Meet Molly ...

Isn't she adorable? This is Ellie's new chocolate lab puppy who is about 9 weeks old. Just so tiny but wont' be for long. We got a little stamping done as she slept on the bottom of the bookcase shelf :).

Emily had her first soccer game of the year yesterday

and most of the team is brand new so let's just say they lost their first game 9-0. Maybe Wednesday's game will be better!!!

PaperTrey's new patterned paper

PaperTrey came out with some brand new patterned paper last week and I ordered some. This is the first card I made with it. It is really nice thick paper. I like it alot. It comes 36 sheets in this 6x6 size packet which I love because its perfect for cards. I also ordered the ribbon and it all matches perfectly. They are going to come out with different papers each month and I will definitely order more from them.

For all my TAC customers ...

the Spring Supplement is now online if you want to take a look. There are 4 sets I think I have to have!! I plan to place my order on Monday. Email me if there's something you would like to order.

Riley the moose ... I wanted to see what "he" would look like as a "she"

I played around with Riley and made him Ms. Riley. What do you think? She sure likes pink. LOL

Got a call today that Spring soccer starts for Nicholas and sign ups are tomorrow. Depending on how many kids they have, they will have either 1 team or 2 teams. Its in Mount Pleasant which is a small town close by. He played Fall soccer but they've never had a Spring team so this is great. In NC, its state law, kids in 6th grade are not allowed to play team sports through the middle school. So when this came up, I was thrilled. You can bet I will be there signing him up tomorrow first thing :).

Let me know what you think about Ms Riley please. Too much pink? Or should I leave him as a boy moose?

Soccer season has started!!

Emily is playing soccer again this year with school. She has been practicing for a full 3 weeks now and her first game is home on Monday night. The team as a whole voted her to be one of the team captains. (there's 3 total) I asked her what that meant and her reply was "I think I get to boss the other girls around". I had to laugh at that comment!!!!

My Riley the Moose stamps finally came!!

Yeah, my Riley the Moose stamps finally came. When Hanna Stamps introduced this cute fella I knew I HAD to get him so I got my stamps yesterday and made these cards today. Isn't he adorable? I watercolored some of the moose and some I used my Stampin Up markers. The other stamped images that I used are from TAC. I almost sold that set, now I'm glad I didn't since these go so perfectly with Riley. Not sure if you can see the added glitter on his garden boots and I added Paper Glaze which goes on clear to the "drips of water" coming out of his sprinkling can. Can you say Awwww? LOL

Check out this donkey video I found on you tube

Is it not the cutest??? She is all white too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOP21wVOY4c and another cute video. This gray donkey is only 4 days old http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRP5QrBC1Ow

Have you ever tried a gate fold card?

I have been wanting to try one and had no idea what it even was. Then I found this one on this blog and she gave a very good tutorial so I tried it and its super easy. Try it!! I made one with a ribbon to close it and one without a ribbon. I wanted to see if the one without the ribbon would stay closed and it did not so that's why you see my hand holding it closed in that one :). I laid a telephone book on the card that did not have the ribbon and by morning, it was closed pretty good :). So you don't even need the ribbon if you want to leave out that step. Now i wanna make more :).

Back from the donkey farm ...

This is the same place we went to 3 weeks ago. They still have their 3+1 (mommy is pregnant) alpacas and he has reduced his price. I am just not sold on these alpacas. They seem like a little more work than the donkeys. With that being said, these donkeys are just soooo cute!!! They came right up to us and let us pet them. Not all of them at once but a few of them did. They love attention from what i can tell. He has actually sold 12 of the mini donkeys since we were there a few weeks ago but he still has plenty left. We spent 2 hours talking to him and him just going over everything we need to know (at least we think EVERYTHING). I think we have narrowed it down to 4, 3 jennys which are females and 1 boy, which is a jack. All of the jennys are pregnant and some are due late summer, early fall. We just have to decide is this what we want and we need to get more fencing for our yard to fence them off from like walking down our driveway to greet us when we come home and stuff. We told the guy we would let him know by the weekend so stay tuned :).

Tomorrow I think we are going to look at miniature donkeys ...

Did you know Martha Stewart has 2 mini donkeys and she lets them in her house? They are just the cutest things!! Anyway, we are going back to the guy who lives about 40 minutes from us who has all those donkeys. He still has tons for sale and so we are going back for a 2nd look. He also has the alpacas too so who knows, maybe we will come home with a van load! LOL

Here's a cute photo I found on the web and just couldn't resist.

My version of the envelope pouch

I saw this on Splitcoast today and Amanda had the tutorial on her blog of how to make an envelope pouch and it uses a large tag punch which I do not have. I decided to just use my scissors.

Start with a plain invitation size envelope. Seal it shut. Cut off 2 of the sides using scissors if you don't have the tag punch. I just eyeballed it and its close enough. LOL

I used my jumbo Stampin Up "Scatter Sunshine" wheel for this. The wheel is perfect for this!!

