Happy Thanksgiving!

I just woke up and I need to start cooking! But first, I had to let you all know that I am thankful to you! All of the friends I have made through blogging have really been such a blessing in my life. What a wonderful, generous and supportive community we have. Thank you for all your kindness, encouragement and friendship. Have a wonderful day with friends and family! Happy Thanksgiving! ((hugs))

What have I been up to...?

Hello! I'm certain some of you are wondering where I wandered off to. I do have some wonderful news to report. After designing jewelry for celebrities for a long time, Maya Brenner has made her beautiful creations available through home based sales with Luxe founder Jessica Herrin! My mother worked with the CEO, Mike Lohner, at another company and I was invited to join - I couldn't refuse this opportunity! I am now a part of the Luxe Jewels team! This is a ground floor opportunity! I have always wanted to join a company at the begining! Yes, I do love jewelry and this is the real deal! Everything is sterling silver, real gems, quality pieces and gorgeous! Not to mention they are worn by celebrities all over the place! Teri Hatcher wore them on Desperate Housewives, Jennifer Garner has worn Charmed Life on Alias, Penelope Cruz has a piece named after her and she is featured in the catalogue. Linsay Lohan, Tori Spelling, Demi Moore and Rebecca Romjin are shown wearing Luxe on Luxe's website. Peek at them by clicking here. They are featured in magazines as must have items and they exclusive through us representatives! I am so excited about this chance and I would LOVE to share this with you! Email me if you would like more details! I just had to share this excitement with all of you!

Elzybells ATC

I just love this ATC for Taylor's swap and had to share it with all of you! I hope it makes you smile! Who can resist these adorable images??? The word was created with Karen Foster's snap together letters. The tree was made with Martha's new holiday punches. The bling is Hero Art. Have a happy day! ((hugs))

Happy Halloween!!

Morgan, Mallory and I had fun carving out these pumpkins. None of us can handle digging out the pumpkin guts. Even as a child the smell and appearance made me nauseous!
Here is David's gruesome pumpkin:

Here is our front yard:

Have a fun evening, bwa ha ha :)!

Goodie Bags

Here are the 25 goodie bags I made for Mallory's class. I was suprised at how long it took to create them. Does anyone else own the Scotch adhesive ATG gun. I love this thing. I feel so empowered using it **wink**! It is a power tool for paper crafters!! Have a happy!!

Featured Artist- Rhiannon Christianson

Hello! Balance is proud to feature artist Rhiannon Christianson from Rings Like A Bell. Rhi is super talented and has a very clean and feminine style. Her photography is so crisp and the displays she creates in her photos is perfection!! I had the pleasure of meeting her through Amuseapalooza, Tami Wood and Rhi's piggy ATC. Rhiannon had linked her piggy ATC on one of the Amuseapalooza challenges and Tami and I fell in love with the ATC. We immediately contacted Rhi and became fast friends. She is such a wonderful person- one of the best friends I have made through blogging!! Thanks for sharing your talent and art Rhi!

Here is my interview with Rhiannon:

How long have you been stamping? I have been stamping for six years now.

How long have you been blogging? I started blogging about two years ago...right before my second child was born.

What made you decide to start a blog? I decided to start a blog because I wanted a place to share recipes as well as pictures of my kiddos for my family and friends who live far away. After the birth of my son, my blogging took a hiatus :) I then started blogging on cardmaking and crafting stuff in June of this year. That is the primary focus of my blog now, as well as the occasional recipe and of course pics of the family.

What was your first stamping experience? My first stamping experience was a Stampin' Up! Stamp Camp at my awesome demonstrator's home. I probably still have the projects/cards that we made that evening tucked away somewhere :)

What was your first stamp? My first stamp set was "Holiday Wishes" by Stampin' Up!...I used it to make Ryan's and mine first Christmas card :)

What are your favorite stamp companies? Hmmmm...this is tough, there are so many GREAT companies out there!! I was a die hard Stampin' Up girl until this year...I still love their stamps, but also enjoy A*Muse, Close To My Heart, PaperTrey and I just bought some Bellas by Stamping Bella...so excited!!

