Sparkle Smith

Birthday Wishes Celebrating Chloe Card

2012-01-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know it's been ghost town around here...but once I get back from all the CHA craziness, I promise to be a better blogger! I've been shipping and packing all week...and I'm sure once we set up today, I'll realize that I still forgot something, lol.

Well, today is my little sister's birthday and she's turning 6. Unfortunately, I will miss her birthday every year, as CHA will always fall on that week. :( But I bought her the coolest and best present, so I hope it makes up for the fact that I can't be there. And she'll hate that I'm down in Anaheim and didn't bring her with me, since all she loves right now are Disney princesses.

My mini-me is growing up so fast! She writes just as a beautifully as I do (yeah, I'll be selfish and admit that my handwriting is awesome, lol) and I think she'll eventually surpass my coloring skills! Unfortunately, I don't have any princess stamps, so I used Celebrating Chloe. Maybe in the works for next year?!? Of course, maybe she'll outgrow princesses by then, lol.

Here's the gown I got her, since Cinderella is her favorite. I personally liked Tiana's dress best...but you know I love green, lol. I'm sure she'll be so excited and can't wait to see the pictures of her in the dress.

And no princess can have a dress without matching sparkly shoes! So, I know this gift is really impractical...as its not Halloween and kids grow so fast, but this is what she wanted for Christmas and my parents asked me to buy her something different. She had also asked for Lion King II (which is in the Disney Vault BTW)...so poor girl didn't get anything she asked Santa for.

I know my parents won't be thrilled with my gift choice, lol...but I get to be the 'cool, fun' sister for just a little bit. :) I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I will try to post CHA pics as I go. I am working my booth this year though, so I may not get to walk around as much as I have in the past!

If you are attending CHA, we're booth #26 in the newbie section and would love to see you!

SCRSC Challenge #71 - Sketch Challenge

2012-01-23T21:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Week 2 of Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps Challenge #71! We appreciate you taking the time to join our challenge and look forward to seeing your creations each week. You have until Sunday, 1/29/11 @ 9 PM PST to play along with the current challenge which is a fabulous sketch! Check out the SCRS blog to see more darling creations from the DT!

Our challenge is open to all players. Each week a random winner will be chosen, and this week's winner will receive Snow Angel Ruby. In order to qualify for a prize, you must use a Sparkle Creations image on your creation. Most importantly, have fun! We can't wait to see your creations!

Confession...this was a half colored image that was suppose to match my Jovial paper. I scrapped that and tried to save her. If you notice...I'm in need of a R37 refill and my lighting is all over the place, lol. Besides that, I do love how my card came together!

To play along in our challenge, upload a photo of your project and provide a direct link in the linky widget at the bottom of the SCRS post. If you use an online gallery (e.g. Splitcoast), please also use the keywords SCRSC71 and SparkleCreations (no spaces). If you have a Facebook account and are a fan of Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps, you can also upload there. Deadline for this week's challenge is Sunday, January 29th @ 9 PM PST.

I hope you all have a great Tuesday! Biggest Loser is on and for those celebrating, hope you're enjoying Chinese New Years!

Happy New Year Card - Year of the Dragon

2012-01-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

Next week is a busy week, as I'm getting last minute stuff done for CHA, 4 birthdays, and Chinese New Years. I love that Brent enjoys celebrating New Years 3 times a year with me. Hmong New Years in November/December, American New Years on January 1st, and Chinese New Years in January/February.

It's not typically for me to make New Year cards...as I usually just jump to Valentines. I already have a stack piling up, lol...I really should just make Valentines instead of Christmas cards. Plus, I enjoy making Valentines so much more. :)

When I was still training classes full time, I had a trainee tell me that they missed Christmas one year, so they sent out Ground Hog's Day cards, lol. And that became their thing...so could Valentines become my thing?!? I think my family would have an uproar.

I definitely think there will be Chinese Zodiac Rin stamps in the near future. We may have to wait til next year...but I've got it on the docket. :) How do make a cute snake, lol?!? Anyhoo- have a great Friday...it's almost the weekend!

InLinkz.com

Project Life January Photos - Week 3

2012-01-19T15:00:00.000-08:00

Howdy all...sorry that I've been MIA this week. With getting locked out of my Google account and getting 4 inches of snow and ice, it's made my week pretty interesting, lol. It's my second day home due to the weather, but I've still been working on both of my jobs...and doing laundry and cleaning my house. I must say it's pretty awesome to work in my pajamas, especially when I'm use to wearing a suit everyday.

I am patiently waiting for more page protectors to come in before I start my physical album. I'm trying really hard to keep up so when I actually get my stuff, it won't take too long to update. I hope that once I do get caught up, I'll show you actual album pages instead of just pictures. Last year I didn't pick a set...I used the blank cards and used my paper stash. This year, I picked Clementine and I also bought the Clementine digital elements, so you'll see the colors run through some of the photos.

Do any of you read the Bloggess? I swear, this is funniest blog ever. Has absolutely nothing to do with crafting, but this woman is just hilarious. She has made metal chickens popular again! I've been following her since this summer, when she got a 5ft tall metal rooster and named it Beyonce, lol.

I went to Walmart last Friday to do my coupon shopping. I was able to get $2 off each pack of White Cloud toilet paper (this is 3-ply too), making a pack of 12 rolls only $3.97, which is $0.33 a roll. I only used to use Charmin, which is $12.97 for 12 rolls. I honestly don't think I've used a different brand since I lived in the dorms at college, lol.

My friend Lisa sent me this picture from her local scrapbook store. Isn't this banner the coolest?!? I'll have to try and make one myself. Maybe once I get back from CHA, I can try to figure it out. PS...I always love it when people send me 'sparkle' pics. My friend Nona sent me one awhile too. I think an Instgram collage is in the calling soon.

The 2nd Saturday of each month is my normal craft day. It was also Lori's belated birthday, so we made cupcakes. Kelly made chocolate peanut butter frosting - so yummy! The gals are tired of me taking pictures of them each month, lol...so I gave them a little break.

As I'm preparing for CHA, my crafty friends helped me cut 433 envelope corners, 183 lacey circles, and 400 circles for my bookmark make-n-takes. Having 5 of the same size Nestabilites works so well! I really wish we could buy multiples of the same sizes!

Monday was a very sad for me...I was leaving comments on the SCRS challenge entries and while I was signing in, I got this message. I was locked out of all my blogs, my calendar, my profile, Google+ account, and my personal blog got shut down. Good thing I don't use Gmail, or I really would of cried!

It took about 24 hours for Google to resolve all of this for me...and I still don't know what really caused them to think I was doing suspicious activity. I'm just glad my blog is back up and running. This made me create another Google profile just as a back-up though, in case this were to ever happen again.

Coming home on Saturday night from Craft Group was the beginning of the snow. It didn't snow too much then, so I wasn't too worried about it. I didn't want to take my chances though, so I ended just shopping at Safeway. I wanted to use my Double Coupons at Albertson's, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be this week. It's alright, I still got a good amount of savings.

I took this picture as soon as we got to work on Monday. It reminds me of Narnia when it's frozen, lol. There's a huge soccer field behind our office building, so that's the whole spread of snow that you see.

The snow didn't get bad til Wednesday morning. Moving here from Denver, driving in the snow isn't a big deal for us. But unfortunately, Seattle isn't as prepared as Denver is. I'm a born and raised PacNW person, so I can totally relate. I appreciate the snow skills I ~~was forced to learn~~ obtained in the 2 years I lived in Denver. It snowed 36 inches my first winter in Denver. :)

This is Brent outside measuring the snow for me. He walked down the street to Papa Murphy's and got us a pizza. Such a sweetheart! And an excuse for him to go play in the snow.

This was the weather forecast on my phone. I took a screenshot on my iPhone and then ran it through Instagram.

It's still snowing at my house and fortunately we still have power. A lot of Maple Valley and Covington doesn't, so here's to hoping we won't lose power again. Can you tell that I'm looking forward to be going to Anaheim next week?!? I hope you all have a safe and lovely Thursday! I'll be back tomorrow with something crafty!

I Adore You Drucilla Card

2012-01-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

She's my favorite...and for some reason, I only tend to make lovey and Valentine cards with her. Though, I don't send them to people in fear that they might think I'm demented and slightly crazy, lol. One of my co-workers has one of my Drucilla cards up on her desk. I truly heart it!!

Well, while many of you have today off, I'm working...so I hope you all have a lovely Monday! Hawaii 5-0 and Bachelor are on tonight!

SCRS Release Day and January Preview - Tea Set Rin

2012-01-13T21:00:00.000-08:00

Today is RELEASE DAY! All new stamps are now available in the SCRS store! Click here or above on the Sparkle Creations Store link to start shopping now. We are also previewing Tea Set Rin today.

