Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Weight Loss Blog Candy Winner

Hi! Sorry I've been neglecting my readers this past weekend. Life has been busy for me.

Congrats to Bunny B. She's the winner this go round. Here is her comment
Oh wow!! Congrats on the loss! What an awesome achievement!! Woohoo!!! :) Have a fab weekend!


Send me an email clar42ie@aol.com with your snail mail address and I'll mail out your prize package this Saturday.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to drop me a good wishes comment. Still working hard on losing more. So you know there will be more blog candy coming.

I had a good birthday. I took 1/2 vacation day and drove to Cedar Point to pick up my daughter Sarah. She's working there again for Halloweekends. She's one of the Tricksters. Hoping to have pics of her soon to post in costume.

We made fried rice and tilapia for dinner, then went out clothes shopping. After that we worked out together. That was fun. Sarah is down to 138. She is almost at her goal weight of 135. She looks great!!!! She is a great inspiration for her mom!!!

Till tomorrow. Hoping I'll be able to post some artwork, but I just haven't had much time to stamp.

Stamping Trails
Karen 233

Friday, September 26, 2008

40 POUNDS!!!!!!!!!! GONE!!!!!!!!


OMG can you believe it!!!!! I got on the scale at the WW meeting yesterday and I have lost a total of 40 pounds since I started on 6-4-08. I'm so happy with myself!!!!


It's good news for my readers too! Yup I met another 10 pound loss mile stone so you know what that means. BLOG CANDY!!!!!!!
Up for grabs:
Battery Op Craft Vac. I have one of these myself and it's great. Takes 4 AA batteries (sorry readers you'll have to get your own batteries) and will suck up beads, glitter, micro beads, embossing powder, and more! So if you make a mess on your desk just reach for the VAC it will help you out! Also included is a CuttleBug Snowman Embossing folder, mini Christmas shopping bags, and 4 See-D's Christmas stamp sets. See a trend here? It's a holiday package. Consider it an early Christmas gift for one of my lucky readers.
If you want to win just leave me a comment on this post. I will pull one lucky winner on my Birthday 9-30 at 6:00 EST. So leave your post before the time is up. Best of luck!!!
Karen
233


Thursday, September 25, 2008

Double Pocket Holder


Here is another gift I made for my friend Lisa's birthday. Upsy Daisy stamp set used, along with Bella Rosa designer paper. I got the directions for this cute double pocket from blogger friend Dawn
I made something really yummy for dinner yesterday. Pulled Pork. I got out my crock pot, and put it all together before I left for work yesterday. Here is the recipe. The ingredients might seem a bit odd but it is very good!!!
2 pounds pork tenderloin
1 can diet cola ( I used caffeine free diet Coke)
1 onion chopped
1 cup ketchup
1/2 garlic powder
Place the tenderloin in the crock pot. Mix other ingredients together in a bowl. Pour over the pork. Set crock pot to low. Let cook for 10 to 12 hours. YUM!!!!
I'm getting weighed in today. Hoping I lost something. I'm only a pound and 1/2 away from getting to the next 10 pounds. Then it will be time for more Weight Loss blog candy!!!!!
Stamping Trails
Karen 235

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Gift Bag


Well now that my friend Lisa received her birthday goodies from me....I can show you the gift bag I made for her.
I used a pumpkin color gift bag, and trimmed it with beaded fringe. You have to use the sticky strip tape to hold it on.
For the flowers I used Tango, Kiwi, and Chocolate chip. The large scallop was done with the Big Shot. Just adore this stamp set. I'm looking forward to using it more.
I got the test results from the blood work I had done last week. Happy to say they came back good! My bad cholesterol is down and the good is up. Total is 164. So changing my diet must be working! This Thursday is the last meeting for the summer session of Weight Watchers. Of course I already signed up for the next 17 weeks at work session. I had set my goal to reach 214 by Christmas but I'm thinking I'll be able to get to 200. Wish me luck!!!
Stamping Trails
Karen 235

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

My Ribbon Runneth Over!!!






Now when I ask my friends for ribbon for my birthday.....they sure do deliver!!!