Where do you get inspiration from? Lots of stuff...usually things that I see around me: Clothes, advertisements, Designer Paper, magazines...I am constantly seeing color combinations or techniques that I want to recreate!

What other hobbies do you enjoy? Let's see...I love to spend time with my family, as well as scrapbooking, reading (when I get the chance), coffee with friends and cooking/baking.

How do you Balance your art with being a mommy and a wife? Great question! Let's see...I have made a space in my office/craft room for my oldest, Maya, so that she can create with me. She loves to make cards and whatnot for her friends :) and we get to spend time together doing what we both enjoy. I also have a pact with myself, that I have to get my "chores" done before I can play...this makes cleaning, laundry and cooking more doable, knowing I get to play afterwards :) Ryan and I also, don't watch a lot of TV, so he will spend time doing what he likes to do in the evening while I create...and then we will usually watch a show or movie we have netflixed at the end of our day before bed.

Do you have favorite blogs? Yes :) Let's see...the list seems to be growing, but here are a few: Balance (this really great gal, Kristina, always has fun things to share :), by Samm (she has great scrapbook page ideas...I love what she does), Stampin' When I Can (Who does not LOVE Allison! She pretty much rocks), Taylored Expressions (Taylor's site actually introduced me to the whole stamping blog world!) and Prairie Paper and Ink (Amy is so down to Earth!)...those are just to name a few that I visit faithfully :)

Do you teach stamping? Yes, I just started teaching stamping/cardmaking/papercrafting classes at my local Michael's store.

Do you have a favorite stamping moment? I can't pinpoint just one moment...I think one of the best things that happens while stamping, is when a design comes together! That is what makes it all worth while :)

Thanks for sharing your passion with all of us Rhiannon! And now here are a few samples of her art:






Here are a few altered items:





Rhi resides in Washinton state with her husband and 3 gorgeous children.

So are you feeling inspired? Thanks Rhiannon, you inspire me all the time!! You are the best!! ((hugs))

What happens at stamp club...

stays at stamp club :)! Just kidding! Here are the fabulous women who attended the festivities...

This is Kim, Mary, Carrie, friend Jennifer and nieces of Mary's.

Here's Kasey, Katie and Erin!
We had lots of fun! Mary made a yummy apple crisp with apples from her dad's tree! Mary made candy packaged in breast cancer awareness packages and made me a darling keychain with photos of my girls. How sweet! We all made a "Let it Snow" scrapbook page, a Pegi Taylor inspired Christmas card and a holiday planner. I will share these photos later! ((hugs))

Nominated for a Happy Award!!

Tami at the Journey of Life nominated me for this award:

I was so flattered because Tami is just a sweetheart and a great stamper and blogger!! Thanks so much Tami!!

Now I would like to nominate a few blogger babes who make me smile! Anyone listed on the right makes me smile! But to name a few:

Adrian at Adrian's Crazy Life
Elena at The Stamping Shac
Tandra at A Little Inkalicious
Tracy at Eat, Sleep, Stamp
and Pegi at Bella Willow

You are all such talented women who inspire me so much with your creativity and kindness!! ((hugs))

I've been scrappin'

Here are 2 pages I did recently... All images and paper is SU! What do you think??

I've been tagged

by Stacey at The Queen's Creation's! Thanks Stacey!
So here is how this works:
Stacey tagged me...... she was tagged by:
Erin at Inky Smiles for this experiment which was originally started by Mary Demuth (http://www.relevantblog.blogspot.com/). "It's an experiment to see how many degrees we can separate (kind of like Kevin Bacon, only it's blog relevant).
How many people can one blog potentially reach? "What we do is list out 10, 20 and 30 years ago and what we were doing at that time. Then you "tag" some other bloggers and go back and comment on Relevant Blog and let her know.
SOOOO::

Ten years ago -(1997):
In 1997, I had been married for 3 years. We were living in Shakopee, MN and were building our current home. My eldest daughter was 16 months old and was Minnie Mouse for Halloween. We were planning a trip to Florida and Disney. I was about to find out that I was pregnant with daughter #2. Wow! This is harder to do than I realized it would be!

