Stamp Act

Wanna know who won the blog candy????

I'm sorry that I can't give all of you a prize....  Your comments cracked me up!!!  I am so glad to know that there are so many YOUNG stampers out there!!!  LOL!!!  I thought I was the ONLY 21 year old with 10 and 7 year old children AND I have been married for 12 years!!!  I definitely was a CHILD bride!!!  LOL!!!  Thank you all again for leaving such nice and funny comments, I REALLY enjoyed reading them!!!  OK, I'll quit rambling on......  the winner is #19 ~ Velta!!!   Congratulations Velta!!    I will email you and get your mailing address!!

Thanks again and I'll see you all tomorrow!!!

~Lynda

Blog Candy and LOTS of other stuff!!!

I'm back!!!  I have lots to share!  Today is my Birthday!!! Yes, I am 21 AGAIN!!!  I don't know if you guys saw the picture this morning of the 115 year old woman?  Well, my darling little angels (with some help from their Daddy) mentioned that SHE looked better than me!! LOL!!!  Oh boy am I lucky to have such a loving, caring, family!!!  Anyway, I am going to offer up some Birthday Blog Candy beginning today and I'll pick a winner Tuesday evening at 8 EST.  All you have to do is leave a comment HERE, on this post!!! 
I have been going through my CRAP, oh, I mean, lovely PILES of craft items I have been hoarding for years, because my friend Tamara is having a crop next weekend to raise money for Autism Speaks so I wanted to put a basket together to donate so it can be raffled off next weekend.  While shoveling through, I found some stuff I thought you guys might like and use!!!  Here is the STUFF~

This includes 1 unmounted French Flair background stamp and 5 unopened packs of retired SU! papers ~ Au Chocolat, Dashing, Le Jardin, Holiday Thyme and Four Seasons.  I will post the winner sometime after 8pm Tuesday (4/22).

Since April is National Autism Awareness Month, if anyone is interested in donating to Autism Speaks, please email me and I will provide my mailing address and Tamara will include it with her donation that she will send in sometime after the crop on Saturday.  The checks can be made payable to Autism Speaks so you will have a receipt. 

I wanted to share with you some Birthday RAK's I received last week!!!  I feel so guilty because I LOVED getting the RAK's but have yet to send a Birthday RAK!!!  I have been on the Bloggers RAK list for at least a year now!!!  I know, how selfish is that!!!  I promise to do better!!!

Isn't this cute???  I love it!  This is from Simone ~AKA ~ Spazzgirl.  Thank you Simone, it is darling!

This one is from Karen Mackie  ~ AKA ~ BradsMom.  I love these colors and the DP is darling!  I will have to keep searching for Karen's SCS gallery and will add it when I find it!!

This awesome card is from Amy.  I have never been able to get this buckle card to work!!!  Amy did a great job on this.  I will have to keep it for inspiration!!  Thank you Amy!

Last but not least is this card I received Debra.  I LOVE this stamp set ~ one of my favorites!!!  This is so cute, thank you so much Debra!

I will leave you with a card I made recently using the DARLING Bunny from Serendipity Stamps.  The decorative paper is from Imaginisce and is their Peeps line.  I won't go in to a lot of detail because the card is pretty simple AND my friends are taking me out to dinner tonight and I need to get going!!!

Thanks again for stopping by and don't forget to leave a comment to win my blog candy!!!

~Lynda

A Little Reminder.....

Hello!
I just wanted to send out a reminder about My Template Challenge for Mothers and Daughters Creations which will end tomorrow, February 13th at 12pm (EST).  I have received some BEAUTIFUL entries and thank you all so much!!!  If you have an entry, you can email me directly or just post a comment here on my blog!  The winners of all of the challenges will be posted on Thursday!  Have a great night!

~Lynda

I Got an AWARD!!!!!