This awesome designer paper box is just stuffed full of ribbon! Kat I don't think you know just how much you put in there, but it's a lot!!!! Ribbon of every color, side, and grain. The box has a lid but it's covered up by all that ribbon next to it.



Now all my friends are ribbon junkies. Hard to say who has the most. I'm willing to venture that Kathy does, but until I get to visit with all of them next year in TX the jury is still out on who has the most.




I asked Lisa to get me the ribbon iron for my birthday. I have a smaller stamp room, and it's hard to pull out the large iron in the laundry room so this is perfect to plug in right at my desk so I can press out ribbon. When talking to Kathy she said that the ribbon she gave was purposely stuffed into the box so I'd have to use the new toy Lisa got me. LOL


Lisa isn't starving for ribbon either. Just take a look at how much she stuffed into this cello bag.......





WOW!! I have lots of ribbon to use on all my projects. Not to say I won't need or want more of the stuff. Like Lisa says...." you can never have enough ribbon".......you know what????????????
She's right!!!!!!!
Big thanks for all my wonderful gifts!!!!! I am truely blessed to have such wonderful friends!!!! Hugs!!!!
Stamping Trails......or as the Ribbon unravels.........till tomorrow
Karen 235

Monday, September 22, 2008

Canning's Done






What a chore that was! After all that we only had enough tomatoes to fill 7 cans. I do have a ton of them in the freezer. I did those two weeks ago. We are still going to get more tomatoes off the plants we have at the farm, and maybe still more from the home garden. At least we will have plenty to make home made chili with over the long winter months.
















While my friends were out at Michael's buying Martha Stewart ribbon that was on sale there.......I ventured out to my favorite craft store Pat Catan's. They had ribbon bags for 1.00 each! Each bag contains 10 different ribbons that are 3 yards long. Now that's a lot of ribbon!!!!!


They also had white 12x12 cardstock packs that they have on clearance for 1.00 a pack. Had to have those also. I ended up spending 48.00 on that little outing!





I wanted to share some cards that Connie (birthday Fuffle card), and Kat (girl card) made for me. Thanks girls!!!!
I did go visit my mom today. When I left I gave her a hug and she just pulled me close and gave me a really big hug. I thought that was so sweet of her. She's doing better I think. Last few times I've gone to see her she was crying. I think she has leveled out. I'm going to go back down and see her again on Tuesday after work.
That's all for today. I'm off to work. To bad the weekends go by so quick. Oh......happy Autumn! Today is the first day of Autumn.
Stamping Trails
235

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Sore this Morning!


I got on the treadmill yesterday for 50 minutes. Then later around 10 pm hubby wants me to go for a bike ride with him around the neighbourhood. Did I ever wake up sore and stiff this morning!!!! No fun getting older!!!! September has just flew by. First day of Autumn is tomorrow.



My friends Lisa and her hubby Geoff will be celebrating there birthdays this week. The card is for Geoff. Not my design I cased it somewhere sorry I don't remember where. I did change the designer paper that was used and the word stamp, so some of it is mine, and I used very vanilla embossing powder on the train.
Busy day for me. I'm going to go visit mom this morning, then I have to stop on the way home to do the grocery shopping. Then I'm going to be really brave and can all the tomatoes we picked from the garden. I'll let you know how that goes! I've never canned before. I've seen people do it. My mom made some attempts to can we I was younger and still living at home. As I remember the pickles she tried came out limp. Again I'll see how it goes. I'm a city girl proper, not a country girl. Even though hubby is trying hard to turn me into one.
Stamping Trails
Karen 235

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Early Birthday Gift!



It's this just to FUN!!!!! Love my ribbon jar Connie and all the solid color ribbon inside. My friends asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year. One of the things was solid color ribbon. I have a ton of ribbon, but as it turns out most of it is patterned ribbon, and I can never find a solid color piece of ribbon when I need one. Connie used last SU catalog Hostess level Rub On's and added those to this large clear jar.

The topper is a large flower that has been layered on cardstock. Just love the cute little addition of the ladybug sitting on the mini clothes pin.

Big THANKS Connie!!!!!!! Just love my present!!!!

