ML's Babies

Family Picture

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:05:00 +0000

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!

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:56:00 +0000

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

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:01:00 +0000

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!!!

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:08:00 +0000

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!

More Swap Pictures

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 22:32:00 +0000

Ok, before I get to the swap pics, I have to show the projects we did at my SU Open House! The two white cards are the "2-minute" cards that we did, and the "hello" card and box are projects that we made at Convention. Below, my favorite swaps from other Demonstrators at convention. The card at the top right is an "over-the-top" card made by my downline, Susan O. It is gorgeous! Click on the picture to see them better.

These are the 3-D projects that we swapped as a downline group at Convention. This beautiful bag was made by Nena (gotta love Pomegranite & Brown!). It holds a lot, and Nena gave us all lotion in it. Emily made the gift bag with Flower Fusion felt. So fun -- way to take a plain gift bag and glam it up Emily!

This is an Altoid case decorated and made into the cutest mini-scrapbook ever! I've always wanted one of these, and now I have something I can put in my purse and show everyone my kids, my friends, and my craft! This was made by Tiffany -- so glad you are in our group -- it's about time :)

Somehow I got a fuzzy picture, but this is a great page by Tami. She used the new Halloween rub-ons, and they make the page!

Super-cute page Emily! Gotta love the Simply Scrappin' packs -- they make quick, cute pages by the dozen. Literally, I've seen 12-20 pages come out of a Simply Scrappin' pack + 1 extra pack of 12 X 12. A bargain!

This page is by Susan, and I love the bling! The close-up below has a shot of those spooky eyes. We only had to do a single page for our swap, but she is going to add another page during her stamp club, and I can't wait to post that one too!

I'm going to say again that I'm sorry that some of the pictures are blurry! Hopefully you'll get the idea though, and if you need a sharper picture, say so in your comments, and I'll let you know when my camera is going again so I can get a better picture. Once again, click on the pics for a much bigger, more detailed (and today, sometimes much blurrier!) shot.

This was my swap, and I did a double-page spread because we had one demonstrator who couldn't come at the last minute. I used the bulk kit that we as demonstrators could order, and I fell in love with this kit! Too bad that I waited until it retired to get going with it. I should have done a class! The pictures are of our youngest daughter, Cami, as she ran to catch up with our truck on the farm in Utah. She was so happy and cute as she ran that I had to take a bunch of pictures -- now I'm glad I did!

Materials: Sunshine Garden Bulk Buy Kit (You can still order this if you are a demonstrator).

Lots of Letters chipboard, Hearts & Brackets Die, Big Shot, Sell-a-bration paper (retired)

I need to give credit where it is due -- I cased this layout from "roseluvseric" at Split Coast this spring.

This beautiful page was done by Jen Neb using DSP that I didn't buy (retired) and now I'm scavenging to find some -- I love her ornaments! Also, notice the close-up of her tree. I know it's blurry, but what an original way to make the funnest Christmas tree ever! I'm copying!

She used the scallop edge punch, and just hand-trimmed it because, "you don't want your edges perfect, right?" (Jen's words, and she's right!) Scallops are edged with ink and glittered. So so so pretty in real life!

Nena's page, and it's the one all my kids "have to have". They love the cupcake, and how could you not? She crimped the bottom, crystal effected the dots in the frosting, and glittered the cherry to the max! With a little simplification, what a fun kids class this would make, right?

Ok, Melissa, I know that your page isn't on here, but my camera died, and I can't find the charging cable (haven't seen it since Convention), but as soon as I find it, I'll get all of our pictures on here! Sometimes I feel like a scatter-brain, but today I figured I'd get on what I had! Hope you all enjoy these great ideas, and that they motivate you to GET STAMPING!!!

Stampin' Up Convention '09 & My 1st Open House

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:51:00 +0000

Convention 2009 was such fun, and I came back saturated with new ideas and all fired up to make this the best year ever as far as Stampin' Up goes! I've resolved to be a better leader, and to share more of what we can do with stamps with others. I have so many homemade gift ideas thanks to our downline swap, and all the classes we attended at Convention, that I cannot imagine why I would have to buy a single gift! Well, at least for the women & girls in my life :) But how nice to be able to make wall art, card gift boxes, tags and albums -- things we all use and love -- for a fraction of what we buy them for! And ours are usually just as cute if not cuter! It makes me happy. So, here are just some of our downline swaps, and I will be posting more, but other pics wouldn't download right now, so here are these for now.