Be sure to visit our wonderful designers to see more peeks of Tea Set Rin. Sparkle will be giving away a Tea Set Rin rubber stamp to one lucky person! For a chance to WIN, you need to visit and comment on all of the designers' Tea Set Rin blog posts (listed below) and then leave a comment under this very post here on the SCRS blog. You have until midnight EST tonight to comment.

Alice Wertz
Danielle Lounds
Debbie Carriere {January Guest Designer}
Kerri Michaud
Kim Yu
Shaela Odd
Simonne Clay
Sparkle Smith
Stephanie Kraft

I hope you enjoy our new release! Thank you for stopping by and everyone have a great Saturday!

SCRS January Sneak Peek - Karber Fashion Set

2012-01-12T21:00:00.000-08:00

Today we are excited to show you a brand new Karber Fashion set. This is a clear acrylic set with 5 images and 3 sentiments. All new stamps will be available to purchase from the SCRS store tomorrow!

I love how cool and chic this set is! The good news is that I found my Stickles! It somehow ended up in my acrylic case, where I store all of my nestabilities, lol. I was almost to the point where I really thought it was just gone and I was going to have to buy a new bottle and start over.

Be sure to visit our fabulous designers for more peeks of Karber Fashion. Sparkle will be giving away a Karber Fashion stamp set to one lucky person! For a chance to WIN, you need to visit and comment on all of the designers' Karber Fashion blog posts (links listed below) and then leave a comment under this very post here on the SCRS blog. You have until midnight EST tonight to comment.

Amber Hight
Danielle Lounds
Kerri Michaud
Margie Cortina
Savannah O'Gwynn
Sparkle Smith

I hope you all have a great Friday! We will see you tomorrow for the final day of previews! I hope you all have a fabulous Friday! It's almost the weekend!

January Project Life Photos - Week 2

2012-01-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

I've been debating back and forth on what I want to do with all of my Instagram photos. I decided to get them printed using an app Postal Pix. It's actually quite expensive...$0.29 a picture. (I normally pay $0.09 a picture at Walgreens.) But, the parts I do like is that I don't have to take the pictures off my phone. I don't have to resize them (I would if I was going to print them on a 4x6 format). And it even tells me if the photo is low resolution.

Since I got my iPhone, I have 45 photos in my Instagram! I suppose it's much easier to carry than my Canon, so I do use it more. I still need to work on taking better pics with it. I also wonder if I'm just jaded, lol. Meaning, the pictures will never be as good as my Canon, so are my expectations too high?

1-5: Teriyaki salmon is one of Brent's favorite dinners. I normally make the salmon with onions and mushrooms, and then steam broccoli. But this time I actually made a full pan of stir fry to go with it.

In attempts to get a new self-portrait of myself, here's a photo that I took in my bathroom. I always wonder if I should look up in the mirror, lol...and should I be concentrating on where it's focusing on the screen? But after reading this post on Photojojo, I scraped the idea of a self-portrait and I want to make a collage now for my timeline photo on Facebook. Though, I may make this my new profile pic for my blog. This picture now of me with the BasicGrey background is from last Winter CHA.

1-9: Since this was the only night game Bre had all season, we went to go see her play. Her games are usually early in the afternoon and during the time that Brent and I are at work. Unfortunately, they ended up losing by 4 points. But it was pretty much a tied game until the last 30 seconds of the game.

I was sitting pretty far up in the bleachers, so my pictures were not that great. I used an app Diptic to put the multiple pictures into one. Side note, there was this cute girl maybe about 4, who was recording the game on her mom's iPad. It was so cute to watch her go side to side as the girls ran up and down the court. :)

1-10: Brian, Brent's older brother came to meet us for lunch. We went to Red Robin and I had my usual - Guacamole Bacon Burger, with no bacon, no tomato, and a side of Ranch for my fries. I like my burger pink, but this was the pinkest I've ever had it, lol. It was still yummy and I will be eating the other half of it today for lunch.

After work, while Brent was renting a movie at Blockbuster, I went to go sign up for a QFC card and buy laundry detergent. Tide is my most favorite, so I had to take advantage of this great deal. I got 4 of these for $13.68 (including tax), which gave me 62.5% in savings. These are normally priced at $8 a bottle. They were buy 4, get each one for $4.99. Then I had $2 off manufacturer coupons from the newspaper and online, making each bottle $2.99 + tax.

BTW, Brent and I only do 3 loads of laundry every 2 weeks. We now have enough detergent until Fall of 2013, lol.

All right, that's pretty much my week so far. I'm waiting for page protectors and journaling cards to come in before I order my new Project Life. I've been debating on just slipping these in the regular pages or getting these 4x4 slot page protectors? I'm sure I'll end up somewhere in the middle! Everyone have a great hump day!

SCRS Challenge #70 - Use Something New

2012-01-09T21:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Week 2 of Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps Challenge #70! The challenge is to use something new! Check out the SCRS blog to see more darling creations from the DT.

Our challenge is open to all players. Each week a random winner will be chosen, and this week's winner will receive Daffodil Charlotte. In order to qualify for a prize, you must use a Sparkle Creations image on your creation. Most importantly, have fun! We can't wait to see your creations!

While I went to the Paper Zone Store Closing Sale, I bought this new paper pack from Crate Paper. I also ordered a new sentiment set from Papertrey Ink. I loosely used Sketches by Carly #47 for this.

To play along in our challenge, upload a photo of your project and provide a direct link in the linky widget at the bottom of the SCRS post. If you use an online gallery (e.g. Splitcoast), please also use the Keywords SCRSC70 and SparkleCreations (no spaces). If you have a Facebook account and are a fan of Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps, you can also upload there. Deadline for this week's challenge is Sunday, January 15th @ 9 PM PST.

I hope you all have a great Tuesday! Biggest Loser is on tonight!

InLinkz.com

2012 Christmas Card Challenge #6 - Lace

2012-01-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm a little late, but I got my Christmas Card Challenge done. This week our challenge is lace. Check out the CCC blog to see more lovely samples from the DT.

I tried to use a sketch for this and failed miserably, lol. I lost my Stickles and I still can't find it. I actually keep my Stickles in a different container. It's a special puffy paint container with a really long tip, so it comes out a lot smoother. The container is quite large, so I can usually fit 3 bottles of Stickles in it. I caved and opened a little bottle that I have...

I even cleaned my whole craft room and I still couldn't find it, lol. At least my work space is clean, I suppose. I did manage to find 4 tubes of lip gloss and 2 pairs of sun glasses. :)

I hope you all have a great Monday! It's back to work for me...oh, why is 5-0 a rerun tonight? And Bachelor is on. Bring on the crazy crying, lol.

InLinkz.com

Frugal Shopping and Book Review

2012-01-07T01:30:00.000-08:00

Right now I'm currently reading 'Mennonite in a Little Black Dress.' This is one of my $2 Borders buy from when they were clearancing out their books. I absolutely love it and this is actually a book I will keep in my collection. I will share later why and how it means so much to me. I normally hate reading more than one book at a time. But since I mentioned that I was going to start couponing, my friend Shaela recommended this book to me.

I took a break and tackled this, since my first edition of the newspaper will be arriving soon. The Kindle version was only $3.99...so I downloaded it to my iPhone. :) It's really repetitive, but that was the only thing that bothered me about it, lol. Overall, its a great source to read if you're new to this and don't fully understand all the ins and outs.

I can 'loan' this book out for 14 days if you have a Kindle or the Kindle app for your phone or tablet. Let me know if you want to borrow it! If there's a few of you, I'll start a list.

They have an active blog, thekrazycouponlady, if you want to check it out. After reading this and their blog, I realize I won't be getting the full potential of all the savings I could. But I'm okay with that. I mean, how much food can Brent and I really eat? I'll still stockpile, but do Brent and I really need 20 tubes of toothpaste, lol?!? I also found this blog, Coupon Mom. It's free to join her site and I find that her coupon match ups are easier to read.

I only signed up for 1 copy of the Seattle Times and they recommend that you have 4-6 copies. I can print online coupons and if I really want more of something, I'm okay just buying them on eBay. Buying multiple copies of the newspaper isn't worth the cost for just Brent and I. If we have children, I might change my mind later on.

In the book, they share that one of the husbands couldn't give up a brand of toilet paper, so they would spend the money to buy it. But the rest of the family used the cheap/free stuff, lol. I've always been pretty loyal to my favorite brands, but I am slowly letting that go. Unfortunately for me, there will be more than 1 thing that I can't give up on for specific brand names. But regardless, we will still see savings, so that's all that really matters.

Kerastase hair products
Bare Minerals and Clinique make-up
Bath and Body Works soap and lotion
Tide laundry detergent
Starbucks drip coffee

My hair, make-up, and B&BW soap are things that I know I pay for. I figure out how much I spend and average it for the year. I have a separate account for these things and on every payday, a certain amount goes into it. Once it's time to get my hair done, the money is already there in my account and ready to go! I save for Christmas and birthday gifts this way too.

