Belize Journal 6/1

"For breakfast today we went to Kent and Marian's. Today is the last day that we will be eating there. Once we got done eating we told everyone goodbye and headed to Belize City. Once we got to San Pedro Island, I was so amazed. I have never seen anything this amazing in my life. It was so cool.I have never seen the ocean before and it looked amazing. It is a bluish green color. After we ate lunch...we went snorkeling. I was kind of scared at first. When we got off the boat at the first stop the water was only three feet deep. This is where we practiced for awhile. Once we kind of got the hang of it, we headed out. It was really cool, but it would have been a lot more fun if I could swim.
The next stop was Shark Ray Alley. There were sharks and sting rays that were so awesome...Tom was right about the salt water, you always float."

Belize Journal 5/31

"At the 26 acres I helped make screens and painted. I helped move a pile of boards. This pile was no little pile either. We had to load the boards up on the pick up and drive them behind the container and then unload it. If the boards were no good thne we had to make a pile that we were going to burn. We found so many things in the boards-mainly termites. There were quite a few soldier ants too and trantulas. Then as we lifted up the last board, David & Corny were yelling and jumping back. Then Mrs. Chi started freaking out yelling "scorpion". There was a lizard that was ascorpion that apparently was very poisonous."

Belize Journal 5/30

"After going to the 26 acres and working for awhile (Iwas trying to put drywall around the door) I decided to switch job, so I helped Kimberly and Michaela spackle. Then I left it to dry. After awhile Dustin and I went back to sand it. For dinner today we had chicken fajitas. They were made with corn tortillas...after lunch we went to the blue hole. It was some under water river as I found out when I saw it. There was a pond with a blue spot towards one end. This is where the river was. The water was so cold but it felt so good after awhile."

Inky Flowers

The layered flowers are by InkyAntics clear flower set and the "birthday" is from Karen Foster snap stamps. Paper is by Marcella that came in a 4 x 6 pad. This was made for a layout challenge here.

Belize Journal 5/29

" We went over to 26 acres and finished the flat part of the ceiling...after lunch we finished the ceiling and finished a wall. Then we went swimming in the river...for supper we had tacos with apple, pineapple & pecan pie."

me speaking...I thought I would add some pictures to each journal blog. Here is Benjamin working on the ceiling (in grey shorts) and a beautiful picture of the jungle. I finished developing his cameras today (these two pic's were taken by someone else on the trip) and now need to get busy and get them all scrapped.

From the archives

I haven't had much time to stamp lately as I worked this week at the Den (a sr. center here that serves on meal a day and does meals on wheels). So I decided to pick some of my favorite cards/projects that I have done in the past and post them from time to time. Maybe this way I can post a pic/project a day. Ü I am working on a tutorial for a fun folded card.

This is the first card I sewed on. I marked a 1/4 sheet of white cardstock with a ruler and pencil and then sewed on the lines. I then sponged the whole card for the background. The clown is a stamped image that Lana sent me from the Jest Between Friends SU! stamp set. The pom poms on his suit and hat have glitter on them.

Belize Journal 5/28

"Today we went back to work. When we first got there, Dustin and I got the last wire put in and put up the light boxes in the ceiling. Then we built two saw horses and put up sheet rock on the ceiling...for dinner we had pizza with Marian's bread"

Belize Journal 5/27

*note: my comment in color
"Today we went to church...for the church service Tyce played the guitar, Taylor played his water bottle drums and the rest of us sang. After church service was over we went and looked at the building dedicated to David." (David is my cousin who went to Belize as a teen and was killed in an accident when he was 16. He was loved by all and they dedicated a building in his name in Belize)
"Today we had chicken with rice and potato salad."

Blog Candy Winner!

Thank you so much to everyone who left a comment. I loved reading all your favorite colors.
I know there is a URL out there that will pick a random number, but I didn't have time to search for it. If anyone knows what I am talking about and can send me in that direction I would appreciate it. So I did it the "hard" way. I didn't want to have my boys pick a number between 1 & 37, because then rarely would "1" or "37" be chosen. So I wrote all the numbers on torn pieces of paper and drew one. I drew #12 who is....Sara! Sara said "I don't actually have any SU colors, but from what I have seen my favorites are Carribean Blue and Chocolate Chip. I just love the browns and blues, but there are also so many more to choose from that when I get the chance to buy some items I think that I will be looking into those colors first!" Sara, Please e-mail me your full name and address and I will get the blog candy in the mail to you. Thank you to all for playing and visiting my blog.

Belize Journal 5/26

"Today we went out to San Agnosia...we brought along a cooler of food for lunch. Once we got to San Agnosia, we went to this ferry dock thingamabob and went across the river then we went up the road on the other side of the river to the Mayan City ruins of Xunantunich. Once we were in and went up to the main part it was so amazing. The main temple was so big and it took forever to get up it. There were 105 steps if Taylor counted right....We went back to the dock and went across the river and the person running the machine pointed out two iguanas."