Twenty Years ago - (1987):
In 1987, I was a Senior in high school in Binghamton, NY. (I graduated in 1988). Because it is fall, my school had just had homecoming. I was nominated for homecoming queen (I didn't win). My best friend was Michele, my boyfriend was Mark. I played on the tennis team and was a cheerleader. I started looking at colleges to attend. I think it wasthis time of year that I went to France and Spain with my French club. Or we may have gone to Quebec. Again, wow, it's all so fuzzy :) (my memory)!!

Thirty Years ago - (1977):
I was 7 years old. I lived in Binghamton, NY in the same house my parents still live in. I was in 2nd grade. My teacher was a very strict nun. My best friend was Diane. I think this is the year that a group of girls formed the cat club and they weren't very nice to Diane and me, so we formed the puppy club. How silly, right!?
So, now it's MY TURN to TAG-here goes:

Taylor at Taylored Expressions
Paris at Inky Art
Pegi at Bella Willow
Mary at It's All About the Journey
MJ at Inking Good Times
and Rhiannon at Rings Like A Bell

I hope some of you can participate because it is fun to lean new things about each other. These are all wonderful blogs to visit! Have a happy day! ((hugs))

Blog Candy Winner!!

Thank you for all sharing your Halloween stories! I really enjoyed them and hope you did too! The winner is:

True Random Number ServiceRandom Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

28
Timestamp: 2007-10-22 13:47:21

So, that means Cindy Vernon is the winner! She said:

"I just remember the fun times trick or treating as kids. We almost always made our costumes, nothing fancy for us, except for maybe purchasing accessories. I think that's what made Halloween so fun -there weren't Halloween stores, everyone made their own costumes."

Yeah!! Cindy please send me your address and I will get your goodies out to you! Thanks to everyone for playing!

Stampo!

Hello! Stampo was so much fun and was a huge success! Here is the crew:

Kathleen as Minnie, me as Jack, Michelle as a witch, Kathy as a Renaissance witch, and Kelly as a cute witch.
These are the creation of Kathy! The cupcake tree is from Home Interiors and it has different finials for the top of the tree for birthdays and other holidays. How stinkin' cute is this??

Pegi and Ruth Ann are creating one of three fabulous make-n-takes:
Pegi was one of our big winners because she had the most wins. Everyone was a winner and 9 gift certificates were given out and everyone else won a door prize.


Tami, me, Pegi, Ruth Ann and Kim are pictured here! It really was such a fun party. Our next event will be a chocolate lovers stamo in February! Please contact me if you would like to be included! I hope your weekend was great!

Don't Forget There is Blog Candy Below!!

Hello! I hope you have a fabulous Friday! Tonight is Stampo! It's like playing Bunco, but you win SU! gift certificates. There will be 3 fabulous make-n-takes, great food, fun people, and some of us will be dressing up! I can't wait to share photos.

Sunday night is the Hannah Montana concert. Have you seen stuff about the crazy ticket prices on the news? What do you think about all of this? It is being discussed in the Minnesota state capital. Little Miley Cyrus has created quite a stir!

I am pulling for blog candy on Monday!! ((hugs))

The Witch's Caldron Halloween Swap!

Hello! I recently signed up for a Halloween swap through the blog, The Witch's Caldron. My swap partner was matched to me through a questionnaire. Here are the wonderful Halloween goodies I received today from Angela at taking time to love the little things. She is a very talented photographer and I sooo wish I lived closer to her so I could get my family's portrait done by her! She is also a great gal!! I love the wooden cube she crafted! It is so tastefully done!! I will treasure it! Also, the candies are my favorites, the socks are darling, the scrapbook treats are just wonderful, and the tins are amazing! Thanks so much!!