So, I tested out my new skills yesterday and I think I did pretty good. I wanted to go to Safeway and Walmart, but since traffic was bad and I had something to do at 8pm, I only got to Walmart. I was able to buy all this for $0.77 including sales tax...bringing my savings to 82%. What I saved pretty much paid for the book. PS...I work and live close to many shopping places, so it's not really out of my way to go to Walmart for 3 things. :)

All right, I'll be back with something crafty tomorrow! Off to Safeway to get some soup and Jamba Juice!

January Project Life Photos - Week 1

2012-01-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

Can you believe the new year is already here? I am trying to keep up, but getting back to my normal work schedule has taken a toll on me. Plus the other hundred of things I'm doing right now. I'm trying to get the store back in stock...getting ready to do SCRS taxes (they're due at the end of this month)...and getting stuff ready for CHA.

For New Years this year, Brent and I decided to stay home. We went home to Portland for Christmas, but didn't want to make the drive twice. We made plans to go to a masquerade ball with our friends Kendall and Cody. This is Kendall and I at her house before we left.

Here's a picture of Brent and I in our matchy, matchy outfits. It's become our Smith trademark, lol.

No offense to men in general...but Brent and Cody don't take good photos, lol. Cody tends to be a silly person in general and always makes the funniest faces or poses when taking pictures. Most of the time, I don't get fair warning that he's taking pictures. I really like how this one turned out of us girls though!

I took this picture with Instagram. Here's a pic of Brent and I with our masks on.

While we were dancing, Kendall asked some guy to take our picture. I like this one of the 4 of us...and see what I mean about Cody, lol?

I ordered these slippers and they finally came! Amazon wrapped them really weird and my co-workers were really curiously about what I ordered, lol. They make my feet look like clown feet...but I love them! They're really warm!

I plan on doing some frugal shopping after work and then an online crafty night with my friends! I hope you all have a fabulous Friday! It's almost the weekend!

Birthday Wishes with Celebrating Chloe

2012-01-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

I had a different post scheduled for today...but since it's my MIL's birthday tomorrow, Brent wanted me to post this now...but really just so I would take my photos and let him mail it, lol. My MIL doesn't have a favorite color...so I always struggle picking out a paper pack when I make her things. But I figure it's nice, colorful, and cheery. And I wonder why my husband doesn't have a favorite color either...

Here's my decorated inside. I guess I should of added some green stitching...or stamped Josh in green. At least it still all matches though.

Sparkle Creations is also sponsoring Tuesday Morning Sketches this week. I followed their sketch loosely for the front of my card. Well, I hope you all have a lovely Thursday! Who has missed Grey's as much as I have?!?

InLinkz.com

Calliope Ketto and Life Bucket List

2012-01-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

While shopping at Paper Zone's Store Closing Sale, I bought new valentine paper! I also just got my new Papertrey Ink order in. I buy white cardstock more than anything else from there, but I did get a couple of dies and this cute little stamp set.

Does anyone else find it rather inconvenient that Inlinkz Link Manager doesn't work with Internet Explorer? I'll have to update my product links later, lol.

Though I make yearly goals...I also have life goals. I haven't done anything off of my bucket list since 2010, but I thought it would be fun to bring it up again and just have little reminder. In 2008, I went to Europe and Disneyland Paris for my honeymoon. In 2010, I went to the Winter Olympics and I visited 2 new states - Montana and Wyoming.

Bucket List

Visit China
Visit Laos
Visit all 50 states - Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Illinois, Pennsylvania, West Virgina, Virgina, Montana, Wyoming
~~Visit Europe~~
~~Go to the Olympics~~
Go to every Disney park - Disneyland, Disneyland Paris
Get published in a magazine
Get my Masters degree
Create all day, every day

I might have to contemplate about adding a couple of things to this list. Okay, I promise I'm done with goal stuff til the 1st of February! Everyone have a great Tuesday! Who's excited for Biggest Loser? I {heart} Bob Harper!

Sponsoring Sweet Sunday Sketches and Goals for 2012

2012-01-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay on this post! As I was preparing packages to go to the Post Office yesterday, life got in the way and I never made it back here to finish this all up. I hope you all rang in the new year joyously and are well and safe! Crafty stuff first...then personal stuff.

Sparkle Creations is starting off the year by sponsoring Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenges! I had the pleasure of meeting Karen this last summer in Chicago at CHA, while she was working at the Taylored Expressions booth! Check out Karen's blog to see the actual sketch and more darling SCRS cards made by their wonderful DT.

Play along with this week's sketch for a chance to win Scooter Chloe and Charlotte with a Rose! I chose to make a valentine with Sweet Treats Emily. I couldn't get the sentiment to fit nicely, so I decided to be more artsy and clip it into smaller chunks. I like how it turned out.

Okay, now for the personal stuff. Here are my new goals for 2012. I have 3 different categories: my day job, Sparkle Creations, and my personal/crafty goals. For those who don't know me well, I create training manuals for all the financial products, with state/province lending and price laws. I am also a trainer, so sometimes I do get out of my office and get to teach a class or two. I think that teaching in my day job has made me not want to teach for my crafty job, lol. But I am really trying to get out of that.

Work

Assistant Manager Workshop
Vault Teller Training - Canadian
Technical Writing Class

This coming year, I'll be working on 2 very large projects. The Assistant Manager Workshop is a brand new class that is still in development. I started putting the materials together for this class back in 2010 and it sat on hold for most of 2011. I am very excited to get back to this project and to come full circle with it. This project will most likely take me 18 months to finish, so don't freak out on this one, lol.

Next, I will be converting our Vault Teller manual into a Canadian version. I know our fellow friends across the border will greatly appreciate it! This will be more of a tedious job, as it's all of our store regulations and operations. And different countries defiantly abide by different rules!

I will also be going back to school to this year to take a few writing classes. Because of my work schedule, I will most likely be taking these classes online. I'm still working on beefing up my Photoshop skills in CS5.

2011 Recap: I failed miserably at my work goals last year, though workload wise, I got a ton of updates, products, and manuals done. It was a chaotic year. I lost my bestie employee. I had to train and help the person who replaced them. My department merged and went from 7 employees to 15 employees. Growing pains suck! I got promoted (which was good), but with that my responsibilities went up. Our Q3 was the craziest time I've ever had in my whole day job career! I worked 11 hour days for over a month straight. I hope for a more balanced 2012, lol.

Sparkle Creations

Get new wholesale accounts
Add third stamp line to the store
Sales goal for each month - January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
More efficient in costs
Teach card classes

I'm finally at a point where growth is the next step for Sparkle Creations. I truly hope to do this full time someday, so I'm going to try really hard to put as much time and effort into this as I possibly can. By exhibiting at CHA this year, I hope to gain new wholesale accounts. I also hope to widen my audience and get more new customers.

I've been actively trying to get a third line of stamps into the store. I had some things fall through, so while I had hoped for it to be a Q1 goal, it may end up being much later into the year.

I really want to work on my finances this year. I was a Business major in college...and I've always been good/smart with my money. But since I'm not a large business and I don't order in really high quantities, I still end up paying quite a bit of money for stuff. This goal will also run into my personal life, but as far for SCRS, I'm going to be trying really hard to profit this year.

I hope to start teaching card classes and doing card kits. I'm sure I'll be more inspired to do this once I get back from Winter CHA.

2011 Recap: I made my sales goal every month! There were a couple of months when I didn't think I would and orders would come in on the last day! I can't thank my customer's enough for all the love and support you all have given me. I was also able to attend both CHA's and take my Copic certification class. I feel like I accomplished the baby steps for SCRS and really want to get to the next level in 2012.

Personal

Take Yoga classes
More efficient in costs
Do mini books for my Project Life
Utilize my iPhone
Visit my mom's grave

I've been wanting to try bikram yoga forever and I just haven't because of the time and cost. Brent and I already belong to a fitness club. It's kindof a hole in the wall if you compare it to other gyms, but we only paid $200 to join initially and now pay $15 a month for the two of us. It works out great for us, since we like to do cardio and weights on our own. Besides college, I've never been a fan of workout classes. But, I think I will start doing yoga once a week and see how I like it...

Like I said earlier, Brent and I are going to try to be more frugal this year. I feel like this is the first step we need to make towards me working SCRS full time a reality. I was able to get a Groupon for the local paper and will start couponing. We'll be re-evaluating our insurance costs and our cable costs. We pay a ton for cable...but what we pay to have sport channels is cheaper than what I spend on craft supplies...so I've never fought this with him. It was actually his idea and through this last year, I've brought my spending way down. Besides my after Christmas sale binge, I really only buy new 6x6 paper now. (That is the plus to already owning a ton of stuff, lol.)

