Third of Three

Well friends, I'm completely pooped! I went on my first run (training for the marathon, remember? Click on my button and help me get to Seattle!) tonight. OK, I walked a little ways, but I did my best to keep moving, and that's what it's all about, right? First thing on my docket for tomorrow (after physical therapy for my shoulder of course) is to get myself some proper running shoes. My nearly seven year old Nike's aren't going to cut it I'm afraid!

Enough of that though, I think we all know the REAL reason I'm posting tonight... Yep, installment number three of three in the Simply Lovin kit. I did plenty of work on the papers and all, but the embellishments is where I really went a tad crazy I think.

Hope you enjoy it. Right now though I've got to get a shower and hit the hay. Busy day of shopping tomorrow!

Part Two of Three!

Here it is ladies (and gentlemen if you are out there)! I hope your weekend is going fantabulous thus far! Here is your second installment of Simply Lovin'. More papers at this point, but sometime this week I'll have the elements loaded as well for your viewing - and scrapping - pleasure! Click the pic to download!

I hope you've all noticed my new little white button on the left side of your screen. Please help support me in my efforts to run a really stinkin' long marathon! Click the button, donate something to help the Leukemia and Lymphoma society and help me get to Seattle in June '09!

Updates...

Ahhh... Nothing ever feels quite as nice as being home - am I right? I've missed my little spot in the world wide web. After an unfortunate bug on my poor computer I was forced to take a little vacation from the net. But, the bug is beaten, I'm back on line, and I hope to be posting more here shortly!

Christmas Cards - FINALLY

OK, now that all the excitement is over I thought I'd share the Chenoweth 2007 Christmas card with you! I plan on having them completed tonight so they can go postal tomorrow!

David did the embossing using the cuttlebug - which he LOVED to play with! We used: Glad Tidings stamp set, Real Red ink, Real Red, Old Olive, and Very Vanilla CS, Dashing DSP, green organdy ribbon (retired), scalloped oval and regular oval giga punches, white Galaxy Marker and lots and lots of glue.

Hate to cut it short, but I've got to go dry David's tears. His dad has told him that the Father Son Pizza Party he's been looking forward to all week has already come and gone. (It hasn't, they'll be leaving in an hour!) Poor kiddo. But not to worry - his dad WILL make it up to him.

I Really Have Been Working!

I know my blog has been kinda empty lately - but honestly, I've been working! The only problem is that I've been working on projects for a contest and I can't share!! (Unless of course I don't win, then I will certainly share!)

My kiddo is off to school, my husband is off enjoying the last day of deer season so it's just me, the dogs and my stamp sets today. No excuses, right? I hope to get some cards or something finished to post, so stick with me friends, I'll get there, I promise!! Besides, I have TONS of retiring paper to use up so I can buy the new stuff coming out in January.

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to stamp I go!

Thinking of a Number...

Hey y'all. I thought we could play a little game and maybe pass out some blog candy?

Easy Peasy - I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 100. Post a reply to this message with your number and here in a little while I'll let y'all know who wins. Hows that sound?

Of course if no one replies to this message then I'll just feel like a big goof, won't I?

Homemade Holidays Stamp Camp

One of my favorite family traditions is to make holiday decorations - doesn't matter which holiday - but the Christmas holiday is the best! As a kid I would come up with some pretty "interesting" decorations and like a trooper my mother would proudly display them for me! With such encouragement how could I help but LOVE this tradition and want to share it with you? Here's my chance!

Join me in my home on Saturday, December 15, from 2pm - 6pm for my Homemade Holidays Stamp Camp. We will be making five ornaments using Stampin' Up! supplies. There will be refreshments, holiday themed games, and door prizes. Attendees will also have the opportunity to sign up for 2008 classes and clubs before anyone else!

Supply fee is $20.00.

Registration deadline is December 10.

Call me today to reserve your space!

