Suzette Ketto

I can finally share this card with you. I made it for Jen my "online" friend for her birthday and didn't want her to see it before she got it. I used my new June Bug paper from Basic Grey for the card. Suzette Ketto is stamped in Staz On ink and embossed. She is colored with Copic Markers. The white paper that she is stamped on is cut with with the Large Deckled Rectangles from Nestabilities.

Moon Doggie Polo Shirt Card

I had fun making these Hawaiian Shirt cards. They look hard to make but are very easy. I used CTMH's Moon Doggie Paper. The setiment is from the stamp set "Extreme Happiness". My daughter calls them Tommy Bahama Shirts. The tutorial can be found Here.

http://www.scor-pal.com/projects2/index_files/Page418.htm

Rubber Stamp Storage

I went to Michael's again this weekend with another downloadable 50% off coupon and bought another shelf. The coupon reads "One coupon per customer per day" Can you believe that!!! I don't think that I will ever pay full price again at Michaels. There are other coupons that I found on line as well. I had fun putting my rubber stamps up on this shelf. The stamps with the cute girl are from "Penny Black". I just love them.

Tilda Organization

I am on a roll with my organization. I decided to put all of my Magnolia (Tilda) stamps in a binder. I found these photo page inserts at Office Max. They fit in a regular binder. I bought a plain white binder and used the tag that came with one of my Tilda's for the Binder Title.

I stamped each Tilda on a plain piece of paper, wrote the name of the stamp and inserted it with the stamp behind it into the sleeve.

I plan to do the same thing with my other unmounted stamps. I am beginning to feel a big burden lifting.

Look at my new Embellishment Center!!!

Look what I bought at Michaels with a 50% off coupon. I have loved this Embellishment Center from Making Memories for so long and have finally got it. I have checked prices online and saw it for around $50 at one site, but the shipping was outrageous. Michaels had it, but I didn't like the $80 price tag, so I did a search for Michaels Coupons. There are lots of sites for printable coupons, but I wanted to make sure that the coupon that I took to the store with was valid. I went to Michaels.com. At the bottom of their screen is a printable 50% off coupon that you get if you register with them. I printed it and took it to Michaels and there was no problem using it. My dining room is my scrapbook room. It bothers me that it is so untidy, so I am going to work on getting it organized.

The majority of my "stuff" is in plastic drawers and they are just not working for me. They have become "junk drawers" and I can't find anything, let alone know what I have. See what I mean?

This drawer holds bags of unmounted Bella, Magnolia, and other stamps that need to go into binders. The mess in these corners is driving me crazy. Everything is piled up and I do not like it. I am going to try a bookshelf. I ordered this bookshelf from Target and plan to put my CTMH books, binders and a lot of this stuff on it. I would like to get "small" wicker baskets to put on the shelfs for extra embellishments. Notice that I said "small". If I keep them small then I won't be able to put a lot of stuff in them, therefore, avoiding the problem that I now have. Hopefully. These are the first set of drawers that I purchased and they work very well. I keep in them my CTMH cardstock organized by season. They will definitely stay.This table holds new embellishment and paper so that I can see it and use it. I also have my clear blocks up there. The lavendar box has cards that I have made. I plan to put these things on the bookshelf and put my Cuttlebug and Big Shot on this tableThis is my storage for my punches. It's not great, but at least they are all together.These little drawers work great for my stamp pads.I use these containers for my CTMH Stamps. I have them on shelfs in the garage. You can see my previous post on cataloging these stamps. It is really working for me.I love this Desktop Carousel from Making Memories. I keep the things that I use all the time in it.This is where I keep my Cricut machine. It works for now.In these drawers I keep my Cricut Cartridges, Nestabilities and Cuttlebug folders. The bottom two drawers hold packets of patterned paper. I need to start using this paper up, so that I can buy more. If I limit myself to the space of these two drawers, then it will force me to use it.

When you walk into my house, you see my scrap mess. It really bothers me, because I am stuck with the mind set that if you have a formal living room and dining room, then it is suppose to look nice all the time. I get this from my mom. I remember her saying "This is the first room that people see when they walk into your house, so it needs to stay clean". It didn't matter what the rest of the house looked like, but that room had to be perfect. lol. Notice the somewhat "tidy" living room. Over by the fireplace I have photo albums that need to be put away.

Then you round the corner and step into the scrap room. I actually cleaned the table off for you. Before this picture, you wouldn't have known there was a table there. lol. I was too embarassed to show it. I tend to go from one project to the next without cleaning up and this table is an enabler. lol. It also works great for my workshops. There is plenty of room for everybody.

After working in here for so long, I love it. There is plenty of light. I am close to the family and it is great for my workshops. If I had an extra room, I probably wouldn't enjoy the isolation. This works!!!! So, some how I need to get away from that old mind set. If I clean it up and get organized, I think that it will work for me, because I am not going anywhere else. If you have any pictures of your scraproom on your blog, please share them with me. And, if you have any suggestions, I will gladly welcome them.

Exploring the Redwoods

Sorry I have been MIA. Bill and I took a ride up the California Coast this weekend to see the giant redwoods. Here are a few pictures that we took. Here is a picture of me by one of the giant trees.

Look at that tree. It's over 300 feet tall. And, here is Bill inside the tree..

