Sharing a "Vintage" Wedding Photo ~

Dear friends, please don't laugh too hard and choke on your coffee... and remember, this was the 70's ... back when styles were a bit unusual, to say the least! LOL :)

There is a thread at The Stamp Shack asking all of us to share one of our wedding photos. Obviously, ours were taken WAY before digital was invented so I found our old wedding album in a storage box layered with dust on the top shelf of our closet. I vacuumed it off and took a digital photo...after I stopped laughing. :)

Do we look YOUNG? Well, we were! I was only 19 and Jim was just 21. We had jobs, but no savings, one car and a whole lot of growing up to do. I'm happy to say he's still my best friend and "Mr Wonderful". We celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary this past June.

You'll get a kick out of this...I saved all our wedding receipts and found them in my album. My dress cost more than my ring. It was $110, which was pricey for back then...and the ring was $67.25!!! How funny is that? {You'll be glad to know that I got a REAL diamond for our 30th anniversary.}

This post was totally spontaneous and hopefully you've enjoyed it. Would anyone else like to share your wedding photos with all of us? If you do decide to post them, please leave a comment with a link to your blog so we can see.

Have a great Sunday! I'll be back later to post the other projects from our fun Stampin Up workshop yesterday. Smiles...

Quote for Today ~

"I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life." ~Rita Rudner

ETA: Oh my, this makes my post even funnier yet......someone just unsubscribed from my blog because of it!!! Yikes! I better stick to cardmaking... LOL :)
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It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood!

Actually it's a very cold and windy day in our neighborhood today, but with hot apple cider and the coffee pot on, it was the perfect day to be indoors stamping it up with friends!

I hosted a Stampin' Up! workshop this morning and we had such a FUN time! This is one of our projects using the "Neighborhood" jumbo wheel. As you can see, we all colored our image just a little differently using the Stampin' Up markers. For added dimension and sparkle we added glittery snow to the rooftops using Liquid Applique and diamond glitter. I had forgotten how much fun it is to use the liquid applique...the snow just puffs up when you heat emboss it. :)


{Happy Hi to Jason, Vicki, Karmen, Jami, Mandey & Yvonne and thank U all for letting me share a photo of all our cards together!}

The sentiment is from the "Heard from the Heart" set. It's amazing that I hadn't noticed this set in the catalog and now I have to have it! I wish $$ was no object, because there are SO many sets that I would love to have...plus, all the designer cardstock and new IN colors...and all the ribbon!

We made two other terrific projects, but I'll wait and share those with you tomorrow. Mainly because I want to share a recipe with you that I made for the first time and everyone thought it was yummy! I copied this from one of my favorite blogs "Mish Mash" where Michelle tells the story of how she named it "Mr. Hatfield's Pickle Dip." It is just so easy to make and delicious served with crackers for a tasty snack.

Mr. Hatfield’s Pickle Dip
1 cup sour cream
1-8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
2 pkgs dried beef, minced
2-3 dill pickle spears, diced
1 T Worcestershire Sauce
Black pepper, garlic powder & season salt to taste
Mix all ingredients. Serve with firm crackers. Can use 'light' ingredients.


Until tomorrow... Happy Stamping!

What Lies Before Us . . .

. . . and what lies behind us

are tiny matters

compared to what

lies within us.

Tonight when I sat down to stamp while watching the election results, I was determined to create a card without relying on a sketch or layout for inspiration. . . to simply "go with the flow".

I began by selecting this gorgeous Della Fantasia paper by the Paper Studio. This is from a paper pack with a lovely assortment of coordinating colors and patterns.

You know I love quotes and this is one of my favorites. It's "within us" by Penny Black. I've stamped it in Versafine Vintage Sepia and embossed it with clear powder. The felt flowers are from Stampin Up. You'll notice I did some random stitching and sponged around the edges for a little extra oomph! :)

Until tomorrow...thanks so much for stopping by!

It's Happy Hour Somewhere!

How about a little COLOR tonight? This bright and happy card is for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #64. If you have a minute or two, you really should try this sketch...or at least blog on over to Beate's blog "Fresh & Fun" and look at all the terrific cards she and others have posted. It's FUN to see how each one is quite different, even using the same layout.

My pina colada "refreshment" is a $1 Michaels stamp and the sentiment is by Inkadinkado. I've used Stampin Up cardstock ~ marigold morning and wild wasabi. The patterned yellow plaid paper is by Bo-Bunny Press and the "happy hour" green paper by Flair Designs. I've colored my image with prismacolor pencils. The new Stampin Up scalloped edge punch is what I used on the top and bottom edge.

This was really a super simple card...especially since I had the sketch to start out!



Our weather the past few days has been unbelievably beautiful with temps in the 70's! I know it's not going to last much longer, in fact I think I heard the four letter word S.N.O.W. in the forecast later this week. Let's hope they're wrong again. :)

Have a GREAT week!




Quote for Today ~
"To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides." - unknown

Operation Baking Gals ~ Cards & Cookies for our Troops!

Last week I signed up to participate on Erika Martin's Team Cookies & Cards. It is a wonderful program called Operation Baking Gals organized by Cat of The Cat's Pajamas fame.

In case you haven't heard of it already, I'll try to explain what Team Cookies & Cards is all about...

It's a team of 20 bakers/cardmakers that commit to making a batch of cookies, packaging them up and mailing them to our soldier, along with a bag of 10 handmade holiday cards with envelopes. These holiday cards should are blank inside so that our soldiers will have something to send home to their families and friends. Holiday cards are not an easy thing to find overseas when you're in the military. Our soldier, Wayne, will receive all 20 packages and then disperse all the cookies and cards to the other soldiers in his battalion.

Just think how many smiles will be on the faces of the soldiers when they get all those packages and EVERYONE gets a "taste of home." We are to mail our packages out by November 10th so I wanted to get mine done this weekend. Isn't this wonderful project? I read about it on Tammy's blog, Stamp Happy, and I'm so happy I did! :)

Now, to tell you more about the cards that I'm sending. This card is a "case" from LeAnne at Wee Inklings, but I have purposely simplified it a bit from her beautiful design. I didn't want too many layers or extra weight since these will primarily be mailed overseas.

If you're wondering what strange color I've used, it is retired Sahara Sand by Stampin Up! I really wanted to use the kraft cardstock but only had a couple sheets. The large snowflake in the center is one I've had forever by PSX. I've stamped with Versamark and embossed with Ranger Seafoam White Embossing Powder. The polka dot paper was created using the Stampin Up background stamp and white craft pad. The small snowflake and JOY are from the Stampin Up Perfect Presentation set. They are stamped with Versamark and embossed as well. The white dotted ribbon is from Michaels. As you can see, I've made one for a pattern and set up my "cardmaking assembly line" for the rest. Now, I better get busy and finish them so I can do my baking!

Thanks so much for blogging by today. I hope you're making good use out of that extra hour we gained this weekend. (those of us that who were on daylight savings time, that is) Mr Wonderful likes to set the clocks before we go to bed, but I prefer to wake up and turn them back in the morning. That way, I feel like I've truly gained an hour! :)

Smiles 2 U All!




Quote for Today ~
And I'm proud to be an American,where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,who gave that right to me. ~Lee Greenwood


ETA: I got a dozen cards done today! They took a little longer than I thought they would with all the embossing. You'll notice I stamped the little mini snowflakes on the top because it seemed too plain to me.