Paper Crafter's Forum

I'm SO happy to announce the new Paper Crafter's forum! I've been wanting to do this for a while now, and would love it if you would join me there. This is a place for anyone interested in card making, scrapbooks or paper crafting in any way.

In the three days that it has been live we have gained 24 members and I'm hoping that the board becomes more active soon! I feel like yelling: "TALK TO ME", but I'm not sure it would help! LOL. So please come talk with me and others HERE on the Paper Crafter's Forum!

This week I am planning on posting a contest. You won't want to miss it! See you there!!

How Was Your Thanksgiving?

I hope your fall feasting was wonderful! I had a great time surrounded by family and friends and tons of tasty food! Thank you Jeff and Amy for supplying the broccoli bake, scalloped oysters and yummy pie! Thank you to my brother Erik and his lovely girlfriend Amy for supplying the fudge!

I started cooking on Wednesday morning and finally finished just as it was time to serve the food. I really really enjoy this holiday, though it has been a bitter sweet one for my family. I'm sure you'll remember my post earlier this year about my Dad being diagnosed with cancer. Happily he's doing well and recovering from treatment but is still unable to eat food so we could not have our regular Thanksgiving celebration with my entire family gathered at Mom and Dad's house. It just wouldn't have been fair to him! But, we were able to have some friends and family over our house this year, and as far as I can tell it was a lot of fun for everyone - despite the never ending Uno game!

I hope your holiday was a memorable one, filled with family and friends and lots and lots of love!

Thanks!

Continuing on with the Giving Thanks theme I seem to be stuck on this month, I'd like to show you what I worked on yesterday evening and finally finished this morning. I can hardly wait for Thanksgiving now, with all my cute decorations!

For this project I used:

• Simon Lower Chipboard
• Fall Flowers Designer Paper
• Always Artichoke Grosgrain Ribbon
• Crop-A-Dile

I used Stampin' Up!'s Anywhere Glue Stick to adhere the paper on to the chip board, and cut away the excess with my craft knife. After sanding the edges I punched two holes at the top of each letter with my Crop-A-Dile and then thread the ribbon through.


In the past I've tried different glues and adhesives for attaching paper to chipboard and have found that I really like using Stampin' Up!'s Anywhere glue stick for these projects. Unlike other glues (like YES! Paste or decoupage medium) the Anywhere glue stick dries quickly. If you've not used it lately (or ever), I suggest you try it, it's inexpensive, holds well and these glue sticks last a long time!

Tomorrow I'll be working on stemware charms and maybe even some place cards or napkin rings for the table. I guess you'll just have to check back and see what I come up with, won't ya?

New Covenant Crop

Yay! After a ton of hard work the New Covenant Crop has come and gone! I had so much fun. The other vendors were great - as always - and the croppers were wonderful! Friday night I set up my booth and put inspiration sheets in the gift bags for all the croppers. Saturday started early and gave us a few moments for a few last minute things.

I was placed next to Rosalinda with TLC and she was such a hoot. There were of course old friends there as well. Miss Rachel was there with Party Lite candles, and the Scrapbooking Mommiez were there as well as DeDe Vest with Creative Memories. I was so excited to be there with these wonderful women that I was nearly bouncing off the walls.

While at the crop I offered a Basic Stamping class. It was so much fun to see these women learning these new techniques. I love the look of discovery on their faces - and the giggles when they did something well! This is truly my FAVORITE part of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator - helping people to find unknown areas of creativity within them selves! For this class we completed a "cheat sheet" pamphlet with nine basic stamping techniques and then made a post it note cover and a card utilizing these new techniques! Congratulations ladies on a job well done!

In addition to this class I offered free Make and Takes through out the day. I presented a clear card and it really was a big hit. It was easy to assemble and was popular enough that I had to open two more make and take sessions in order to accommodate all those who wanted to make it. Happily I remembered from the last Mega Crop and brought with me extra card stock and supplies so I could cut extra if I ran out of anything! Yay!

On top of all that I took along all my retired stamp sets. I sold all but 10 sets - about which Tim is thrilled about because now they can be stored in my craft room rather than the garage!

