An oceanfront New Year's Eve!

Boys in the (not heated) outdoor lazy river

Boys in the ocean! View from our balcony New Year's Day
The weather has been beautiful at Myrtle Beach this week. We came down to bring in the New Year oceanfront. The Dunes Village Resort is the best place to stay anytime of the year. I have some photos but did not bring my cord to upload from my camera so you will have to wait til I get home and post the photos. (photos posted 01-02-09) Yes, the boys got in the ocean and the outdoor lazy river that is usually heated but not this time for some reason. We spent most of the time in the waterpark under the Dunes which is fabulous and heated! They have put in some new super body slides that are sooo fun. You gotta go!
My honey and I sipped the Sparkling Apple-Grape Juice that my sweet friend Alicia got us for Christmas (along with a truly beautiful cutting board that she and her honey MADE). I bought 2009 champagne flutes and gave them to Barry for Christmas. He packed them and surprised me with them and the juice earlier tonight. So, it was just the 5 of us bringing in the New Year watching the fireworks on the pier from our balcony. Now the boys have crashed on us.
Last year was a scary one for us with Barry going blind in January. We have enjoyed a lot of extras with him being out of work and able to spend more time with me and the rest of our family too. The Lord has been good to us and we are grateful for the blessings we share. We are excited about the upcoming year and more fun changes in our lives. I love being in love with my husband. Happy New Year! Be safe!

Stocking Swap goodies from Ruth

I got this great package in the mail last week. I was a good girl and gave it to my husband so he could stuff my stocking with all the goodies inside the box. Boy, Ruth really loaded me up with some great stuff. See the one hour photo album, the fragrance diffuser, the penguin slipper socks (who told Ruth that I LOVE penguins) the snowman potholders and the snowflake dishtowel, a 2 year pocket planner and some candy. The stocking swap was arranged by Tara and might become a yearly thing so add her site to your favorites: http://www.thewell-roundedwoman.com/ so you can participate next Christmas.

Service at the Gaffney Soup Kitchen

My church sponsors The Gaffney Soup Kitchen. Our family serves there once a month. In December we were blessed to be able to serve twice. We heard that they would be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so our Bishop arranged for us to serve lunch on Christmas Eve. The above photo is of some of our youth serving at the buffet (two boys on the left are my sons, Michael and Barron) Below are the youth helping in the kitchen. That's my sweet son, Adam standing on the bucket so he can help wash dishes. A priceless photo for a mom to sneak!

My sons really get a lot out of this service. Their hearts are so big and full of love for the sweet people that we serve. They amaze me when it's our Saturday to serve. They wake up early and keep asking if it's time to go yet. The Lord has truly blessed me. It broke my heart that we ran out of chicken this week before everyone was fed. We continued to serve the final 30 minutes with no meat. There were a couple of us in the kitchen with tear filled eyes. I want to make sure that does not happen to us again somehow! We did have an unually large number of people to come on Christmas Eve so we were not as prepared as I like to be. We fed over 70 people!

Tastefully Simple

I just signed up to be a Tastefully Simple consultant>>>>see the Logo to the right>>>>>>>
I went to a friend's party and loved the stuff. I went searching info online and found Liz Baxley. She and I had dinner Monday night and she gave me so much information and the great advice to wait until today to sign up. I get some extra goodies for signing up today. So, I will begin to party in January. Hosts get double benefits in January! Call me if you want to book your party before anyone else!
Ooopps letting time get away from me. Gotta go get the kids at school.
Be back later.

