Not Fab Friday

Hi stampers and happy Friday!  I was bad and didn't get a project made for Fab Friday this week.  BUT you can still check out the site and see the awesome DT samples and play along!  It's our last challenge until February 2015 (OMG how can that be possible?) so you know you want to get in on it :-)

I didn't plan ahead and have had little time to stamp and then today were Ian's 4 month shots a day early I might add. So, he was sleepy and cuddly and fussy and daddy was late tonight so I'm lucky I got the posts done, ha!  I'm really hoping I can figure out a way to stamp regularly soon! Anyway, here's a little update on my little…or big…guy :-)

He's almost 16 pounds which is right around average so he's slowing down there a bit but he's almost 27 inches long which is over the 95th percentile!  Ha!  He must be taking after his dad as I'm all of 5 feet tall :-) Here's my smiley guy even after his shots today…and like most pics lately it's blurry since he doesn't stop moving!  And then there's one from his first Thanksgiving!

And here's another CAS card I managed to get done a few weeks ago.  It will have to do instead of Fab Friday!

Happy stamping!

CAS Streak

Hi stampers!  Hope everyone had a great Thankgiving!  We sure did!  Ian did great traveling and with all the family!  I have SO much to be thankful for, especially this year!

Before the holidays I got to stamp a bit and got on a CAS kick!  I can crank out a number of cards in a short time when they are simple.  It's working for me right now as I get very little time to stamp…or do much of anything, lol!

I even managed to emboss!  And while I'd love to take the time to color this image, it does take time.  And it looks pretty fabulous in just a single color with gold accents.  Silver would look great too I think!

Time to go…mommy duty calls!

Happy stamping!

Tis the season…almost

Hi stampers!  I generally don't like Christmas before Thanksgiving but I make an exception for cards….and I made an exception for our tree since I don't have as much time to put it up now :-)  And we have a lot of things going on for the holidays so I wanted to be able to enjoy it.  It was worth putting it up because Ian "talked" the entire time we did it :-)  Anyway, I managed to get some cards made of late and of course they are Christmas cards.  The theme lately has been clean in and simple as well!

Here is a quick, easy and simple card I made based off some cards I've made in the past that were inspired by my friend Marla.  I'm so happy this set it back in the holiday catalog!  Paired with washi tape it makes a super cute yet quick card!

I'm hoping to post most days this week, we'll see what happens :-)  And speaking of the season…SU has started your Black Friday shopping early!  Sale prices are only while supplies last so make sure to check out my store over there to the right!

Happy stamping!

Fab Friday 55

Or not….ha!  Happy Friday stampers!  TGIF is all I have to say after a weird week.  Not going into detail but it was weird and I'm excited for the upcoming holiday "week".  It's also Daddy's birthday this weekend so I probably should have made a card for him but I didn't, lol!  The card that I made in about 5 minutes (because I KNEW Ian was about to wake up after I showered since he sleeps about 40 minutes. On. The. Dot.  And literally as I was taking the photo the baby monitor sparked to life, ha) for this week's Fab Friday challenge is not one of my favorites and I don't think it's fabulous.  But that's ok.  I just wish I'd thought to make it a birthday card for Jon.  He spent a day with Ian though playing SAHD so hopefully he'll understand if I don't get one made for him :-)

Anyway, this week is a fun sketch!

And here's my card…it's ok…but these days just getting one done is fabulous I guess :-)

The rest of my post will be brief as I've got to try to get the other posts for the challenge done, make dinner, and fold laundry all in my 40 minute window :-)

Make sure to check out all the designer's creations and play along with us!

Happy stamping!

Freaking Finally!

Hi stampers and happy Friday (this actually posts on Thursday Wednesday night so if you're reading it then just pretend it's Friday Thursday, ok)!  Note:  See what my mommy brain did there?  LOL!  Welcome to the November edition of the Control Freaks blog hop.

You have just come from the fabulous blog of my fabulous friend Wendy (who I majorly missed seeing this summer having to skip convention and all) and if you haven't don't worry as we make an endless loop.  The theme for this month is my favorite...the holidays!  Can I just say HOW excited I am about the holidays (Halloween-Christmas) this year with my little guy???  And he can't even really enjoy things yet so it's only going to get better!!!!  It's safe to say we (and all his grandmas and grandpas) may go a bit overboard....LOL! And speaking of the holidays I need to share our Halloween pictures sometime.  Stay tuned for that :-)

And I'm super excited because as I mentioned I have finally made some cards I really like and feel like I got my mojo back!  FINALLY!

