Fun and Mental Changes

Yep!  That's me!  I play with Shrinky Dinks!!!  But here's why.... ***So be sure to click on the pics to check out the AWESOME details that show even after shrinking!!!** Imagine taking a thin sheet of plastic that you die cut with, oh let's say one of the Stampin Up Chalk Talk dies, after stamping this plastic with, uh let's say the Stampin Up Yippee Skippy and From My Heart Stamp sets, and then (using a heat tool) shrinking it down to make the CUTEST charm to add to a project or gift!  I did and THESE are the results.  Each finished charm is pictured inside the die I used to cut the shape out with to give a good perspective on how much the Shrinky Dinks really shrink. These I inked with Calypso Coral and Bermuda Bay before shrinking!  These turned out GREAT!  The charms pictured here are going to be wine glass jewelry!  SO FUNNY RIGHT?!?  Click HERE to check out the video tutorial I used to learn how to use shrink dinks.  Honestly, it took me a couple of t

Ok, so my friend Cindy came over to play with all her new Stampin Up goodies.  When I first looked at the Yippee Skippee stamp set I fell in love with all but ONE stamp, "Never Underestimate The Power of Two"????  What the heck does that mean???  Is that supposed to be a "couples" stamp, like for Valentines or weddings or something?  I don't know, but when you apply that sentiment to alcohol, well..... Isn't it JUST so obvious how perfect this sentiment is?!?  I mean, it was like being hit with a Mack truck!  LOL!  Cindy and I were SOOOO proud of ourselves!!!  This card is AWESOME!!!!  We added the "or three" to the end realizing that it is just funnier that way!!!  We used a TON of Stampin Up goodies for this card: Inks and Papers - Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral, Bermuda Bay, Basic Black, Whisper White Stamp Sets - Yippee Skippy, Happy Hour Tools - Big Shot, Banners Framelits, Paper Piercer, Paper Piercing Mat Additional - Linen Thread,

  Check out what THIS girl got for Valentine's Day!!!  The hubs wanted a coffee maker but I wanted work space!!!  It's no secret, ESPECIALLY HERE that I'm workin to get my craft space in the new house put together.  It is also no secret that the "secret" to my style of organization is to utilize vertical space, so when my friend Cindy showed me a picture of these AWESOME Stamp n' Storage ink pad organizers I was preparing myself to beg and beg HARD.  You see I already had storage for my Stampin Up ink pads.... Don't get me wrong.... this rotating color caddy from Stampin Up is a VERY good option, but my craft room reduced by half when we moved into the new house and I just don't have the work space I once did.  Anything and everything that can be put on the wall saves me precious work space.     And I didn't want my Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads in a different spot than the rest of my ink pads (that too is an organizing secret of

Yep.... my family is NOW on the Keurig bandwagon!!!  The hub's work just got one a month ago and THIS GEM is what he wanted for Valentine's Day!  Today's blog post is hopefully gonna help save folks some time and money. First off, this thing really is INCREDIBLE.  Everyone has told me how great it is but no one informed me HOW great it is.  It makes espresso, coffee, hot chocolate, spiced cider, and herbal tea*.... remove the bottom plate, place a tall glass filled with ice and make iced coffee and iced tea, all in less than ONE FLIPPIN MINUTE!!!  Depending on what you pay for K-cups, each cup will cost you 34-75 cents .  Really, can you beat that????  That is WAY-WAY better than the $5 I'm spending at Starbucks!  HOW did I live without this???? So we went to 5 different stores before ending up at Costco where we figured we saved about $100 between the savings on the unit and the extra K-cups that came with the unit PLUS the Costco one came with a personal K-cup

I'm convinced this little sweetheart is a good representation of the first blueprint image that would have graced his blueprint line if Mr. Holtz was born a girl.  Why?  Cuz Girls Rule!!!!  And a little girl drafted of sugar, spice and everything nice is just cute, fun and incredibly ADORABLE!!! Obviously this image was inspired by the Tim Holtz blueprint stamp line, but actually features CC Designs' Cupcake Kiki that I stamped on black cardstock using my Stampin Up Craft pad and then altered using an opaque white gel pen.  Please ignore the shadow in the bottom right corner... I couldn't seem to get my big head out of the way.... I had a ton of fun making this one and am feeling pretty great about the crafty life force that has found its way back into my bloodstream.  I'm vowing NEVER to pack up my craft space EVER.... EVER again!!!  I definitely have a new-found appreciation for my perfectly placed chaos that is near impossible to replicate!!!  I'm off

This, my friends, is the view from my room in Oceanside, California over this past weekend!!!  The hubs and I took a little winter holiday to go play in the ocean.  Our room was A-MAZING and we had SOOOO much fun.  Unfortunately, I STILL don't have a cord for my camera (I swear I'm rectifying that tomorrow) so my pics are all taken with my phone.  The biggest problem I had there was I was having so much fun that I kept forgetting to plug in my phone to charge.  So there were a ton of shots I missed simply because my phone was dead. One of the shots I'm glad I didn't miss was the pier.  The pier in Oceanside is sort of the focal point for the city.  It is an ENORMOUS pier that takes you quite a ways out into the ocean and at the end of the pier....... a restaurant!!!  We had lunch at the end of a pier our first day in Oceanside.  What a way to start a vacation!!! And of course there was SOOOOO much that went on in between.... a visit to Carlsbad, a train rid