Day One Of.....

my mini vacation was successful.  I got an early start yesterday morning.  I gathered up all the necessary tools and headed out front.  First on the list was trimming back all the shrubbery.  Once the lilacs finish blooming, I like to get everything trimmed.  I really don't like for the front landscaping to look "shaggy".  Now mind you, before moving here, I never trimmed shrubs.  That was Rodney's job.  And if you were to drive by my house right now, my lilacs would remind you of someone that had groomed their dog for the very first time.  Not to worry though, this is the third year that I've "groomed" them and I haven't killed them yet.  The burning bush doesn't look quite as "naked" as the lilacs and I'm quite sure that I heard a little "sigh of relief" come from it once I was finished.  HA!  After I got the yard cleaned up, I moved on to the next project which was to clean the front of the house.  My house sits fairly close to the street, so all the traffic and winter "dirt" collects on the house.  I bought a cleaner that you attach to your water hose.  You spray a good layer on, leave it for 5-10 minutes and then you rinse.  It did a good job, not perfect, but good.  But man, it was a messy job.  By the time I was done, I had almost as much water on me as I had sprayed on the house!  I think that next time I will get a big bucket of hot soapy water and large brush of some sort to do the washing.  Then I can rinse with the water hose.  

After I had put away the water hose and gardening tools, I got cleaned up and then headed out to purchase the flowers for my containers.  After a bit of breakfast/lunch/dinner combo, I went out and planted the rail containers on my front porch.  Once that was done, I called it a day.  I grabbed a Land Shark out of the fridge and headed out to relax for a bit on the patio.  So needless to say, there was no stamping time for me yesterday.  Luckily though, I have a little something on hand to share with you.

I love the Beautiful Butterflies set from Papertrey.  The color combo is melen berry, aqua mist and harvest gold.  After stamping the butterflies, I used the SU! Itty Bitty Background set to fill in some of the white space and to dress up those butterflies, I added some petite, white pearls to their bodies. 

And like I did on a card that I shared a few posts ago, I stamped the sentiment and added it like a tab at the top of the focal image.  

If you have never used this color combo, be sure to try it soon.  It's so pretty.  

Well, it's just about time to get vacation day 2 started.  Today's activities: plant flowers in patio containers, clean the house and get the laundry done.  Tomorrow the girls will be spending a good part of the day getting groomed, so I plan to use that time in the stamp room.  If all goes as I plan (which they rarely do), I will be going to Archiver's Sunday for a bit of shopping.  Ahhh, I love going there.

Later chickies!

Beautiful Butterflies	Melon Berry	Scalloped Sentiment Border Punch	Melon Berry Card Stock	Aqua Mist Card Stock	Stamper's Select White
Harvest Gold Card Stock	Harvest Gold Ink	Melon Berry Ink	Aqua Mist Ink Pad

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I'm Off For A....

bit of a vacation.  No, no, I'm not boarding a private jet for a quick trip to Aruba.  No, I'm not going to be sipping a mai tai while cruising around the Florida Keys.  I will be participating in some water activity though.  No, I won't be jet skiing around one of the great lakes.  I will be power washing the front of my house.  Once that fun is finished, I will be cutting back my lilac bushes and other shrubs that I don't know the names of.  I also have to get my flowers planted in the rail planters on my front porch and the planters on my patio.  Don't ever let it be said that I don't know how to have fun.  Even though it may be an accurate comment, please don't let it be said.  Thank you.

Before I get started on this rip roarin' good time, I thought I would share a little card with you.  Actually, it's a pair of cards.  I used all the same products, I just changed out the stems and flowers.  

I used the Botanical Silhouettes for these cards.  I don't use this set nearly enough.  I combined it with Celebrations and Dear Jane pattern paper and I really like the way they came out.  

Well, I guess I better bring this little visit to an end.  I want to be sure to get a good nights rest, as I am just giddy with excitement for my "vacation".  

Later chickies!

Celebrations Die	Pure Poppy Grosgrain	Ranger Antique Linen Ink	Celebrations	Dark Chocolate Ink	Vintage Cream Card Stock
Pure Poppy Ink	Dark Chocolate Ink	Kraft Card Stock Papertrey Ink

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Week 9 Recap (14)......

Forget "March Madness", it's May Madness in the ballroom.  We are down to the final four and WOW, what a night!

I have to do this quick because I'm heading out of here in just a bit.  Everyone danced two dances, so let's get right to it. 