This card is super simple but I think it's cute!  The little "red" thing is actually a silver sequin that must be reflecting my shirt :-)

My next card is my favorite and what made me feel like I got my mojo back.  I'd made this tag quite a while ago and had it sitting on my desk just waiting to do something with it. I'm so happy with the way this one turned out!

The last card is actually the swap I made for the Control Freaks.  I struggled to get these designed and done with Ian but I did it and I'm glad I signed up for it so I HAD to stamp something!  I hope everyone liked them!  I wanted to do something a little different with the tree stamp and NOT use the punch so customers can see you don't NEED the punch...although it's awesome...but you can use the stamp set without it nevertheless.  I've had this one saved up since September.  And I totally didn't think about how LONG it would take to tie over 20 of those tiny little bows lol!  This is the second version of the card I made and what made the cut.  I'll try to share the first version another day!

In the interest of time I'm still not listing supplies as I can't always remember everything and I'm trying to blog during nap times which are only about 40 minutes, like on the dot….I really wish they were a bit longer!!!!!!!!

Now it's time to hop on over to Julie's blog and see her festive holiday creations!

Happy stamping!

Clarification :-)

Hi stampers!   First off, thank you for all the nice and encouraging comments and messages regarding my last post.  I really don't actually feel like a "failure", I was really more trying to be funny :-)  Granted, I'm not doing great at managing to get ALL the things done I want to but I'm ok with that.  I mean kind of, I really DO want to stamp more and do some other things more (like work out) but I know it will happen eventually.

I DO wish we were still back "home" or at least closer as ALL of this would be easier with help.  It would be nice to be able to go visit my various family members and friends (many of which have had babies recently or are having them) or to just get some "me" time by having a trusted baby sitter or 2 or 3.  It would be neat to meet friends and family for lunch or something too and have sitters so I could go to the gym or be able to have my mom run up any time I needed which is easier to do with an hour drive than 4 :-)  And I'm certain that my MIL would be more than happy to watch him about any time she isn't working so I could do...anything :-)  But, this is the way it's supposed to be for whatever reason so I'll stamp when I can.  Hopefully, I'll get a little time this week when my parents are here BUT then I always want to hang out with them too, lol!  Anyway, I deal with most things with humor so I was really trying to be more funny than anything in my last post and think I'm doing ok with this mom thing.  Sure, I have my freak out times but who doesn't...kids or not, ha!  And I'm sorry I haven't done a better job at keeping everyone updated on Ian!  I'll have to do that soon as he's three months old already!!!!! Soon he'll be stamping WITH me, hehe! Which I can't wait for by the way!

And thanks to dad being great, I was able to go to a crop last night and get some project life pages done! Speaking of Project Life, it's NOT just for memory keeping!  I couldn't wait to use the cute Christmas sets for some cards!  I love how this one turned out aside from the photo being crummy…sorry!

Hopefully you'll see a bit more of me in the next few weeks!  Wish me luck!

Happy stamping!

Fab Friday 54

Hi stampers!  So I'm failing at motherhood/blogging/stamping :-)  I have stamped a little but I'm not doing well at getting things blogged.  I'll get it together ONE day, right?  He's eventually got to learn to feed and clothe himself in like 18 years, right? :-)  In the meantime, please be patient with me!  But, I do have a card for the new Fab Friday challenge!

And since time is still in short supply around here the details will have to wait.  I will say this was for my mother in laws birthday last weekend.  I hope she liked it!

Make sure to check out the other DT's creations and play along!

Happy stamping!

Fab Friday 53

Hi stampers!  Happy Friday!   I know I've been quiet but I'm still trying to figure everything out and I'm not very good at getting anything done even at nap time...which happen to be kind of short most of the time lol!  I hope to get better as he gets older :-)  I really miss things like stamping and working out!  Of course he gave me a good nap as I made my card and I'd like to have stamped more BUT I needed to edit the photo and do the blog posts for the challenge, lol!  Figures!

Anyway, this week is a sketch over at Fab Friday!

And here's my card!

In the interest of time and getting stuff done I may not be posting supplies regularly any more.  I hope to get back to it but something has to give! :-)

I did break out the pretty fall paper finally!  It's the little things, lol!  Now make sure to check out everyone else's creations and play along with us!