Stocking Swap

I got my package in the mail today from the Stocking Swap. I handed it over to my husband to stuff my stocking on Christmas Eve. It was so hard not to open the box up but I want to get some surprises in my stocking on Christmas morning too. Tara arranged the swap. See her blog here http://www.thewell-roundedwoman.com/2008/12/start-shopping-for-tiny-treasures.html and then bookmark her site so you can participate next year. It is very exciting!
Thanks Ruth for the package. I can hardly wait! Thanks Tara for having such a great idea and doing all the matching for the swap. I will post a photo on Christmas of all of my stocking goodies so check back.
I also went to Asheville, NC again this year to see the Food Network Gingerbread houses from the 2008 competition. They were all awesome. The contest is held at the fabulous Grove Park Inn. You can tour the Inn and see the gingerbread houses and Christmas trees on several floors. It's FREE! We took a group of teens from our church and some adults to help chaperone. I think everyone had a great time. I will post some photos later too.
I have to get to church. We are taking our youth singing to some shut-ins tonight.
Thanks for checking my blog and see ya later.

Family Fun magazine

The greatest kid crafty magazine will be $4.59 a year tomorrow only at http://bestdealmagazines.com/ . There is a deal a day this week so you can check each day for the deal of the day. Woodcraft is one and so is Daily Walk which looks like a good magazine. I love this website and have been a customer for years. I used to pay full price for Family Fun but I have ordered from here now for about 6 years.
Sorry that I didn't get around to posting the photos yet. I will do it real soon. The camera is in my purse all the way across the room! I am snuggled in bed watching PS I love you with my DH.
Got the boys 2 puppies today. Really cute puppies! I have to take some photos of them to post too.
Lights out the movie is getting good!

Stocking Swap

http://www.thewell-roundedwoman.com/2008/12/stocking-swap.html
This is such a great idea. It's like the old Secret Sister fun we used to have at church.
I signed up for this. I hope I remember this next year so I can do it locally with some friends.
Are you ready for Christmas?
Jacob and Lindsay are heading to NYC for her audition for Fiddler on the Roof. Y'all keep them in your prayers. This is a call back from the open audition that she went to last month.
Jacob came down this morning to borrow my punch fountain and I got to cook breakfast for Journey. She is talking so good now. I took some photos of her last Wednesday when we all met up at Scrapbook Creations and then went to lunch together. I hope to post them tomorrow. She had on the cute little coat that I got her several months ago and the sweetest little boots I ever saw. She is a total doll.
My cousin's wedding was beautiful today. The reception was awesome too. We had a great time. The band was terrific and Cherokee National was never decorated so elegantly. It's always nice to see a couple start their lives together.

Hobby Hut

Here is a photo of the new hobby cabin that my sweetheart bought for me last week. I think he may have just wanted all of my stuff out of the house! Barry worked nonstop to insulate, panel and wire my cabin. I have a phone line and satellite tv too! The fall flag was a Christmas gift from my daughter last Christmas. It says "Steph's Hobby Hut" The benches on the front porch were made for me by my friend Shannon's Dad. They fit perfectly. There is a Welcome sign on the front wall (hanging in the shadow beside the front door) that was a gift from my Mom when I got my first apartment in 1986. Yep, I hang on to things! My friend Vicki was here yesterday. She said she would dig up some flowers out of her yard to landscape around my porch. I am so blessed with great friends and family!

Below is the corner for my Revolution station and my embellishment collection (well, some of it)

This is a view of one of my windows. I have 3 windows and each has a fabulous view of the fall colors on the trees outside right now. This summer, I will be able to see the kids in the pool from one of the windows too. The curtains were nearly a steal from Pottery Barn. They were 70% off Saturday! Great since I had to buy 4 to cover 3 windows and the door. Under the window is my collection of Stampin Up ink pads. I have to break down and buy the turnabout thing for those soon! There is quite a collection of Sizzix dies and Stampin Up stamp sets on the shelves to the left. My Cricut, light box, and paper trimmer are on the rolling storage drawers which contain all of my punches and some other goodies within reach. See the beautiful yellow and orange maples out my rear window! I keep this curtain tied up when I am in here!
Below is the other shelf on the other side of the rear window. It has paper blocks, card idea magazines and more embellishments in baskets. In this photo, you can see the cord for the light that I hung over my table this morning. I will have to have an extension cord for the shop light. Then the cord can be hidden in the rafters for the loft. I have 2 loft areas for extra storage. Barry is putting me a small refrigerator in this weekend. Drop by for a cold beverage sometime!
Let me know you are coming! Because I also have an alarm on my building. My silly son said "Mom, nobody wants your craft stuff" Well, I ain't taking no chances! See ya soon.
Thanks for looking. Hope you are having a wonderful day.

