Stamping and Eating :)

Last week got away from me, but I had to share our Club group finishing up our projects and eating a wonderful dessert provided by our hostess Lyn. It is a low calorie, low point dessert from HungryGirl.com - This is a lo-cal ice cream, frozen in a ball shape, rolled in crushed Fiber One caramel cereal, and served with lite whip cream and sugar free caramel syrup. It was Amazing - so delish. And I love the way Lyn served it in a beautiful Martini Glass - made it that much more special. Such a great group to stamp with.

I'm currently taking sign-ups for the next round of clubs - you can check out more information by going to - http://crazystampinglady.blogspot.com/p/stampers-10-stampers-clubs.html

See you soon! ~Maureen

April Downline Challenge -

Yesterday was our downline meeting and I want to thank Maria for the wonderful goodies we got to eat - yummy!! Our challenge this month was to make your best card with a FRAME (any type of frame) that was it. So we had THREE amazing entries - the first was from Lisa - I LOVE this card - it is so elegant and beautiful. She pulled the black from the image and added some gray for the beautiful shading around the flower.The winner was Julie and this is her vibrant card - it is also so beautiful. Look at that great watercoloring and what is hard to see is the shimmer and glitter on this card- it was amazing. Just shouts that Spring is here and Summer right around the corner! There was one more entry - that I can't share right now due to a contest rule - but I'm sure I'll get to share it in the future. My downline is amazingly talented. Our meeting yesterday was great with an abundance of encouragement and sharing. I had my fifth downline member in my First Downline level reach their $25,000 in Career to Date sales - how great is that. If you'd like to join my team of Crazy Stamping Ladies let me know. I have a coffee and pie information night coming up and I'd LOVE to have you join us. Till next time ~Maureen

Heidi's Creations

Yesterday I promised to show what Heidi did for Prince's Party - but first I want to share the invitation she did for Zavian's and Makai's Party earlier this month. Here is the invites for Zav's Pirate themed party - she used a sissix die cut for the outside, and the Stampin' Up! invites for the inside - Makai's party was Hello Kitty - so here are the adorable invites she made for her party -

Then, as I mentioned Prince's Party was Mario Brothers - so she made him this adorable card and mushroom gift bag. She is amazingly creative -

Here is a close-up of the card - check out more of her creations at her blog - www.stampinking.blogspot.com And here are the mushroom cupcakes that Jenee made for the party - are they cute or what?!?! Great job both of you!

Prince's Birthday Party

So Saturday we celebrated Prince's Birthday at our house. It was quite a day and Jenee did a great job putting it all together. And fortunately the rain held off because we had a pinata -a "Yoshi" egg hunt (the party was Mario Bros. theme) -and a bouncer (which I did not get a picture of :( But I did take a picture of the card I gave him - as with the other grand kids it was one of our recordable cards from SU.Here's this inside and the red dot is where you push to hear Gramma singing "Happy Birthday to Prince" - Here's my gift box to him with his birthday badge -

And here he is with his cousin Isaiah - just before we lit the candles. I so cannot believe he is SIX!

Check back tomorrow for the adorable card and gift bag my daughter Heidi made for him - you won't want to miss it!

Club - Baby Wipe Technique

This month at our club we did the Baby Wipe technique three ways - here is the card with instructions that went into our binders. After putting ink drops onto the baby wipe - the first image is made by stamping directly down on the pad; the second is made by wrapping the baby wipe around a clear block and stamping directly onto the cardstock and then stamping an image on top of it (I came up with this idea while playing and love how it looks); and the third is made by swiping the baby wipe across the cardstock.Here is the greeting card we made using the technique - the butterflies were stamped onto the pad of the baby wipe, and then the under layer was made by swiping the baby wipe. I love the look as you never know what you'll get - this one almost looked like a sunset. Also, notice the black pearls - they were made by coloring SU pearls with a black sharpie - pretty cool, huh?!? Here is a close-up of the colors on the butterfly - so pretty!