I'm off to dry the little man's Halloween costume!  I'll have to share some pics of that for sure...and scrap them with Project Life!!!!

Happy stamping!

Fab Friday 52

Hi stampers!  Quick post today as the little man should be napping but I'm not sure he is so I gotta be fast :-)  It's time for a new challenge over at Fab Friday!

It's a color challenge perfect for Halloween...or whatever you fancy!

And I managed to stamp during a nap!  And literally as I was snapping the photo he woke up lol!  I'm hoping once he gets older and his schedule is more...well...of a schedule (haha) I'll have more stamp time!  And workout time and all kinds of other time ;-)

Make sure to check out all the other designer's creations and play along!

Happy stamping!

Fab Friday 51

Hi stampers!  It's finally FRIDAY!  Yay!  Time for a new challenge over at Fab Friday!  This week is a fun little sketch that you can do a lot with!

Thanks to my parents being here this week I got a little stamping done, yay!  I really wish they could visit more often both for me and them and Ian!  Here's my card!

Make sure to head on over and check out the DT's hard work and play along with us!

Happy stamping!

HSS 195

Hi stampers!  Happy Tuesday!  Baby B is 7 weeks old today!  And I'm struggling to find the time to stamp :-)  I do have a Control Freaks swap due this week so I HAVE stamped but it's mainly just to get that done so I'm coming at you today with what I'm calling the new mom's BFF or My Digital Studio!  It's easy to get projects done sitting on the couch next to a sleeping...or not sleeping baby!

So for this new sketch challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments I pulled up MDS and whipped up a quick Halloween card since I don't think I'll be making many this year.

Oops, I forgot to crop off the border....oh well, I kind of like it this way actually :-)  See what happens when you're tired? :-)  My parents are coming today so maybe I'll get some real stamp time instead of digital.  Although, I actually like spending time with them too and really miss them since moving even farther away so maybe not too, ha!

Make sure to head on over to HSS and play along!

Happy stamping!

Fab Friday FIFTY

Hi stampers and happy Friday!  It's time for our 50th challenge over at Fab Friday!  Wow, FIFTY challenges now!  I'd like to thank my design team for all their hard work and for all of our stampers who play along with us!  This time we figured we would celebrate our golden anniversary with a very fitting color challenge!

I would like to say I'm getting the new mom thing and the stamping thing figured out but the best laid plans....

I totally planned on going down to stamp today (I'm writing this on Thursday) when Ian takes his usual 2-3 hour long afternoon nap.  Perfect plan!  He's taken a nap around 12 almost every day and I always say I'll go stamp but I either do other stuff (laundry, wash bottles...all that fun stuff) or kind of lay around on the couch and watch TV and catch up on email and what not.  I don't really nap but I can at least rest then.  I either can't fall asleep even if I want to or I don't because I think I actually sleep better at night when I'm tired.  Anyway today was the ONE day when the dog went nutso and barked her fool head off.  Her barking usually doesn't bother him but she barked more than usual and right by him.  So, she woke him up LITERALLY the minute I was turning on the monitor to go downstairs.  GAH!  Figures, right?  Then he would NOT go back to sleep even though I knew he was tired.  When he finally did it was laying next to me on the couch so I couldn't just leave him there and at first I didn't think he was asleep because he was doing the weird thing he does sometimes where he moves around and has his eyes open but he's asleep.  At least I think he was....BUT...I wasn't risking it either way and moving him so instead of stamping I went ahead and made my blog posts so I could watch him since he was on the couch.  I'm NOT waking a sleeping baby lol!  Daddy will have to pull some duty tonight so I can make my card as I dropped the ball last week...didn't even realize what day it was lol!  Maybe he'll get back on track in the nap department and I can stamp some other afternoons!

Anyway, here's my card:

Ok, so I know it looks a lot like another card I just did but hey, I stamped ok?  And I'm happy with that lol! Better than nothing.  And I'm kind of excited!  I'm taking some mom time tonight and going to a crop in the next town over!   Hoping to meet some nice people and to get some projects done!!!!

Now, head on over and check out all the glitzy fabulousness of the DT and help us celebrate by playing along!  Dazzle us!!!

Happy stamping!