Welcome Nancy Lopez!

Hi Nancy, if you find your way here to look at my cards! See the column to the right and click on cards. That will show all of my entries with cards in them. I plan to contact you soon to set up a Stampin Up class for you. It is a lot of fun. You, your daughters and friends will love it.

1000's of dollars in blog candy!!!!

Get entered today here: http://myblogbycammie.blogspot.com/2008/09/heart-to-heart-blog-candy.html
There is a GREAT cause and you can make a card that helps. Good luck.

The Water Nazi

is Draytonville Water Works. A story I gotta tell!
We left home Wednesday morning after taking good, hot showers and spent the day in Spartanburg. As we came home, we passed some fellows working on the water on our road. Now, we were not notified that there would be NO WATER all day Wednesday! So, I cooked dinner, made jam and made quite a mess of dishes. At 5 our water came back on, finally. So, when I got home from church, I had a sink full of dishes and kids to get baths before bed. Guess what? NO HOT WATER! The breaker had shut off the power to the water heater. Barry switched on the breaker and we waited 30 minutes, an hour, two hours and still no hot water. I emptied my closet (cause some idiot thought it would be a good place for a hot water heater )so Barry could hit the reset button on the hot water heater. We thought we would have water in the morning so we did the sponge bath thing with boiled water added to very shallow baths. Thursday morning, still no hot water. Now we thought, Draytonville Water Works while working on the water lines up the road unintentionally drained our HWH tank and caused the elements to burn out. So Barry called them to inform them. Of course, here is what he was told "You must have done something wrong when you got home to blow out your own HWH elements". We, the homeowner, were never notified of any work being done before or after the fact. The only reason we knew about it was because we saw them on the roadside. What could we have done wrong? So, we rode by Draytonville Water Works and was talking to a nice lady at the window when from out of her corner, the Water Nazi appeared with her hands on her hips and in a very nasty tone of voice barked at ME " Our men went down and checked your meter and you have a leak on your side of the meter box so this is your fault". Now, they check our water meter every month so if there was a leak in that box, it should have been reported to us. I know this is how politely the City of Shelby water employees are. I have seen many work orders that have hand written notes by the meter readers that say "Please notify homeowner of a leak on their side of the meter". Instead, they never told us and knowing that could have saved our HWH. I pay my water bill every month to keep water coming into my house. They were aware of the leak. If they knew that cutting our water off would cause our HWH to drain and thus burn out the element. Why are they not responsible? I hate it when people do not take pride in the job that they are holding. Some people just take up space within a company and draw a paycheck. I am glad that I took care of my customers while I was employed. If I am ever employed anywhere else, I will not treat anyone the way I was treated yesterday by the Water Nazi at Draytonville Water Works. Maybe she has corns, maybe she had a migraine or maybe she is just like that all of the time. I hope I never have to deal with her again. We are talking about how nice it would be to have our old well back or even the old pump house that used to feed the best spring water up the hill to my Papa Bo's house long before the Water Nazi ever got her job. And in that time, I remember that people were glad to have the jobs they had and were friendly to folks no matter what. Maybe I was just a kid then and did not see anyone behave like the Water Nazi did yesterday but I would like to think that there was a time when people just really did try to serve one another with a smile. And I pray that someday that time will come back around.
Also, my fabulous BIL came down and helped Barry replace the element in our HWH last night. So we are clean and we smell good. I know that the Lord will bless Chris for his kind deed.
Barry, the boys and I are making and serving lunch at the Soup Kitchen tomorrow. Tonight, it's PMS night for the ladies at the Gaffney Senior Center. We'll have pizza, music and stamping!
Y'all take care and see ya back here soon.

