terri serves on the staff of "Middle East Bible Outreach" (http://www.mebo.org/) and I admire her heart for reaching the lost in an area of the world that is in so much turmoil! We all have teenagers that used to be babies together, so it's so fun to compare notes about our kids when we get together. We had grape leaves, hummus and baklava together... how great is that!?

And finally, this is Jim and Denine Wolden and their daughter Elena. They are actually OLD friends from California (I first met Denine when she was still Denine Plant back in 1982 when I first came to work at FBCOL.) Jim and Denine moved to Acworth Georgia 4 years ago, after I had already moved BACK to California. Small world isn't it... that they would end up just one town over from where I used to live so I could come and visit them whenever I was in town. They always open up their home to me when I'm in town and Elena gets SO excited! Elena, thanks so much for the wonderful saxaphone concert. You are amazing! Keep up the good work. Jim and Denine, thanks for dinner and for taking such good care of me, and making sure that I got back to the airport safely and on time! I love my Georgia family. I only wish they would come to California once in a while to visit us here!

What a Girl Wants

My sweet "baby girl" turned 16 yesterday! It was a special day and a special week for many reasons... not only is she growing into an amazing young woman of God who loves people, cares about integrity, and works very hard at everything she does, but it was also an important day because it was a lightbulb moment for me personally. Emily woke me up at 5:45 a.m. fully dressed, make up and hair done, and asked if she could go out to breakfast with her girlfriends from school! What... who am I... remember me? The woman who gave birth to you...right? The woman who hands you money at every turn, drives you all over southern california at your heart's desire, and comes to every event, every concert, every play, musical, etc. to cheer you on... How did I all of a sudden become "chopped liver?" Emily left for the day to go out to breakfast with her friends, go to school, and then go to Grease rehearsal right after school.... so I didn't see her the whole day until about 9:30 p.m. Very strange birthday. (for me!) She had a fun day with her friends, and I had to come to the cold realization that she is pulling away, that her friends are way more important to her than her family/ parents!

One of the most revealing moments of this wonderful occassion was her birthday list. It gives a humorous, yet enlightening glimpse into the mind, heart, and priorities of a 16 year old girl. It borders on childhood and womanhood at the same time. Here's a little peek:

*Classic Ipod

*Acrylic Nails

*Highlights (for her hair)

*Berret (you know, the hat kind)

*Sun Dresses

*Earrings (big)

*Silver Stiletos

*Hollister jacket

*Lap top (computer)

*purses in general

*mica bella powder

*vans tennis shoes

*new phone/ iphone

*prom dress

*belly button ring

Doesn't that last one just totally crack you up... and take you by surprise!? I love it!

Easter Fun with the Family

Finally figured some things out on my camera... my problem is I am very forgetful, so I have to keep learning the same thing over and over again. Anyway, here are some family Easter pictures. I think there were 35 of us at my sister Dyan's house in Thousand Oaks. So many kids that we had to have TWO Egg Hunts... one for the Little Kids (here's Ellie, Josh, and Grace) .....

And one for the BIG kids (from left to right, staring into the bright sun, are Sammy, Maddie, Jakob, Luis, and Giovani.)
A few more sweet pictures of our "babies" ( I love this picture of Josh with his bag on his head... that was the only one where he was looking into the camera "sort of".... tee hee! )

We also celebrated SEVEN family birthdays while we were all together... here are the "big people"... nephew Giovani, Dawn (who was my flower girl in my wedding in 1986 and now she's 22!!) my sister in law Carolyn, her little boy Josh (the big THREE!), Audrey, my nephew's wife, her little boy Derrik, and.............

Little Katie... my niece Nicole's baby girl, who turned ONE!

Wow, what a wondeful DAY we all had together!

Got Scraps?

Just a few quick cards with some yummy paper called "Two Scoops" by Basic Grey. The shaker card is one of my favorite designs, that I've used several times. The Happy Birthday tag shape stamp is from the original Tag set from SU! (remember how we were all so fanatical about those TAGS and that tag punch when it first came out?) The cardstock is Rose Red and Wild Wasabi and the flower stamped all over the wasabi is from the All about U Set. Ribbon and Rick rack from Michaels. The little dots inside the shaker window are just dots from one of my hole punches in various colors.

The base of the thank you card is Pretty in Pink and it's stamped with white craft ink with the Paisley stamp. The other card stock colors used are Celery, Wasabi, Rose Red, Regal Rose, and White. Wow, I didn't realize I kind of got out of control with all those scraps. There are holes punched in the bottom of the scalloped layer, stitches drawn on both cards with a signo white gel pen, and edges sponged in white on the Thank you card. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Camera problems. I'm headed out to a funeral today of a high school girlfriend, so I'm hoping to have time later this weekend to post some memories and pictures of my friend CHRIS. Have a good weekend.