As you saw in my post yesterday...I want to use up my paper/film that's been sitting in my craft room since Christmas 2010. I don't take pictures every day, but I hope to at least weekly and obviously more when I'm actually doing things. If I fail at anything in this category, it will be this one, lol.

I need to learn to utilize my phone to it's fullest. The calendars drive me crazy! Everytime I sync my phone, I get duplicates or I lose stuff. User error? Maybe, lol. I can't take not grainy picture of myself with the camera reversed. I think I need to do a bit more research. I've always had an iPod, so I'm not Apple illiterate, lol. Just still getting use to my first smart phone.

I want to visit my mom's grave this year. I wish I could go more often, but traveling to Hawaii is just so expensive. Food, hotel, anything there is costly. I really wanted to go for my 30th birthday, but we're going in August instead. Unfortunately, we can't go in April since we're going to Cabo with Brent's family the week after my birthday. It wasn't really ideal...but at least I'm going to 2 warm places next year. :) My mom is buried on the Big Island, so we'll go there for a couple of days. I still haven't made up my mind yet about the rest of our trip, lol...but I do know that I don't want to stay in Hilo the whole time we're there.

2011 Recap: I love my Canon, but now I feel stupid when I try to use an easier camera, lol. It's like I can't use Paint now that I know how to use Photoshop! I hope to keep taking pictures, but using ALL of my cameras. My Canon, iPhone, and my point and shoot. I had a wonderful time seeing my best friend and celebrating Brent's birthday. The only thing I failed at this year were making enough Christmas cards...but I'll be working on that too for 2012.

All right...if you made it through all that, I hope you're enjoying the start to this new year! It's actually quite sunny today here in Seattle and I'm loving it! It'll be a lazy night for Brent and I tonight and we're having friends over tomorrow for the Rose Bowl. As you all know, Brent is a Duck Alum, so of course we'll be rooting for Oregon. Everyone have a lovely Sunday!

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Project Life for 2012

2011-12-31T00:00:00.001-08:00

Two Christmases ago, Brent got me the famous Fiji Pivi MP 300 mini photo printer. It's only sold in Japan, but just like Amy Tan and Kelly Purkey, I got mine off of Ebay. I used it to make one mini album...and it's been sitting on my shelf ever since. Instead of doing a large album like my Project 29, I decided that I will document my year in mini albums. We'll see how this goes...but since I have started using Instagram too, I think this will be a good option for me.

I also own this Canon Selphy photo printer and have also hardly used it. I have a ton of photo paper for it, so I've decided that I really need to use it up! And with this printer, I send print from my iPhone, so maybe I'll be more inclined to use it.

So, to start this new goal...I made the cover to my new mini album. I used a mix of stuff that I had on hand from my leftover scrapbooking kits. My project 29 album isn't quite up to date yet, but at least I'm using my stuff! The 'sparkle' strip is old Scenic Route paper that my friend Sandy gave me.

With this project, I'm learning how to make things flat, lol. I think it'll be good for my growth in this area. If I fail miserably at this...hopefully I'll at least have a cool album of Winter CHA, lol.

Anyone doing anything fun for New Years? Brent and I are going to a masquerade ball with some friends. Here's the mask I got and I love that it's sparkly, though it's hard to see in the picture. I hope you all have a lovely and safe New Years!

Top Ten 2011 Highlights

2011-12-30T16:00:00.000-08:00

Today I'm highlighting my favorite parts of 2011. They're numbered in the order they happened...not necessarily in ranking. I was very fortunate to travel a lot and meet a ton of people. The only thing I wish I could of done is spent more time with Brent. Until we went to Las Vegas for his birthday, we went on separate trips and vacations this year.

As you'll see, this year really was a crafty fulfilling year. For 2012, I am shifting more towards a business and personal year.

1. Winter CHA
I started my year out by attending Winter CHA. I had so much fun meeting and hanging out with everyone! Ashley Newell and I grabbed these coolio hats from DCWV and while I was goofing off in the TGF booth, Jessica Diedrich took this silly picture of us.

I also got to meet up with my fellow DT members while I was there. In the photo is Stephanie Kraft, Shaela Odd, me, Kim Yu, and Lisa Hjulberg. It was fabulous spending time with them and cruising around the show! I had the pleasure to meet Kelly Purkey, Tim Holtz, Emily Block, Shannan Tuebner, Pat Serrano, Angela Magnuson, Mona Pendleton, Nina B, Tiffany Johnson, and Joy Kennedy.

2. Pajama Crop

The following weekend after CHA, I was crazy and drove down to spend the weekend at Corinna McGregor's for our annual Pajama Crop. I had the pleasure of meeting Danielle Lounds, Angela Thomas, Kim Teasdale, and Jessica Knutsen. We shopped, crafted, and laughed all weekend!

Corinna sure knows how to be the hostess with the mostest! We loved and cherished the coffee bar all weekend! This year, they finally came out with Starbucks K-cups!! So, I'm even more of a happy camper!

3. Family

The last family picture we took was at my wedding in 2008. And that doesn't really count, lol...since it's really a wedding picture. At the time, Emily was 2 1/2 and Michael had just turned 1. In this photo, Emily is 5 and Michael is almost 4. Seeing the kiddos at Christmas this last week, they've grown so much already since this photo was taken.

4. Summer CHA

My vacations this year consisted of going to CHAs, lol. I went to Chicago for Summer CHA and had a blast again with everyone! Lisa swears she looks green in this picture, lol... We had a blast doing make n takes and eating. Pizza and ice cream really made this trip for us! I also spend a bit of time with my friend Sandy Allnock from Operation Write Home.

And another homie pic with Jess, lol. This woman cracks me up. I really wish I lived so much closer to her and Lisa. I only get to see them every 6 months. I also had the pleasure to meet Jenn Shults, Taylor VanBruggen, Karen Giron, Kim van der Sanden, Joanne Basile, Maria Guzman, Leanne Poe, and Kazan Clark.

5. Time with my BFF

As most of you know, my BFF lives in Washington, DC. Living across country, we only see each other about once a year. In reality, my core group of sorority sisters from college are all spread out over the country. Luckily, Katie also lives in Chicago. It was wonderful to spend 4 days after CHA with them and catch up.

While we were in Chicago, we also celebrated Catherine's 29th birthday. We went to this cool dance club, but once we got there, we saw clowns and balloons. They told us that is it Muhammad's birthday and that he loved clowns. People started to show up in clown gear, lol, and it was just the beginning of a silly night. The rest isn't really appropriate for the blog, lol. But it will definitely be a memorable birthday celebration!

6. Meeting Aileen, Peggy, and Laurel

Aileen came down to Seattle for work and Peggy tagged along. On their last day, they came over so Suzanne and I could take them to Impress Rubber Stamps. After craft shopping, we went to go eat Thai food at my favorite restaurant, Mali Thai. We ended the night at Starbucks and had such a wonderful evening of laughs and fun!

Laurel also came down to Seattle to celebrate her anniversary and I got to spend a couple of hours with her. We had a yummy dinner in downtown Seattle at the Hardrock. Laurel and I have been friends for years, as we both started CTMH about the same time. It was great to finally meet her. I look forward to seeing her again this February when she comes back to Seattle!

7. Meeting Kim, Becky, and Karolyn

Kim Hughes and Becky Olson came to Seattle this last summer. I had the pleasure of meeting them and spending a crafty weekend together between hanging out at Impress and Ellen Hutson's. Karolyn, Kim, and Becky are definitely a fun bunch to hang with! PS...Karolyn was this years Paper Crafts Stamping Royalty winner...so I really was surrounded by crafting queens!

I also hold a special place in my heart for Kim, as when my company was only 1 month old, she created and highlighted 2 Sparkle Creations cards on her blog. This was long before she started Paper Smooches, but I will always be forever grateful for her helping out the little guy. Kim has such a gracious heart and I'm so glad to have gotten to know her a little bit better.

8. 4 Weddings

This fall Brent and I went to 4 weddings. At Allison's wedding, they had a kid room filled with fun props and things to do. Brent stole corn dogs off the children's dinner table and we stopped to take this fun picture.

9. Intermediate Copic Certification

I signed up to do my Intermediate Copic class in Langley. I got to spend the weekend with Thanh, Aileen, and Peggy! Such a fun group of gals and I loved the class! I'm still working on those light sources, lol.

10. Brent's 30th Birthday in Vegas

I had been planning this surprise party since July 2010. You can bet that I was super excited to finally get to tell Brent and hit the road! I am so blessed that Brent's friends have lovely significant others and I always have such a great time with these ladies!

And here's a picture of me and Brent in our matching outfits. Overall, it was a good trip for Brent and Scott. While I was down there, I did get to eat lunch with Shaela and pick up our aprons for CHA!