Tanis' 5th challenge

And Tanis' final challenge this week here: http://paperprincessatplay.blogspot.com/

I used a mixture of Bazill and Stampin Up cardstock to meet the guidelines. The stamp is from Inkadinkadoo and I love to color this stamp with my SU markers. I also like to add google eyes on this image. The grosgrain ribbon is from the Dollar Spot at Target and comes in a color coordinated 6 pack. Sadly, you only get 18 inches of each ribbon so you have to get several packs. This photo turned out great and really shows the bright colors that Tanis challenged us to use for today's challenge. I also found the function on my new camera to photo text. So, my photos might all just improve!
Tanis' daughter, Emma has designed a beanie baby for Ty. It's a contest so she needs your vote to get her beanie baby made. Please click here and go vote.....http://makemybeanie.ty.com/mkmybeanie/mkMyBeanie_vote_indv.php?id=15347 Thanks a bunch. This is the final challenge for the month long birthday party. It's been great.

And challenge #4 from Tanis

http://paperprincessatplay.blogspot.com/2008/08/challenge-4-gallery-scraplift.html You have to lift a birthday card.
Here is where I lifted this card from: http://www.katstamps.com/gallery1/displayimage.php?album=22&pos=31 And here is my version: I used DP from Autumn Leaves Foof-a-la collection and SU Kraft, SU Very Vanilla and Basic Black cardstock. The happy birthday stamp (SU Ruby Red) is a $1 stamp from Studio G as is the Make a Wish (black Archival Ink) stamp. I used SU Ruby Red ink to stamp the dandelion from the Lucky You set by http://katstamps.com/ and added a black brad to the center. I used a Fiskar's border punch to create the scalloped edges and I used up the last of this ribbon (which is my all time favorite ribbon) for added dimension. Very, very fun challenge! Don't you just love Tanis! Happy Birthday Queen Kat Designs! Partying ALL MONTH LONG!

Check back to see Friday's challenge later tonight. And then to see where the party moves to!

Wednesday challenge- playing catch up now!

http://paperprincessatplay.blogspot.com/2008/08/challenge-3-birthday-atc.html This is Wednesday's challenge. I am a little behind but you can still play too. Your entry must be posted by August 30. I used the bar code from the Lucky You set to create the background paper from SU Very Vanilla. I stamped one way with SU Soft Sky and the other way with SU So Saffron. I LOVE how that turned out! The happy birthday candle stamp is a Studio G $1 stamp from Michael's. The other stamped image is from the Inkadinkado Humorous Birthday set. I stamped them both with black Archival Ink and used various SU markers to color them. The ribbon is just some olive ribbon also from the $1 selection at Michael's. I have a hard time with ATC cards cause there's just not enough space on them for my imagination. I enjoyed making this one though once the background turned out so great.

Tanis' challenge for Tuesday-a little blurry photo

I started out with a SU very vanilla base. I added a square of SU Baja Breeze embossed with Cuttlebug Swiss Dots. Then a strip of SU Kiwi Kiss and a strip of 5th Avenue Sophia Geofloral. Then a rectangle of SU Not Quite Navy and a square of SU Kiwi Kiss embossed with Cuttlebug Spots and Dots. I added a flower(unknown source) with a sei pastel blue rhinestone brad. The sentiment is from the Lucky You stamp set from Queen Kat Designs. Details are here http://paperprincessatplay.blogspot.com/ The birthday party is still going on and you can still get in on the prizes all month long!

Still celebrating with the Queen!