What a wonderful surprise!  I received this award from Tosh and Juliana!  How nice is that especially when 2 ladies as talented as them to give you this honor!!!  Thank you Tosh and Juliana, I really appreciate it!!!  According to rules of award (and you all know how I am about following directions), I'm supposed to name some others who deserve the Excellent Blogger Award.   There are so many wonderful blogs that I just love and I hope you will enjoy them too!  Of course I cannot list them all but will definitely bestow this honor on a few!!!  Be sure to check them out as they will amaze you!

Lauren Meader ~ Mytime
Lindsey Botkin ~ Embellished
Laura Fredrickson ~ Scrapnextras
Tamara McKlveen ~ Mothers and Daughters Creations
Jennifer Meyer ~ Jennifers Sweet Designs
Sharon Johnson ~ No time to Stamp
Anna Wight ~ Sweet Miss Daisy
Maria Levine ~ RiaCreations

I will be back shortly to post a card!  Today has been a crazy day ~ again, so I haven't much stampin' time!  Luckily, I have a card already done that I haven't posted!!!!  See, I'm not ALWAYS a procrastinator!!! 

~Lynda

We Have a Winner!!!!

Thank you all so much for leaving your comments about your favorite gifts for the Holidays.  I LOVED reading each and every one of them!!!  Not that you care because you probably would like me to just tell you who won, but because so many of you (me included) received some Nestabilities, you might be interested in a website that many people are using to order their dies from.  You can sign up to receive their VIP coupon which enables you to order something (Nestabilities included) at 40% off each month.  They will even give you 40% on the complete sets which run around $77!  The website is called Cut At Home and the site is HERE.  My friend Jennifer has ordered from them and I saw on another blog the other day a heads up about them.  I have not yet ordered because I can't decide which set to get!!!  How sad is that???  Since Jennifer ordered the hearts, I might order the squares...hmmmm.... OK, are you annoyed yet because I am babbling on about NOTHING!!!???  LOL!!!

Alright ~ the winner is #42!!!!   VICKY!!!!  This is what Vicky said ~

Happy New Year to you!!! My favorite prezzie I received were these beaded braclets my daughter gave me because she picked them out and paid for them herslef, such a precious gift.
thanks for sharing all you do!

Thank you all for playing and Vicky, email me your mailing address when you get a chance!! 

Thanks again!

~Lynda
Vicky

We Have a Winner.....

Hi Everyone!
I want to thank you all so much for leaving such nice comments!  I enjoyed reading each and every one!  I wish you all could have won but only 1 person will receive the Crab & Company set and the winner is ~ Beth M (ematson on scs)!  Congratulations Beth!  Send me an email with your mailing address and I will get it out to you ASAP!!!

I am working on some things to post but I was just pooped today and didn't finish a darn thing!!!  I am going to go to bed early tonight and get my beauty rest (I should have gone to bed around 5 pm yesterday!!!) so I can be up and at 'em early tomorrow morning, all fresh and ready to create!!!  If this is not the case, I will go on SCS and CASE something!!! LOL!!! 

I know this is a repeat but since I last posted this tutorial in August, I have gained a lot of subscribers so I thought I would post this again so you all can run out to your local craft store this weekend and get started!  I really want to add a 2007 charm on the "hat".  I found some on line but before I order I want to check Michael's and AC Moore.  I am going to make them for all family members this year and having the year on them will be the perfect touch!!!  If you have made some, let me know because I really enjoy seeing the different ideas people have!

Here are the ornaments and the tutorial is HERE.   Check out the darling ornaments Corinne AKA ~ Stampin with Roxy made. 

Here is a closer look ~

Wouldn't it be cute with a little 2007 charm?  Can you tell I am obsessing about a stinkin' charm????  If you have any ideas, let me know!!!

Thanks so much and I hope you all have a great night!

~Lynda

It's time to CELEBRATE! and I have a favor to ask....

You are wondering what in the heck I am celebrating aren't you!  So am I!! LOL!!! 

I haven't given anything away for a while and I have an extra, BRAND NEW, UNMOUNTED, stamp set called Crab & Company by Stampin' Up!  This set is on the dormant list so I am assuming it will be in their January catalog but that won't do you any good to make some really cute Christmas cards with it THIS YEAR!!!!