HSS 194

Hi stampers!  Happy Tuesday and it IS a happy tuesday!!!!!!  First off, little Ian is 5 weeks old today!  Wow!  He's growing and changing and learning every day!  And it's REALLY happy because I actually managed to stamp over the weekend.  It wasn't much and it didn't go well at first BUT I knew I had the Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge coming up today so I needed to do...something....and there in lies the problem.  I needed an idea...something that I have been coming up short on (even for my control freaks swap that is due soon).  It's been rare that I get the motivation to stamp, get an idea, AND it turns out like I wanted...or better.  But magic happened as I was sitting on the couch with Baby B and daddy and looking at Pinterest.  I had an IDEA!

I thought something was wrong with me as I popped up and said I'll be back, I gotta go stamp lol!  He's been encouraging me to go stamp a lot but without motivation or ideas I don't feel like it...and his prodding just serves to further annoy me lol!  I think he wonders what happened to "his" wife sometimes ;-)

But I ran downstairs with this color combo (which I love by the way) and got to work on my idea!

Ack!  Isn't it fabulous?  And totally not something I would normally do on my own I have to admit!

I thought they would look fabulous with the new mini stamp set four feathers (which has an awesome matching set of framelits that comes 15% off as a bundle)!  I was looking at all kinds of cute stuff made with it on Pinterest and thought, I can make something cute!!!!  :-)

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Four feathers, good greetings (FREE with qualifying order or workshop)
Paper:  Whisper white
Ink:  Marina mist, night of navy, hello honey
Accessories:  Linen thread, sequin trim, four feathers framelits

I also really love the good greetings stamp set which is a free hostess set with a qualifying order or workshop!  It's so cute, I love the font!  And it was the perfect size for this card!  I was so happy such a simple card could turn out so well!  And I came up with the idea all on my own!  Amazing, lol!

I'd like to say thanks to whoever came up with this challenge as I really needed the inspiration and a kick in the pants and to be honest, Sunday night I REALLY needed a pick me up for no good reason...Sundays have always been a hard day for me if I'm down.  I suppose part of it is wonderful hormones and the fact that I need to go "home" soon and get a change of scenery and of course the fact that I'm trying to figure out a new normal with a tiny human...lol....but making this card really lifted my spirits.  I'm pretty homesick not only because I miss "home" and my friends and family who could totally help me with the baby but I also feel bad that all of our families are missing time with him.  I'm sure I'll get used to it and there will be plenty of visits but this first couple of months before vaccinations is hard...and I don't really want to take him on a 3-4 hour car ride just yet either!  Anyway, this totally helped me feel better :-)

Make sure to check out all the awesome cards from the DT and then get busy and play along with us.  Hey, If I managed to make something YOU can too :-)

Happy stamping!

Plugging Along

Hi stampers!  I've been quiet, I know!  We are slowly but surely trying to figure this mommy/baby thing out :-)

I don't do well with change or with either not having a routine or adjusting to a new one so obviously newborns don't really have much of a routine so in one way I'm struggling a little bit but I keep telling myself soon we will have more of a routine.  And I guess we have a little bit of one but I'd like a LITTLE more predictability lol!

I felt like I was kind of in just a holding pattern basically this whole year with all the changes that happened.  Hubby and I were talking about how crazy this year was. We started out pregnant last year then decided to move and had to close on the house in two weeks back in February and then I went to his parents to the corporate apartment to our house here!  Craziness!  Then I felt like I was basically just waiting around for little man to get here so I never really got into a routine anyway and my stamping has suffered.  It's honestly suffered since I quit work (since I guess I stamp better with LESS time...can't "put it off until later" lol) and then with our fertility stuff.  I think I felt too distracted to stamp with all that.  Then, Jon left each week when he started his new job so my routine was weird again and then we were moving so I just never got into the groove!  I'm hoping that soon things will even out so I can stamp more often....dare I say daily???  And I'd LOVE to start some workshops and classes!!!!!

I keep saying I'm going to go stamp and then...I don't lol!  I'm not sure I want to cart the baby down to the cold basement and then when Jon comes home I actually kind of want to see him lol!  I even let him move his video game thing upstairs just to "see" him more.  Maybe that will "force" me downstairs in the weeks to come ;-) He even suggested moving my room up here to the dining room!  I was shocked as it's an open room and he HATES my cluttered space lol!  He really must love me :-)  But, I don't want to lug everything upstairs (he suggested just bringing some up...he doesn't get that I need it ALL, lol) and redo the room again plus have my mess out in the open.  Plus, I plan on using that room as Ian's play room when he's older.