These adorable tags were made by Melissa D. and are so so so cute in real life!!! They make me start wanting to wrap right now, just so I can see these adorable tags swinging from the presents! Way to use the Catalog for this idea from page14 (Hostess set! --great reason to have a workshop!) in our Idea Book & Catalog.

This beautiful treasure box was made by Tami M., and I love it more than words can say! Our rules in our downline convention swap was that we could use any of our retired stuff so that we could use it up! And my girls did an awesome job! Tami made every box out of different paper, and each one had a unique top. I'm truly in awe of my downline's creativity! They are the best.

We also swapped 12 X 12 pages, and this was Tiffany C.'s page. It is so fun that I put it on the front of my family album. I would have had pictures already on it, but I'm out of one ink color, so of course my printer won't work! Hate it when that happens. Anyway, it will soon look super-cute with all the pictures on it -- don't you love the mini-album below?!!! Tiffany was a first-time convention go-er, and her swaps were fab. Keep up the great work Tiff!

At Convention, every year they do a game show (I was actually a contestant 2 years ago in Denver, and won $250 in merchandise out of the catalog!), and it is one of my favorite things because they always make it Stampin' Up related of course. This year they did a take-off of Family Fued, calling it "Demo Duel" and it was way fun. Some of the questions were: "What in the catalog is made of paper?" ('The catalog' was the last answer!), "Name a SU color that starts with 'B'," and "What animal is represented by any retired or current stamp set?" It was so much fun.

I'll have more pics from Convention later. I'm just getting my act together here in Las Vegas -- being away for most of the summer means lots to get done when we're back to get ready for school, college, etc. So I'm just getting my pics downloaded, communicating with my downline so I can get some of their pictures (One day I forgot my camera -- how can you do that?), and basically trying to catch up on life! The picture below shows an adorable album that the ladies in the row behind us made, and Melissa & Nena are showing how the half-circle lifts up -- can't say it enough that ideas are just waiting to be thought up, and we are so glad that lots of them showed up at Convention '09.

The one thing that I have done since I've been home that has to do with Stampin' Up is hold my first Open House! It was a great time, and I had the privelege to show some new customers how the Big Shot works, and of course all the ins and outs of many of our basic great products. I always love watching people figure out how our ink pads open (and realize that they last for so long since they are airtight!) and how our glue sticks work. They loved the sample board -- thanks to all who made these cute swaps -- they are all straight from convention.

This is my great friend Leanne who agreed to be in the picture with the display board -- she is such a sport! Below is a sample of how my table was set up so that hopefully my customers could follow instructions to make that fun box (it does actually hold 8 Hershey nuggets!).

July Stamp Club

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:26:00 +0000

These are the cards and pages we did at Stamp Club today, and we had so much fun! Congrats to Debbie who was our "Mystery Hostess" winner. She will receive $35 in free SU merchandise and a level 2 hostess stamp set out of the BRAND NEW CATALOG!! I'm jealous. This is an up close shot of the texture plate images that were on the white cardstock. They are so pretty, and such a bargain since you get 6 sets of images in the texture plates pack! As always, click on the pictures to see a bigger, more detailed picture!

Theses are the scrapbook pages we did, and I have to give credit where it is due -- I expanded these from an 8 1/2 X 11 page my upline Jessica Wilsted made 3 or 4 years ago as a swap for Stampin' Up Convention. She had an extra, and I loved it, so expanded it to what you see now. I "dirtied" up the vanilla cardstock with a sponge and Creamy Caramel classic ink. We stamped the "USA" in craft Night of Navy so it would look like paint. Turned out great!

Here's what we used to make the pages:

Cardstock: Night of Navy, Real Red, Very Vanilla & Real Red Textured (for "God bless the")

Ink: Creamy Caramel, Night of Navy craft

Accessories: Small star punch, silver brads, "Billboard" Sizzlet strip die, Big Shot, 1/16" punch

~~Note: The vanilla CS is cut @ 2" and layered over the real red. Measurements for the "USA" tag are vanilla 4" X 3 1/2" and night of navy 4 1/2" X 4". We "dirtied" the stars before punching.