OOPS!!!! I didn't let you know how my last weigh in went. I lost another 3 pounds. YAY!!!! I saw my doctor this week. He was so pleased to see how much weight I had lost. He put up a chart on the computer for my weight last year vs. this year. It looked like a straight drop off a very high mountain!!! I'm happy!!! He also told me the reason I was getting dizzy was my blood pressure meds were to strong for me since I had lost weight. So he gave me a lower dosage. He also said if I lose enough that I will be able to come off the meds completely. Doing the happy dance about that one!!!!

We are only a few pounds away from the next Weight Loss Blog Candy. Stay tuned!!!!

Stamping Trails

Karen 235

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Wicked Witch


I got a new die for my Big Shot. Just love the witch accessories! I found this one at Jo Ann's. They were on sale last week for 20% off. The large scallop is also a die for the Big Shot. It's really large! I had to use a 5 1/2 base card to get it to fit on the card. Since I had the gold leaf pen out for yesterday's card I used it again to edge the buckles on the shoes. It doesn't show up well but I also used Fiskers spider web embossing plate for the background. The little Wicked Witch word is from the dollar bin at Michael's. Course I had to have some glitter in there so I used purple stickles.
Wish me luck. I'm going to the doctor's today. Hoping the blood pressure is doing good. I'd really like to get off my meds for that. We will see. Past two days I've had some dizzy spells when I got up. This has been happening in the evening. I'm wondering if I'm not eating enough. Have to watch and see.
Stamping Trails
Karen 237

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Techno Challenge #35




I had time to take Mary Jo's Lunchtime Challenge. I used the two largest Marvy scallop circle punches, and SU Bella Rosa paper.










The word stamp didn't show up as nice as I had hoped for, but I'm still happy with the way it turned out. I used Mary's layout and changed it a bit and used a 5 1/2 base card. Stamp sets: Heard from the Heart, and So Many Scallops. I also dragged out my gold pen. Had to dust it off. LOL Haven't used it in a very long time. I used the pen to add a layer of gold around the pink cardstock.


It's back to work for me today. I'm feeling better. Still not 100% but good enough to go to work. Here's hoping I can bounce back so I can get on the treadmill today. I made an appointment to see my doctor. He hasn't seen me since I lost weight. Going in on Wednesday afternoon.

Stamping Trails!
Karen 237

Monday, September 15, 2008

Not Feeling Well Today


Well....I got up and went to work today, but was only there for 5 minutes before deciding to go home. Just not feeling well at all. My stomach is just crampy and I was breaking out in a cold sweat. I think I must have picked up a bug somewhere. Hoping it will run it's course in a day.


We had the remains of Hurricane Ike go though OH last night. Winds were up to 75 miles per hour. Our front tree lost several of it's branches. A lot of areas are without power this morning. Even for the brief few minutes I was at work MTD didn't have power. So don't know if they will be able to get it fixed. They may send everyone home. They do have a back up generator.

The Halloween trio was made using FireCracker Design stamps by Pam. Just love the cat! The treat bag was trimmed with beaded fringe. Card features Bandanna technique, and the "Spell Book" is a paper book that was painted first. It open ups and holds candy. Click on the image to enlarge to see the detail.

Okay I'm going to go lay down. Hope everyone has a great day

Stamping Trails

Karen 237

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Long Time No Post


So sorry it's been so long since my last post. Just been busy, and my program for uploading pics from my digital camera is not working. Had hubby try to fix it yesterday and it's still not working. I'm going to have to figure out someway to get my artwork on the PC so I can still share with you.



So what's been going on this week? At my weigh in I lost another 3.5 pounds. So the total is 35.5 YAY! Happy about that. I think switching to the Core plan on WW is working to shake up my metabolism. I'll stay on it for another week then go back to the Flex plan for two weeks. Our new leader suggested it to me, so I'll give it a try.


I had a big surprise yesterday when I went to Michael's. I was just browsing through some craft magazines and picked up the October issue of Crafts 'n Things. Guess what I found on page 99? They published one of my cards! It was a Halloween card. It was so funny cause I was looking at the artwork without reading the name of the artist and thought to myself I made a card like that how did someone get my idea. Then I glance and saw my name. LOL



The card above it one I worked on last week. It's done using the Bandanna Technique. I twisted it just a bit and embossed the background piece with clear embossing powder. It makes the white gel pen pop even more!