And then over the weekend I was going to stamp....but we had company twice and I went clothes shopping which ate up my time....not that I'm complaining about shopping ;-)

Anyway, I hope to have some things to share soon and to stamp this weekend!  It HAS to happen at least a little as I have a Control Freaks swap due!  And then I hope to be back to my Fab Friday gig too!  I totally dropped the ball last week and forgot what day it was lol!  Whoops!

I'd also like to say a BIG THANK YOU to whoever has put in some "no contact" orders from me online!  I want to respect your privacy but I also want to say THANK YOU!  I appreciate your business as well as all (not that there are many, hehe) of my customers!

And also, thank you to those who have sent cards!  It's so fun to get some happy mail mixed in with those hospital bills lol!  I appreciate and ohhh and ahh over every one!  Jon thinks it's fun too that people take the time to send us some cute cards!

And finally I suppose you'd like a little update on Ian!  I don't have any pics on my computer as of now, recent ones anyway.  Maybe I can do an update on Friday when he's a month old!  He's really good and growing scary fast!  Last week he was about 10 pounds if my scale is right and I know he's bigger than that now!  I think he's getting longer over getting fatter, lol!  And he still has no booty and little chicken legs ;-)  I'll save more details for his "birthday"!

And he's been asleep forever this afternoon....I totally should have stamped instead of catching up on some other things and cleaning....lol!!!!

Happy stamping!

HSS 193

Hi stampers!  It's Tuesday and Baby B is 3 weeks old today!  We're doing well, momma's just a little tired and hasn't been down to stamp yet.  But, since it's a new challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments, I did do a little MDS during one of his naps!  The challenge this week is a sketch!

I'm in need to thank you cards for little presents we have gotten so this was a perfect solution!

Make sure to check out the other DT samples and play along with us!   Stamp some for me, ok? :-)

Happy stamping!

Short & Sweet!

Hi stampers!  No card today but an AWESOME deal!  Just like Baby Backes this deal is SHORT AND SWEET (even though he's pretty long, hehe)!

From today the 21st until the 28th you can join for the normal $99 BUT you get $150 to spend on your starter kit which is completely customizable!  YOU pick what YOU want!  You can sign up and get your deal and never buy another thing, join for the great discount OR run a business.  The choice is yours but the deal is great!!!!!!  You can also get your hands on Holiday Mini stuff early!!!!!

Baby Backes would LOVE to have you as part of our team too!  He's going to stamp with mommy later today!

Contact me with any questions if you're interested!

Hopefully I'll have some things to share by the weekend!

Happy stamping!

Fab Friday 48

Hi stampers!  This new mom thing is a hard gig!  He's been pretty good but we haven't been home much with the extra hospital stay so we aren't in the groove yet.  So this post is short!   Head over to Fab Friday and play along, ok?  And take a nap for me!

EDITED:  So the wonderful DT I have surprised me with a welcome Baby Ian theme!  I'm so surprised and it means so much that they thought of us!  And for once I actually worked ahead and had a card ready to go lol!  So, I'll leave the card up and we'll do the colors sometime later :-)  I have the best DT and more importantly, FRIENDS ever!  Thank you guys so much and thanks to everyone who plays along with us!  I had a super rough mommy day yesterday so this just makes my heart happy (and we had a much better night last night!)!!!!!  Love you all!!!!

Happy stamping!

HSS 192

Hi stampers!  Quick post today as I worked ahead of the baby with the card but didn't get around to the blogging so I'm doing it on the fly from the hospital and the little guy is surely gonna be hungry again soon :-)  Happy Tuesday!  Ian is one week old today and I can't believe it.  And we've only had ONE day at home!  Hopefully we can go home today! EDITED:  We did indeed get to go home Tuesday night and Ian is doing well!  All tests were negative and I think he just had some dehydration and temp regulation issues secondary to breastfeeding not being his ideal method!  Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!

Anyway since it's tuesday it's time for a new Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge!  This week is a fun color challenge and I did Christmas in August of course!

Sorry I'm not listing the supplies but I don't even know what they all are right now lol!  I have a few other things I'm distracted with at the moment, mainly a tiny little perfect face with blue eyes :-)

But if YOU have time go check out the challenge, the DT samples and play along!  If I can't stamp right now YOU can stamp for me, right?

Happy stamping!

He's Here!

He's here!  Ian Lee was born Tuesday, August 5th at 6:01pm!

I was supposed to go in to start induction at 8pm Tuesday but the little guy decided to get things going on his own.  I woke up feeling funny every hour on the hour from 11-3 an finally at 3 I thought, this is kind of painful now.  Woke Jon up and then went to ask my mom what contractions felt like lol!

