Happiness is a Journey ...

. . . not a destination.

This is a favorite quote of mine. The rubber stamp has "anon" at the bottom, but the official "Happiness is a Journey" quote and inspirational message that goes along with it were written by Crystal Boyd in 1997. (see her website or read below) This message has circulated throughout the internet for over 10 years with variant wording.

My sweet DIL Jami {Crazy Daisy Creations} made this for me and I intend to frame it. The photo is a bit dark and doesn't do it justice. It is simply beautiful!

Jami selected a beautiful patterned paper for the background and embellished with jute ribbon, blue grograin ribbon and bronze brads. The sentiment is framed with a scalloped rectangle. (Spellbinder die in Cuttlebug)
Sorry, I can't tell you who makes this stamp as all my rubber stamps are currently in baskets and boxes waiting for MW (Mr Wonderful) to move up and install my stamp shelves. You can just about imagine what he thinks of all this, can't you? :)
And now he knows how much STUFF I have ! :)

God bless all of you who've emailed or sent cards since I broke my ankle and had surgery. What a special group of blog friends you are! Your lovely cards brightened my day and made me SMILE! :) The past two weeks are a bit of a blur as I've taken my pain meds and spent most of the time in bed with my foot elevated. I've got such an awesome family & friends that have stopped in to visit, brought food (MW especially loves this!), magazines, flowers, cards & SMILES! What a blessing! I enjoyed watching all the Inauguration festivities, caught up on all the HGTV, TLC, Ellen & Oprah programs, and have even watched a few movies. (Thank U Vicki for the portable DVD player!) I'm happy to say that I've become much more proficient with the TV/DVR remote control and can now tape and watch whatever I want. LOL ~ What a Life!

Have a happy weekend and make time for YOU!
Smiles,

Happiness is a Journey ~

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we're frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We'll certainly be happy when they're out of that stage.

We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.
The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when?
Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza. He said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."
This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with...and remember that time waits for no one.

So, stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you're off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you're born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

Copyright © 1997 Crystal Boyd

My visit to Viva Las Vegas Rubber Stamp Store ~

Have you ever seen anything like this?! :)

On our recent trip to Las Vegas, I convinced my family to allow me a few minutes to check out this famous rubber stamp store I'd heard so much about. It was a bit of a challenge to find it...tucked back in behind a few other buildings, but my "rubber stamp radar" was in high alert and there it was!

The first photo to the left shows the outside entrance door. It's locked. Seriously! I guess rubber stamps are a HOT item in Las Vegas. :) There is a buzzer beside the door and when you ring it, a voice comes over the speaker to open the door. LOL I assume there are cameras above watching my every move and to see if I'm carrying a handbag with $$$ to shop.

Once inside this door, we walked down a hallway to another door where Marilyn Monroe was waiting to greet us. We stepped inside this door and I'm sure that I *gasped* when I saw all the rubber stamps. Oh my, I've never seen THIS many in one store before! I asked the clerk if they would mind if I took a few photos and she said "no problem". Honestly, these don't do it justice...it was unbelievable. I think the owner told me there were approximately 15,000 stamps, but it looked more like a million to me! They do produce there own stamps and he told me he has a substantial online business, with orders from around the world.

If you want to check out the website "Viva Las Vegastamps", it is quite entertaining...with music by none other than ELVIS. :)

My family was very patient with me, but it's difficult for me to shop when I know others are waiting for me. I like to browse and look at EVERYTHING before buying. Believe it or not, I only bought three stamps... one is the Hallmark logo and underneath it says 'eat your heart out'. Another small sentiment stamp says "Stamping makes my world more colorful" or something like that. I can't remember the third one right now. : / {all my stamping supplies are downstairs and I can't get there with this dang broken ankle!}

Next time I'm in Vegas, I will visit there again...with no time restraints! Perhaps I should start saving my $$ now! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Happy Stamping and smiles to you all!

"Shopping is better than sex. If you're not satisfied after shopping you can make an exchange for something you really like." -- Adrienne Gusoff

If you're wondering where I've been...

...I've broken my ankle!!! :(

I thought you would enjoy another photo of my sweet little dachshund Lilly. She's keeping me company while I wait for surgery.

If you really want to know what happened, read on...