Oh boy, I'm pooped now though. Thank goodness I don't have anything to do today - it will give me time to recover from yesterday! I hope that if you didn't come this time that you will attend at the next crop in March! It was a wonderful experience and I would really hate for you to miss out! If you WERE there and came in to read my blog THANKS!!! I had so much fun with you ladies and I hope to see you again next time!! Don't be a stranger though - email me!!

You Call This Work?

Oh boy! I've been a busy little bee this weekend! It occurred to me on Friday that OMG! I only have THIS week to finish getting ready for the NCA Mega Crop! So I checked my to do list and added like twenty things and then turned on the TV - plenty of time - RIGHT?! Yeah.... SURE... Right...

So finally about six last night I get off my duff and get to work. I stamped my contact info on Inspiration Sheets and Mini Catalogs. I printed and folded Technique Pamphlets for my class. I removed all the retired cards from my display board. And then finally, once my husband and sweet boy were in bed I got down to work.

I made this Frap Bottle set and had a wonderful time making it! I was SO excited about how it turned out. The bottles are filled with hand made bath salts made by yours truly. I'll give the recipe below in case you'd like to make your own!

For this project I used River Rock, Blush Blossom, and Very Vanilla Card stock; Blush Blossom, River Rock and Pretty in Pink Classic Ink pads; Pink Organdy (I just LOVE this ribbon!), and Pink Grosgrain Ribbons; Polka Dots and Paisley Stamp Set; See You Around, and Petals Wheels, Large Oval, Scalloped, and 1-1/4" Circle Punches; and Signo White Gel Pen.

Milk Bath Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 C Dry Milk
• 1 C Epsom Salt
• 1/2 C Baking Soda
• 1/2 C Dead Sea Salt
• 1/4 C Citric Acid

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
2. Cover tightly to retain integrity of ingredients!

Could that be simpler?! Oh, and to use this stuff is SO nice! If you're inclined you can add extra special ingredients like chammomile flowers or even some Essential Oils. If you're not used to using these though, I hope you'll find a reputable website to learn how to use them.

For Chocolate Milk Bath the directions and ingredients are the same as above, except you need to add 1/4 C Cocoa Powder. Couldn't be easier right?!

Yummy - but don't drink either of these please! It will give you the trots and really they wouldn't taste good at all!!

Alright now, time to get back to the craft room and get some more stamping done! I can't wait till Saturday! I hope to see you there! Remember to come by my booth to sign up for my door prizes - a free catalog PLUS a gift certificate!!

Girlfriends in Paris!

I am so excited to announce that I will be participating in the New Covenant Academy's Girlfriends in Paris crop on October 8, 2007. I participated in their previous Mega Crop (their first one!) and had a BLAST. The energy and creativity at the crop was unbelievable! This time I will not only have a booth space and a make and take, but I will also be providing a basics stamping class called "Louvre to Stamp."

Here's the class description:

Need to learn the basics of stamping? Here's your opportunity! Learn basic stamping techniques such as masking, reverse masking, two step stamping, poppin' pastels, kissing, and rock and roll...to name a few! Includes project supplies for two cards, cheat sheet, and a Technique Booklet for all attendees.

Isn't it exciting?! In addition to the booth and the class I will be offering door prizes and will be selling what's left of my retired stamp sets. This is also a great opportunity to hostess a workshop or order those stamps you've had your heart set on!

I hope to see you there! Go HERE to reserve your spot at the crop! (And remember to sign up for my class!)

Back on Line!

Grrr... Every time we get a decent size rain my Internet goes out. Luckily though, this time my wonderful hubby (who is probably really tired of hearing me whine about the Internet being out!) came to the rescue and fixed the problem!! Yay Tim!! Not to worry though I do have a few cards I've been working on.