Happy 3rd birthday to Queen Kat Designs! The challenge today is here:http://paperprincessatplay.blogspot.com/ and this is my entry:
My 3 elements are the happy birthday stamp(Studio G) stamped in SU Gable Green, Gelly Roll glitter pen over the stamped image and pale yellow ribbon. I used the Marvy scallop punches and the DP is from a Sophie paper pad(Marcella by K and Co.) The cardstock is Berry Sorbet and Lemon Tart by Papertrey Ink and the blue cardstock is Bazill but I don't know the color name.
Thanks for looking! See ya back here for more challenges cause they are partying all month long at the Castle!

I am trying My Space!

http://www.myspace.com/craftysteph Find me on MySpace and be my friend! I might just flop at My Space. I am hooked on blogs!

This month is Queen Kat Designs 3rd birthday and today's challenge was to add them as a friend. It only took me 30 minutes to set up my page so it's pretty plain so far.

I won the 2nd QKD challenge last week.

I am getting a surprise set of stamps in the mail! You can shop here http://www.katstamps.com/shop/ and you can check out the challenges here http://qkd.blogspot.com/ You can be a winner too. It's a long birthday party but the days go quick. I have a couple of set of QKD stamps so I am excited about getting another set.

So many contests this week!

So, Sylvie heard that I entered 12 cards in the Verve Stamp challenges. She was so interested in all the different sketches. She said "They are all so yummy!"
The suspense was torture! Will my Aunt Steph WIN? There were lots of great stamp sets to be given away and nobody needs more stamps MORE than Aunt Steph!

Then the announcements were made. All of the prizes were given away. Aunt Steph did not win anything this time! Sylvie was beside herself!

But Steph will be back with more entries in lots of challenges cause that's the way we roll! We are not quitters! Thanks for checking out my Aunt Steph's blog and we both hope you will come back for more cards and quite possibly, more comments from me, Sylvie. AND if you are lucky, more photos of my sweet face too.

Queen Kat Designs challenge for their 3rd Birthday

You can find the details here: http://qkd.blogspot.com/ and here is my entry.

There is a sketch to follow. I used Designer Paper from 3 Bugs in a rug and Bazzill cardstock. The stamp is SU Life's Special Moments and SU Chocolate Chip ink. I added a brushed copper brad. This party is going on all month with new challenges every week and they give great stamps as prizes. Hope you get to participate in this party!

My Verve Visual Challenges are complete and posted

See my SCS gallery here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=78918
Now I can enter to win the grand prize since I completed all 12 sketches. The prize is a boatload of stamps valued at $114 from Verve Stamps! Tomorrow is the last day so if you have not started on your sketches, you are waaaay behind. Here is the main link to the Verve Stamps Splitcoast Stamper threads http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=208
Now I can rest. Well, as much as a woman can with 3 males in my house! Thanks for stopping by.

Some more challenge cards

I thought it might be easier to send you to my gallery so click on this link below to see them all http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?ppuser=78918&cat=500

I gotta get to work on my other cards. The challenge is 12 days long so I have a few more cards to make. You can check back at my gallery Tuesday and all 12 cards will be posted by then. Here is the link to the master list of challenges http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=369217 please play along.

Queen Kat Designs celebrates their 3rd Birthday

With this Color challenge: Use these 3 colors on your card plus white and black or brown and nothing else:(Teal, Green, Yellow or any shades) You can find more details on this challenge at the QKD blog here: http://qkd.blogspot.com/2008/08/challenge-1.html and another QKD challenge here too http://julietds.blogspot.com/ . Juliet has all of the other design team members blog addresses posted so you can check out the other challenges as they are posted on their blogs. The prize is a free stamp set so go check it out!
This is my entry with SU cardstock in Taken with Teal, Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip and Old Olive on a white card base. With SU Tempting Turquoise I stamped on the Taken with Teal cardstock a daisy stamp from the Inkadinkadoo Garden Delight set to make the background paper and lightly stamped a flower from the same set on the white SU scallop punch out. I stamped Happy Birthday(which is a Dollar Tree stamp) in SU Chocolate Chip. I used various punches to create the shapes and added a couple of white brads. Thanks for lookin'.