I'm currently taking sign-ups for my next round of club that will begin in May 2011 - we'll be continuing techniques. See full details here - http://crazystampinglady.blogspot.com/p/stampers-10-stampers-clubs.html

Club Challenge Cards

Each month at our club we do a challenge using the technique we learned the month before - last month was heat emboss. We only had two entries - but they are lovely - the first was mine. It has a very soft and feminine look. The second card and the winner of the challenge was Karen's - I love the way she used this set and made it feminine. I've used it many times for a masculine card - but would never of thought of using it this way. Nice work Karen!

Next month's challenge is the baby wipe technique - watch tomorrow for my technique card on that.

Happy Birthday Zavian!!!

Today is Zavian's "1st" Birthday - we celebrated early - but today is the day! Here he is shortly after being born a year ago today - after another long labor. Me and my girls are not known for short labors - amazing that I have six grand kids. He didn't even look like a newborn - such perfect skin and features.

And here's a picture of our sweet little guy taken recently - just look at those eyes. He is just a doll - and Daddy has already taught him a lot about basketball - so we know where that is going :) He's cutting his top two front teeth so is a little miserable the last few days.

I'll get to see him when he comes over for Prince's party today! Love you Zav!

POSTPONED - Christmas Cards this SUNDAY afternoon ---

Hi All - this event has been postponed due to illness - I will let you know when rescheduled!

Christmas Card Making Stamp Camp - Part 2

(Sample of one of the two card designs we'll be making - it is dry embossed to give a light frame around image, snowflakes are punched out and raised with a gem in the middle - very elegant looking for the holidays.)

MAR 27 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM (Pacific) Christmas Cards - Month #2 - Stamp Camp * Cost is $20 Maureen's Home in Simi Valley In keeping with my New Year's resolution to get my cards all stamped and done for Christmas 2011 I'll be offering a series of these stamp camps throughout this year. Each time you attend you will make 10 simple but wonderful Christmas cards (5 each of 2 different designs). You can see last month's cards here - http://crazystampinglady.blogspot.com/2011/02/february-christmas-cards.html If you do not do Christmas cards and would like an alternative winter or holiday design or saying - let me know. If you attend each month from now forward you could have 90 cards by November!! Light refreshments served. No additional purchase required. Limit 12. Must RSVP to hold your spot.

*see here for full stamp camp policy - http://crazystampinglady.blogspot.com/p/upcoming-stamping-events-with-maureen.html

New Kitchen Appliances

First of all I have to apologize for my lack of stamping posts. It has been a rough couple weeks for me of fatigue, muscle cramps and just feeling lousy - and then today - I got my fever again. Am feeling better now, but I've done very little the last couple weeks, except for sleeping and working. Yikes.

But in the midst of that my sweet hubby was busy - here is my OLD kitchen hood-And here is my new above range microwave that replaced it - how nice is that.

Even better here is my old oven and the empty spot is where my old microwave used to be -

And here is my new amazing double oven - in plenty of time for my big Easter brunch! In fact we'll be making pizzas for Prince's birthday party Saturday and we should be able to make four at a time - woo hoo!

Next we'll be replacing counter tops and my sink - so watch for more kitchen remodel updates in the future. I hope to post some more stamping items soon so stay tuned. And for those of you who have been following my health saga - http://crazystampinglady.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-health-update.html I will be calling my doctor soon to set up my treatment now that I'm feeling lousy again - so hopefully I can stop all this nonsense :)

Strawberry Shortcake cake and a Check

Hi All - Just for fun I wanted to share this adorable cake my daughter Heidi made for celebrating my other daughter Jenee's birthday. Jenee mentioned she was using Strawberry Shortcake plates, etc. - so Heidi made this to go with it. How cute is that!
Then I also wanted to thank all who placed orders over the weekend to support the Red Cross Japan relief - I wrote my check to go in the mail tomorrow for $114.32 - you are a great group of caring stampers and I love working with you all!