SUNSET INSPIRATION!

Since I make cards for relaxation and

for their use I'm not going to put any pressure

on myself to get challenges done on time!

I just know I will always be behind!!

These 2 cards are from challenges from the

Unity Forum.................from last week!!

I don't have much time for crafting, so I bring
a limited amount of supplies with me to work

and this is what I came up with!

This first one was for last Thursday's Hip Hop

Card Challenge! We had to use
Unity stamps with the colors of a sunset.

(I took this picture on our way down to

Marshall late Friday afternoon.

It was gorgeous! )

Like I said, I had limited supplies!

I did embossing with silver and

used 7 Gypsies paper!

And this one was for the Unity

Monday girls challenge.

Amber called it 'Operation Flocking"!!

Well, I didn't have any 'flock'. And Willmar

doesn't have any...that I could find!

So when we were in the Cities a week ago
I stopped at Archivers! When I saw
the tan flock I thought of Unity's

cute little deer stamp!!

Kinda' like the flocked look!

BATH TIME BABY!!

I just had to steal this picture from my DD Randi's blog!

It's 'Tubby Time' for Eli! Don't ya just want to cuddle him!!

He is 2 months old tomorrow and his personality is

really starting to show.....

Eli 2 months

Valentine's Day Cards!

Won't be long and it'll be February 14th.

This cute heart bouquet stamp is part of

Unity's January KOTM!

This IS the year that I'm going to do more crafting.

And quick little cards are a good start!

Time With Eli!!!

Tim and I went to the Cities for the weekend! If the weather had been warmer we had thought about going to the Pond Hockey tournaments. So instead on Saturday Randi and I did a little shopping, and later Nick and Tim went to a college hockey game(Nick works some light when there is a score)! While they were gone Randi showed me how her and Eli do 'baby yoga'! Then Tim and I stayed with Eli while Randi and Nick went to their neighbors for a party. Then on Sunday, after we went to St.Paul for brunch(St.Paul has some of the best home town cafes!) and Target for baby supplies, Tim and Nick went ice skating and passed a puck around. Randi and Nick also got a quick bath in for Eli after he had a full diaper issue!!

Randi and I did a 'photo' session with Eli while the guys were gone! I mainly used my old 35mm film camera but caught this picture of Eli and his 'mommy' on my digital. I love how he is looking at her!
Also got a few shots of Eli during a nap......
......love his little hand....can even see a few fuzzy's in his hand!

I had brought along my sewing machine so I could sew this baby sling for Randi. She had been looking at this style for a while and I was able to find a patten on line HERE! It'll be handy when she needs to get things done around the house and compact enough to carry in the diaper bag all the time.

Then a quick picture with Gma and Gpa before they head home!! I would have liked a retake since my hair wasn't where I like it to be...I ended up going for a massage for my lower back (we had bed issues during the night, made it hard getting up!!) but the massage and Nick's stretching routine pretty much fixed the problem.(Just not the hair!) It'll be a couple of weeks and we'll go back to the Cities for Eli's baptism! He changes so much so quickly that we hope we can continue seeing him that often......

Since I would love a chance to win Copic markers I checked out Michelle at Stamping and Crafting in Japan! She is giving away some 'blog candy'! Two Kodomo stamps and FIVE Copic markers! (The winner gets to choose the colors!) So check it out if you would like a chance to win, or don't then I'll have better odds!LOL

Hip Hop Challenge/Unity with all the Trimmings!

I'm a day late with this challenge for Hip Hop, but that's okay! I wanted to challenge myself, plus, I needed another 'thank you' card! Used Unity's August KOTM and colored the birds with Copic markers, I really like them, the color just flows.... The old ric-rac is from my sister Julie's MIL(who has passed). This card is already in the mail.....I always wonder what other card makers do with their cards? Are they in the mail???

A Unity Card Challenge!!

This is week 11 of Amber's Unity Sketch Challenge! With 'work' it can take me all week to get one card done! Oh, well! The process relaxes me and then I have a card to send someone!


My dear friends at Unity hit the road this week to California for CHA! in Anaheim. In May it will be one year since they sold their first stamp....they have grown leaps and bounds! It has been exciting to see how their idea has become a company known world wide!

This peacock comes from Unity's January KOTM! He(or she) has become very popular!! Unity's artist Lindsay designed the little guy!!

TGIF!!! How is your weekend looking? T and I are heading to the Cities tomorrow til Sunday! Need a grandson fix!! Hope you all have a good one!!

DO YOU R.A.K.?

I guess I'm tooting my horn. I'll do it quietly! Below is a letter I wrote to the editor of our paper. I never thought anyone would contact me about it. Friday evening I got a call from a guy who works for a car repair place wanting to get hold of her to fix her car. I even received cards from a couple of ladies who were touched by the letter and one sent me $10. (Think I'll drop it off at the women's shelter, just can't spend it....) And on the papers web site there were 5 comments, only one saying 'It is a sign of the times; good Samaritans having trouble; people are gun shy.' The others complimented. I just wanted to make us all think. Assess the situation and do what your heart tells you......and when you are thanked, ask that they pay it forward!! With the way the economy is going we will need to do more (Random Acts of Kindness).