Refuge and Strength

I've been playing around with this set called "Refuge and Strength" in an attempt to find something for the "Shoebox Swap" at Southern California Stampmania V coming up in April. This once a year stamping event is such a blast... a whole day of stamping, meeting new friends, eating, winning prizes, and more stamping. I always come home with dozens of great cards to drool over! We all bring a card for 10 other people to make, put all the supplies in a box, hence the name "shoebox swap." I'm still playing around with colors and patterned paper, so I'm not revealing any secrets yet, and we need to use only current products, so I still need to order some NEW STUFF (oh darn!) but here are a few cards to brighten your day. As the sentiments on the cards say: "Each day of life is a precious gift from God" (Charles Spurgeon) and "God is, and all is well." (John Whittier) AMEN to both of those sentiments today. As I still try to figure out how to deal with the changes in our family regarding my son's new school situation (basically it's a combination of home schooling and independent study, which is causing a lot of pressure on me and a lot of begging, coersing, reminding, and a lot more involvement for me to help him get his assignments finished each week) I need reminding constantly that God is still on the throne of my life, He is Sovereign, He loves me, my son and my daughter, and will never leave us or forsake us. No matter what the circumstances! I try to remember not to focus on the present, but to keep my eye on the future..... the eternal perspective. God Bless You Today and remember that HE LOVES YOU!

Spring Time Cards!

This little sheet of scrapbook paper was calling out to me to make some spring time cards. I love the colors in it (Celery, Almost Amethyst, Rose shades, Olive, Saffrons and Banana shades, etc.) and also love the fact that it LOOKS textured, even though it's not.

Here are 2 fun cards I made... the first with CRAB AND CO. from Stampin Up! I made the circle with my coluzzle because I needed it to be almost 3 inches in diameter and I don't have a circle punch that big! That meant cutting the scalloped circle by hand using scalloped scissors.

The next card is using a stamped image by Stampendous that Joy from eclecticPaperie sent me! Stampendous makes such adorable spring images. There are little stick on rhinestones on the word window punch in the corner, and on the "S". The word BLESS YOU is made with the little tiny snap stamps. The image is colored with markers, the scalloped edge is cut with the "cloud" decorative scissors, and there is a piece of apricot grossgrain ribbon (Stampin Up!)

All the cardstock for both cards is SU! (Amethyst, Banana, Celery, & Apricot)

Valentine's Day Purses

I have 10 ladies in my office at work that I care about very deeply. Working at a church is a wonderful blessing. We can laugh together, cry together, hold hands and pray together, have lunch, shop, STAMP, and serve God together. It doesn't get much better than that! I usually try to make them something for holidays like a card, a bag of candy with a stamped topper on it, or something like that. When we made these little purses at Jami's club night a few months ago, I knew they would be perfect for valentine's day for "my ladies!" Here's a link to Jami's bag: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/761728?cat=500&ppuser=5896

I made 10 of these, 2 in each type of paper. Glad I started very early! They were more time consuming than I thought they would be. There are a few bags of M & M's inside each purse! Can't have a purse without chocolate inside!

Jami Swap

My friend Jami recently hosted a swap to feature the new stamp sets in the new Stampin Up! spring 08 catalog. I was fortunate to be invited to join in. A swap means everyone makes the same number of cards and swap with each other, so we end up with gorgeous, unique cards from other talented stampers, using sets that we may not have, to give us ideas and inspiration. I am always AMAZED whenever I am involved in a swap... and my reaction is usually, "How did she come up with that?" (In a very good way.) Here are my two swap cards, for 2 different rounds. Round one, using the stamp set Pun Fun was just a general swap using new stamp sets. My colors are chocolate chip and celery, and it also features the oval punches from Marvy, ribbon from Michaels, and the word window punch from SU!

My second card was to feature black as an accent. This was very difficult for me, because I am very limited in my current Stampin Up Stamp sets and designer paper, and all the supplies were supposed to be current. Here is what I came up with, also using the same stamp set, Pun Fun, and the colors Pink Passion, Pixie Pink, and black. I also used the stamp sets "Itty Bitty Backgrounds" and "Paisley" as well as the photo corner punch, silver brads, the Stamp-a-majig to get the words "Love You a Latte" exactly in the right place, and the 1/16" hole punch to make little holes in the scallop. The image is popped up on dimentionals with the little pieces of ribbon taped to the underside.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Hip Hippo Ray!