These are up close pics of the choices my club members got to pick from. I love the new In Colors -- they are so summer-y. This card is cased from TreasureOiler on Splitcoast and you can see her original post here. This such a classy card, and so nice for summer -- of course Megan (our recent HS graduate) loved it and wants a bunch to send out for thank you cards! I think I'll let her help me make them! The card above is in Burmuda Bay, and below is in Melon Mambo -- gotta LOVE the coordinating ribbon!!!

This is the new Crushed Curry In Color:

And this was the most popular at club, Rich Razzleberry.

Aren't they pretty all together? Now I know why I have such a hard time giving them away! You can order these new In Colors NOW (see the catalog link if you don't have a hard copy!). This will be my last post for a while probably, as we are on our way to Utah for 5 weeks day-after-tomorrow. I'm looking SO FORWARD to convention, and hanging out with my cool downline gals. We learn so much, and have fun together. I can't wait!

Cardstock: Mambo Melon, Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry, Burmuda Bay, Basic Black, Whisper White and Vellum Cardstock

Ink: Same as In Colors mentioned above

Accessories: Butterfly Bigz Die, Silver Brads, In Color Ribbon, Eyelet Border Punch, Texture Plates #4, Big Shot, Texturz Impression Pad & Silicon Rubber

4th of July Celebration

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:53:00 +0000

Megan came home from her two week Church History Tour, and made her appearance right in the middle of our block party! Talk about a grand entrance. We are all so happy to have her back home, but she says back east was the bomb! She especially loved seeing "Wicked" in New York last week -- something she has been waiting for for a long time. Below, Meg, Mary and Lizzy have a group hug! :)

We had a super-fun 4th of July Horn St. Block Party tonight! 35th Annual (our 9th living here in this great neighborhood), and it was fabuloso! Chuck A. & Doris, Chuck B. & Karol, and Chuck C. & Jan are our across-the-street neighbors, and along with the Daryl & Ann, we have the best "Las Vegas Grandparents" possible. They have been "four-in-a-row" neighbors for 35+ years, and are the catalysts behind this awesome neighborhood. Chuck A. & Doris, along with new neighbor Richard, fire up the grill here: This is me, Will, Cami, Mary A., Nikki and two neighbors, Hailey & our new neighbor. We are standing around Will's homemade rootbeer waiting for it to finish "cooking".

The kids played volleyball at the corner where we blocked off the street with the net. Here is Willie serving up the ball! Also pictured are friends Hailey, Reese & Sky.

Time to eat! A group picture with samples from the Jennings, Smith, Bufalino, Riggs and Tillmond family. We all bring our own meat, and one pot-luck dish. Great food, better visiting.

It's time for the watermelon-eating contest! The younger group goes first:

Then the older group! Except they were joined by a couple of younger ones that didn't want to join in at first, then saw all the fun and jumped in with this group:

The winners: (They couldn't leave ANY red :)

I did it again! I forgot to flip this picture before I posted it! If anyone knows how to flip it once it is posted, please let me know! I'm still relatively new to this blogging, and am just in "basics" stage (hee hee). This is Willie (aka Pyro kid) loving the sparkler. It was the prequel to the next hour and a half of setting off the bigger fireworks. He loved it! (LATER) - OK, I edited this post, but it adds the pictures to the top, so the correct way is up there.

What a great night. We sat out on the street visiting until after 11 p.m. That is what a neighbor-hood should be like, in my humble opinion, and I am so very grateful to live where we do.

Happy 4th of July!