This a tree laying on its side. Look at how big it is.

Aren't these little swallows just the sweetest ever??? Here is a picture of Bill in the town of Trinidad.

And the Winner of the Blog Candy is...

Congratulations to 14 year old Augustina Yornet from Argentina. Your number 33 was picked by Random.org. Please email me your address so that I can send you my Blog Candy.
Hugs,
Lori

Augustina's Blog

It's time for BLOG CANDY!!!

IN HONOR OF MY BIRTHDAY, I AM GIVING AWAY SOME CLOSE TO MY HEART BLOG CANDY. Here is what you will get:
Level 2 Unforgettable Paper Pack with matching Stickese. This paper pack is just gorgeous.

Unforgettable Workshop layout guide with directions to make this layout.

Level 2 Blue Ribbon paper pack that is perfect for Fourth of July, Summer and Picnic Layouts.

Level 2 Let's Get Together paper pack with matching Stickese. This paper is perfect for Summer and Picnic layouts.

Floral Dimensional Elements Perennials Chipboard pieces. These can be inked up for color, stamped on, colored with markers or chalks and covered with paper.

Embellishments: Love Always Journaling Spots, Foundry Book Plates, Pewter Brads, Cranberry, Sorbet, Cocoa and Crocheted Ribbon,

Spring and Summer Idea Books with pictures of layouts using these papers and embellishments.

For a chance to win this awesome blog candy here is what you need to do:

Just leave a comment on my blog.

For extra chances at winning, leave a seperate comment for each of the following options:

Add a comment on your blog announcing my blog candy

Follow my blog

Place an order on My CTMH Website

Please number your comments following the previous comment. It will make it so much easier for me.

I will draw a winner using True Random Generator Number at Random.org

The winner will be announced at 8:00 Pacific Time on Sunday, July 19. Good Luck. I am looking forward to reading your comments.

Have a great day,

HUGS Lori

Maisy Ketto

This cute little Maisy Ketto is stamped with Stazeon Ink and colored with Copic Markers. I had planned on embossing her, but my embossing heat gun stopped working. I used Basic Grey's Lemonade paper for the background. The embossed flower was made using Cuttlebug's "With Love" Embossing folder. The cardstock is from Stamping Up and the metal brad is from Close to My Heart.

Words To Live By

A friend of mine sent this article to me on "Words to Live By." Thought I'd share it with you. Read each sentence slowly and think about it. They are all so true.

1. What you put out comes back all the time, no matter what.
2. You define your own life. Don't let other people write your script.
3. Whatever someone did to you in the past has no power over the present. Only you give it power.
4. When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.
5. Worrying is wasted time. Use the same energy for doing something about whatever worries you.
6. What you believe has more power than what you dream or wish or hope for. You become what you believe.
7. If the only prayer you ever say is thank you, that will be enough.
8. The happiness you feel is in direct proportion to the love you give.
9. Failure is a signpost to turn you in another direction.
10. If you make a choice that goes against what everyone else thinks, the world will not fall apart.
11. Trust your instincts. Intuition doesn't lie.
12. Love yourself and then learn to extend that love to others in every encounter.
13. Let passion drive your profession.
14. Love doesn't hurt. It feels really good.
15. Every day brings a chance to start over.
16. Being a mother is he hardest job on earth. Women everywhere must declare it so.
17. When you don't know what to do, get still. The answer will come.
18. "trouble doesn't last always" otherwise phrased as "this too shall pass"

Happy Birthday to ME

Today is my birthday. I hit the big 5-0 Yep. I can't believe it. It hit me really hard when I turned 40, but this isn't quite so bad. Now I just laugh. It's just a number. I feel a lot better than when I was in my 20's and 30's. I wish that I knew as much then as I do now. I wish that I had as much confidence. And that I didn't worry as much about what people thought. I I have grown so much over the years. I didn't know that growning older was going to be such a blessing. On Saturday, we celebrated my birthday with my family. Here I am with 50 balloons. I'm surprised that I am not being lifted off the ground. lol. Here are some of the special people in my life who were there to celebrate with me.

Left to right are: My sister-in-law Diane, Jennifer's Mother-in-law Tammy, Me, My sisters Chris and Lynnette.
My son Ryan and his adorable girlfriend, Katie.My daughter, Jennifer. Jennifer's daughter and my grand-daughter, Lexi. Lexi and her Dad, Ryan
Lynnette's husband Filemon with my husband, Bill

Brother-in-law, Chet and Diane.Chris' husband John with son Brian and daughter Riley.Christina and Brian with daughter, TaylorTaylor and Lexi Chris' son ChristopherChristopher's wife Aggie and daughter ArianaChristopher and Aggie's daughter JocelynLynnette with husband Filemon and daughter Miranda

Miranda's son AidenFilemone and Lynnette's twin boys Milesand DiegoChris' daughter Yvette

Yvette's husband Edgar Yvette and Edgar's son Chase Yvette's daughter Nikki
Lexi and Taylor

Miranda and Jennifer

Jennifer and me

Thank goodness they didn't put 50 candles on the cake!!! It was a Champagne cake with Chocolate Fudge filling. Yum

At the end of the party, the children set the balloons free.

Off they go and another year gone by