It's finally here....

Blog Candy! Ü To thank you all for reading my blog, I have a little blog candy to give out. There are 15 -quarter sheets of varied Cuttlebug embossed images, 19 yds of different vintage silk ribbon, two sets of clear stamps and one clear block (that I found at Michael's in Thornton, CO), a mini stapler, staple remover and staples and a bag of (various colors) punched tabs.

For a chance to win, please post your favorite color, using SU!'s colors as a guide. Mine is Chocolate Chip with anything Ü, but usually Pretty in Pink or Cool Caribbean.

I will draw a number Wednesday morning(6/20) to see who wins.

Belize journal entry 5/25

" ...today I did electric working. Lots and lots of electric working. After dinner we went into town tot he woodworking shop. There was so much cool stuff...I got mom a candle holder, dad a set of coasters, Aaron a bookmark and me a letter opener. It was raining for the first time while we were here. And when it rains here, it pours here....for supper we had Hawaiian baked pork chops."

Blogger RAK's

I rec'd a couple of blogger RAK's before I left for Denver. The first one if from Beate. I "met" Beate on SURAS and we have exchanged my cards/projects. I love Beate's work and we have alot of the same tastes in colors and images. This RAK is from Diane Gilbert. She says this is her first blog RAK. I love it Diane!! Thank you so much for this lovely card. Be sure to check out both Beate and Diane's blogs.

Belize Journal 5/24

"It is very bright at 5:00 am and very dark at 7:00 pm...after breakfast we went out to 26 Acres to work...we put the beams for the ceiling up and I helped with that for quite awhile, then I started to help with the electrical work. It is a good thing I had experience with woods and electrical work because that is all I did yesterday...for supper we had sweet and sour chicken and rice with coconut milk."

Sweet Kitty

I have lost my "mojo"!! I haven't stamped in so long and whenever I would sit down
to stamp, I just couldn't seem to get going. Hopefully I have found it now. I really do like how this turned out. Kitty image is Inky Antics that someone RAK'd me with. The patterned paper was also a RAK and I don't know what company
it is from. It was in a pkg of several 6 x 6 sheets. The parenthesis is from the George Cricut cartridge. This sketch is #118 from Splitcoaststampers sketch challenge. "Sweet" is Karen Foster snap stamps. The image is colored with colored pencils and gamsol and then stitched together with sewing machine.

Belize Journal 5/23

me talking...Every four years the youth group kids get a chance to go to Belize on a mission trip. There is a couple in our church that lives there part of the year and the youth group leaders are the daughter and son in law of this couple. The kids go down and help out where ever they are needed.

Benjamin..."When they first opened the door on the airplane the first thing you could notice was the humidity. It is so humid here, but after an hour or so it seems to be normal and it doesn't bother me so much...Kent picked up a stick that he called stinkitoe. It smells awful, but it tastes like bitter chocolate."

I am home

and I am tired! Benjamin is making supper and I plan to go to bed early.
Dad did really good on the way home. We had to stop every hour for him to walk. I figured he would sleep all the way home, but he was awake. He will sleep good tonite (and hopefully so will I). I can't believe that he is in NO pain, is walking straight and not stooped over. It's amazing that that could all happen within a short amount of time.
Thank you for all your e-mails and prayers. With the exception of a road rage incident all went well.
I will start posting a bit from Benjamin's Belize trip journal tomorrow. I see I am getting closer to the 10,000 mark, so be watching for a blog candy posting.

Hello from Thornton, CO!

We had a safe trip out here and dad had surgery this morning. It was much better news that we could have dreamed. He has a herniated, ruptured disc that broke (ruptured just means a cracked disc) and a piece was pushing on a nerve causing the pain to go down his leg and loss of feeling in his foot and toes. He is waking up now and the dr said he should have little to no pain when he wakes up. He will be really happy about that. He made history today here as he is the oldest patient (64) to have never had surgery in his life (at this place anyway) and did really well.
They have one computer here that no one is using, so I am cking up on messages and e-mailing people about dad.
Thank you all so much for your kind words and prayers. If all goes well today and tomorrow morning, we can go home tomorrow.

I see I am only 420 visits from 10,000. Very close to some blog candy Ü
TTYL,
Debbie

thank you...and a note...

Thank you for all the kind words and prayers I rec'd for my dad. I didn't expect to hear from so many, was just letting everyone know where I would be if there was no e-mail access at the hospital. I have had some ask what hospital we will be at, and I have no idea, I am just the driver Ü. All I know right now is we are going to Denver.