I'm getting ready to start it all over, lol. In 30 days I'll be flying down to Anahiem to exhibit at Winter CHA! Even if your year wasn't as eventful or cheery, I hope that you all can have peace with 2011 and start fresh for 2012! Everyone have a safe holiday weekend!

One Little Word for 2012

2011-12-30T00:00:00.001-08:00

With the new year almost here...I have picked a new word to represent 2012. I would of never thought to pick this word, until someone else picked it last year in Ali's One Little Word class. I am taking the class again this year and I have decided to pick the word 'sparkle'.

I know some will think it's cliche to pick my own name, but through this upcoming year, my main goal is to focus on growth for Sparkle Creations. I think by choosing the word 'sparkle,' it will remind me to focus on myself and my company. I also turn 30 this year, so it will be a very monumental year.

Past Words
2010 - Strive
2011 - Balance

I struggled with my word this last year, especially since my day job required a lot of my focus and time this last fall. Unfortunately, it's what pays the bills, so I can't neglect either of my jobs. I'm still trying to find a good balance between my two jobs. Without Stephanie, I don't know how I would of made it through 2011. I am forever grateful for her hard work and dedication to our team.

Once I share my goals, I'll go more into depth of how this will all flow together. I look forward to starting off the new year and hope for many blessings. Have you chosen a word for 2012 yet?

December Project 29 Photos

2011-12-28T15:00:00.000-08:00

Over the next few days I'll be posting about my new goals, my new one little word, and recapping 2011. I have a couple of crafty posts weaved in between, but please bare with me while I ramble. I promise that after I get it all out and down, it will go back to full on craftiness.

We went to go meet up with my bestie Shannon, her husband Will, and her daughter Alex. We went and had breakfast at Helser's, a cute little place in Portland. It was really great to spend some time with them and catch up.

This is the Christmas tree at my In-laws. They celebrate on Christmas Eve, so we went over for dinner and then opened gifts.

Michael wanted to play Angry Birds, so I let him use my phone. Somewhere along the way, he decided to start taking pictures instead, lol. First stop, picture of Emily, who is showing off her lovely penmanship. She'll write just as nicely as I do!

Then Emily took my phone from Michael and took a picture of her feet and her lovely picture of Bambi. Gotta love the artist heart that she has. I'm sure she'll be coloring better than I pretty soon. :)

Then Michael wanted to take a picture of us. They know to tap on the screen, but they really don't know how to focus while taking pictures. All of the pictures they took are either grainy or blurry, but hey, gotta love the efforts of a 5 and 4 year old.

The funniest thing was that Michael kept singing, "O Come, All Ye Faithful." I mean, what 4 year old do you know has all the words memorized? Don't most 4 year olds sing Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman, or Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer? Anna said he learned it at school and no one else knows the words. Well, lucky for him, I do know the words, so I could sing in Christmas spirit with him.

I took this picture of Michael while he was dancing around. Such a silly boy! I really do wish I got to spend more time with my little brother and sister. All of my family was there, but I realize that I didn't get any pictures of my brother Brien or my SIL Myra.

In Oregon, there's no sales tax, so I had to go shopping. You can't beat 50% off and no sales tax. I mean...no tax is like an extra 10% off, since our sales tax in Washington is 9.5%. I really went out to buy Christmas stuff for next year, but snuck in some craft shopping at Craft Warehouse. Gotta love the wall of 6x6 paper pads.

For Christmas, Anna cooked all Hmong food. Hmong salad is the best and Emily decided to take a picture of it with my phone. She later took a picture when the bowl was empty, lol. Guess she wanted me to know that she actually finished it.

While I was out After Christmas shopping, I found this Snoppy for 50% off. I have no idea what I would with it, but I really, really wanted it. I had better judgement and didn't buy it. I told Brent about it later and he gave me a weird look. Maybe I should of bought it, lol.

Well, I am back home and back at work. Everyone have a great hump day! I hope you all had a great holiday and hope you're all excited for what 2012 will bring us!

Bookworm Ruby Bookmark

2011-12-27T00:00:00.000-08:00

When we drew for Secret Santa, I got my boss. She's an advid mystery reader like I, so I added to her collection of Agatha Christie books. I got her Death on the Nile and The Body in the Library. I also made her this bookmark.

Cheryl likes orange, and in hindsight, I probably should of used Lime Rickey or Lauderdale to make this. But I thought Out of Print was more suited for a book theme.

I took today off, so I'll be catching up on orders and cleaning my house. I hope to get back to crafting as well. Everyone have a wonderful Tuesday!

LOVE Jugglabella Card

2011-12-26T00:00:00.001-08:00

I hope you all had a great Christmas! It's been a lovely time, but hectic with visiting all of my family. I got Barnes and Noble gift cards, iTunes gift cards, a couple of books, a juicer, a stylus for my iPhone, and the new Boyz II Men CD. Brent and I also got money to go towards our trip to Cabo in April, so over all, it was a really blissful Christmas.

I've been wanting to use my Piccadilly paper, so I made a valentine card with it. This Bella is my favorite valentine image, so I knew I would have to break her out. I also used Repeat Impressions Sketch #D1411 for this.

I'm updating this from my iPhone, so I don't have access to create my product links. I will add them later, so email me if you have any questions! I'm going to brave the mall today...I am looking for ornaments for my tree next year, present bows, and some OSU Beaver slippers. Wish me luck, lol!

You Are Here - Gift Card Holder

2011-12-24T00:00:00.000-08:00

My niece Breana turns 15 today. Here in the Seattle/Tacoma area, they don't do driver's ed classes at the high school. So most parents are forking out an arm and a leg to pay for private driver's ed classes. Breana has been studying for her permit and all she wanted for Christmas and her birthday this year was driver's ed classes. Since the classes are quite expensive, Brent and I decided to contribute a small part.

I'm pretty proud of myself, the only thing stamped on here is 'lift.' I used up stickers and chipboard pieces from my leftover Yellowstone albums I made my MIL amd Brent's Grandma last Christmas. But this paper pack really was suited just perfectly for the occasion.

Brent's family opens gifts today, so I'll be celebrating with the Smith's. I'll also be seeing one of my besties Shannon. I'm very excited to see her and catch up!

Pucker Up Cupid Emily!

2011-12-23T00:00:00.001-08:00

Sorry...I'm a day late. With still working this week and trying to get ready for Christmas, I'm just running behind. I just love this paper pack!! I was so fortunate that Jeanne had given me a pack for my birthday last year and then Peggy gave me another pack this last summer. You can never go wrong with pink and green.

I also used Skipping Stone Sketch #106 for this. I'm still waiting for the new Kissing Booth paper to come out, so I'm trying to use up as much of my old paper as I can.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend! I'll be busy with family and all the normal traditional stuff. I hope everyone gets what they really want!!

InLinkz.com

December Project 29 Photos

2011-12-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

Nothing crafty today...just pictures. I'm trying to keep up more, since my physical album hasn't been touched since I put in my pictures from Summer CHA. Considering I'm already getting ready to go to Winter CHA, that's pretty bad, lol. I'm actually going to switch up my format for 2012 and I'll share that with you on the 1st.

We had our White Elephant gift exchange in our department last week. For the most part, everyone got pretty decent gifts. Only me and one other didn't really get anything worth keeping. But Lewis loved his bird and he named it Cocoa Caramel, lol.

We're doing our Secret Santa gift exchange tomorrow. Since the Regional Trainers live in their respective states and provinces, some of the gifts had to be shipped. I got this in the office interim mail and I'm pretty sure Tami, the Las Vegas Trainer got me.

I was good...the gift is still wrapped and not opened. Rochelle, my co-worker, was trying really hard to guess what it is. At first I thought it was a book, but whatever Tami got me, it's in a box. :) I'm hoping it's not a gift card wrapped 20 times, lol.

This was something funny I saw on Facebook last week. You can click on it to view it larger. I tend to have a morbid sense of humor, so it made me chuckle!

Brent wanted to get new work clothes. While he was looking around, I went into Gap. I saw their holiday decorations and fell in love with this poster. I was very tempted to take it off the wall! I mean, wouldn't this rock to hang in my craft room?

We ate lunch at the mall and I ordered a salmon roll. I got a spicy tuna instead, but it was really good. I honestly can never have too much sushi! So yummy!

I haven't had the time to play more with my camera, but I want a new self portrait of myself. I want it for my new Timeline on Facebook and I want it for my new 2012 word. I took this picture randomly, but I want a much better picture. Will have to make time to play with my Cannon.

Okay, for Christmas, I'll be using my Cannon, so next time I'll have a mix of regular pics with my Instagram pics. And you'll also find out what I got from my Secret Santa, lol. I'll be back tomorrow with another valentine! Everyone have a great hump day!

2012 Christmas Card Challenge #3 - Non-Traditional Colors

2011-12-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

I'm a couple days late...but better than never, right? Our challenge this week is to use non-traditional colors. Check out the Christmas Card Challenge blog to see the rest of the DT's darling creations.