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:11:00 +0000

Happy Independence Day everyone!!! What a fun, exciting day! We started ours at our ward Patriotic Breakfast at our church, which was super delicious and patriotic and fun! We watched a video by Diamond Rio that is called "In God We Still Trust" (I'm pretty sure that is what it is called), and the lady in charge said she found it online -- it was awesome. I love hearing upbeat, positive songs, and this helps us remember that fighting for what is right doesn't need to be done by ourselves. There are many in an influencial position to help us little guys in the fight for right as far as our country goes. So I encourage you to watch it if you haven't already. In fact, when I find the link, I'll post it if I can.
We are on our way to purchase water balloons and watermelon for our 35th Annual Horn St. 4th of July Block Party! Really, this neighborhood has been having a block party on July 4th for that long, and when we moved in to this home, we were told by our neighbors that it is mandatory to be in town on July 4th to be a part of it! So we came home from Utah to enjoy our 9th block party, and we are excited for it tonight. We do a pot luck meal, and everyone brings meat to BBQ, my hubby makes homemade rootbeer, and we have volleyball in the street, a watermelon eating contest, water fights, and of course, fireworks when it gets dark! Makes me realize that this is what this nation is about. Neighborhoods and families sticking together and working to make our community a better place.
Thanks to any and all of you who are veterans, or who are active military now. I appreciate all you do, and have done. Without you, we would not be celebrating today. Thanks, and God bless each and every one of you.
We did just get back a couple days ago from So. Utah (Hatch, to be exact), and spent about 9 days working a bit on the farm, and had some great leisure time as well. I'm posting a few pics from that trip, and we will be returning for the balance of the summer next week. I do have my stamp club this Monday (mystery hostess!!!) and so will be posting what we are doing for that soon. Thanks for all the nice comments -- I'm loving hearing from y'all, and like I said, will post again soon. June 23, '09: The first thing Cami did when we got to the farm was head out picking wildflowers! She was so cute flitting all over the hill, finding different flowers. She actually ended up with quite a variety, and we had a beautitul bouquet for about 3 days!

Willie, Camille and my nephew Jared played a lot up in this tree house. It got a lot of action while we were there.

June 25: We helped load up Grandpa Riggs' new tractor with branches that were broken off the tree house tree during the winter. This is Lizzy and her friend and our neighbor, Kristen posing by the tractor after fillin' 'er up!

June 27: This is the second water snake the kids found in the pond (this one is named Slithers, if I remember right!). This is Lizzy, Nikki and Kristen.

June 27: Saturday night, the Balloon Festival was in Panguitch, so Jared loaded up the lucky winners of "who gets to ride in Jared's cool car", and we headed off to watch the hot air balloons go up and line the streets of Panguitch in what is called "The Glow" -- scroll down to see why!

This is the balloon that we were parked right by, and got to see go up from the get-go. Pretty cool!

Jared, William, Lizzy & Cami, and Kristen in front of the balloon just a few minutes before it is completely blown up.

Way cooler in real life, but this picture sort of shows how pretty the finished product is! It only took about 10 minutes from start to finish.

Here are some of the balloons "glowing". People are walking all up and down the street (there are lots of people!) looking at the balloons, and buying from street vendors. The picture at the top of this post is of Cami eating her cotton candy that we got as a treat (not me -- I can't stand the stuff!).

June 28: This is the view from the top of the hill at the farm -- such a gorgeous view! The kids are playing on the playground, and loving life! CLICK on the picture to see how beautiful it is.

This is my idea of loving life! In my spare time, I love to read, and I hardly ever get to at home. So I relish reading at the farm! I started Fablehaven last year, but this year Book 4 came out, so I started over again to remember what happened -- I HIGHLY recommend this series. Love it!

Book 1 is good, 2 is great, and 3 & 4 are fabulous. I especially love the questions the author has at the end of the books to discuss with kids. A great series.

You can click to make these pics bigger and appreciate the beauty of the farm! This is the kids and Grandma moving water pipes. The kids do it each morning first thing.

Lizzy and Kristen loved to read, write their stories, and visit outside, especially at night under the stars. This time they were reading/writing while it was sprinkling outside.

A very fun trip, and we will be up there like I said, until mid-August. I'll be leaving July 8th, so hopefully more posts before I go! Happy 4th of July and may our hearts turn to God and be grateful for this great nation, remembering always those who made it possible for us to live in freedom.

My Babies -- all grown up

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:17:00 +0000

I thought I better let you all see my kiddos, and for those who haven't seen them in a while, they are truly growing up so fast that I feel like I'm in a whirlwind sometimes! I'll go oldest to youngest (sort of). This is our oldest, Mary (on the left) with her best friend, Athena. They met in kindergarten, and here they are at Megan's graduation party, 2 years as alumni (you are old Mary!) and still friends. They have twin cell phones, so instead of talking, they were of course texting! Actually, I think they were comparing stuff on their phones -- who really knows! Mary is 19, and will be leaving teenage-hood on August 29th. Unbelievable. She is living back at home after a year and a half absence, and we could not be happier. It is SO NICE having her back -- she adds cheer, beautiful food, a little bossiness, and fun conversation! She moved at the end of April, and is planning on either going to SUU in the fall if she can swing it, or back to UNLV. Our second daughter, Megan, graduated a week and a half ago, and this is Will & I grinning at her graduation. (This is while all the grads are walking in --Megan was one of the first since she was an Honors graduate -- and this is after I had had my breakdown while listening to Pomp & Circumstance as she passed by. Once she was in her seat though, I calmed down, and have done fine since!)