1) William & Cheryl first danced a Tango and scored 28.  I thought he looked so handsome.  It was a powerful tango and he was totally in charge of the dance.  

Next up, they danced a Samba, scored 30 with a overall score of 58.  It was energetic.  I love the way she dressed him for this performance (thank you for keeping his shirt on).  However, I'm not sure that it was worthy of a perfect 30.

The story of his childhood in Cuba and coming to the U.S. was quite moving.  

2) Katherine and Mark danced a Quick Step and scored 29.  She had a couple little missed steps in the very beginning, but quickly got back on track.  I enjoyed the dance.

Next up was the Salsa with a score of 27, with an overall score of 56.  The dance was so good, until she fell at the very end.  I felt so bad for her.  

Her story was somewhat amazing, too.  She was 4 years old the first time she sang in front of an audience.  She studied for years and her voice is beautiful.  Her personal life took a bad turn shortly before DWTS and it seems that the dancing has helped to bring her healing from a broken heart. 

3) Donald and Peta danced a Waltz and scored 28.  The dance was graceful, sweet and romantic.  You could see that he was feeling the emotion of the dance.  I loved it.

Next up was the Samba with a score of 29 and overall score of 57 for the night.  I thoroughly enjoyed the dance.  It was fun and full of personality.  

To think of the poverty he came from and that he was involved in drugs and in trouble, it's amazing to see how successful he is now.  A very inspirational story.

4) Maria and Derek danced an Argentine Tango and scored 30.  I loved the dance.  And I am amazed at her performances this season with all of the injuries she has suffered.  And last night Derek had a hurt back.  This dance was strong, passionate and in sync.  LOVED!

Next, they danced a Jive and scored 29, giving them 59 for the night.  I loved the performance, but to me it wasn't an accurate Jive.  Derek certainly did throw in some unique footwork.  

She told about her family coming to America from Greece and how hard her parents worked as janitors.  She certainly comes by her hard work ethic honestly.  

I have no idea who will go home tonight.  But what I do know is that all four couples have been so fun to watch this season.  I also know that next week's finals are going to be out of this world.  

I gotta head out of hear, so I'll see ya back here later tonight with the results.  

No matter how this went, we are in for an amazing finals.  But going home tonight is Maria.

The final three will be 

Next week will be CRAZY GOOD in the ballroom! 

My First Time....

using washi tape and I can't wait to get more.  I bought my Washi Tape at Target's a few weeks ago and finally put it to use.  I also used some of my favorite patterned paper from Authentique and a stamp set by Tim Holtz called Natures Elements.  

Here is a close up of the washi tape.  It comes in a package of 4 rolls: 3 patterns and 1 solid.  I love those big polka dots!  

As I've pointed out before, there is just a hint of red in this paper, so I stamped the floral image with pure poppy.  There is also a soft gray in it, so I used smokey shadow ink to stamp the butterfly, but I stamped off once before stamping the image on to my card stock.  The "thank you" is also stamped with smokey shadow without stamping off.

I added a few dark gray pearls and rounded a few of the corners with my corner chomper.   There you have it, a quick little thank you from me to you.

And if you will excuse me now, I need to check out some online sources for more washi tape.

Later chickies!

Nature's Elements Stamp Set	Authentique: Blissful	Smokey Shadow Card Stock	Stamper's Select White	Smokey Shadow Ink	Pure Poppy Ink
Corner Chomper	This To That Foam Dots

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Moving From......

birthday cards to thank you cards.  One of the gals at work asked me to make her some thank you cards, so I got a start on them last weekend and thought I'd share some of them with you.  

This first one has a color combo of melon berry, aqua mist and white.  How springy is this?  I paired these gorgeous colors with the Pretty Peonies stamp set.

I stamped the sentiment on white, layered it on aqua mist.  It looks like a little tab peeking up from the main panel. 

Aren't those flowers pretty?  And yes, I added a bit of bling.  I just couldn't help myself.

To bring in a bit more aqua mist, I ran a piece of card stock through the big shot using the filigree border die and tucked it under the panel of peonies.  

And there you have it.  A little thank you ditty from me to you.  

I hope that you've had a good week so far.  And just in case you aren't aware, tomorrow is Friday.  I'm just here to keep you up to date with all that is happening.

Later chickies!

Pretty Peonies Stamp Set	Inside & Out: Thank You	Filigree Border Die	Melon Berry	Melon Berry Card Stock
Clear Gems	Melon Berry Ink

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