All my gifts are wrapped, except my gift cards...ugg, lol. But my friend Shaela sent me the most darling holder with a Starbucks card and I knew I would be making these for my family. This one is for my In-laws. I'm so use to making card fronts that I really didn't think this through when I started sewing. I ended up covering all the backs with extra paper, lol. Eh, at least I'm actually using my stuff!

We normally exchange gifts with the Smith family, but since we're all going to Cabo in April, we decided not to really do gifts this year. On the Bliatout side, we typically only buy gifts for Michael and Emily. Being rebels though, Brent and I decided to get both of our parents movie tickets.

Are you all ready for the holidays?!? I'm almost there...getting laundry done and finishing up last minute stuff. I hope you all have a great Tuesday!!

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TGF Customer Holiday Blog Hop

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Greeting Farm's Blog hop! To start the blog hop from the beginning or if there is a link that is broken, please head to the TGF blog to see the entire list of participants.

I'm so over Christmas, lol, so I decided to switch to valentines. I suppose this counts as a non-holiday card, lol, as in not Christmas. :) I haven't played with Miss Stella since last February, so it was time to bring her out and show some inky love.

There are two grand prizes that we will draw for the participant's creations, and a random hopper will ALSO win the ENTIRE upcoming January Release! That's 6 sets in all- a HUGE prize...and the only way to win is by participating in the blog hop! Good luck to everyone!

I also used Deconstructed Sketches #31 for this. My image didn't really fit for this, so I improvised and got it to work. I realize I need new valentine paper too...so hopefully I get some Christmas money to spend!

Everyone have a fabulous Monday! 2 more weeks before Bachelor starts! I hate when my shows take a holiday break, lol.

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School Rocks! Cheerleading Emily Card

2011-12-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

Last night I was playing with my phone and took this picture of my almost done card. After I played with the filters, I love how it turned out.

Here's my real photo of my card. I'm trying to get more card samples done and using up more of my Basic Grey paper. I also used Whimsie Doodles's December Sketch Challenge for this.

I am definitely ready for the weekend to be here! I hope you all have a fabulous Friday!

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Oh, Technology...

2011-12-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

So, I've been wondering...who's resisted changing to the new interface on Blogger? I switched over the first time I saw that they were testing it. I really enjoy the 'white and clean' look it has now. Even on Google Reader. The best thing I love is that the posting section is expandable. You don't have to keep scrolling up and down to see all of your post. This makes me extremely happy, lol.

The other day I shared with you that I just got an iPhone. The main reason why I've resisted a smart phone for so long is because of money. I feel (and still do) that it's a waste to pay for a data package that I won't really use that much. I have internet at home and at work. I don't travel constantly, so I almost always have internet wherever I am. I'm spending $360 a year on just data. Do you know how many 6x6 pads I could buy with that, lol?!? And just saying...$360 will get you 80 Copics. :)

But the world is moving forward and as a Business owner, I need to keep up. I work for a company that changes all the time for my day job. I've learned to roll with it...and I do try to embrace it. I'm fortunate that I came from a family that's always had a computer and the latest software. I remember when my mom had to insert floppy disks to run programs, lol.

I was about 16 when cell phones became popular. My parents had those old Motorola bricks forever! They paid $0.25 a minute through AT&T, but back then it was only used for true emergencies. I was part of the Nokia rage and yeah, I had faceplates in every color to match my outfits, lol. Nowadays, grade school kids have nicer phones then I do...it's crazy I tell you. I didn't get a phone til I started driving and working. And til I got my iPhone, I've never had a text messaging plan. (I just paid as I went, which was really rare unless I was traveling.)

PS...I do think it's okay for kids to have a phone to call their parents and for safety.

The best thing about my day job is that I learn a lot of things to apply to Sparkle Creations. I've gotten to see the cool and fun things the Marketing side of my department creates. Which includes social media, ad banners, mobile apps, QR codes, etc. So, poking through Blogger, I found out that you can now enable a mobile template for your blog. If you select 'custom' it will even hold your custom blog design! Neat-o!

I know my google analytics aren't always right on, since so many people only look at blogs through a reader or on Facebook now, but about 5% of my viewers use their cell phones. I'm sure this number will only continue to grow. Inside of the template feature, it will also provide the QR code for your blog. I thought that was neat, as I'll probably start printing the SCRS one on my business cards.

Okay, I'm sure you're tired of my rambling. Just thought I would share a few things in case you either haven't switched over yet or didn't know. I will be back tomorrow with something crafty! Everyone have a great Thursday!

I heart You Phoebe Ketto Card

2011-12-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

Making valentines is my most favorite. I haven't bought new stamps in ages...and I'm not releasing new valentine stamps this year. But I figured it was a great time to take out all of my neglected stamps and play with them. Stamping Bella has always been my favorite...it's okay to say that, lol. I can't change pre-Sparkle Creations. :) So I decided to play with my Kettos.

This card is also amazingly flat, minus the bloomer. I love how it turned out, but I do think it'd be cuter if I had pop-dotted the image, lol. I'm so excited for the new Basic Grey Kissing Booth line to come out! I'm sure I'll go through that pad of paper in no time. I also used Sketchbook Saturday #41 for this.

I'm still playing with my camera to get better pictures of my cards. I kindof like all the different angles. I'm trying to post on here everyday again, so I'm working on getting back into my old routine. I hope you all have a great hump day!

InLinkz.com

December Project 29 Photos with Instagram

2011-12-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Brent bought me the new iPhone 4s. It was on sale Black Friday, and since they already activated the phone...he had to give it to me then. :) I mean, how could I go a full month with no cell phone, lol. In reality, I don't even use my phone that much. But I always worry about needing help on the road or something happening to my family...

I know Instagram is a pretty popular app and the nice thing is that it's free. It's been fun so far, though I'm still learning how to take decent pictures with my iPhone. After searching around, I found an easy way to get them off my phone and be able to print them myself. Extragram will load your Instagram feed and I save out the pictures from there onto my computer. I don't have a photo printer...but I like to be able to edit the pictures.

I re-sized all of these photos in Photoshop CS5 to 3.75 inches by 3.75 inches, so I can print them to fit my Project 29 album. All year, I've been using Ali Edward's 365 Photo Overlays with my photos to date them. I checked and these overlays are on sale right now. I cropped out the dates from the overlays and added them to my photos, so they'd match the rest of my album. I'll see how I like them once I get them printed. I'll still use my Cannon to take pictures...so I'm sure in the future, my album will be a mix.

My neighbor's daughter just turned 1 and they had a birthday party for her. I took this picture while Kendall was enjoying her mini birthday cake.

As many of you know, Brent and I are college rivals. We don't normally decorate our house since we go home for Christmas every year. But last year we got a fake tree really cheap on the day after Christmas. Since we put up the tree on Thanksgiving, I got us stockings.

While Borders was still clearancing books out, I picked up a bunch for really cheap. I went when there wasn't that great of a selection left, so I just took whatever I thought would be okay. I only paid about $2 per book, so even if I hate something, I didn't spend too much, lol.

I stopped doing book reviews, but this stack was double this size. In 2012, I'll be trying to get back to doing my book reviews as I finish up books. I miss documenting them and I think by taking a quick picture of each book when I'm done with motivate me.

For our craft group meeting this week, we went to Scrap That! After spending the day crafting and exchanging gifts for our Secret Santa, we went out to eat Mexican food. Danni got me the Scor Buddy and I'm so excited to have it! Here's me and Cherie at dinner.

Here's me, Suzanne, and Sheila. We had to take this picture like 6 times, since it was so dark in the restaurant. Sorry gals...but the rule is, you hang with me, your picture gets taken, lol.

Sheila's husband wanted out to go to the bathroom. Sandy and Yvonne were giving him a hard time and told him that Option 1 was to use the mug. He was a good sport to put up with our crafty craziness, lol. It was such a great day with the Divas.

On Sunday, our co-worker Phillip's son's wrestling team had a Flapjack Fundraiser at our local Applebee's. We went to support Carter's team and enjoyed some yummy breakfast! Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

Newly Hatched Baby Boy Diaper Cake

2011-12-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

My co-worker Marlon and his wife just had a baby boy. I made them a diaper cake and here is a detailed shot of the cake topper. Normally, I put a stuff animal on top, but for some reason I couldn't find one that matched. And not matching is just unacceptable to me, lol. I improvised and I think it turned out darling.