I have also received several messages asking to hear about Benjamin's trip to Belize. He kept a journal (per my request Ü) each day. He gave me permission to write a little from each day. I will do this when I get home. Just right a couple sentences from his journal to give you an idea of what he did. We gave him 4 disposable cameras as we were told not to send our digital or it would get stolen. The disposable camera pictures are kinda fuzzy and we found out the other kids took their digital cameras! Oh well. I will post a couple of the better pic's too.

So things to look forward to...
me getting back
news & pic's from Belize via Benjamin
blog candy when I hit 10,000 visits

I'm packed and hope to get a GOOD night's sleep. Going to early church in the morning, then we are going to see gr'ma (she is worrying about dad), then heading out. Please pray for me as I drive the whole way-should be about a 6 hr drive.

See you in the funny papers! LOL!! (my gr'pa always said that and it came to mind *heehee*)

Going to be gone

If I hit 10,000 while I'm gone, I will post the blog candy contest when I get home.
My dad has 3 ruptured discs in his back and one of them a piece broke and is floating in his leg. I will be taking him and mom to Colorado Sunday to see a specialist on Monday and possible surgery on Tuesday. I have no idea how long I will be gone.
Need to get things ready for a garage sale Saturday and finish up things that need to be done here before I leave. I won't have access to a computer to my knowledge as I don't have a laptop, so will post when I get back.

Benjamin is home!!!

As of 2:30 am this morning. We are all tired and he is still sleeping. I don't have any cards to show you this morning, but hopefully tomorrow. Can't wait until Benjamin wakes up so we can hear all about his 12 days in Belize.

Slit Flower Frame

This card was made by another of Maria's wonderful tutorials. You can find the tutorial here. After making the card I had a hard time trying to figure out what to put in the center. I chose a SU! set and like how it turned out. Papers, ribbon and sticker border is from CTMH (Close to my Heart). I didn't have CTMH ink, so really had to *grunge* up the SU! inked images to match the CTMH paper.

Accordian File

EDITED: the tutorial link should now work. Thanks AJ for letting me know it wasn't working.

Now that things have slowed done a bit, I am going to try to post a few times a week. I would like to post every day, but just can't promise that that will happen. Here is a FUN Accordian File I made. You can find step by step instructions here. While checking this out, take time to look around Maria's blog. She has WONDERFUL tutorials. I am in the process of making a couple more samples from her tutorials.

I used CTMH papers and sticker (the circle is a sticker) and SU!'s tab punches and stamp. I colored the image with gamsol and colored pencils. I am showing you the side image as well as the open image, but Maria shows it much better. You could use this as a fun mini album and cut cardstock to fit in the envelopes and add the tabs to the cut pieces rather than the envelopes like I did. I am going to fill this with some stamp goodies and give to someone.

Blog candy #2

Here is the second blog candy I won. This was on Jen's blog. Go check out her awesome blog! She sent me lots of ribbon, primas and some vellum squares (not pictured).

Thanks bunches Jen!

I won blog candy!

I can't believe it! I won blog candy on two different sites. I rec'd blog candy today from Erica. Here is a picture of what I rec'd. The scan isn't too great, but the card is AWESOME!! I love Bella stamps and this one is the Stampabella (I believe that is the name) and she put glitter on the bow in her hair, on the wheel and on the bag...tooooo cute!. The words say "you've been rak'd by a stamping bella". LOVE IT!

Erica, thank you sooo much for all the goodies. Can't wait to play with them.

I will post the other blog candy and site when I receive it. Ü Remember what I always say..."you can't win if you don't enter"

Punchy Idea

I have been a fan of Nicole Heady since I first saw her work in PaperCrafts magazine. She now has a blog and designs the coolest stamps (which I have two sets of and can't wait to get more-if you haven't seen her clear stamps from her company Paper Trey, you have to check them out). Today I saw this post and just had to try one of these. Is this not just the cutest tiny purse?! Here is my version with a couple of additions (you can click on the image to see it larger). I added a tiny piece of velcro to close the purse (which is not needed if you put a piece of candy in the purse, but would work if you added a couple of coins or something smaller) and I added a side. To make the side punch or cut a square (I used SU!'s 1.25" square punch) and cut in half. Then accordian fold about 1/4" (you will get five 1/4" sections). Apply 1/8" sticky strip to ends and press to the inside so it lines up at the top second "hump" of the purse (when folded). Here is the side view. I used patterned cardstock and stickers from SU!'s Friends & Flowers kit. To keep the sticker ribbon handle from being sticky (as well as the flower that sticks out over the edge of the "purse") I rubbed baby powder on the sticky side of the exposed stickers. This takes the sticky away. In keeping with the flower theme which reminds me of a tropical design, I added a Mango & Creme Cream Savor.

