Oh, happy day!!!!!

Wow! I recently found out that a card I sent to Rubber Stamper Magazine (RSM) has been published in the September/October 2007 issue. It's the green card using TAC's Kallioppe set.

At one of the Stamp With Me Nights I offer to friends and customers, we decided to play with crayon backgrounds. We had a lot of fun creating backgrounds using various colors of crayon; and when one of the webgroups I'm part of mentioned that Rubber Stamper had a call for backgrounds made without using ink, I thought these would be perfect. So I sent 5 cards to RSM in March and promptly forgot about them. Imagine my surprise when I got a free issue in the mail letting me know I was published!

If you'd like to make your own crayon backgrounds, here are the directions (which are included in the magazine article, but are far to small to be readable in the scan):

Take a regular household iron and cover it with aluminum foil. Tape the aluminum foil to the top part of the iron. Turn the iron on and wait for it to heat up. Cover a heat resistant work surface with additional aluminum foil, newspaper or paper towels (so that you don't melt crayon onto it) and place a piece of glossy paper onto the work surface. When the iron is hot, choose two or three different coordinating colors of crayon and scribble all over the aluminum foil on the iron. Then quickly swipe or pounce the iron across the glossy paper. Several layers can be added to cover the original if you aren't happy with it, but be careful about your color choices, because too much melting and blending will muddy your color.

Princess Purse

I am getting ready to go on a Disney cruise with my husband, sister, brother-in-law and 5 year old niece. I can't wait, since she's so much fun to be with, especially when we go to the Magic Kingdom.

This time, since I have my Memory Purse, I decided to make it up using a picture of when my niece first met her favorite princess, Belle. As you can tell, she was star struck to be meeting Belle in person. We'll see if Belle will be flattered by the purse when she sees it in person.

Sneek Peek..... and my new fav. paper

I've been working on cards and scrapbook pages to display at the Tinley Park Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo next weekend, and I've found my new favorite paper (for the moment). Here's a peek at some of the samples that I'll display on my board.

This paper seemed very natural to me. Every single card, scrapbook page and tag I made was something I loved. None of those "filler" creations that you sometimes use just because you need to have a certain number.

Besides turning out beautiful and coordinated projects, this paper has a masculine feel. I got some of the best cards to give to husbands, fathers, sons and other men from this paper. Cards for men are sometimes very difficult for me, but not this time around. I'm so happy!

If you're in the Chicago area and want to check out more Winchester samples I made, and meet some angels from The Angel Company, stop by the Expo and visit. For information on the show click here http://www.rubberstampexpo.com/ilinfo.html

Another find from the St. Charles Expo

Here's another thing that I had to spend my money at the St. Charles Scrapbook Expo. I picked up the pre-finished mat up from one of the vendors at the show. (If I can find my receipt, I'll let you know what vendor that was, but it's missing in action now - probably hiding from my husband).

All I needed to do was add a 5 x 7 picture of Tom and his guitar and a background I created from taking a photo of the pattern on his other guitar. I picked up a 12 x 12 scrapbook frame from Michael's and it's ready to go on the wall. I just need to get Tom to pick a spot (which probably means it will sit on the bookshelf until after Christmas. How do you motivate a man to do something again????)

I scrap therefore I am obsessed

Sometimes I feel like my hobby has run away with me! Anybody else feel that way?

I spent two days working The Angel Company booth at the St. Charles Scrapbook Expo in Illinois. I manned the booth for over 9 hours each day and had very little time to go shopping. And yet.....I somehow managed to spend more than I made. Mind you, I feel that all my purchases are must have items, and I wouldn't part with a single one, so no buyer's remorse. But it makes me wonder if obsession has taken over.

This photo album is one of my favorite finds, and I can't even take credit for it. Leah, a friend who worked the booth with me, found it when she was out on one of her shopping forays. Hers of course has her and her husband's names on the chairs and a different caption on the top, but the concept fit me to a T, especially since I could have it personalized.

My next obsession will be finding the beach, once the Midwest winter sets in, and getting a drink in my hand and my toes in the sand.

My Cat is Royalty

"Dogs have masters. Cats have staff." Ever hear that expression? Well, around our house it's absolutely true. My cat rules the roost. I won a tiara comb at our team meeting for being #3 in sales for the group, but guess who wears the crown in this family? My cat Lexis loves the little tiara. We brush her with it and then she wears it. My husband says "when I come home and both of you are wearing crowns, I know it's going to be a bad day." He's such a good servant.

I am just back from our company's yearly seminar where I just had an awesome time! Seminar to me is like a trip to Disney. There is so much to see, and do, and learn and so many friends to visit with that I haven't seen in person for a while. It's exhausting in it's own way, but I wouldn't miss it for the world. Attending seminar and other angel gatherings is my very favorite part of being an angel. I just love catching up with all of the friends I've made within this company.

Here are some of the pictures I took at seminar.



Julie, me and Annette. Julie and Annette are two of the first people (outside of my own team) that I met at an angel gathering a few years ago. Both of them are inspirational to me for their talent and their friendship.



Me and my stamp sister Leah. Leah and I are on the same team (we signed up under the same person). As soon as I met Leah, I knew we would be great friends. For me it was an instant recognition. I just knew we would click. Leah is my goal buddy, and my voice of reason as well as being my friend.




The S.A.S.S.Y (Serindipity Angel Stampers Staying Young) team I'm part of. This is a picture of the team I'm part of on "bling night" by the cardboard cutout of the stamping girl we have on the back of out team shirts. One day I will be the leader of my own team, I just need a few more recruits.




Me and my stamp mom, Pat. I've known Pat for years. She's been doing my nails for me since I don't even know when. When she joined The Angel Company she was obviously having so much fun that I had to consider it. It took about a year before I decided to take the plunge, but I've never been sorry that I did.

Now that seminar is behind me, I can't wait until January when the company's Leadership Retreat is being held in San Antonio, Texas. Leadership Retreat was held in San Antonio a few retreats back. It was my first trip to San Antonio, and it quickly became one of my favorite cities in the world. I can't wait to go back! The prospect of a trip to one of my favorite cities, filled with angel friends is just too exciting!

Well, that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed my pictures and hearing a little about my awesome seminar trip.