An official graduate, Megan (on the far right) with her fabulous group of friends, Rebecca (valedictorian), Larissa (salutatorian and Meg's future roommate at college), Christina, Megan Rochford and Megan Riggs! Meg has been blessed with friends that uplift her and have similar goals for school and life. They are currently having as many movie nights, sleepovers, etc. as possible before they go away to school this fall.

We were so grateful to have Grandma & Grandpa Riggs come, as well as Will's sister Janice and her son, Jared. Meg and Jared were born the same year, and have been close cousins. It was a fun night, and we ended up at Macayo's for dinner afterward. June 10, 2009 (Absent-Mary, who was working; Lizzy, who was up at Girl's Camp)

This is Lizzy, age 14 7/8, at girls camp up our beautiful Mount Charleston at Camp Stimson. She received her Eagle Feather award, which is a big deal in our stake. It is awarded to 4th year girls who have certified all 4 years, and who have completed an overnight hike that you backpack into. I was fortunate to go on that hike with her since they needed chaperones, and it was a wonderful experience. Tough with a 40 lb. pack on my back, but we did it, and not only was it a beautiful hike, it was great to be with these girls and see them rough it and enjoy it! We packed in our tent, and were greatful for it since it was 38 degrees that night! It actually snowed on us the next morning as we were putting our tent away. It was a 6 mile round-trip hike, and I was slow, but steady, and made it! Lizzy did an awesome job -- she left me in the dust, but I still love her. She also had to lead a fireside that night, and planned and ate her meals that she packed in. The next day, we met many from our ward where all the girls would be camping and set up camp. The next week, Lizzy attended camp all week, and these pictures are from June 12, where she received her Eagle Feather award, and also the Bishopbric from our ward came up and cooked our ward dinner. It was a great night.

Oops, forgot to rotate this pic, and I don't know how yet once its been posted. When I learn how, I'll fix it! Below are the girls receiving their Eagle Feather award.

Below, not the picture I meant to pull from, but it works. Will, Bishop Kereczman, Scott Smith and Paul Bean are serving the girls and their leaders.

This is Will with Willie, Nikki and Cami at the Las Vegas Temple. Our ward's primary went on an outing just before Easter this year, and had a great experience. You can click on the pictures if you want to see more detail! (Like Cami's cute crunchy face when it is sunny :)

I'll post more pics of Nikki and Willie later, but Cami just had her 7th birthday, so you see, my babies are all grown up! No more little teeny tinys, but I'm enjoying every moment just the same. Cami is a joy, and we had fun with her Slip 'n Slide birthday party.

She wanted to do a pinata with her friends, and the highlight was our grandpa neighbor, Buff, coming over and hitting it with them! I'll have to throw that picture in later :) This is Cami, whacking the pinata and loving it!

Lizzy and I think Nikki decorated the cake -- isn't it cute? So this wraps up a little about our family right now. Have a great day!

Pictures of Tami's cute stuff!

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:25:00 +0000

These are some of Tami's cute pages and projects. I love that she actually makes the projects that we see online or at Convention! Her bags are supercute, and you can see them on her blog here.

The cards below fit into the purse above. It is so cool in person, but she said it did take some time to make! The effort is worth it, and one day this summer, I'm making one!

Aren't these flip flops the cutest ever? Way to make an inexpensive but supercute girls birthday present! Or make them just because you can -- So cute IRL.

Tami's stamp room is way cute (functional too), and here is just one part of the cuteness:

Here are more samples:

I love that Tami does progressive pages: You can make them 6X6, 8 1/2 X 11, or 12 X 12, OR if your not a scrapper, she turns the 6X6 part of the page into a 3X6 card. The card below in a spinner card, and watching the cat spin around is pure entertainment! Her progressive page example is the page under the card.