I need to get dressed (still in my jammies) I need to go visit mom then I'm going to run back to Michael's. They have the Cricut cartridges on sale for 39.95 this week, and there are two that I have had my eye on.

Have a great week!!!

Karen

238

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Barbie and Beatles Stamps

One of my readers inquired on where I purchased the Barbie stamps. You can purchased all kids of cool stamps like that at Viva Las Vegas

Have fun shopping!!!!!

Monday, September 8, 2008

Will I Ever Have Enough Time?

Well that's a silly question.......the answer is no. It's was a busy weekend. Saturday night hubby and I went to see Journey at Blossom music hall. It's outside. You can buy tickets for the pavilion or you can sit on the lawn. We were on the lawn. Great night for a concert. Also playing Cheap Trick, and Heart. The bands were awesome! Plus I got a good workout hiking from the parking area to the stage. About 1 1/2 each direction.


Sunday I made homemade chili with tomatoes from our garden. OMG it was the best!!! Hubby tried to go overboard with the spices. We also grew some hot peppers which was also thrown into the chili. Good thing I caught him before he turned it into 5 alarm chili!


Later in the day I went to visit mom. She was doing better. It was the first visit that I've had with her in over a month that she wasn't crying.


After work today I made dinner. Cleaned up, then picked more tomatoes from the garden. I wanted to freeze many of them so I can use them during the winter months.


First I filled a large pot with water and brought it to a boil. Next I put the clean tomatoes in the pot whole, boiled for one minute. I took them out and dropped them into a pan of ice water. The skins just slid right off them. After they cooled a bit I sealed them in zip locks and put in the freezer. I still have lots of tomatoes coming in so I'll be doing this again.


On top of everything else I'm still working on the treadmill. I'm up to 45 mintues. I'm even jogging a bit on level 3 speed. I haven't jogged since forever!!! I got a bit hungry last night around 8 so instead of eating I got hubby to ride bikes with me just around the neighbourhood. That helped.


Special thanks to my friend Connie for sending me this beautiful encouragement card. Just love it Connie!!!! Thanks bunches!!!!
On a closing note.....remember those clothes I bought just a bit ago? I wore one of the new outfits today and did I turn some heads. Everyone was commenting on how good I look. It was almost to point of embarrassing me....but it make me feel GREAT!!
Stamping trails!
Karen 242

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Weight In day

I lost 1.4 pounds this past week. YAY! Our WW Leader told us today that starting next week till the middle October WW will donate 1 pound of food for each 1 pound of weight we loose to help feed hungry children. Part of the food will go to local organizations and 1/3 will go overseas to feed children. I think that is great! What a great way to help others in need and to motivate us to stay with our commitment to lose weight and get healthier. Our group is also going to donate food for each pound we have lost as a group.

Congrats to dear daughter Sarah! She told me today that she is down to 139. Go Sarah!!!! You better save some of your larger clothes for mom Sarah....I did say I wanted to wear some of your clothes!!!



I've been working on some projects this week but alas I can't share them with you. I've been working on stuff to submit to magazines and to Rubber Road Adventures. I'll have more to share with you soon.

I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday. I don't know why but 4 day work weeks are longer than 5 day ones.

Stamping trails!
Karen 241.6

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Happy Camper!


Well I am one happy camper! I discovered that my Fiskers embossing templates will work in the Big Shot! Whoo Hoo! When I went to Pat Catan's yesterday to exchange the scallop circle punch that I bought two of....I exchanged it for the starter embossing template kit for the Big Shot. The embossing plates are about the same size and thickness as the Fiskers plates so I tried it and it worked!!! Doing the happy dance.
After I ran the plate though I used Whisper White craft ink and just touched it on the raised web. Next I embossed it with clear embossing powder. Makes the web "POP" more. Stamp set used Web Wishes. Colors: Kiwi Kiss, Tango Tangerine, and Basic Black.
It was sooooooo busy at work yesterday. I knew it would be. The phones never stopped ringing. No time to do any of my other many projects I have to keep up with. Maybe today it won't be as busy. I gal can hope!!!
John lost another two pounds so he's at 10 pounds lost. I won't get weighed in till Thursday. I'm scared to get on the scale and do a check. I haven't been walking as much as my ankle has really been bothering me. Still watching what I put in my mouth though so hoping I'll lose some this week.
Stamping Trails
Karen 243

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Fiendishly Frighting!