RAK from Pegi Taylor

Pegi Taylor is so talented. One of the many tricks up her sleeve is journals. She is in the process of making a bunch of journals for a craft fair. The blogger babes have seen them and they are drool worthy! Here is one that she recently made for me. The paper is Bo Bunny. Isn't it pretty!? Thanks Pegi!

On a side note, have you read Simone's (Spazz Girl's) blog recently? It is hilarious!! She so makes me smile! And yeah, Kathleen gets back from California tomorrow!! I am so psyched! Stampo is Friday night! We still have a few open spots if anyone is interested. My kids are now off from school and I am one of the weird parents that like having them home! I hope you all had a great day! ((hugs))

A Muse Blog Candy!!

Courtesy of A Muse and in honor of their new upcoming clear stamp release, here is some fabulous blog candy!! Included are new (not yet released: 4 bar, Kitchen Blue) notecards, Creative Candy circle stickers, and the darling purse stamp. Just leave a comment telling me what your favorite Halloween memory is, I'll draw a winner using Random.org on Monday, October 22nd!!

Card from Taylor

Is there any wonder why Taylor is so famous?! This card is breathtaking! Thanks Taylor!!

Halloween Class with Tami Wood

Last weekend, I took a fabulous class from Tami Wood at Artsy Tartsy. She is so talented and inspiring! Do you love all the details? Blog candy coming!!!

A Muse's New Releases!

Hello! I hope you are having a fantastic weekend! A Muse has been busy! They have created some new clear stamp sets! I have seen them and they are so stinkin' cute! Here is a card I have made with their new, yet to be released, and a new, yet to be released stamp set. Are you lovin' it?? The knife is from Artsy Tartsy and the silver, black, and white paper is from SU! and the ribbon is from SU! I made this last night stamping with blogger babes, Paris and Pegi! Have a happy Sunday!

World Card Making Day at Artsy Tartsy

After this morning's class, I had to attend an event where I could stamp! So, of course, I went to Artsy Tartsy. (Yes, I was just there last night :)) All stamps are 20% off today and tomorrow. I made 2 cards. One is being donated to St. Jude's Children's Hospital and one I kept. There were 4 different cards to choose from...here is the one that I made. (all images and notecard are A Muse).

Happy World Card Making Day!

This morning, Kathleen and I held a card fold class to celebrate this wonderful holiday! Four different card folds were taught and each attendee also made a card for soldiers overseas to send to their loved ones back home. Here are a few photos of the mother-daughter duo of Mary and Carrie and Michelle and Kim (creating away)! What a way to start the weekend! :)!

New Shoebox Swap Group

Hello! Last night was the first meeting of a new shoebox swap group. The event was held at Artsy Tartsy in Savage, MN. We are possibly looking for 1 or 2 other members so please email me if you are interested. The members include: Darlene, Wendy, Tami, Kathleen (My Happy Place), Pegi (Bella Willow), Ruth Ann and me. We had lots of fun and are already looking forward to meeting next month. Many of the members made each other treat holders and other fun gifts. Thanks so much! ((hugs))

Card for Shoebox Swap

I am lovin this card. Paper all SU!: Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black and Whisper White. Stamps: SU! Bitty Boos Too. Ribbon is the fabulous new Old Olive grosgrain ribbon. Have a happy! ((hugs))

Let's Talk About Cosmo Cricket!!

O.K., who has discovered the wonderful company, Cosmo Cricket?? I am crazed for this company! The chipboard is "like butta"! :)! Smooth and no bumps on the edges! Thick and yummy! I have been working on a cased project from Archiver's. I must share this with you!! The paper is fun and so easy to work with! The ribbon is thick and smooth! I know I am raving, I can't help myself. What do you all think about this company??

Best Blog Friend

Kathleen Hopperstad from My Happy Place nominated me for a Best Friend Blog. She is my upline in Stampin' Up, my stamping mentor and one of my very best IRL! Thanks Kathleen!