June Stamp Club

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:29:00 +0000

June stamp club included these gorgeous pages that I cased from here at Rochelle's site -- thanks Rochelle for making such fun pages! I tweaked the second page, and this time include pictures from our annual friends trip to my in-laws farm from 2007. The area that is tied with ribbon opens up so you can add more journaling and pictures. Some of my girls are adhering that part to the actual page protector on the outside, so that it can be opened without taking the whole page out of the protector. Others are going to xacto knife around it once it is in the page protector -- different strokes for different folks! I love scrapping together because the ideas flow!

Our stamp club is ending for the year in July (actual date: July 6th), and this will make the 3rd annual "Mystery Hostess" month!!! Club members, you will get extra chances at being drawn out as the mystery hostess if you bring your pages from the year with pictures on them! Thus the reason for the pages in the first place! .....Also, you'll get extra tickets for being on time!

If you are interested in being in one of my clubs, or starting one of your own (free stamps for you that do!), contact me! Our clubs will start again in August. FYI, for my original daytime club, November 2009 and February & March of 2010 are taken already, so make your claim quickly if you have a favorite month to be the hostess!

Well, this is the end of my first day of blogging. Soon I will get pictures of my fun kiddos posted, and let you know a little more about our family. Have a blessed night.

Downline meeting Pictures

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:33:00 +0000

I met with many of my downline on May 30th, and we put together and 8 1/2" X 8 1/2" SU Chipboard Album complete with 18 pages to go with! It is a summer album and is a great way to give us ideas of what to do with our families and friends to make this a summer to remember. Plus even though much of it is retiring at the end of this month, the idea will work with many of our new Jumbo Wheels in our new Idea Book & Catalog! Can't wait until July 1st to be able to order them! (By the way, the new catalog is the best I've seen in two years -- I already have 4 pages of wish list items, and that usually isn't me!)

Back to the album! It took us about 3 hours to complete, and if you are one of my downline, I have complete instructions on how to prepare 12 albums in less that 2 hours. The credit for this blueprint goes to my upline Jessica, who did a phenomenal job of making 4 kits per DSP pack. There is cardstock of course as well, but the overall cost is low, and makes making these books worth it big time! I can't wait to fill it full of pictures as summertime goes by. Personally, I'm going to take each single page and make it into a Double Page Spread so that I can get more pics in the album. You can click on each picture to make it bigger and see the details!

Ok, I should have uploaded the pictures from my computer in reverse order so that the album would be in order. Just know that it is in REVERSE order the way the pictures are on here. The cover is last and page 18 is first. I didn't edit the pictures like I should have, so you'll be seeing my walls -- oh well! This is my first day on my blog afterall, so cut me a little slack! Here is what we used to make the albums:

Stamps: Just Beachy Set & Lazy Days Jumbo Wheel (I can't believe they didn't make it in the catalog!)

Paper: Pacific Point, Summer Sun, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip & Kiwi Kiss CS, Good Morning Sunshine DSP

Ink: Uninked Jumbo Roller inked with Chocolate Chip reinker, Basic Brown Classic Ink

Accessories: Circles, Ovals, 3-Heart & Arrow Punches, Big Shot, Go Go Boots, Top Note and Serif Essentials Dies, Chocolate Chip Corduroy Buttons, Choc. Chip grosgrain ribbon, Kiwi Kiss striped ribbon, Blender Pens, Chipboard Album, Stampin' Up Glue Sticks

Sorry that some of the pics are blurry. But you get the idea. We simply rolled every page, then "ringed" the words where they ended up, so none of ours were exactly the same. But it was fun and easy -- just time consuming. But the 3 hours included lunch, so it wasn't all stamping!

We also had many fun door prizes that we gave away, and when I find where those pictures are, I'll post them. Also, Tami had fabulous "stuff" that I took pics of, so it will all get here eventually. Thanks to my girls who came, and also for those who tried to make it from Utah, but had sick kiddos along the way -- we missed you, but will see you at Convention!

"Family" Urban Garden pages

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:11:00 +0000

This is number 3 of the Double Page Spreads I did for my scrapbook pages class. The first page is cased from this SCS layout, which my downline and friend Susan and I both had in our favorites and were planning on using for a class. Well, she got to it first, and tweaked the second page, so I just cased her case for my class! I actually went to her class and made mine -- it is a classy, beautiful layout. Thanks to stampinwithrochelle.com for this gorgeous artwork.