I was playing with my Big Shot late last night when my eyes became an erie site....when my flowers from there die began to rise and suddenly to my surprise they had eyes!!!
LOL okay I know I'm not a poet, but I couldn't resist. Now I was playing with the Big Shot and the die Basket and Blooms. I used Halloween designer paper to make the basket then I didn't know what to do with the leftover cut pieces of flowers. Then I came up with the idea to put them on a card, give them wiggle eyes, and team them up with Drac from Best of Fiends stamp set. I think it came out rather cute! Colors used Elegant Eggplant, and Tango Tangerine, and Barely Banana. I love these colors together!!! Post a comment and let me know what you think about the use of the cut flowers with eyes.
Can believe the long 3 day weekend is over already. I wish time went by that fast when I'm at work! Not looking forward to going in this morning and taking customer calls. Oh well. I need to work to get more stamp money!
Till tomorrow
Stamping Trails
Karen 243

Monday, September 1, 2008

Weight Loss Candy Winner

Congrats to Lisa! She won the 30 pound mark Blog Candy. Thanks to everyone who posted a comment and have sent me encouragement. Here is Lisa's comment

I bet you had a great time shopping for new clothes, all your hard work is paying off. Looking forward to seeing the new pics.
Lisa email me your snail mail address to clar42ie@aol.com I'll get your prize sent out to you this week.
Check back tomorrow everyone. I made a really cute Halloween card using Basket and Blooms Die.

My Weekend


I made time to stamp! Can you believe that! Been playing with my new toy Big Shot. Love, love, love it! Most of Saturday I spent in my stamp room cleaning out and rearranging things. I've gotten so much new stuff that I just had to work it into the rest of the mix. The best thing I did was to move my PortaInk off my desk. It's on top of my index card file chest now. Not only did it free up some much needed desk space for me......it adds to my daily steps. Now I have to get out of my chair, stand up and reach over to select an ink pad. All those little things add up during a course of a day.
The Big Shot, Cuttlebug, and Bind It All found a place on top of my rolling carts right next to my desk. Just have to reach over and get them. Still waiting on my back ordered bag for the Big Shot but it's suppose to be here by Thursday. YAY
The above card was made using that Scalloped Card die that I found at Pat Catan's last week. It's wonderful to work with. I had to have it as soon as I saw it. Remember that Scallop die that I liked so much that I bought two of them? I took one back and exchanged it with the circle die. It will work nicely with the scallop circle.
Yesterday I got up way early 6:00 am, and made my son breakfast. He had to work 7 to 3 so since he is also on WW now he asked me to make him breakfast. Kids....no matter how old they get they still need mom. After we ate I went out to visit mom and brought her breakfast good thing I did. They were late getting food to the residents. Something about the oven. Anyway they didn't get fed till after 9. I was there at 7:30 with food for mom.
After that I came home and got packed up for our family picnic. It's Skip side of the family they get together every year for a family reunion. I surprised some of them with my weight loss. Mary Jo actually called me skinny! I'm a far cry from that. Working on it! I was good on my diet. I brought things that I could eat, and watched my points. Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
I also finished up my next submission for the Rubber Road Adventures. Pam from Fire Cracker Designs gave us a free stamp set to use for the new edition. I got a very cute cat set. Wish I could show you what I did now but you'll have to wait for the new edition to come out. I made trio of Halloween items.
Today I'm just going to take it easy, and stamp some more. I'm in stamping mode again. Happy about that. Sometimes I just run though a dry spell and I can't get motivated to stamp.
Remember to check back later today to see who won the Weight Loss Blog Candy. I'll be posting the winner at 6:00 est. Good Luck
Stamping Trails
Karen 243