We got ready and headed in not a minute too soon because I was pretty uncomfortable by the time we got to the hospital at 4:30.  I'll share more of the labor story later but we kind of had a perfect storm of minor complications that all added up to a c-section being the best option although I'd like to avoid it.  But all that mattered was getting him here safe and I knew I had a higher chance of it due to having an oval shaped pelvis instead of round.  And the "little" guy ended up being 8 pounds even, ha!  20.5 inches long.  And honestly, even though I'd rather avoided it, recovery hasn't been anything as bad as I expected.  I felt not too bad the first day and immensely better every day!

Anyway, just wanted to let my friends, readers, and customers know I may be on a bit of a hiatus, we'll see.  The little guy has us back in the hospital after only one night at home.  Saturday he looked a little lethargic and hadn't had many diapers so we took him in and were admitted as his temp was on the low end of normal and he was down to just over 7 pounds.  Since, then my milk has come in and he is feeding like a champ and gets extra bottles and is back to 8 or a little over 8 this morning and doing much better and more of his spunky self.  Just waiting on all the labs to come back which takes 48 hours or so.  We hope to go home tomorrow but everything is looking up and he even let mom and dad sleep pretty good last night!  ;-)

I'll leave you with some pictures and I hope to be back to a little stamping and blogging as good stress relief soon!  Oh, and I got my holiday mini goodies.  They are so lonely at home with granny ;-)

Happy stamping (stamp some for me!)

Fab Friday 47

Hi stampers!  Happy Friday and happy August!  So it looks like Baby B is going to be an August baby as he's still baking.  He was due the 31st but it doesn't look like he's in a hurry to vacate the premises. He did look good (as did I) at our check up and had made a tiny bit of progress since Monday so I'll take that!  Here's to hoping he does SOON because he's kind of mean to his mommy by kicking her right where she has bad nerve pain and just overall making me pretty large and uncomfortable!  But, while we pass the time.....we have a new challenge at Fab Friday for you!

My card is going to go to my hubby's boss, wife and his four kids as they got us an exceptionally generous baby gift.  Little Baby Backes is very blessed to have so many wonderful people in his life who have spoiled him before he's even here!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Starburst sayings
Paper:  Whisper white, calypso coral, crushed curry
Ink:  Bermuda bay, calypso coral, crushed curry
Accessories:  Basic rhinestones, starburst framelits, stars and hearts decorative masks

It was my first time getting to use the masks and they are so fun!  I love these stars!  All I had to do was sponge over it and had an instant background!  Maybe if Baby B holds out longer I can get downstairs today and use them more!  But if you're listening baby....feel FREE to come any time :-)

Make sure to head on over to the Fab Friday site and check out the rest of the DT samples!

And make sure to play along!

Happy stamping!

HSS 191

Hi stampers!  Happy Tuesday and dude day eve for me and Baby B!  We don't have any exciting news for you as at our appointment yesterday there are ZERO signs of him making an appearance any time soon (although that could change within hours at any time, I know!).  But, so far he seems to be happy and cozy and quite content to beat me up from the inside!  The hubby and my mom keep thinking I'm going into labor when I yelp but he literally kicks me so hard in the side/ribs I cry out and double over! Naughty boy!

So, for some excitement, how about a new challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments?  Anyone up for an inspiration challenge?

 I kind of love these colors but everyone knows I'm a sucker for coastal cabana...and I totally want that mixer!!!!!  Mom and I are making some blueberry and strawberry oatmeal muffins today and it would sure be handy as well as look so purty in my new kitchen!!!!  ;-)

Anyway, I didn't have a lot of time to make my card after my appointment and groceries and making dinner so I kept it clean and simple but I really love how the colors are so striking!  Oh!  And I got to use dotty angles which I had passed over a million times in the catalog and all of the sudden I kept seeing it on Pinterest and had no idea what stamp it was but I knew I HAD TO HAVE IT!  Funny how that works, huh?  It's just that one little thing that can make a card!!!!!!  I can't wait to use it more.  You may get sick of seeing it, lol!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Perfect pennants, work of art, dotty angles
Paper:  Whisper white, night of navy
Ink:  Wisteria wonder, old olive, night of navy, coastal cabana

Don't pay any attention to the not-so-straight sentiment.  Not sure what happened there, lol!  Now, make sure to check out all the other awesome DT samples and use our inspiration picture to create your own project!