More Gina K Designs release party challenges

Here they are! The winners will be announced tonight! I hope I win a stamp set from Gina K Designs. There were 4 really cute sets released this month. I uploaded them to my SCS gallery http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=78918 if you want to see the details. Things are pretty hectic around here with Barry back at work. I barely got these done before the deadline.

Gina K Designs had another online blog release party!

The first sketch challenge was a great one and this is my card. I used Stampin Up Spring Break designer paper with not quite navy, garden green and pumkin pie cardstock on a bright white base. I stamped a Heidi Grace flourish from the Wild Daisy Rd set in Garden Green then went over that with Gelly Roll Crystal Star glitter pen. For you is from SU Fresh Cuts and is stamped in Night of Navy. Just because is from a dollar set from Michael's and is stamped in SU Only Orange. I used Quickutz Frame die cuts, SU word window, SU small tag punch, 1/4 circle punch and the retired triple flower punch (that I have forgotten the name of). I have 3 more challenges so check back later to see those entries. You have until Monday if you want to play along. The prize is a stamp set of your choice from Gina K Designs. Here is the first sketch challenge http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10660748#post10660748

Creations by Corie post

www.creationsbycorie.blogspot.com posted this and I loved it.

Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting dead?
Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they know there is not enough money?
Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?
Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?
Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?
Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
Whose idea was it to put an 'S' in the word 'lisp'?
If people evolved from apes, Why are there still apes?
Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?
Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?
Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?
Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?
Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?
How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?
When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, 'It's all right?' Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, 'That really hurt, why don't you watch where you're going?'
Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?
In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?
How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?
And my FAVORITE......The statistics on sanity is that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends - -if they're ok, then it's you!!

2008 LDS Tri-Stake Youth Conference

This is the Greenville East Stake minus me since I am up on the balcony taking the photo! All of these great teens are choosing the right path. They stand out sometimes as the only teen in their school who does not drink or use drugs or even see R rated movies. It strengthens them when we can get them all together and they can see that they are not alone in their decision to follow Christ. It is awesome to be around them.
Our service project this year was cardmaking for http://www.amillionthanks.org/ . Here is one of the posters for one of the card stations that were set up in a couple of areas on campus. This is the ever so cute Nick Cunningham. Even the guys got into the cardmaking after the intro to the service project which was a video of servicemen and women from the website listed above. These are the Gaffney and Blacksburg teens making their cards. Our original goal was 500 cards. They got real ambitious and increased it to 3000!
Our final tally on the cards was 837! We were a little disappointed but the schedule did not allow us as much time as we thought for the service project. We took the youth white water rafting on Thursday and they had a dance that evening. On Friday, we had 3 very inspirational seminars and then another dance that evening. Saturday morning we had a 2 1/2 hour Testimony meeting which is where the teens got up in front of everyone and bore their testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am now looking forward to the 2009 Conference!

I have other photos and some videos of the dances but my precious grandchildren just got here so I am going to visit with them and post the rest later! Can you blame me?

My sweet son's family photo

Jacob, Lindsay and little Journey Earls. More joy to our lives!

2008 Family Photo

Just look at my handsome boys! Posting a family photo to share with some family and friends. You can actually print this out for a nice dart board if I have offended you in any way recently! Hope that I haven't though.

New baby card for Cari

It's soft pink and brown like her invitations to the shower. The color of this photo is terrible. I used Stampin Up Close to Cocoa ink pad with Autumn Leaves stamp. A Martha Stewart border punch to create the decorative edge.

The inside is also soft pink and brown with Close to Cocoa ink on a Stampin Up stamp from the In My Thoughts stamp set. The brown ribbon really makes it pretty on the inside too. Sorry. I do not know the origin of the pink w/brown polka dot designer paper. Both of the solid cardstock colors are Bazill. I best get over to the shower!