I would like to nominate:
1. Rhiannon from Rings Like a Bell. She is a blog friend I met through Amuseapalooza. She is such a talented woman and such a sweetie! I feel so lucky to have met her and be inspired by all her work!
2. Simone Collins AKA Spazz Girl from a Daily Dose of Spazz. I also met Simone from Amuseapalooza. She was so friendly right away! If you've ever read her blog, Spazz Girl is hilarious! I think she should write sitcoms - she always has a unique perspective on life plus she is a great stamper!!
3. Lexi at Confetti. Lexi was the second featured artist at Balance. I also met Lexi through Amuseapalooza (shocker!!). Lexi is a wonderful blog friend! She is so talented with her stamping, cake creations, jewelery, party planning,...!! Lexi has a knack for all the perfect details to whatever she is doing!!

If Tami had a blog I would also be nomintaing her! And if Kathleen hadn't already nominated Pegi, I would be nominating her too :)!! ((hugs)) and thanks to all my blogging friends! You are all very dear to my heart!!

Rock-N-Roll

I thought this SU! leaf set would be perfect for the rock-n-roll technique. The leaves look very dimensional. One of my favorite parts of the fall is watching the leaves turn such brilliant colors. Fall just doesn't last long enough! It is still pretty warm here in Minnesota, I can't wait to visit an apple orchard and break out a sweater or two :)! Have a wonderful Friday!!

A Fantastic Tag Card From Pegi Taylor!!

Can you believe this card?? This was presented to me on a gift bag from Pegi Taylor. Can you believe how creative and gorgeous this is??? The card was created on a large tag - it has so many fabulous details!! It is so feminine and I treasure it!! Thanks and hugs to Pegi and her darling Willow!

Mallory's latest creation

Mallory says thank you to everyone who left her comments. She is so inspired by all this attention :) that she made a new creation today. She colored with a blender pen and chalks. And she wanted to let everyone know that she received $5 in the new $1 coins and a note from the Tooth Fairy. ((hugs))

New Recruit!!

Yesterday was my DH and my 13 year wedding anniversary. He is just the best guy. I am so lucky to have found him. Well, yesterday I also signed my first SU! recruit! So, my family and Kim's family all had dinner together at Tucci Benucch at the Mall of America. It was lots of fun and I am so excited to stamp lots with Kim!! She is such a sweetie and very talented!! I hope you are all having a fabulous week!! ((hugs))

P.S. If you've ever thought about signing up (even as a hobby demo), for $199 you get lots of supplies plus an entire stamp pad color family if you sign up by Friday - what a sweet deal!!

ATC #2 for Tracy

I think most of you know I love room cards!! I haven't been able to make one lately. So I thought I would get back to playing paper dolls again :)! These take a lot of time because of the coloring and cutting out, but they're so stinkin' cute!! All images are A Muse and all paper is SU!. I hope you have a wonderful Monday!!

World Card Making Day!

I will be hosting a class on October 6th for World Card Making Day! This will be a fun fold class and we will be making a Joy fold, Cami tri-fold, z-fold, and a Triangle Trifold card. You will go home with the cards and the instructions to make them. You will also have the oppotunity to make a special card that will go to the troops. These will be sent to soldiers stationed in the Middle East.Stampin' Up! is giving a 20% discount on Simply Sent kits during this event!! The class will be $10 and we will be making 4 different cards using stamps from 2 Simply Sent kits. Two of the cards were designed by me (the flower cards) and two were designed by Kathleen Hopperstad (the cupcake and the snowflake cards). I think this is going to be fun!! Please contact me for more info!! ((hugs))

Tooth Fairy letter for tonight / Mallory lost a tooth today

Mallory has exciting news...she lost a tooth today. She loves the tooth fairy so much that she wanted to make her a card. She thought an ATC size would be "easier for her to carry in her travels tonight under her arm while she also carries her tote bag with the teeth." She hopes the tooth fairy likes her card and for the first time in her tooth losing history she is not interested in what the trade is going to be ($$)!!! She is more interested in the response to this beatiful card!!!! The apple didn't fall far from the tree!!!! ;)

The stamp was a gift from Tami Wood and the sentiment is from A*Muse. Mallory hopes you enjoy her creation.