Letter: Caring and helping year round
Karen McLaughlin, Willmar, West Central TribunePublished Friday, January 16, 2009

At 8:40 a.m. Tuesday as I waited to turn onto County Road 5 to go to work, I noticed someone walking up the hill towards me. Remember, it was 20 below.
I also noticed a number of people who drove by, looking right at this person. It obviously was a student headed to the college as they were wearing a backpack. Talk about dedication.
I rolled down my window and asked if they wanted a ride. I got a nod and the young lady got in my car. I found out her car wouldn’t start and she had called friends and was told they didn’t have time to give her a ride. (You must not have had time either if you drove right by her.)
She also didn’t have any money. So she walked. Well, I took the time.
Let’s not quit giving, caring and helping when the holidays end.


Thanks for reading this.....I hope you take the time to warm your heart by doing a R.A.K.!

MY 100TH POST!!

As I was signing into my blog I noticed that there is a running tally of how many posts I have done. Never noticed it before!! Well, it said 99. It's taken me a while to get to 100 but on the other hand it's 100 memories!

This weekend was the first time in a year or 2 that we have been able to ride snowmobile around here! We went with a few friends on Saturday and rode around the New London area. We are so fortunate to have great trails right out our back door!

We were going to ride with a sister of mine and her family today but it didn't work out so we are hoping for more snow and we'll try again in a couple of weeks. So today Tim and I went on our own. We rode from home to a trail about 10 miles north. We rode through an area called the 'Florida Hills' and through Sibley State Park.

Then we stopped in Spicer to check out the Ice Castle progress. I took this picture yesterday. Had my camera with today, took a couple of pictures, so I thought. Then realized that I forgot my memory card in my laptop. When we got to the lake they were still cutting ice blocks and sending them up out of the water on an old conveyor. To watch the process is amazing. With just the hum of a few engines, the beautiful aqua colored 900 pound blocks get set into place and in a few days they have a wall of a castle. These volunteer's will have put in over 400 man hours to construct the castle for Spicer's Winter Fest. Hopefully I'll be able to get a picture of the finished Castle so I can post a picture! It was a gorgeous day out. The bank in Spicer said 31 degrees(which was perfect for the castle volunteers)! We then headed home, time to relax and get ready for a new work week. Hope you all have a good one!!

Stress Release Cards!

I decided to take a couple of breaks from 'bookwork' and keep my sanity by making a couple of cards. I need to make more, have a few I need to send out.

This is Unity's Serenity Tree with Close to My Heart paper. No bling or anything, just a card that need to get sent out soon.

And this is Unity's 'So and So Loves' stamp! I had picked up some KandCompany heart stick ons and they fit perfect. Can't remember where the paper is from....

Time to make a few Valentine's! Maybe a special one for Eli's first Valentine's Day!! I just picked up one of Unity's newest Valentine stamp sets, 'Love Grows'!! Can't wait to 'ink' it up!!

FAMILY WEEKEND!!

My sweet, adorable, beautiful, sophisticated daughters!! What did you think your mom would do with a picture you take with her camera!!???
Monkey Arms Megan does a good job with those 'self portraits'!!

Definitely blog worthy!!!








Eli is 6 weeks old now.....he has changed so much in the two weeks since we saw him last!!



Nick, Randi and Eli!

Nothing like baby toes!!


We had a 'Sip n' See' on Saturday for some friends and neighbors to meet Eli!! He did well with all the strangers! We got a firm babysitting offer too! We'll be calling Anita!!!

"All this 'visiting' is wearing me out!"

Card Challenges??!!!?

Finally got these two totally done and pictures taken..... now I don't know which Unity challenges they were from!! The last couple of weeks have been"busy"! (Hate that word!) It's just life but it has been very full......ohhhhh, that's right! It was the Holidays!! And fun they were! Now back to the real world.....but please don't say the 't' word to me.....arghhghghgh! 't' you ask.......(shhhhh, taxes!)

As you can see I love green.....and those Unity Stamps!!!


Well, off to get ready for DD and her family, they are coming tomorrow for 2 days!! Can't wait to see Eli, web cam and emailed pictures are great but not the same......

In Honor of Aunt Dory!!

Still blooming!!

A true sign of hope and joy!

And how special this is!

My dear aunt who gave this

plant to me was diagnosed

with breast cancer just before the

holidays! And had surgery

last week. My thoughts

and prayers are with her!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

We spent a few days over New Years

with Lori and Jeff at their cabin up north...

.....snowmobiling.....


....with a bonfire in the woods.....



....and a hotdog lunch....


.....stops on the trails.....


...we rode most of New Years Day and half of Friday!!
A great way to start the New Year!!