Cow appreciation Day at Chic Fil A!

We took Barron, Adam and 2 of their friends, Christian and Jayden to Chic Fil A last night for Cow Apreciation Day. If you were dressed like a cow, you got a free combo of your choice and a free stuffed cow. The folks at Chic Fil A made a big deal out of the boys when we came in. They shook a cow bell and all MOOED. They were not the only "cows" in the restaurant so I did not dress them up like this to give them a complex. Chic Fil A does this every year. They had a bounce house out for the kids to play in after they ate. We took the boys to see Hancock at Sunset Drive In since they were such good sports. You see Barry standing by in his black shirt. I had a cow face and spots for us too but as we were taping the cow nose/mouth on the boys, he decided that he would just pay for our food and hurried us into the restaurant before the cow parts fell off of the boys. They had ears, a tail and cow spots as well as the nose/mouth and of course, the EAT MOR CHIKIN billboards taped to them.
Here is a close up of Jayden with his "costume" on. The other boys tore theirs off as soon as they had their free food!

There is lots of free fun to be had in this world! The boys loved it and never saw them laugh so much. Thanks for lookin!
I will post some cards this week. I have a couple of showers to go to so I will be making a wedding card and a baby shower card for 2 different ladies(just clearing that up) Now I have to go craftin!

Kid's challenge-16 and under

http://hannahzoecraftymonkeys.blogspot.com/ this is the blogspot for a couple of kids who post a new challenge every two weeks. I thought they deserved some publicity so if you have a blog, please share their link there too. The challenge this week is a SUMMERTIME card.

Blog candy notice!

http://bunny-zoes.blogspot.com/ some great blog candy waiting here!

Girl's camp photos

Beginning of camp! We raised and gave salute to the flag every morning before breakfast.

The girls sang camp songs everynight. This night we had a storm so we sang in the mess hall. Thank heaven for storms. The mess hall was the only air conditioned place we had! It stopped raining afterwards so we were able to get to our cabins dry. Sweet!

The food was great! Sisters Jackie Yeargin, Susan Byars and April Yeargin worked hard to provide us some fabulous meals and great treats throughout the week. We had to have good food to sustain us for all of the fun!

The girl's had to lash something together as a skill activity. This group made a crown for the Camp Director. She also received a hat rack, a lap desk and some other great crafts by the other groups. The crafty ideas that the girls came up with generated lots of laughter.

This was a mock car accident which the girls did not know about until they heard the car horns and came out to find a car accident and they had to administer first aid to the victims. This was hilarious! We had a victim with a severed arm, a pregant driver throwing up, a pinned accident victim and a delirious passenger. What a hoot!

This is Legend Night. The older girls tell the 1st year girls the camp legend and give them a Legend Stone to wear every year for camp. They make Legend Night shirts too and each year they add more decorations to their shirts to mark each year of camp.

Every morning, lunchtime and evening we gathered around the flagpole for instructions, devotions and some singing too.

Our service project was spreading mulch around Camp York. The girl's were great. They worked hard and had fun doing the service.

I wish that I had taken a photo of the hill down to my cabin. I thought I would die before Saturday. It's a good thing I did not have a heart attack since I broke my cell phone the second night at camp. I must have climbed that hill 45 times. I probably would have lost weight if the food had not been so good! Next year, I must be thinner before Girl's Camp!

Thanks for lookin'. I can now get to craftin some cards for you to look at since I can post photos again. Yippee.

My darling husband reorganized my craft area for me while I was out of town. Does anyone else have such an insane husband? Nothing was were I had it and it needed to be. I could not sit at my table and do anything. I pouted for 12 days and then redid it myself. I got a new camera and a camping trip to Lake James out of the pouting! I bet he won't reorganize anything else of mine!

I also get a new phone today since this is finally our upgrade date. Two weeks with a broken cell phone bites! I have had no lcd screen on my phone since camp. The cameral lcd screen broke on the temple trip. Me and LCD do not get along!

