Family Picture

I just got off the phone with one of my favorite friends in the world, Diane, who moved to Texas (without us) a few years ago, and she wanted to see a recent family photo, so here it is! We miss you Ludwigs, and hope to see you some day soon!

This picture was taken in August at our niece's wedding, and our oldest is a bridesmaid. Front row: Cami (7), Willie (12), Nikki (9). Back row: Megan (18), Mary Lynn, Mary A. (19), Will, and Lizzy (15). These ages are as of August (Mary & Nikki have had birthdays since).

BYU-I here we come!

Megan has been at college now for about 6 weeks, and is doing fabulously by the way, but I can't not post some fun pictures and tell you all how great that experience was! I totally thought I would be a mess leaving one of my babies so far away from home, but actually it was one of the coolest experiences of my life!

Meg is rooming with a classmate from Western HS, Larissa, and so she wasn't stressed too much about being lonely in Rexburg. But she did have a couple of sleepless nights just before we actually got there! ANTICIPATION. Will & I took her up, and we took 5 days to get there and back so we could take it slow and make it memorable. We stayed at Grandma & Grandpa Thornton's on the way up for a night, and at my sister Carol's home for a night, and just had so much fun visiting. We ended up kidnapping Aunt Carol and taking her with us to Rexburg, and what a blast having her with us! We spent the night before Megan could check in to her dorm in Idaho Falls, and our hotel was fabulous!!! We looked out our window, and saw the Idaho Falls Temple right there -- gorgeous.

Meg with Aunt Carol standing in front of the beautiful falls.
So here we are at Megan's dorm! We went there the night before to scope it out, and she knew she wanted to be early so she and Larissa could get the room that had best layout (sneaky girl!). And so we were there bright and early and...stood in line FOREVER in the cold to get her key. Well, she was the first one in because she couldn't get her picture taken for her ID because she was wearing flip flops -- BYU-I has strict regulations about what can be worn as a student, and flip flops are not approved -- go figure. But due to that oversight, she had to skip the pictures and so went right to the key line, and got to be first into her dorm. She was happy.

Their dorms are actually quite snazzy! 2 bedrooms, so only 4 room together -- that cuts out a lot of problems right away! I think it's easier to share a bathroom with less :) Plus they have a full living room and a nice size kitchen with lots of cupboard space! The bedrooms are cool because they get a full size desk under their bunks. Nothing like my dorm my first year at college. It is like a real apartment instead of a dorm. Made Mom (me) feel better about leaving her daughter to fend for herself! We stayed long enough to shop for food, get her groceries put away, help her & Larissa figure out how to make those top bunks up, and get her computer hooked up and functioning. Then we were out of there!

Below is the last picture I have of Meg in my mind, and it's a great one because she is where she should be. She has had this goal for such a long time, it is GREAT to see her accomplish getting to college. We are proud of you Meg!!!

More Stamp Camp Projects & Instructions

These Christmas cards are by Tiffany Christensen:
Supplies:
1) Garden Green- 4-1/4" x 11"
1) Merry Moments DSP piece- 4-1/4" x 2"
1) Very Vanilla Stamped piece- 3" x 3-1/4"
1) Real Red piece- 3-1/4" x 1"
1) Very Vanilla Taffeta ribbon
1) Real Red ornament with Dazzling Diamonds glitter

1- Fold big Garden Green Cardstock in half, using bone folder.
2- If you have a Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad, use sponge and sponge around ornament opening,and down scallops for a little dimension.
3- Adhere DSP piece on the Garden Green Cardstock, about 1/4" from scallop edge.
4- Adhere Very Vanilla stamped sentiment piece onto Real Red piece, adhere with 2 dimensionals.
5- Adhere Real Red ornament through the opening on front.
6- Tie Very Vanilla Taffeta ribbon through opening and around to front, in a knot.
7- DONE!

Supplies:
1) Real Red Cardstock- 5-1/4" x 10-1/2"
1) Chocolate Chip Cardstock- 5" x 5"
1) Merry Moments Designer Series Paper Piece (Old Olive Poinsettia Patterned)- 4-3/4" x 4-3/4"
1) Chocolate Chip Cardstock- 4-3/4" x 2"
1) Merry Moments Designer Series Paper Piece (Snowflakes)- 4-3/4" x 1-7/8"
1) Real Red Cardstock- 2-1/2" x 2-3/4"
1) Very Vanilla Cardstock- 2-5/16" x 2-5/8"
1) Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon piece- 5"

Instructions:
1- Fold big Real Red Cardstock in half, using a bone folder.
2- Adhere Old Olive DSP square onto Chocolate Chip square.
3- Adhere that onto the Real Red Cardstock, centered.
4- Adhere snowflake rectangle DSP onto Chocolate Chip rectangle, lining up the edges.
5- Using good ribbon scissors that are sharp, cut out notches in the Old Olive ribbon, using the snowflake DSP to measure howlong you need it. Adhere ribbon onto snowflake and chocolate chip rectangle with SNAIL adhesive (works the best for ribbon).
6- Using 1/16" punch, or paper piercer, punch holes through ribbon, DSP and chocolate chip rectangle in the "V" and set silver brads through.
7- Adhere that whole rectangle with ribbon onto the card front.
8- Cut out 3 little red flowers, adhere onto Chocolate Chip stamped rectangle, over the chocolate chip ones.
9- Adhere Old Olive snowflake with dimensional over the chocolate chip stamped one.
10- Adhere Very Vanilla rectangle with flowers and snowflake onto the Real Red Cardstock piece.
11- Done!