I love these colors together. Cool Caribbean, Saffron, and Chocolate Chip! And I really love this ribbon I found last week at Michaels that matches Cool Caribbean! It's made by American Crafts. Hopefully, you can see how delicate and shiny it is, with little white dots all over it. The hippo is from the new set Pun Fun, and he is stamped in Black Classic ink, and colored in with Saffron, Celery, Pink, and Turquoise markers on whisper white paper. The edges of the main image are sponged with saffron ink, mounted on saffron paper, then mounted again on Chocolate Chip. The corners of the chocolate chip are trimmed with the ticket corner punch and then the whole thing is mounted with dimentionals on the criss cross cut designer paper, retired from SU. The coolest thing I like about this card is that it is folded along the left edge and is closed on the right side with a piece of velcro, under a circle punch, like a tab. The button is sewn on top with linen thread.

I had 2 sets of swap cards due to Jami this week which was way more of a challenge than I thought it would be. All the materials had to be Stampin Up, and most of my sets are retired, so therein lay the challenge! I will post my cards next week after I receive the swap cards back from Jami. I'm sure I'll be blown away by all the other fabulous cards from everyone else. Hope you have a great week!

A Star is Born

Here are a few pictures of Godspell at Biola Youth Theater... the Central Park Cast... January 2008!

Notice the girl's hair in the lower right corner.... The cast is made up of "skaters," "punkers," "emo's" "preppies" etc.... as if Jesus were to come back today in 2008... who would his disciples be... who would He seek out... .who would decide to follow Him?

Here is Emily "bringing her gift to the alter" and Jesus telling her to leave her gift (a shoe) at the altar and go make peace with her "brother!"

And here she is "in jail" after her "brother" turned her in!

And of course, the highlight of the show, Emily singing "Oh, Bless the Lord My Soul." What a blessing it has been to watch her blossom and grow during this experience. She is so at home on the stage, I am in awe. She has made wonderful lasting godly friendships, she has learned to listen to instructors trying to help her grow in her art, and she has had the privilege of seeing God honor the desires of her heart as she has allowed Christ to work in and through her. Tonight is the last show, and we have about 25 people coming to see her from our family and church. I'm sure there will be some tears shed as the show closes and all these kids go their separate ways.

New Rubber!

Finally got my hands on my new rubber... Pun Fun! Thanks Jami for breaking that box open for me! Here is the deput card from the set... it was SOOO hard to decide which stamp to use first. This paper is from Making Memories. I love to buy coordinating papers from the same designer at the same time. This card is also for Color Challenge 149: Stampin Up Rose Red, Sage Shadow, and Apricot Appeal. The lamb is stamped on confetti white and then sponged with Sage Shadow around the edge to softn the paper. A few snips of ribbon, the ticket corner punch, scallop scissors and paper piercer complete this super simple cards. Thanks for looking!

Hedgehog Happiness!

I just love this little guy! I was lucky enough to find this set at a garage sale a few years ago, long after this Stampin Up! set had been retired, and I'm so glad I snatched him up. This card is for my special friend Michelle. Her birthday was Friday, but unfortunately, she was VERY SICK with a terrible flu on her birthday, so we haven't celebrated yet. This card uses my favorite paper from DCWV... retro prints, as well as Cameo Coral, Wild Wasabi, Ruby Red, and Vanilla Paper. Hedgehog is stamped with Brown Staz on, and then colored with markers and an aquapainter. The scallopes are cut with decorative scissors. The little tab that says "My Friend" is from the set "Polka Dot Posies" because it was sitting out on my desk leftover from the card you see below. The ribbon is from Michaels. I was pleasantly surprised to see how it matched.

The second card uses the same paper, and has 4 different designs of paper that all coordinate. Isn't that awesome. Makes it so much easier to find coordinating rprints. The stamp set is "Polka Dot Posies" and the flower is stamped in Ruby Red, Cameo Coral and Old Olive (oops, I was supposed to used WildWasabi to match the paper, but I forgot!) The edges of the stamped image are sponged with cameo coral, to soften the white paper. Then it is layered on Cameo Coral and Ruby Red, trimmed with scalloped scissors, and "poked" with the paper piercer. The My Friend tag once again is from the same set. I LOVE POLKA DOT POSIES... it's a keeper!

Have a sunny and wonderful day.

My daugter gets her braces off today, so I'm excited to post some pictures of her tonight! Woo Hoo!

Time for a Challenge

Had some fun this week trying to get caught up on some Splitcoast Challenges. Nothing too difficult, but lots of fun to try different color combinations and new sketches.