Check back for card photos soon!

I finally got my new camera!

I got a new camera yesterday. I broke my LCD screen on the youth temple trip a couple of weeks ago and have been trying to get Polaroid to repair it. They say it is not repairable. They will let me trade it in and give me a discount on a new camera if I call them next week after their trade in program begins. I went to Walmart and the phone was on sale for $89.99. I had bought the first one on 5/28/08 and I broke it on 6/18/08. I paid over $100 for the first one and since it was on sale, I just got the same camera. I can now post some photos again! (well, after I load the software for the camera since I had not even gotten around to that before I broke the first camera) I have some great photos from Girl's Camp and the Youth temple trip. Youth conference is the 17th of July so I will have some great photos from that too!

Sylvie at VBS

I think the word must have gotten out that my sister, Mancy was bald until she was about 3 or 4 years old. She took Sylvie to Vacation Bible School Sunday night and they put a little wig on her! She is so soft and precious! See that little freckle on her arm, she got that from ME!

A great blog spot for you to visit!

http://dianesdesigns.blogspot.com/ Go quickly and check out the blog candy that Diane is offering. You will surely visit her blog often after you see her designs.

A Patriotic card challenge

http://www.kreationsbykrissy.com/ the details of the challenge can be found there.The details for this card can be found here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/935940?cat=500&ppuser=78918

Yikes, I picked up 4 kids at 11 so I gotta get them some lunch. Sorry such a short post. Thanks for looking!

Gardenia card (cased)

Here is a remake of the card we made Friday night at my Stampin Up workshop. We had a lot of fun once we got the folding of the circles down to make the Gardenia. There were 18 of us there and we stamped, ate and talked from 7 to 10.

You have the opportunity to join the fun in June. Susan has a Girl's Day out planned for Saturday June 21st at the Senior Center in Gaffney. Email me for more info if you are interested.

The boys and I attended the Memorial Day service held in Gaffney today. Barron and Adam handed out flags and programs prior to the event to help out the Ladies Auxilliary. We all enjoyed the speakers and special music provided by the Blacksburg Band. Silly me left my camera but I am sure you can catch some photos in The Gaffney Ledger. WYFF 4 was there filming so watch the news tonight! It really is a touching service and it's a shame that more folks don't attend. It's held every year at the same time and same place. There is usually a flyover by some F16's and a 21 gun salute by the Marines. Barron and Adam rushed to pick up some spent casings at the end and were tickled when a marine (named Rayfield) clicked one out of his rifle for Barron. Adam had already picked one up from the ground! I realized today that we need to explain more to our children about Memorial Day. They just know that they did not have to go to school! Do you and yours know the sacrifices made so that we might celebrate today?

Altered coasters

We made a couple of these at our Girl's Day Out in May. We had such a fun day (and night too) The next one is June 21st. You can come too!
I came home and made this one with a beach theme. The shells and sea glass are from Big Lots and cost $2 for a pretty nice size mesh bag.
The designer paper is a two-sided paper called Seaside Breeze by Reminisce. This will be cute with a couple of photos of my sweet grandchildren who went to Myrtle Beach with us for Mother's Day this year. I am a very lucky mom and grandma!
I am a MAD MAD poster today (this is my 3rd and final post today)
Gnight!

3rd entry in the Gina K Designs sketch challenge

It's Stampin Up Porcelain Prints designer paper and In Color cardstock. I used Turtle Crossing stamps for this one too. I had to use my computer to print the sentiment. The flowers were a white bunch that I purchased for 1.99 and I color them with my SU markers or my BIC Mark It Up markers. The rhinestones are pale green. I am pretty pleased with the looks of this card.
I gotta get it in my gallery and link it to the challenge thread which is here http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9888803#post9888803
before 7 pm central time. Thanks again for reading my blog.