Stamps: Inspired by Nature, Always, Schoolbook Serif Alphabet

Paper: Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Not Quite Navy, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Urban Garden DSP

Ink: Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiww, VersaMark

Accessories: White Embossing Powder; Scallop Edge Punch; Kiwi Kiss striped ribbon, Big Shot and Top Note Die; All Stampin' Up except Pearls (from Michaels)

My ladies & I had a great time making theses pages, and I'll be doing another class in August when I get back from Convention. Until then, I'll be spending most of my time in Utah working on and enjoying my in-law's farm.

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:11:00 +0000

OK, I think I'm getting the hang of this -- we'll see! Here is a picture of the swap that inspired the Sun Fun DPS.

Stamps: Life's A Breeze & Something Fishy Jumbo Roller

Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Cameo Coral, Gable Green, Whisper White.

Ink: Same as above plus Basic Black (Markers used on Sailboat stamp)

Accessories: Crystal Brads, Fine Cosmo Glitter, liquid glue

All products Stampin' Up.

I forgot to include what I used for the Father's Day Layout, so here is what I used for that layout:

Stamps: Big Deal, All in the Family

Paper: Kraft, Artichoke, Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze card stocks; Manchester DSP

Ink: Artichoke craft ink, Basic Black marker to write on tabs. Accessories: Tab, 1 3/8", Scallop punches; natural twine; brads; Watercolor Pencils, Clear Embossing Powder; heat tool; Big Shot and Serif Essensial Dies. All products Stampin' Up.

Stamp Club Double Page Spreads

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:56:00 +0000

So I'm still learning how these pictures will come onto my blog, and where the writing will show, and the order of it all! I came up with these pages from a swap I got at SU Convention last year, and I've been waiting all year to do pages from it for my club. It is way cuter IRL (In Real Life -- for my family who has never checked out a blog before -- hee hee), and the swap came from Kristi Gardner in Texas -- thanks Kristi!

I'm posting the card, but don't know if it is above or below these words :)

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:07:00 +0000

These are one of the DP Spreads that we made at my Scrapbook page night. I got the idea from this post from Nicolejanette. I loved how it turned out!

Finally starting my own blog!

riggsies@cox.net (Mary Lynn) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:57:00 +0000

It's about time, I know, that I got a blog started, especially since some of my Stampin' Up downline already have theirs going, and I love them! A year ago, I didn't even know what a blog was, and now I love going onto Split Coast, finding a page or card that I love, and heading over to that person's blog -- in fact, I get a little miffed now if a cute page or card submission doesn't have one! How fast we get spoiled, huh?

A little about me: I'm a wife to the best guy in the world, a mom to 6 fabulous kids, the daughter and daughter-in-law of the best parents and in-laws a girl could have, but best of all, I'm a daughter of God, so life if good!!! I've written in a journal off and on most of my life (since age 11 or so), and was a scrapbooker before scrapbooking was a craft! As a kid, I kept every sports schedule, newspaper clipping, etc. that me or my family or school was associated with, and as a young mom, made my own journaling blocks (literally) copied over and over to put in my first baby's scrapbook. It of course was one of those NON-acid free magnetic pages books, so once I heard that my pictures were going to be ruined if I left them in this state, I got into "official" scrapbooking with my great friend Maria -- and take the plunge we did! We even dabbled in considering opening our own scrapbooking store. But with 10 kids between us, we decided we would continue to be stay-at-home moms, and support all the stores instead! A few years later, I became a Stampin' Up demonstrator, and have been one now for 6 years. I love it, and especially love Thursdays during the school year, because I have a group of friends that get together and scrap each Thursday that we can. I also teach stamping classes, and have a Stampin' Up daytime and nighttime stamp club that meets once a month. So between my hobby, my great family and friends, and church activities, my life is full. For this I am very, very grateful.

I'm going to start out by posting pictures of the 3 double-page spreads I did at my scrapbook pages class last Thursday. Thanks to my great friend (and downline!) Susan for teaching me how do this blog, and I hope my first posting turns out OK. I still don't know how to scan 12 X 12 pages, so I took pics, and hope they look good. Here goes!