The first one is a great color combination using Eggplant, Wild Wasabi and Saffron (all Stampin Up) and is also a new sketch challenge. The stamp sets used are Sweet Treats for the main image, Itty Bitty Backgrounds for the eggplant layer, Swirl Style wheel for the saffron layer, and Warmest Regards for the sentiment. The cake is colored with markers. Embelishments include the word window punch tab, a green rhinestone brad, gold glitter on the candles, Glaze pen on the cake, and Crystal Effects on the cake stand

Here's a fun card to brighten someone's day, using Color combination 147 (Taken with Teal, Celery, and Real Red). The stamp set is called "Very Punny" the frogs are colored with a celery marker, and then the sentiment is stamped separately in teal, and punched out with Taken with Teal ink. The red scalloped layer is made with the slit punch, and the little holes are made with the smallest hole punch. There is also faux stitching and red brads around the edges, and red gingham and silver cord are the final touches. This will be for my daughter's smashing success in Godspell, which opens tonight for her cast. My friend Mike and I will be there in the 2nd row smiling from ear to ear, and probably shedding a few tears of pride and joy!

And The Curtain Goes Up

Well, after 15 weeks of rehearsals, 8 all day Saturday marathons of painting props, sewing costumes, running lines, practicing dance steps, almost ruining her voice, many voice lessons, tons of fun meeting new friends, staying up late driving home (50 miles per rehearsal... up and back, up and back), the killer week is here. Last night, Emily was at Biola til 11:00; tonight was a stay at home, do homework and eat one last home cooked meal together, and then tomorrow night, we have dress rehearsal, and the show opens on Thursday. I say "we" because I'm doing makeup tomorrow night, and then learning how to "ush" (that's what ushers do, right?) while she's rehearsing. Oh yeah, and we had to run out this afternoon after work and buy a few more things for her costume! It's been a challenging road for her, but she is looking forward to the show opening. I am amazed at her dedication, her ability to develop her talent and skills in the area of singing and dancing (I thought you either "had it" or you didn't... but she has worked very hard at becomming great!), and all during this time, she has maintained almost perfect grades at school, sung in 2 other singing groups, been involved in lots of church things, etc.
Break a Leg, Em! (Why in the world do we say that????) I can't wait to post some photo's, but that will be a while, because we're not allowed to take pictures during the shows, we'll have to wait until the professional photographer gives us the pictures he takes. Every cast member has to take a big BOX to keep all their stuff in during the shows... make up, hair stuff, costume changes, snacks, water, etc. It's called their SHOW BOX. Emily had one a long time ago, but since this is her first show back in California, she needed a new box. Most of the kids write the names of the shows they've been in somewhere on the box, and it becomes sort of a souvenier. I wanted to make Em some kind of special name plate to put on the top of her box, so this is what developed. It's my first time to make a "name plate" using my new alphabet, Letterpress. She really liked it, even though I could tell she still wants to add to it some of her own personality.

It uses Saffron, Vintage Violet, and Celery Paper, and Making Memories "Cheeky/ Abby Words" scrapbook paper as the base, and then adds a bunch of vellum sentiments, brads, swirl clips, etc. The whole thing is about 12 x 9, and is slipped inside a 12 x 12 scrapbook album page protector, then trimmed to size, to tape on the top of the rubbermaid box so it doesn't get wet or ruined. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, even though I was trying to keep it as flat as possible, so I wasn't able to add any RIBBON.... Please keep Emily in your prayers the next few days if you remember, as well as the rest of the cast.... this is an amazing and powerful musical, and I'm sure Satan would desire to attack these precious teenagers, discourage them, cause illness to them, etc. to prevent the GOSPELL from being heard by hundreds these next 2 weeks. Thank you so much.

One Sheet Wonder

These are my "One Sheet Wonder" cards we started at Jami's club night this past Friday. We made 3 cards at her house, and then I brought the rest of my sheet home and had fun over the weekend making 4 more cards. Seven cards out of one sheet of stamped cardstock. The base cardstock was Vanilla and using the Stampin Up inks: Artichoke, Eggplant, Pumpkin, Rose Red, and Amethyst, and the stamp sets: A Beautiful Thing, Carte Postale, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Happy Harmony, Fancy Flexible Phrases, the Baroque Wheel, and a set from The Angel Company that I can't remember the name of, but it's something like "Girly Girl." (If anyone knows, please let me know!)

Here is a close up of one of the cards we started at Jami's house and then I added a special little tag to it when I got home. It uses both Stampin Up Circle Punches (1 1/4 & 1 3/8) and both Stampin Up Oval punches layered on top of each other, and then 2 brads added on top. The next card I've highlighted shows a few added pieces of ribbon, some brads and some corner stickers on the main sentiment image. Feel free to visit my splitcoast gallery (located on the sidebar) to see each card up close. Also, see Jami's blog for all the original details: www.jami.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com It's back to work for me tomorrow after about 9 days off, so I'm a little sad about that. I've greatly enjoyed not feeling the pressure of getting up and getting out the door in such a rush every morning, and I can tell my back, my neck, my knees, and all the other parts of my body that have arthitis, have enjoyed the break too! Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!