Happy stamping!

Full Term!

Hi stampers!  So today Baby B hits 39 weeks which is officially full term so he can come any time (well anytime later today AFTER his granny gets here).  My mom is coming today to "move in" for a few weeks.  She wants to stay for a week after he comes (and so do we) so I'm hoping he comes sooner than later so we don't end up driving each other nuts (lol) and she doesn't have to be stuck here for like a month.  I feel bad for basically having her life put on hold at home but she wants to.  But, she's busier being retired than she was working so I still feel bad lol!  I think she may secretly be looking forward to it so she can "rest" hahahaha!  I think it's going to make my hubby feel really good that I'm not home alone all day now so that she can help me with things and I'll have someone here if I should go into labor and it takes him a while to get home from work. I'm very lucky that the loves her almost as much as I do:-)  And she probably likes him better than me most of the time as he's generally nicer to her than I may be, ha!  They totally gang up on me!!!!! Gotta love the mother daughter relationship, right???? :-)

My guess is he will come Friday.  Why?  Well because I finally hit submit on an order with the rest of the blendability markers and they are scheduled to come Friday...so I will probably not get to use them lol!  Isn't that the way the world works for anyone else????? :-)

I'm happy to say I got the "thing" removed from my neck yesterday which of course turned into a whole ordeal.  I'm one of the lucky FIVE percent to get a pyloric granuloma (read ugly blood blister hemangioma type thing) on my neck.  They often leave them as they may go away after birth but mine was growing scary fast and would bleed which was fun....NOT!  So, the OB was going to just take care of it until it grew so much in a week that they sent me to a derm.  Which of course it was hard to get in on short notice and then we had some plumbing issues (hubby is in the doghouse...don't ask)  so I had to try to juggle the plumber and the appointment, ugh!  BUT, I really liked the derm and I'm happy to say she got rid of it in minutes with zero pain!  Here's hoping to it staying gone!!!

Anyway, I'm rambling but I do that...and I'm trying to pass the time until momma gets here.  I SHOULD be doing more productive things as I have a list of stuff to do today!  I'm hoping to stamp a little too.  I need to make myself do the not fun stuff first...but we'll see how that goes :-)

So, I'll share this card really quick. It's nothing fancy and uses some retired ribbon but it's cute nonetheless.  I hopes to motivate me to stamp and increase my creativity I organized some stuff in my studio the other night.  I really cleaned up my ribbon storage and got all the current stuff together.  I tend to feel more creative when I'm neat and organized.  But, it's not always easy to go through things.  I tend to feel overwhelmed sometimes so I just ignore whatever the task is, lol!  But I'm glad I did it and went through my DSP and cleared that out as well. We will see if it helps.  Maybe it was like stamping nesting, hahaha!

I'm having a bit of a hard time getting a good image with this cloud stamp from the hello love hostess set.  I'll have to keep working on it!  I finally gave up the other night and it is what it is :-)

Stamps:  Hello love (hostess)
Paper:  Whisper white, basic gray, hello honey, moonlight DSP stack
Ink:  Hello honey, lost lagoon
Accessories:  Circle punches, dazzling details, basic gray taffeta ribbon (retired)

It's hard to see in the photo but the little chubby bird (I love him) has some dazzling details on his belly.

And that's it.  A simple little card.  Now to see what I actually get done today.  I suppose a shower should be first up!

Happy stamping!

Freaking Sad

Hi stampers!  So while I'm super excited about Baby Backes's arrival I'm also pretty sad since his due date was so close to convention I'm grounded from travel.  And I totally want to go as it would be a great way to pass the last week or so when I'm just waiting, waiting, waiting....don't think I didn't seriously consider it :-)  BUT I'm barely comfortable in the car driving 5 minutes to the docs office or grocery store so a 3-4 hour plane ride is probably out of the question, lol!  But you can bet I'm making plans (and so is Grandma) for convention next year! ;-)  The worst thing might be that since I'm pregnant I'm pretty much hungry 24/7 (which isn't all that odd for me at any time lol) and SLC has some AMAZING food that I'm missing lol!  As well as all the fun, the excitement, and most of all my friends!  I'll miss you all and I'll be glued to the computer and social media trying to keep up with the happenings.

Anyway, if I couldn't be there the next best thing would be blog hopping with the Control Freaks, right? You should have just come from Melissa Davies blog.  Weren't her projects awesome?  If you got here by chance, don't worry as we make a big loop!  Just keep clicking!