I decorated the cake pretty simple and I try not to go over board when I make things for guys. If you'd like instructions on how to make a diaper cake, below are the links to Susan Liles's blog. You'll see that Susan usually does the baby name in chipboard in a banner down the cake. Since I don't know what Marlon named the baby, I decided on 'boy'. If I would of had a spare 'b' in my chipboard stash...I probably would of gone with 'baby'.

http://www.susiestampalot.com/2008/05/how-to-make-diaper-cake.html
http://www.susiestampalot.com/2008/05/how-to-make-diaper-cake-part-two.html

You all have to be proud of me...I used up the last of this old CTMH paper pack that I've had for years. Sweet Leaf is my favorite color, so it was hard to part with. But glad to have more room for new paper. Plus, I don't really use 12x12 paper much anymore.

I hope you all have a great Monday...it's back to work for me! PS...3 more week and the Bachelor will be back!

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Release Day and 2011 December Sparkle Creations Previews - Ice Skating Chloe

2011-12-09T21:00:00.000-08:00

It's release day! All new stamps are available in the store. Click here or above on the Sparkle Creations Store link to start shopping now! Welcome to our last day of previews and today we're showing you Ice Skating Chloe!

Be sure to visit all rest of the SCRS designers for more peeks of Ice Skating Chloe. Sparkle will be giving away Ice Skating Chloe to one lucky person! For a chance to win, you need to comment on all of the designer's blogs (list below). Then head on over to the SCRS blog and comment on the Chloe post. You have until midnight EST each day to comment. The lucky winner will be announced the following day!

Alice Wertz
Kim Yu
Shaela Odd
Simonne Clay
Sparkle Smith
Stephanie Kraft
Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps Blog

I hope you all have a great Saturday! I will be filling orders and doing a gift exchange with my local craft group!

2011 December Sparkle Creations Previews - Hockey Oliver

2011-12-07T21:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our first day of previews! Today we're showing you Hockey Oliver! All new stamps will be available on Saturday, December 10th, 2011.

Brent's favorite sport is hockey. He played all the way til college and now he plays in a local men's league here in the Seattle metro area. His team is called the Fighting Cohos and their colors are green, white, and black. And yep, you guessed it, Brent is number 28! :)

After visiting Peggy and Aileen a couple months ago, making a Canuck card is next on my list. I'm not a sports fan at all, lol, but out of all the sports I have seen live, nothing beats watching NHL live and in Canada. Canadians love hockey so much more than us Americans, lol.

Be sure to visit all rest of the SCRS designers for more peeks of Hockey Oliver. Sparkle will be giving away Hockey Oliver to one lucky person! For a chance to win, you need to comment on all of the designer's blogs (list below). Then head on over to the SCRS blog and comment on the Oliver post. You have until midnight EST each day to comment. The lucky winner will be announced the following day!

Alice Wertz
Kim Yu
Shaela Odd
Simonne Clay
Sparkle Smith
Stephanie Kraft
Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps Blog

I hope you all have a great Thursday!

InLinkz.com

SCRS Challenge #69 - Sketch Challenge

2011-12-05T21:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Week 2 of Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps Challenge #69! Check out the SCRS blog to see the rest of the DT's darling creation! This will be our final challenge of the year. We hope you have a wonderful holiday and Happy New Year! We will return on 1/3/12 for a brand new year of challenges!

Our challenge is open to all players. Each week a random winner will be chosen, and this week's winner will receive Sledding Chloe. In order to qualify for a prize, you must use a Sparkle Creations image on your creation. Most importantly, have fun! We can't wait to see your creations!

This is the third card in a row I've made with red thread. How long do you think I can keep it on my sewing machine, lol? Maybe if I just keep making Christmas cards and then switch to valentines?

Are you ready to play along? To play along in our challenge, please upload a photo of your project to the SCRS gallery. Here is the direct link to entries for this week's challenge: Sparkle Creations Photo Gallery -- SCRS Challenges -- Challenge #69. If you haven't registered yet, it just takes a few seconds to create a login and upload your photo. Deadline for this week's challenge is Sunday, December 11th @ 9 PM PST.

Additionally, if you want to upload to use an online gallery (e.g. Splitcoast), please use the Keyword SparkleCreations (no spaces) so that your card will be included in the SCRS gallery. If you have a Facebook account and are a fan of Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps, you can also upload there. However, please note that contest entries will be pulled only from the SCRS Photo Gallery.

I hope you all have a great Tuesday! Previews for our new release start on Thursday!

InLinkz.com

2012 Christmas Card Challenge #1 - One Layer Cards

2011-12-04T00:10:00.000-08:00

This week's challenge is to make one layer cards. Check out the Christmas Card Challenge blog to see the rest of the DT's darling creations! I am excited to start a new year of making holiday cards and with my new DT.

I just finished addressing my envelopes for my Christmas cards this year. Brent and I need to sign them all and then off into the mail they go. I typically mail out on the 1st, so I'm a little late this year. But, since it's still pretty early, I'm not too upset about it.

Well, if you know me, I don't do flat cards, lol. I'm a lumpy kind of girl. :) As you can tell, there's actually 3 layers of paper on this card, but the embellishments I used were not that lumpy. I'm actually pretty proud of myself!

I hope you all have a great Sunday! I will be cleaning my house and grocery shopping. Then I hope to get a little bit more crafting done!

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Las Vegas Project 29 Pictures

2011-12-02T00:00:00.001-08:00

Brent had no idea I had been planning this trip and party for him, so he was really surprised when I had to finally tell him. I started planning in July 2010 for this and I'm glad that he absolutely loved his surprise party. We did so much more than what I have pictured here, but I just picked a few to share.

We got off work at 1pm and we flew out at 3:30pm. Our flight was about 20 minutes late, but didn't really delay our landing time by too much. As soon as got in, we checked in at Treasure Island and then headed to dinner.

Kelly Purkey talks about eating at Scarpetta and always getting the spaghetti. I had to try it for myself and I absolutely loved it. The Cosmopolitan hotel is just gorgeous too! If you're ever in Vegas, you should check it out. Brent got the duck ravioli and it was equally just as good. We also got dessert, which was made out of coconut pudding, mango puree, and pineapple sorbet.

After dinner, we went to the Piano Bar at Harrah's. We paid the dueling pianists to play "Benny and the Jets" and changed Benny to Brenty, lol. The pianists were really great and such a wonderful way to start the night. Then we strolled over to Casino Royale. They have $1 margaritas, as you can see my friend Val has 2 of them in her hand, lol.

The next morning, I woke up and met Shaela for lunch! It was wonderful to see her, though I wish I could of spent more time with her. I'm looking forward to seeing her soon in January at Winter CHA! Afterwards, I met up with Brent, Cody, and Kendall and we walked through Aria. Another gorgeous hotel!! Soon it was time to get ready for dinner at Margaritaville.

After a fun dinner, we headed to Paris and went to the Chateau. I've been to nicer clubs in Vegas, but free is a good price...so I'm not complaining, lol. Plus, I love the Paris...I hope to stay here sometime in the future.

Okay, you can laugh at me...but we don't have In-N-Out in Washington/Oregon. The best part is that In-N-Out is right by the Las Vegas Moneytree Training Center, so whenever I go out there for work, I always stop by. This was a must for Brent, since he hasn't been in years. At least I knew I where it was and how to get there! :)

We went to the Stratosphere and rode all the rides up there. Then everyone went into college football mode. Since I don't care about football, I colored images and went out for a killer sushi dinner with other friends that live in Vegas.

I love CSI with a passion and watch all 3 shows. Brent and I went to the CSI Experience in the MGM. This was the murder scene we were given to solve. It's hard to see in the picture, but she got ran over by a car. I'm pretty proud of myself that I solved this crime corrected! She was drugged and the car drove over her after she died. The obviously suspect was her boyfriend, but it really was her jealous best friend. I can't decide if I'm good...or if I just watch the show too much, lol.

On our last day in town, I did some gambling. I usually just play the penny slots for fun and entertainment. Others wanted to play Wheel of Fortune. I put in $20 and won $150. I hit the spin again and won another $200. I figured that was too lucky and stopped playing. Then I won over $60 in the penny slot.

I know $400 isn't a ton of money, but for only putting $20 in, I got a good return! I ended up using half of it for Christmas gifts and the other half on t-shirts for CHA. It worked out really well...guess it's my good karma for throwing Brent a lovely 30th birthday, lol.

You can image that the 8 of us took group pics the whole time we were there. We thought it would be funny to take a picture with the wrong spouses, lol. This was at New York, New York right before we all left town. Overall, it was a good trip and great friends!

If you want to see more pics of my trip, you can see them on Facebook. I didn't bring my Canon with me, so all the pictures I took were with my point and shoot camera. Going back to a more simple camera makes me feel dumb, lol...I always want to look through the lens and I can't. I hope you all have a great Friday...it's almost the weekend!

Sparkle Creations Sponsoring The Deconstructed Sketch, Do You Stack Up, and For Your Inspiration

2011-12-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

It is a busy week here at Sparkle Creations, as we are sponsoring 3 great challenges this week! The Deconstructed Sketch, Do You Stack up and For Your Inspiration!!! Check them all out to see the challenges and to play along with one, two or all 3 for your chance to win Charlotte with a Rose and Scooter Chloe!