Finally Back On My Blog!!!

OK, so I'm a slacker in the blog department, BUT not in all departments! For the record, since I posted last, we've taken a daughter to college, are living through getting another one back to college in the next couple of months, and I'm running back and forth between high school volleyball games and Stampin' Up events, ALL of which I LOVE, but all of which have kept me going so fast that I literally barely have time to read my e-mails it seems like! But I know that fall is busy for all of you, so I hope this explanation hasn't fallen on totally deaf ears. I apologize, and more will come more often now, I promise.
The "Got Ink?" Girlz Stampin' Up group just held our first stamp camp, and it was a blast! We learned much, and hope that all attendees had a great time (surveys should be coming soon -- please those of you who came, will you fill them out promptly?). These pictures and instructions are for those who could not attend last Saturday, but who bought the projects pre-stamped and need to put them together. The instructions may include stamping instructions as well, but you know that yours are already stamped for you!! Yay! Here are most of the projects and how to put them together:
This card was done by Debbie Carlson, and she took it from a Convention swap:
1. Adhere thin Chocolate Chip strip to bottom of Sahara Sand cardstock.
2. (Optional) Paper pierce right hand top corner of Sahara Sand.
3. Apply Snail adhesive to metal brad. Stick Old Olive circle onto brad. Take clear done top and apply directly to brad. Use tip of scissors or 1/16" punch to make a small hole in the center of the medallion stamped image. Put brad through and fasten.
4. Use adhesive to apply Sahara Sand piece to Old Olive base. Match up the medallion on Old Olive to medallion on Sahara Sand.

This is my home decor project, and here are the instructions:
Give Thanks Home Decoration
1. Adhere (1) 3 ½” X 11 and (1) 3 ½” X 10 ½” piece of Always Artichoke cardstock together with sticky strip.
2. (Optional) Punch 2 sides of beginning & end pieces of Designer Series Paper with ticket punch.
3. Wrap ribbon around last letter.
4. Adhere DSP to Artichoke cardstock panels, then letters on to the DSP.
5. Ink up “Give” and leaves only on “Give thanks” stamp with Elegant Eggplant & More Mustard Markers respectively. Breathe on stamp to remoisten, and stamp on vanilla cardstock. Punch out with large oval punch.
6. Sponge Soft Suede ink around edge of punched oval. Punch Scallop Oval out of More Mustard cardstock. Adhere two pieces together. Attach to front top panel of project with dimensionals.

Here are the panels so that you can see where I put my DSP. Obviously you can do whatever you want with it! I hope you love it like I do!

I also did one that says FAMILY. I love it too! Some of you chose this one instead of the THANKS, so here are pictures. The same directions above apply.

This cute Spider Treat 3X3 card was made by Tami Melancon. So very CUTE!
1. Fold Black cardstock in half
2. Fill treat cup with m&m's.
3. Put adhesive on the designer paper. (works best with snail adhesive)
4. Slide designer paper over the treat cup. (be sure to watch for the side that you want showing.
5. Adhere the designer paper to the black cardstock. Don't spill your m&m's :)
6. Trim legs to fit around the treat cup, and adhere.7. Adhere the googlie eyes for face and draw a smile with a white gel pen.

This adorable Gift Bag & Card were made by Melissa Diaz, and it is SO cute in real life. My picture truly does not do it justice (as goes for many of these pictures). The card slips into a clear envelope that is attached to the front of the bag. Talk about functional art!

Birthday Card:
1. Fold Cocoa Paper on score line to form card base
2. Adhere green ribbon across Rose Red paper and tape in back. Adhere rose red paper to front of card
3. Layer three yellow flowers adhering on top of each other. Apply the rose red dot shiny side out for center of flower.
4. Adhere white birthday stamp paper on top of Old Olive matt... Adhere to bottom left front of card.
5. Slide into clear envelope. Take red backing off stickystrip and adhere envelope to center front of bag.
6. Tie so saffron and rose red ribbon to handles of bag

These gorgeous scrapbook pages are by Susan Ornelas, and instructions will come soon. I'll add them in as soon as I get them.

This adorable lion baby card was designed by Jennifer Nebeker, and instructions will be posted soon as well, as well as her bird card and its instructions.

Coming soon are pictures of Tami's Build-A-Bear magnetic tin, my CASED Frankenstein matchbook card, and Tiffany's Christmas Cards. Tonight or tomorrow more will be posted!