I am too old

I hate it when people use age as an excuse to "not" be able to do things.  I have seen some amazing things done by people considered too old.  We have a 70+ year old woman in our Ward that recently lost her husband.  She was a primary care giver as he had suffered a stroke a few years back.  Within the last year she has had both knees replace and is back to clogging.   She is an inspiration to me.

So in the back of my mind as I drink my diet coke and eat my pie pizza loaded with cheese and pepperoni, I am thinking I need to make sure I keep myself healthy enough so that if I wanted to climb Mt Olympus or go kayaking on the ocean at 70+ years of age I can.

So what has prompted this little tirade.  I went to bed last night at a decent hour, between 10:30 and 11:00, and was wide awake.  Oliver has developed a serious over development of saliva issue that we are currently attempting to work through without having to pay the vet, so I was trying to steer clear of the puddles and making sure there were towels under his cute little head.  I opted to read myself to sleep.

This usually works as I find myself bonked in the head with my book as I drift off to sleep.  Last night was exactly the opposite.  I stimulated those little gray cells with a new book I had picked up from the libraryand finished my 300 page book at 3:30 a.m.  Lights went out and 3:45 a.m. with a hope that I would quickly fall asleep and 2.5 hours would be enough to get me through the next day.

I now sit here with my 2nd 44oz caffeinated beverage within the last 4 hours attempting to keep my head off my keyboard.  Saying to myself......I am to old for this.   Sleep in essential for my proper functions.

Now you have read my ramblings here is a b-day card I made for a BFF.
The products used are from Stampin UP, Papertrey Ink and the die for the card is an accordion circle card die sold through ecraftdesigns.com.  Karen Burniston designed them.  So cute I had to get my hands on them

I hope everyone's Friday was productive and fun
Ta Ta for now.

Convention Fun - The week that almost killed me

Here is a picture of my fellow stampers at awards night. We had such a good time together. I wouldn't miss it!  This year they had close to 6000 attendees to Convention to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Stampin UP.  September 24th will be my 10 year anniversary.  I would never have dreamed I would hang in this long.  I remember when I first signed up.  I spent that first night in absolute panic thinking what have I done.  Now it only costs $99 to sign up and you get a ton of product. 

Wendy, Em, Me, Chairl, & Shellee (do I look tired?...cause I am!)

One of my favorite things to do is look at the display boards SU sets up.  These are cards that people sent in for contests and display.  This year was so jam packed I didn't even get a chance to browse.  It's a good thing my bff Em skipped out of class to take some pictures.  I always get great ideas from others creativity.  This was only one side of about 3 sets of boards this size.

This picture was taken by Patty Bennett.  She had the privilage of view the boards before the rest of the multitudes

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Too many projects and not enough time.  On top of convention swaps I had other projects that had to be finished as well. Something to do with test etc. for work   Major crunch time, but I made it!

I had a total of 245 cards to make before convention and my organized swaps.  Yes...I bit off more than I could chew and if it weren't for great friends, I probably wouldn't have finished them.  If your birthday fell into this time frame, then your card is coming

Our little group swapped 5 cards.  We always get together at the cheesecake factory for dinner and a card swap.  If you haven't tried the Thai lettuce wraps, I highly recommend them.  Good for you and full of flavor.  Of course I always order my cheesecake first because I fill up with my dinner and can't eat it.  I always order  Reeces PB Cup cheesecake.  I have tried to switch it out, but waffle at the last minute and order my favorite.   Decadent!!!

As usual I find myself cramming to finish the group gifts and cards for swaps which left me with about 3.5 hours of sleep a night.  Rileys knee issues flared up, so he wasn't sleeping soundly and I also volunteered to teach the RS lesson this week.  Not sure what I was thinking, but I made it through. 

I used this card it two of my swaps.  I received a card from my favorite SIL and I rotated and changed the colors for my swap.

This card was a clean and simple card....and masculine to boot which can proved to be difficult at times.  Ralph has instructed me that bows, ribbon, glitter etc are not acceptable on cards for guys.

The grid stamp totally fills in the background and I love the Tape IT set.  Looks like real washi tape Huh?!

Poor Kitchen Lighting

This card was a CAS - clean and simple.  I love the Kind and Cozy stamp set with it's coordinating paper gingham garden.  Give me gingham and polka dots and I am a happy girl.

 This card was a catalog case.  Meaning I copied it from the catalog.  This one is my favorite sample and could be done in a lot of different colors.  The background is done with a brayer, ink and the chevron embossing folder

A Christmas card was on the list of required cards.  Um...Stampin up retired most of their Christmas stamps and only just recently came out with their new catalog that you can order out of on Aug 1st.  So I used an old classic standby that isn't very exciting, but it is pretty.  I really like the modern mosaic embossing folder used for the background

This card was one made for our WOW swap.  A variation on my favorite colors and so cute.  Who doesn't like a butterfly with bow's and pearls.

This is my other Wow card swap.  I have had the floral fusion die for a while and have recently discovered how cute and easy it is to use.  Both wow swaps required 76 cards.  I know...  remind me how tired I get before I sign up again next year.


Pictures of the demo gifts are coming.   One thing at a time folks.






I always come away from convention and swear I will start earlier, but it never fails that I am racing to get everything finished.  I also promise myself I won't do so many swaps, but that promise never seems to be kept when I see all the amazing cards I get in return.

As an end note...my RS lesson went well, I think.  The giver always learns more than the receiver. As we align our vision with Gods plan for us, nothing is impossible for us to accomplish with Gods help.  I know that he is aware of me and my family and as long as I put Him first in all things, I will always have the help I need.

Have a great day.
Ta Ta for now