This past Friday, in the middle of the night, I woke up with a terribly painful cramp in the calf of my right leg. I tried to stretch and move to ease the pain, but it didn't let up. So, I stood up beside the bed, thinking that if I stood on it, it would relax. HA! Apparently, I blacked out because the next thing I remember is Mr Wonderful beside me on the floor asking me if I was alright. He tried to help me back into bed and I noticed my left ankle really hurt so I figured that I must have twisted it somehow when I fell. By morning I couldn't walk on it so we went to the ER to have it checked and sure enough it is fractured! They put a temporary cast on it to stabilize it and the ER DR said he thought it would need surgery and I should see a bone specialist. Today was the soonest I could get in, and yes it definitely needs surgery! Right now, it's scheduled for Friday a.m. I would be very grateful for your prayers.

Now, on a happier note... I've got some FUN photos to share with you of my trip to the Viva Las Vegas Rubber Stamp Store! Stay tuned ...

Not dancing, but still smiling,

In the Crazy Quilt of Life...

"In the crazy quilt of life,

I'm glad you're in my block of friends."

Are you familiar with the stamp sets I've used on these cards? They are two of the quilt sets from PAPERTREYink ~ Quilter's Sampler Sentiments and Quilter's Sampler Additions. These terrific sets were on my "Christmas Wish List" and thanks to my sweet DIL Jami, I was happy to find them in my stocking! :)

The "Sampler Additions" set has 20 different block styles to chose from, including one blank square that can be used for many possibilities. For this, I chose four different blocks, lined them up side by side on an acrylic block and stamped them as one image. I've colored my "quilt" with prismacolor pencils and SU markers, distressed and stitched the edges.

The card below is the first one I made when stamping with Jami on Christmas Day. I had quite a time with the layout, added the Cuttlebug zig zag border and finally just decided to leave it as it was. Tonight, I was looking at it again and proceded to add the patterned paper background, change the layout and restamp the sentiment in Versafine Vintage Sepia instead of black. The funny thing about this second card is that I really like it in real life, but looking at the posted photo, it seems a bit "busy". Please let me know what you think...or which one you prefer. Appreciate it!

The possiblilites for this set are endless and you'll probably see a lot more creations with it in the days to come. I can hardly wait! :)

Happy Stamping!

"Good friends are like quilts - they age with you yet never lose their warmth." ~Author Unknown

Camo Birthday Card for an Outdoorsman!

Our son, Andrew, celebrated
his 28th birthday this week {HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDY!} and this is the card I made for him.

Since Andy's birthday is the first week of January, we always give him his hunting & fishing license for the new year. You'll notice on the inside of the card is a pocket to hold the license.


The "textured camo" paper by The Paper Studio was perfect for this and I've teamed it up with some coordinating cardstock from Stampin Up... river rock, always artichoke, and handsome hunter (appropriate, huh? :)






I thought you would enjoy seeing a recent photo of Andy with our sweet daughter-in-law Jami on her graduation day 12-19-08. We're SO proud of them! And some additional good news...Jami is back to blogging! She just updated her blog "Crazy Daisy Creations" so please stop by and congratulate her! She just made a fantastic birthday card with her Cricut that you'll want to check out.



If you ever have any questions about my creations, please don't hesitate to ask! It's so great to be back to stamping and blogging and reading all your blogs too! Your comments and words of encouragement mean the world to me.

Thanks so much & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Smiles ~




Quote for the New Year ~
We spend January walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. ~Ellen Goodman

p.s. to GAIL from Nebraska ~ Thanks SO much for your comments. It sounds like we have a lot in common. Please email me! :)

HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR! I think I've "fixed" my pc issues & I'm smiling! :)

Last weekend I started having trouble with my computer after I uninstalled the McAfee Antivirus protection. I wanted to try a new antivirus software instead. Anyway, since then I have not been able to post to my blog, open my Google Reader to read all my fav blogs, and I couldn't view some web pages. I was ready to buy a new computer! Well, tonight I did some online reading about uninstalling McAfee and that it doesn't usually uninstall correctly when you use the control panel, remove programs. To make a loooong story short...I think I've got it working again!!!

I'm SO excited, I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight! LOL I may post and read blogs all night long. :) Wooo Hooo! I can finally see what all you dear friends have been creating the last couple weeks. And I'm sure you're anxious to see my vacation photos and hear all about it too. :)

Once I check everything out here and make sure it's all working properly, I'll be back. Yeah!!!




A new year begins, and life once more offers the bright, pure joy of possibility. May the year ahead find you at peace with the world around you.