This set is so stinkin' cute and is perfect for any occasion so now you are wondering, what do I have to do to win it.... well..... All you have to do is leave a comment at the bottom of THIS post.  Friday night I will use the random number selector and it will choose a winner for me and I'll post here on my blog!!!  See, how easy is that??

Now, I have a favor to ask.  You may remember me posting a while back about some cards my friend Lisa and her Tri-Delta Sorority Alumnae Group made to donate to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. You can see that post HERE. They want to send the cards (5-6 per person) and envelopes (stamps too if needed) to some of our heroes overseas who won't be fortunate enough to be home this Christmas.  Once received, the recipient can then use the cards to send to their loved ones back home.  Does this all make sense????      

I am asking you, do you know someone that these cards could benefit?  We will send them and the way time is flying, we need to send them right away!  I am finishing up a few more cards but we only have about 55 so I think about 10 names and addresses would be great!!!  Please email me with any information or questions you might have (my email is under my LOVELY picture at the top left of my blog!! LOL!!).

I do want to take this opportunity to thank you all for visiting my blog!  I REALLY appreciate it and hope you have enjoyed it.   When I first started blogging back in June,  NEVER in a million years did I think I would actually have 160+ subscribers and over 25,000 hits on my blog!  Thank you SO much! 

I have been a horrible Blogger lately.....

Hi Everyone! 
Sorry for the lack of posts but I have had lots of Mommy duties to do!!!  I hope you all had a great Halloween!  We had so much fun!  It all starts at my kids school and their lower school costume parade.  OMG, this is so much fun!  The kids get so excited and it is so neat to see the costumes and to witness the pure happiness these kids feel.  What an awesome school we have!  Here is a picture of a couple of the ladies that work at the school ~

You know, you can't find quality people just anywhere!  What role models my kids have to look up to!!! LOL!!!  Actually, this picture is of my very "special" friends Lisa (in pink) and Cathy (with the dead animal on her head and birth control glasses on!).  They are fantastic friends and I am lucky to have them.  They really do work at the school and they dressed up as Hillbillies.  I couldn't even look at Cathy without laughing.  You can tell that we had a great time!  Halloween night we (Lisa, Cathy, Lynn and I ~ oh, the kids and some of the husbands came too!) went trick-or-treating in Cathy's subdivision.  When you live in the middle of no-where, you must drive to "some-where" to trick or treat!!!   We had the best time!  The four of us met when our kids (now in 2nd grade) were in the same class in Kindergarten and have been friends ever since!  It works out great because Cathy and I don't cook but LOVE to eat and Lisa and Lynn LOVE to cook so it was a match made in heaven!!! LOL!!!  So now you know, I have been hanging out with my Hillbilly friends and haven't had time to be crafty!

Here is a picture of my High School Musical cheerleader ~ Mary:

She has advised that next year she wants to be a football player!  Why can't she be a princess or a fairy???  I want to dress her like a girl!!!!  She cracks me up and I just love her hair in piggy tails.  I do wish her other top tooth would fall out because she is starting to look like a Hillbilly!!!  Now, here is a picture of my festive son.  He is so funny!  He has NEVER liked to dress up and does not like to have birthday parties.  I used to think it was pretty weird but now I find it quite endearing.  Joey is Joey and he still has a great time laughing at his friends in their costumes and goes to their birthday parties but he does not like the attention on him. 

This shirt is so perfect for Joey.  His Grandma got it for him!  Not only was it Halloween but yesterday, November 1st was Joey's 10th Birthday!  I took him and Mary to IHOP for breakfast and then we went to the store so he could use his money and buy a few things he has wanted.  I made him a cute balloon vase using Cadbury candy bars.  I also made one for Mary and boy was she excited!  This is what they looked like:

These are so easy to make and you can make them for any occasion.  I made a Valentine one HERE  but made flowers to put in it .  You can also use Hershey's chocolate bars but I found that the Cadbury are bigger so it is more sturdy.  The way you make them is you take 3 candy bars and wrap them with wrapping paper or cardstock.  Just wrap them as you would a present.