While I can't be there to swap with them I can see what they are swapping anyway!  I'll just pretend I'm swapping with them :-)  And it means I can do anything for my cards, I get a "free for all" :-)  So, I pretty much played around and came up with these beauties!  I'm still struggling to be inspired but this was fun and even though it takes me a lot longer to come up with an idea and a card I like, it's still fun! For some reason I don't think they are showing up well so please click on the pictures to enlarge them for a closer look!

First up, I really love the hello love hostess set (and I don't normally go for those...can't say that this year) and the combination of lost lagoon and hello honey!  Isn't that ribbon just yummy????

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Hello love
Paper:  Whisper white, hello honey, lost lagoon
Ink:  Hello honey, lost lagoon
Accessories:  Lost lagoon stitched satin ribbon, linen thread, woodgrain embossing folder, dotted scalloped punch

Next up, I've also been obsessed with the color combo of calypso coral, blushing bride, and hello honey.  Thank you color coach!  Add in some crumb cake and kraft and wow!  The little banner die cut is the kraft cardstock stamped in crumb cake ink.  Now, I kind of wish I'd embossed it with clear, that would have looked neat!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Choose happiness
Paper:  Very vanilla, crumb cake, kraft card stock
Ink:  Blushing bride, calypso coral, hello honey
Accessories:  Linen thread, gold sequin trim, hello honey stitched satin ribbon, banner framelits

And finally after the first two cards a bit vintage this one is more clean and modern.  I actually stamped this one during one of the convention live feeds so it's sort of like I was there and it was cool to actually stamp during a stamping presentation!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Something to say
Paper:  Whisper white, sahara sand, blackberry bliss, moonlight DSP stack
Ink:  Blackberry bliss
Accessories:  Artisan label punch, itty bitty accents punch pack

And there you have it.  I hope that any of my freaky friends would have loved to gotten one of these as a swap.  And I hope they know I sure did miss them!  I'm really hoping I can see them next year!  And I'm really hoping Baby B stays put until after the 25th as they just announced the convention dates. If not, he may have to get used to having his birthday in SLC :-)

Now, you can click here or on the graphic to see Debbie Henderson's amazing projects and keep hopping along!

Thanks for visiting!  Happy stamping!

Fab Friday 46

Hi stampers and happy Friday!  I may be sad because I'm missing convention (although waiting on Baby Backes is a pretty good reason not to go) but at least we have a fun color challenge for you over at Fab Friday!   It's bright and summery!

I missed the live streaming at convention this morning since my dad and step mom finally came to visit but I'm trying to keep up best I can with FB, blogs, and twitter!  There's some fabulous stuff coming!  More so, I just miss seeing my friends!!!  So, I consoled myself with my stamps while making this card for the challenge.....

Ok, time to get some stuff done!  Nesting is still going strong when my energy level is!

Make sure to check out the Fab Friday site and play along with us!

Happy stamping!

HSS 190

Hi stampers and Happy Tuesday....I think it's Tuesday....all day Monday I kept thinking it was Tuesday for no good reason!  Thank goodness it's not though because my dad and step mom are coming on Wednesday and thanks to a 3am insomnia wake up call Monday morning and a hair appointment (priorities people) I got NO cleaning done!  Who knew sitting for 2.5 hours while being pampered could be so exhausting lol!  Actually the main problem was all the sitting made my feet swell so I had to get those babies up when I got home.  And then that led to a nap thanks to the early morning wake up call which unfortunately will probably end in MORE insomnia (I'm trying to "stay up late" as I write this...key word trying although I'm not sure how well it's going to work or how long I'll last).  What a vicious cycle! I did at least get dinner made and my first of many freezer meals prepped!  Now to try to get the rest done today and get that cleaning done...and probably wishful thinking but some stamping thrown in too.

AND my card for this weeks challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments!  We have a fun sketch for you!

So, my card isn't super creative or fancy and pretty much follows the sketch element for element but I tried to put it together pretty fast so I could get my feet back up.  Kind of hard to stamp with your feet up ;-)  I really wish I was getting more time to stamp but stuff keeps coming up (like that hair appointment) that I need to do instead or I'm just too lazy, ha!  Anyway, here's my card!

Make sure to check out all the other samples from the design team and play along with us!  Stamp some for me since I'm not managing to get it done, ok????

Happy stamping!