I'm trying to get the last of my Christmas cards done this week! I was in a pink mood, so I thought Rin would work well. I need to get stocking stuffers for Brent and tags for my gifts. I'm excited to be almost ready for Christmas!

This is our last week of sponsorships for 2011. Thank you to all the wonderful challenges we have sponsored this year for having us and to everyone who has played along! It has be a great year! I hope you all have a great Thursday!

InLinkz.com

Christmas Card Challenges DT Hop and Crafty Contagion Challenge - Leftovers!

2011-11-26T00:10:00.000-08:00

Thanks for stopping by! I'm SO excited! Today we're announcing the new Design Team for the first 2012 term at the Christmas Card Challenge blog. We also have some AMAZING new designers, and I can't wait for you to see what they come up with each week. They will begin on the 4th of December.

Now, we're doing this DT announcement a bit different. We have never had a blog hop at the CCC, and decided that we're going to announce everyone via blog hop. Almost like a scavenger hunt to find out who the new designers are. Fun, huh? What does that mean exactly? Well, it starts at the CCC blog, and then you're directed to the next blog, which happens to be all of the new, and some returning, designers blogs.

Along the way, you'll get to know each of the new designers, as they share a project and tell you a bit about themselves. We have a few returning designers, and six new designers, along with 6 new guest designers. Don't forget to leave some blog love for each of them, as there will be one lucky winner of some cool Christmas goodies. I mean, what's a blog hop without some candy, right? :)

I know, this isn't a Christmas card. It's also my challenge day at the Crafty Contagion, so I'm combining my posts. For our challenge, we bring you a twist on the Thanksgiving holiday: LEFTOVERS! Hopefully you have some stored up in your refrigerator after Thursday's feast, but on a card - use some scraps!

I'm very excited to start our next year of Christmas Card Challenges. With more time in my design schedule, you will definitely see more of me this year! It's never too late to start and it's always such a wonderful feeling to have all your card done by the time the holidays sneak up on ya!

Please make sure to check back every Sunday at the CCC blog, as that's when the new challenges are posted. Now, it's time to head over to {Stephanie's blog}. I hope you all have a great Saturday!

PS...post Black Friday, I'm doing 20% off all orders $25 in the Sparkle Creations store! Use the code GIVING for the discount.

InLinkz.com

Happy Black Friday

2011-11-25T11:50:00.001-08:00

If you know me well, I do ALL of my Christmas shopping today. It's crazy masses of people, but I usually do pretty well. Since I just got back from Vegas, I have to work today...but I lucked out with Walmart opening at 10pm yesterday and Target at midnight. I did some shopping, lol!

Just a reminder that my Black Friday Sale is going on today as well. It's a great time to stock up on the missing stamps from your collection. For my newsletter subscribers, don't forget to enter your exclusive sale code to save an additional 10% off!

Click here or above on the Sparkle Creations Store link to start shopping now! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

InLinkz.com

SCRS Challenge #68 - Team Josh VS Team Oliver

2011-11-21T21:00:00.000-08:00

The new challenge is "Team Oliver" vs. "Team Josh". With Breaking Dawn coming out in theaters, we thought we'd do our own spin on "Team Edward" vs. "Team Jacob"! If you aren't familiar with this, no worries -- please just use either an Oliver or a Josh image on your card or project!

Our challenge is open to all players. Each week a random winner will be chosen, and this week's winner will receive your choice of either Football Josh or Backpack Oliver. In order to qualify for a prize, you must use a Sparkle Creations image on your creation. Most importantly, have fun! We can't wait to see your creations!

Honestly, I don't like Josh any more than Oliver, lol. Oliver reminds me so much more of my little brother Michael. But Josh is more urban and hip, like myself. I'm still trying to work on Christmas cards, so here's another one to the pile. I did the radial lighting and I love how the 'glow' came out.

Additionally, if you want to upload to use an online gallery (e.g. Splitcoast), please use the Keyword SparkleCreations (no spaces) so that your card will be included in the SCRS gallery. If you have a Facebook account and are a fan of Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps, you can also upload there. However, please note that contest entries will be pulled only from the SCRS Photo Gallery.

Everyone have a fabulous Tuesday!

InLinkz.com

Manager's Conference Project 29 Photos

2011-11-18T00:00:00.001-08:00

The 2nd weekend of November every year is our Manager's Conference. Though we do work for most of the weekend, it's always such a fun time and we do get to play too. As many of you know, I work in the Training Department at the Corporate Office. The other half of my team who actually trains the field, live in their respective states and provinces, so this is really the only time of the year my team is all together.

I have so much more to say about that, but it'll have to be for another post. I don't have pictures from Friday yet, which was our team Training Summit. I heart you Regional Trainers and wish I saw you so much more. Prior to me moving to Seattle, I was the Regional Trainer in Denver. :)

Our theme this year was 'In the Game.' They had Xbox Kinects for us to play and here's a picture of Rochelle and I dancing. We have become Team Rockle, lol.

And here's a much more normal picture of Tean Rockle. :) Us fabby ladies in our cocktail dresses!

Most of you also know that Brent and I work for the same company. Though we don't really hang out at work together. People are always surprised when they find out we're married, lol. During a break, we got a quick photo together.

My friend Kristen stayed after the conference to hang out with me for a couple of days. She's one of my original trainees from Denver and is now a Branch Manager. We went to EMP and the Space Needle. It was really great to spend time with Kristen! PS...the background is fake, though we really did go downtown, lol.

Well, I hope you all have a great Friday and weekend!

2011 Christmas Photo Cards

2011-11-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

Typically, I hate mass producing cards. Since I've been so busy and short on time, I decided to make 50 simple photo cards. Now, I still have a mix of Christmas cards made and every year we always send a picture, so I'll mostly be sending the photo cards to my family.

Every November we go through all the photos we've taken during the year and we pick our favorite. This year, we picked a picture that was taken during our anniversary. I ordered my pictures from Walgreens. I know hot pink and black is very non-traditional, but our picture is only fun because of the pink!

And you have to be amazed with me...these cards are flat! I typically pay at least $0.64 to mail my lumpy cards, so I'm excited to save on postage this year!! Well, I hope you all have a great Thursday!

InLinkz.com

Sparkle Creations November 2011 Previews - Snow Angel Ruby

2011-11-11T21:00:00.000-08:00

All new stamps are available in the store! Click here or above on the Sparkle Creations Store link to start shopping now! Today we're showing previews of Snow Angel Ruby! Doesn't she look like she's having such a great time playing in the snow? I know my card is kind of busy, but I think it all came together well.

Here's my decorated inside.

Be sure to visit all rest of the SCRS designers for more peeks of Snow Angel Ruby. I will be giving away a Snow Angel Ruby to one lucky person! For a chance to win, you need to comment on all of the designer's blogs (list below). Then head on over to the SCRS blog and comment on the Ruby post. You have until midnight EST each day to comment. The lucky winner will be announced after the release!

Alice Wertz

Jen Shults, October Guest Designer

Kim Yu

Shaela Odd

Simonne Clay

Sparkle Smith
Stephanie Kraft

Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps Blog

I hope you all have a great Saturday! I'll be at my work conference!

InLinkz.com

Sparkle Creations November 2011 Previews - Karber Hawaii

2011-11-10T21:00:00.000-08:00

I'm not part of today's blog hop, but since I can't resist Hawaiian images, I wanted to play along. Though this is not intended to be a Christmas stamp set, I couldn't resist making a Christmas card with it. Can you believe I don't have a sentiment that says Mele Kalikimaka? I had to bust out one of my alphabet sets!

Here's my decorated inside.

Participate in the SCRS blog hop for a chance to win this darling stamp set! I hope you all have a fabulous Friday! It's almost the weekend!

InLinkz.com

Sparkle Creations November 2011 Previews - Snowbunny Lucy

2011-11-09T21:00:00.001-08:00

Today we are showing previews of Snowbunny Lucy! Isn't she just darling all bundled up in the snow? All new stamps will be available on Saturday, November 12, 2011.

Here's my decorated inside.

Be sure to visit all rest of the SCRS designers for more peeks of Snowbunny Lucy. I will be giving away a Snowbunny Lucy to one lucky person! For a chance to win, you need to comment on all of the designer's blogs (list below). Then head on back over to the SCRS blog and comment on the Lucy post. You have until midnight EST each day to comment. The lucky winner will be announced after the release!

Alice Wertz

Jen Shults, October Guest Designer

Kim Yu

Shaela Odd

Simonne Clay

Sparkle Smith
Stephanie Kraft

Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps Blog

I hope you all have a great Thursday! Grey's and Private Practice are on tonight!

InLinkz.com