I realize the two Snowflake Spot cards look very similar. There is a reason! I was preparing for a workshop and fell in love with the Snowflake Spot card (at right) using the while Stazon ink on one side of the velum and colored pencils on the back. It gives it a frosty look I think. Unfortunately though the card was way too in depth for a workshop. So the second card is my simplified redo. I still did the frosted velum but on the tag this time rather than the entire card front.

In addition to these two cards I made a couple more using Festive Favorites. I'll go ahead and show you the one we made at our workshop. I used Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgundy and Brushed Gold card stock; Chocolate Chip ink, Watercolor pencils, blender pen, Hemp Twine, both tag punches and a couple pieces of Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware.

After the workshop my friend Amy came over and I played around with the Thoroughly Thankful stamp set while she tried to convince me that the Wild Wasabi color "isn't that bad." LOL. I'm sorry to those who love it - I still don't like it! I did use it on my card however to prove to Amy that I can use supplies (or colors) that I don't like!

For this card I used Chocolate Chip, Wild Wasabi, Naturals Ivory and Pumpkin Pie card stock, Chocolate Chip ink, Watercolor Pencils, Blender Pen, Hemp Twine, and pewter Hodgepodge hardware.

Don't you just ADORE fall?! I am so excited that it's that time of year! School is in session, the nights are getting cooler and the leaves will be turning soon! Keep an eye here on the blog for information about my upcoming fall events!!

First Day of School!

Well, five years in the waiting and it's finally here. Today is my baby's first day of school! This post is going to be short and sweet, but I wanted to share some pictures of my boy on his FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!

Of course David was not worried at all while my stomach has been tied in knots all morning! He patiently held my hand as we walked through the halls to get to his classroom. There his teacher, Mrs. Lea, was waiting for us, and went ahead and posed for this picture! David put his things in his cubby (tripping over his chair to get there!) and promptly sat down to use his color crayons with the other children who were already there. We went ahead and snapped a couple pictures of him while he wasn't paying attention to us because though he won't admit it, Tim is just as excited about this as I am!

Welcome Home 557!

I'm back after a small break friends! And I'm happy to announce the return of the 557 MCT from their deployment to Iraq. This unit of 12 soldiers left Springfield in June 2006 and spent some time training in Indiana. After training the unit shipped out to Iraq in August 2006. The families are SO happy to have their solders home after this fifteen month deployment!

Our family is more than happy to welcome back Sgt. Timothy Chenoweth - other wise known as Dad! The boys could hardly stand themselves waiting for the bus to pull in to the parking lot. As the bus pulled infront of the families everyone released yellow balloons with their soldier's name on them and messages of love and welcome!

Upon seeing their father Tyler and David rushed to him and nearly tackled him right there on the sidewalk! After kisses and hugs all around we went inside for a brief welcome home ceremony with Maj Boggess officiating. This is a special moment for a few of the soldiers as Maj Boggess was the 557th's Commanding Officer during their first deployment during Operation Enduring Freedom. The ceremony ended and we all scattered as quickly as possible!

So, welcome home Tim! I'm SO GLAD to have you home with us and get back to our lives as they should be!

Excitement is in the Air!

So I had a few of the neighborhood kids over the house this week. Tyler and David sure have a great group of friends to play with, but with two of those boys come older sisters who have to keep an eye on them.

All four of these kids are great. The two boys play with my two boys, one of the sisters stays on my Internet for hours if she's allowed to and the other girl - the oldest - has a love of genealogy and enjoys being crafty. This week I tried a few of my techniques on her and I was very impressed with Miss Beth's craft-itude! She's promised to allow me to practice on her again! Anyway, here is my version of the cards that we worked on together.

The first was a variation on the card in the last post. I turned it on its side and added the dingy but everything else - ink and card stock colors and stamp set remained the same though we went ahead and left off the ribbon this time. We used Prisma Colored Pencils with some odorless mineral spirits - called the gamasol technique. Other techniques include: two step stamping, and masking.