Here is a close up of Joey's:

After you wrap the candy bars, use sticky strip to stick the sides together.  For the base, I put a small amount of Elmer's glue on the bottom of the candy bars and then stuck it down on top of a coordinating piece of cardstock.  After it was dry, I trimmed it.  SO easy and really cute!  You can decorate these any way you want and for any occasion!  I am making a Christmas one using 4 candy bars.  I hope to upload it at some point this weekend.

I have a couple of cards to show you and will upload those shortly!  Thanks for looking!

~Lynda

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by Diane at My Little Stampin' Spot!   

Here are the details:

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.  (Diane's awesome blog address is above).

2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself (on your blog, we all want to know them).

3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

4. Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

OK, here goes ~ 7 random facts (I have no weird ones!!! LOL!!!)

1.  I LOVE the sound of things being sucked up by the vacuum!  You know, when you can hear it actually go through the hose and into the bag!  This means that I just sucked up 1 less thing that I have to pick up!!!  OK ~ that IS a pretty weird fact!

2.  I LOVE mowing the lawn.  I get a beer and my iPod and get a few hours of peace and quiet!  No one bothers me because they are scared I will task them with some kind of work.  The only other time they will leave me alone is when I clean house.  Lucky for them the latter doesn't happen all that often!!  LOL!

3.  I'm rather anti-social and don't like crowds.   

4.  I'm not as feminine as you all think!  hahahaha!!!  (I had to look up how to spell feminine).  Anyway, I love fishing, working up a good sweat working in the yard, metal detecting, panning for gold, walking in the woods and cutting firewood!  Sometimes I have to remind my husband that I am NOT a boy and can't always help him!  He's spoiled!    This smiley really doesn't apply but I thought it was so funny and can't think of another time I could use it unless my friend Lis finally has the sister's put back to where god intended them to be!!!

5.   I grew up in Monterey California and never lived anywhere else until I moved to Virginia 13 years ago.  My family is still there so at least I can go back to visit!

6.  Fall is my favorite season.  I love the colors, the smell, the falling leaves.......  In Monterey we didn't have seasons!  Just year round fog!!!

7.  I HATE to cook.  It is my most hated chore and yes, chore is exactly what I think of it as!  The problem with it is that I love to eat!  I do LOVE to bake though and sweets are my favorite things!  I ALWAYS leave room for desert!!!

OK, now I need to tag 7 bloggers so here goes!

1.  Dana at Kismet, Art, and Life.  (this girl cracks me up and she giving away some awesome stuff.)

2.  Corinne at Stamping with Roxy.   While you are visiting her blog, read why her blog is named Stamping with Roxy not Stamping with Corinne.  It is hilarious!

3.  Rita at Rita's Little Corner.   Rita is so nice and so very creative!

4.  Michelle at Come Stamp with Me.   Michelle is another really creative blogger.  Be sure to check her out!

5.  Dee at Stampin' Cuz I Luv 2.   Another really talented blogger!!

6.  Loretta at Love to Create.   Yet another great blogger!!!

OK, there are 6 but I really need to upload this and get dinner started ~ sorry......  Speaking of Diane, I have my altered project for our Up Late and Stamping challenge that I will upload this evening! 

Thanks for looking!

~Lynda

I have some winners!!!

I had some really great responses to my question about what you all do with your cards.  Since it is getting late (East Coast), I will post those tomorrow but I did want to pass on the winners.  I WISH I could let everyone win because you guys were so great in your replies.  I really appreciate it AND have found that I am not the only one in the world that hoards their cards!!! LOL!!!  Anyway, you probably just want to know who won so without rambling on any longer, the winners are:

Snowman stamp set and card ~ Melissa Roth

Thomas Kinkade card and extra images ~ Tara Macfarlane

Melissa and Tara, please email me your addresses and I will get the stuff out to you ASAP!

Thank you all again and have a great night!

~Lynda