Fun and Mental Changes

So I recently became a member of Young Living Essential Oils.  I became a member just before one of the biggest growth spurts this company has ever known and RIGHT as holiday sales are ramping up.  Needless to say, I had to WAIT for my Starter Kit and I was NOT happy.  But then the kit came and I tried the oils.  Can I just say.... SOOOOOOOO worth the wait.  This isn't my FIRST bout of impatience: Once upon a time in a land of tumbleweeds and super hot summers, a beautiful, charismatic and really quite skinny girl made her first trip to a well-known coffee shop. She met a friend there who was full of excitement and seemed to have a knowing glint in her eye. After 20 minutes our super hot, skinny, well-spoken, charismatic girl got a little irritated with the wait. "Why am I standing in a 20 minute line for a cup of coffee? Why would ANYONE wait for this? Don't th ese people have lives?" To which her friend turned to her a...

What is it that sets me off?  I don't know what it is, but there are days I want to eat non-stop.  And I mean literally just keep chewing and chewing until my jaw seizes... except it never does.  I've always been a lover of food; a little is never enough.  Some people talk about emotional eating or bordom eating.... seriously gang.... I will eat just to eat. I will eat because things are going bad; I will eat because things are going great. I will eat because nothing's on TV; I will eat because something good is on.  I will eat because I'm going out, or because I'm staying in.  There is no rhyme or reason to why I binge.  I know, because I've been journaling about it for years.  But recently, I've noticed that there are certain foods that have been making me feel satisfied, that I can also eat a lot of, but doesn't cause damage to my weight loss achievements.  Here is a list of foods I've been incorp...

Sometimes I'm a jumper.  Sometimes I get involved in things that I have no clue what I'm getting into.  This is NOT one of those times.  I just became a Young Living Essential Oils Independent Distributor (member #2065124 thank you very much).... with no hesitation, not an ounce of doubt or uncertainty!!!!  And the reason is that I believe THIS is a better way. So I attended a Young Living Oils class, became a member that night and the following night, before my kit was even officially mailed to me, I signed on to sell these products and share the incredible opportunity for health with others.  It made sense to me... it helped that a friend gave me her weight loss trio (lemon, grapefruit and peppermint) to try so I was familiar with the product.  I was never on the fence and I haven't once second guessed my decision. I was never on the fence because years ago I had a homeopathic doctor tell me that ALL MEDICINE started out as natural medic...

Guess what I got in the mail!!!  The Stampin Up 2014 Holiday Catalog!!!!  And to celebrate the pre-holiday ordering season, my demonstrator gave me some stamped images to play with.  Of all of them, the Happy Hanukkah stamp JUMPED OUT AT ME!   I'll give you three guesses why.... isn't this SPOOKILY DELICIOUS?!? I IMMEDIATELY thought of Halloween when I saw this GORGEOUS candelabra and requested it be stamped without the "Happy Hanukkah" sentiment as it is all one stamp.  The Hanukkah example in the catalog is really very beautiful, but this sort of SCREAMS Halloween to me.  I'll give you two more guesses what will be on my next Stampin Up order.... LOL! And so it begins!  This is my first Halloween project this year and my blood is boiling with excitement for the upcoming Halloween season. Gonna have to brew some coffee.... I'm gonna be inking up some more Halloween fun!  MAN!  I need to get...

  It's sad really that I have to wait until a stamp set is retired to really start to play with it, but here I am with a birthday gift card holder I made using Stampin Up's Postage Collection.  I believe this was a hostess set, but please don't quote me.  The background is Stampin Up's Dictionary background stamp.  I used burlap for the banners and a brown baker's twine from Teresa Collins World Traveler line (yes, it too is retired) for this really fun gift card holder.... you heard that right, this is not a card but a gift card holder!!!  Its finished measurements are 4 3/8" x 4 1/4" and it was made using a standard A2 envelope!   Inside I used Stampin Up's Memorable Moments to create the Happy Birthday greeting.  I also used Tim Holtz distress inks to create the worn paper background with a couple of circle punches to notch out a spot for the gift card.  And the area stamped again with the Dictionary and Postage Collection sta...

WHEW!!!  I cannot believe that I did it!!!  I told someone the other day that I was surprised that I'm not burnt out on this owl punch, and I'm not!  I could go on with a cow using this punch, moose using this punch.... that Stampin Up Owl Punch is AWESOME!!!!  But instead of doing something different, I revisited the little girl I did using the owl punch but this time I made her into Snow White.... don't you just love the sentiment?  Perfect, right?!?  The sentiment is from Technique Tuesday's Sweet Somethings!  I made the flowers using Sizzix 3D Flowers die with the background frame being Spellbinder's Labels 20 and the decorative frame Spellbinder's Fancy Tags 3.  The top and bottom of the card was scored using my MS score board and the black decorative strip was found in my "die cut pieces" box.  I believe it is a border punch from EK Success.  I finished this off with a little bling and there you have it CARD 20!!!! Really...

I have done sooooo many different images using this amazing owl punch, to add a flower to the lineup doesn't surprise me at all.  I used Stampin Up's Teeny Tiny Wishes set for the sentiment and the Window dies for the frame.  I WISH I could tell you what embossing folder I used for this card, but I pulled it out of my scrap bin and I honestly can't find the folder that made it.  I think it might be a Stampin Up folder, but don't quote me.  The pearls are from recollections.  How sweet is this sympathy card? As I've said over and over.... SOMEONE'S going to get this card and 19 others that I've made and featured here on my blog.  To get your hands on these babies, simply place an order on my Stampin Up July Card Club party using my hostess code (highlighted below).  The person who places the largest order will receive all 20 owl punch-themed cards.  How cool is that???  And it doesn't matter if you're an out of state buyer because your or...