Our second card we used Blue Bayou, Apricot Appeal and River Rock card stock, Blue Bayou ink, and the Au Natural stamp set. This is a stamp set that I bought at the end of the last Stampin' Up! year and have just now gotten around to using. I used the flower, she used the butterfly. This card started out as a spot light card, but I decided that I wanted the entire panel colored in instead. I also used holographic highlights glitter with the two way glue pen to get the glitter exactly where I wanted it. Lastly we died the new Stampin' Up! taffeta ribbon. The color is gorgeous on this ribbon!! What a treat!

Our last card was taken from a card I made at Gwen's house not too long ago. She and I sat down and copied a card from a book - I don't know which book, and if she reads this blog before I put up a new post I'm sure she'll let me know the name of the book! Anyway she was working with a Halloween theme for her card, and I chose an "In Color" theme for mine - in other words there's no rhyme or reason to it! I used Big Pieces and Little Pieces stamp sets, Purely Pomegranate, Blue Bayou, Groovy Guava, Soft Sky, River Rock and Wild Wasabi card stocks and inks. I still don't like the Wild Wasabi color but I hope that the more I use it the more I will grow to like it - no good so far! Oh, and in addition to all the products listed above we used every size circle punch Stampin' Up! offers!

So now that you've seen all my recent cards here's another one - that I didn't make! I received this as a RAK from AJ Otto (willosmama) from Splitcoast Stampers! I was thrilled to receive such a sweet card, I love the colors and her use of the patterned paper with this stamp set! How awesome!! Thank you so much AJ, I hope you enjoy the card that I've sent you in return. (Should look familiar when it arrives as it's one of the ones listed above!!)

The last thing I wanted to say before I sign off for the night is to let you know that I may be MIA for the next week or so. Many of you may know that my wonderful husband Tim has been serving our country on his third deployment to Iraq and has been gone since June of 2006. Our long wait for his return is nearly ended however as he is expected home sometime before Monday!

I'm sure you can understand our excitement and anxiety as our reunion draws closer. I hope you will pray for our family during this time of transition - especially for the children who now have to readjust yet again. I will post after a while about our reunion and all the wonderful things that are in store for us!

Here's the last picture I shot of Tim before he left home in June. You can tell by the look on his face he was tired of the camera at this point, but I couldn't resist one last shot! I'm lucky he loves me!

Stampin' Up! Group Meeting

I debated titling this post "The Great Tooth Hunt," but in the end decided that though it was a funny title it wasn't QUITE fitting for this post.

I don't have a lot to talk about the meeting. Most of it was business information gleaned from Gwen's trip to Stampin' Up!'s Conference last week. She's come back fully charged and revved to go. She shared quite a bit tonight and I can't wait to implement some of the ideas in my own business!

The high excitement of the night however came when Davy ran out to get his tooth from the car to show everyone. (It's the first one he's lost and is so very proud of it!) Unfortunately he lost it on the way back inside. In tears he tried to explain that his Sack of Gluy-a tooth was missing and that he really needed to find it. (As a translation here friends a Sack of Gluy-a is Sacajawea. He's expecting a "Gold Dollar," for his tooth from the Tooth Fairy.) Poor boy. All of the ladies present at the meeting agreed to go out and help us hunt up his tooth. Fortunately it was found!! Tears magically dried up, a smile (a little lop sided cause he's still swollen from having it pulled) appeared and the world was right with Mr. David Grant. He especially liked it when everyone oooh'ed and ahhhh'ed about what a BIG tooth it was!

So thank you everyone from David, the Tooth Fairy and Me!

OK, with that aside let me present the card I made before going to the meeting. I used River Rock, Soft Sky and Blue Bayou card stock and ink as well as the Boatloads of Love stamp set. The card is pretty strait forward, the only "different" thing I did was died some of our white taffeta ribbon with the River Rock ink to match.

Daisy Crazy

That time of year has nearly arrived! Children dread it, parents wish for it. Yes, I'm talking about BACK TO SCHOOL! Or, as in the Chenoweth household, time to go to school for the first time!! That's right, our Davy, sweet, innocent and docile creature that he is will be wreaking havoc on someone else for most of the day soon!