Add a stamped image or whatever you like. This cute girl is from Great Impressions. I love her!

You can fill it with candy or whatever you want. Quick and easy!!!

You've got Purse-nality!

I found this cute card made using the round tab Stampin Up punch and just had to try it myself. It was super easy. I do not have a square punch though so I had to cut that out by hand but it was easy enough to do that. Do you likey?

Things you wish you knew about alpacas ...

Yesterday Charlie and I went to the alpaca show here in Concord. 600 alpacas were "on display". Some were for sale and some were for "show". They had a alpaca show going on, just like a dog show. Its really funny to watch. They were winning ribbons for best of show and things like that, just like a dog show.

There are actually 2 kinds of alpacas. There is a Huacaya which is a short haired version and the Suri has long hair. In the spring, they must be shaved as its too hot for them with all that hair in the summer. They look pretty funny shaved but at least they are much cooler :).

We spent over an hour talking to this couple from Virginia. Real nice couple who seemed to know alot about them. They started out with 2 just 5 years ago and now have 24!! I have decided I do not want this many, that sounds like full-time work. He advised us to get 2 males (they are cheaper anyway) and see how we like those 2. He had a really cute black one with a few white spots and it was called "Ink Spot". I love his name!! LOL This couple was telling the things we need to know BEFORE we get anything so we found them to be very helpful. We are going back today to talk to more people. And did you know alpacas actually make a nice humming noise? It was funny to hear all those alpacas humming :). More to report later ...

I made this cute mailbox for my friend Traci

who's birthday is in 2 weeks. I sent it early as I wanted to put it on my blog but didn't dare for fear she would see it. I know once she saw it she would guess it was for her since it has 2 things she loves: owls and plaid!! I had fun making it. Here it is for you to see with the matching card. Tell me what you think :).

Happy Valentine's Day to all my family & friends!!

I wish I could say I made this cupcake but I just googled "Valentine cupcake" and this cute cupcake popped up :). What are your plans for today? We woke up to a frosty start, its about 27 degrees but getting up near 60 degrees. Tomorrow it will be even warmer, near 70 degrees so you can't beat that. We don't have any plans for the day. Charlie is going to grill out steaks and I will make a salad and baked potato to go with it. That sounds great to me! Have a great day!!

Its a very sad day here today ...

our adorable all-black guinea pig Max (6-7 yrs old) passed away last night. I knew the end was near as he had not eaten anything in about 4 days. Yesterday he just laid in his igloo, could barely walk and his eyes were barely open. The poor thing. He was the sweetest guinea pig!! He had the most funky hairstyle. His hair went every which way! We buried him up on the hill that we can see out the kitchen window. Max will be missed :(.

I was looking at blogs the other day and came across this one

by Scraptime. She has a tutorial on her blog of how to alter clear buttons. I have had these clear buttons forever and didn't know what to do with them so when I came across this blog I thought "ah!" and decided to try my staz-on ink on them and I stamped flip flops on them. Not too early for flip flops right? Anyway, this is what I came up with but you really should check out her video and see what else she uses. She is a genius!!

How about one more Sugar Nellie for today?

Isn't she cute?!?!

2 more Sugar Nellie cards

I am loving these Sugar Nellie stamps!!!

Here are my Sugar Nellie cards I made today

What do you think? Aren't they adorable?!?!??!?! I also found the illustrator of these stamps and she just draws so beautifully. You can see her blog here. Isn't she FANTASTIC?! (Lesa, was this quick enough? LOL)

My Sugar Nellie stamps came today from Scotland!!

They are so cute. I got 3 and I will post a photo of them here so you can see how cute they are. I got them from Funky Kits. They do come unmounted so I just used my Creative Cling sheets from TAC to mount them onto that. TAC sells them by the sheet for $5 and you can fit alot of stamps on 1 sheet of cling. They are very easy to order, pay with paypal and I got them in about 10 days I think. This is the 2nd time I have ordered from them and I just think they have the best service!! Their prices are good and shipping is reasonable too. If you have any questions, they will email you right back. Here is what i ordered and hope to stamp a few cards tonight or tomorrow.

Easter is next month. Only 41 days until Spring I counted

so that means its time to start my Easter cards. I am also making extra Easter cards for my LSS, Stampers Alley. She gives them a card with their Meals on Wheels program and she is needing cards so while I am making some for me, I am making extras for Brenda. (Hi Brenda & Jackie if you're reading this!)

If you love Amuse rubber stamps they have a new message board

and you click on this purple button and it will take you there.

I made it back!!

It took me 10 hours to go 650 miles. Not too bad I guess. Weather was good, traffic wasn't too bad and I managed to miss the rush hour traffic in Jacksonville and Charlotte which both can be a challenge. The funeral was very nice. Small but nice. This Thursday my grandma would've turned 87. WOW.