Benjamin note: We haven't heard from him, but Bethany (one of the youth leaders) has e-mailed us a couple of times. She says he is having alot of fun, working hard and had a crash course in swimming so he could swim with the sharks today. (Yeah, I really feel better now! LOL!!) We are counting the days until Sunday (actually probably EARLY Monday) to see him and hear all about his experiences in Belize as well as Guatemala. I will let you know about it when I hear what he has to share. Ü Thank you for your prayers for him and us. This is the longest we have ever been apart and hard on Bruce and me.

Sock Swap rec'd

Here is what I rec'd in the sock swap I swapped with Melissa. (You can see what I sent her here). I told her I thought I owed her more!! Look at all the goodies she sent me!

Here is a close up of the socks, so you can see the cool flower on the top of the sock. I love them!

In this scan you can see the bag that she sent the socks in. It is sooooo cool! She made it from Beate's tutorial called a one sheet box. You make it using just one 8.5" x 11" sheet of cardstock or patterned paper.

Here is another scan of the fun clear stamps and embellishments that she sent.

Busy busy busy

It has been so crazy the past few weeks! I am still here and hope to post something card/gift wise soon. We are now done with track. Benjamin did very well. He qualified for Districts and was 15 seconds short of qualifying for State. He is only a freshman, so I can see him qualifying next year. He had a personal record at Districts and we were pretty excited about that-shaved 4 seconds off of his previous personal best.

Last week we had rec'd a letter from school saying that six boys and six girls from each class were chosen for the Wall of Fame and that Benjamin is one of them and there would be a program where they would be honored. We had no idea what this was and neither did Benjamin. We were surprised when we found out that he had one the Most Representative of his class. Another was voted Student of the Year (who is voted by class peers) and the other 4 were honored by teachers. The principal told Bruce that he was very proud of Benjamin as it is uncommon to see a new student come in and do as well as he has done.

Tonight is the Industrial Arts Display and I am looking forward to seeing the night stand Benjamin made me. I haven't seen it except for a very rough sketch when we were helping him figure out the measurements.

He doesn't think he has to take any finals, so he should be done by noon on Friday. It will be good to spend some time at home with him before he leaves at 11:30 pm for Belize next Wed. (YIKES only a few more days and "NO" mom is not ready for this. I know he will have a great time and is excited, but I am a little nervous. I like my kids home at night so I know they are safe and sound Ü)

So even though I don't have any cards to show you yet, I wanted to let you know I'm still here and will hopefully do better once school is out.

Thanks for letting me brag about my kid Ü
Debbie

Sock Swap

This was a fun sounding swap that I read about on the Papercrafts website. It's called a sock swap. You buy a pair of socks and $5- $6 in matching embellishments. Make a coordinating card and package it all together in a matching/coordinating bag or some kind of packaging. I thought this sounded fun and presented this idea to my on line friend Melissa. Here is what I sent to her today...The socks were purchased at Dollar Tree. They had the funnest socks! You can't tell in the picture very well, but there are flowers on the soles of the socks with green and turquoise ribbing. Then I found the matching notepad, pen and notecards there and just had to go with it! The primas are from my LSS and the ribbon is some that I had on hand. I went over the dollar amount abit, but just had to put it all together. The flowers on the card are made with my Cricut again (love that bug!). I used loops of green sheer polka dot ribbon for leaves. Melissa, I hope you love this! Ü

Anyone else want to do this type of swap with me? Just send me an e-mail Ü

Remember you can click on the picture to see the detail better.

I took my friend Gloria to lunch the other day and she was asking me how I store my stamps. I will take a picture in the next couple of days and post it here. I always like to see how others store their stamp items.

With Sympathy

This card is for DH's gr'ma. His gr aunt (her sister) passed away and they were really close. I think they talked on the phone every day and this is really hard on Gr'ma Ruth. I wanted to make her a really pretty card. I love this verse for times like this.Flower diecut is cut from Cricut's Walk in My Garden.Ribbon is actually some vintage seam binding. It is 100% Rayon and I purchased a bag of 20 rolls at Goodwill for $3. There are 100 yds on each roll and most of the rolls were full. So $3 for about 1800 yds was a great find!

Jar orders

Here are the five jars that the owner from Twigs & Berries ordered when she saw the plum one when I was mailing it at the PO. The first three were made using Basic Grey papers. The ribbon is from JoAnn Fabrics. It was the perfect size for the side of the lid. The jars are from Dollar General. The images are cut with my Cricut using George, Walk in my Garden and Mini Monograms.

This jar was made using Signature Suite by Jen Wilson. The center of the flower is Basic Grey. The flower on the lid is Basic Grey with the center being Signature Suite.

And on this last jar I used Daisy D's paper. The ribbon on this jar is some I rec'd from my friend Lana a year or two ago. The color was perfect. I grunged it and all the ribbon and papers with basic brown ink by SU!.