Jump back a week in time however and picture me with my child (who is never messy and always does exactly what his mama asks him to) in Staples. We're buying school supplies and Mama's desk supplies, cause after all I do have a business to run too! We're tossing stuff in the cart right and left and the magic item tossed in happens to be a combo-pack of printer ink.

For purchasing that combo-pack we received a $10 gift certificate for Staples. My first thought was "Duh, of course I get one of those AFTER I buy school supplies." That little nasty was followed by: "But maybe I can give this to David's soon to be VICTIM - I mean teacher!" (You know, kind of butter her up and get in her good graces before David shows his inner demon!)

So, tonight has been spent trying to dress up that ugly gift card into something I can give to Mr. School Boy to hand over to his poor poor poor unsuspecting teacher on open house two days before school starts.

I used Purely Pomegranate and Bashful Blue card stock, the Build-A-Flower Accents and Elements, the Much Appreciated stamp set, as well as my Stardust Pen (non-Stampin' Up!) I went a little crazy with the flowers, but I was enjoying myself and so that's OK with me. I wasn't sure I'd ever make a project I liked with these flowers and it turned out to be more fun than I imagined it would be! So anyway, that's the front of the card. The inside isn't decorated so I won't bore you with any more on the card.

To accompany the card - and hide the UGLY Staples gift card - I used the Accents and Elements tin. First I punched holes at the top with my Crop-a-Dile and threaded some of the Double Stitched Purely Pomegranate ribbon through to make a little handle. I then punched three holes across the top to insert some of our Circle Rhinestone Brads, I used cool colors for this project. Then I put on some of the self adhesive die cut flowers from the tin on the top, a lot fewer this time though! Time to move on to the chipboard now. I took the "L" letter from our On Board series and covered it with Purely Pomegranate ink. Because I think the "L" looked more like a "1" I cut it up a little to look more like an "L" and punched three little holes down the top with the Crop-a-Dile. Time to go a little crazy with the stardust pen again and viola! All done!

I'm actually thinking about going back in and adding more flowers to the tin... I'm thinking it needs something and it may just have to be more more more more more flowers!! LOL!

Someone, quick!! Stop me!!!!!!

Missouri Sales Tax Holiday!

Good news! Several states' legislatures have passed a special sales tax holiday during specific dates in August. During this period, sales tax does not apply to school supplies. The participating states typically define school supplies as any item normally used by students in a standard classroom for educational purposes.

Missouri: August 3-5

By placing your orders during these dates, you can take advantage of this tax holiday and make purchases without sales tax. What a wonderful opportunity to save some money on stamping and paper crafting supplies!

Based on state statutes, we've identified the items that will be exempt from sales tax in these states during the period. Stampin' Up! will not charge sales tax for these items ordered during this sales tax holiday.

Adhesives

• 2-Way Glue Pen
• Liquid Glue
• SNAIL Adhesive
• SNAIL Refill
• Dotto
• Dotto refill
• Anywhere Glue Stick
• Sticky Strip
• Stampin' Dimensionals
• Mini Glue Dots
• Pop-Up Glue Dots
• Greeting Glue
  

Scissors

• Paper Snips
• Craft & Rubber Scissors
• Craft & Paper Scissors

Brushes

• Stipple Brushes
• Flat brush
• Medium brush
• Small brush

Pens and Pencils

• Metallic Art pencils
• Pure color pencils
• Watercolor pencils
• Pencil sharpener
• Uni-ball Signo Gel Pen
• ZIG PaintyBlender pen

Water Color Wonder Crayons

• Bold Brights
• Earth Elements
• Rich Regals
• Soft Subtles
• Neutrals

Markers and Jorunalers

• Stampin' Kids markers
• Stampin' Write markers - You can purchase these individually, but not as the set.
• Basic Black Stampin' Write journaler
• Basic Brown Stampin' Write journaler

Call or email me today to place your order and I will hold that order until the tax holiday!