Samples with the some of the new SU! stamps!

Party Hearty stamp set and the new Scallop Edge punch - loving it!



















Heard from the Heart - on SALE right now! and cupcake is from Sock Monkey.
















Sock Monkey - love this set!!

Heard from the Heart, bird from Always, flowers from Simply Said.

I'm loving the new Red Riding Hood color too!

My Parents Last Visit -

It's been a busy last week for us. My parents were here visiting from AZ for the past week. It worked out that they could be here for Kayley's "Back-to-School Night". She was so excited to show her Grandma her school and have her meet her teacher. She's having a great time in 1st Grade! The above pic is from that night.


I barely see Kayley or my mom when they are together. Kayley loves to keep "Grammy" all to herself playing Uno, tea party, or watching movies. I was kind of happy she's in school now, so I could have a little "Mommy & Me" time for myself. We were able to have a day of shopping and we saw "Mama Mia". It's a good movie - bring the tissues if you haven't seem it yet. That song "Slipping Through My Fingers" gets me everytime! lol We also spent some time in the stamp room - my mom is crafty too and is always looking for ideas to try out with her people at work (she works at a Life Care Center and does activities with the residents).



On Sunday we took a drive to Oak Glen. My parents had never been in the 13 years that I've lived here. We went to Riley's and had lunch and then drove around the main road. The big apple picking doesn't start until this weekend, so we missed out on that experience. We did bring home one of the "Mile High" apple pies though. I don't normally eat apple pie, but that pie was really good!
Kayley and my parents in front of the apple trees at Riley's at Los Rios Ranchos - the other Riley's wasn't open.

We stopped at Oak Tree Village while in Oak Glen too! Kayley had fun feeding a Pot Belly pig named 'Sugar", getting a pony ride, and also feeding some deer.

August Stamp Class Projects

I just love these Bag in a Box projects! They were a hit at this month's stamp class too! We used the SUMMER PICNIC DP to make the class projects. I had stocked up on it before the last mini ended - I was so happy to see it made it into the new catty! :) The middle bag was made with the new BELLA ROSE DP and a large flower from the PRETTIES KIT! I colored it using my AQUA PAINTER and PINK PIROUETTE Classic Ink. We made flowers out of the Scallops made with a SCALLOP Punch and then added a Build-A-Brad to the center. The BUILD-A-BRADS are so fun! We also used the new SCALLOP EDGE PUNCH on the bottom trim.

When I saw this card on one of my Yahoo Groups, I knew this would be our 2nd project for August's stamp class. (Card idea from Connie R. Babbert) VELLUM is one of my favorites! This card also uses the SCALLOP EDGE punch in a different way! We used PINK PIROUETTE CARDSTOCK, PINK PIROUETTE CLASSIC INK, BELLA ROSE DP, BASIC BROWN INK, SILVER BRADS, Pretty in Pink Ribbon, and WHISPER WHITE cardstock. DREAMS DU JOUR image was colored in using KIWI KISS & PINK PITOUETTE ink using an AQUA PAINTER.

Nieces' B-day Gifts -

My SIL's twins turned 17 last week, so I thought I'd make something for them to journal their Senior year in! Had to add some beaded pens too! Then of course, I needed to decorate some gift bags to match! I started all this about 2 hours before the party! :) They turned out great and I got a "These are cool!" reply when they opened them.

Paper was from a Mat Pack from JoAnn's or Micheals. Not sure on which one. Chipboard letters were from the Target $1 Spot.

Birthday greeting is from the new SU! set "Heard from the Heart". I just love this set! Background of bags are stamped with sayings from the "Party Hearty" set. Both are in the new catty!

Back to School!

Apple Valley has a Modified Traditional school calendar, so the kids go back to school a lot earlier than other schools. We get several long breaks throughout the year, so we like it.

Kayley was so ready to go back today! We were ready for her to go, but its so hard to imagine our baby is in 1st Grade already! Where did the Kindergarten year go??? She wanted me to take her this morning - it was a last minute change since she had been saying she was going to take the bus. I was able to talk her into it - I had to get those 1st day of 1st grade pictures! I wanted to see her classroom and meet her teacher too. Chuck is on vacation this week, so he got to go too. We got to school early to avoid all the traffic and parking chaos! We ran into a few of her friends from last year. She was excited to see them. She only ended up with about 4 kids from last years class in her new class. Her teacher, Mr Maglinte seems really nice - it was good to see kids he had last year coming in to say they missed him.

I guess I better get off the computer and get some stamping done now that I have ALL day to stamp! :)

Our traditional pose of Kayley on the first day back with her new Hello Kitty backpack. She had to have the one with wheels or as she put it "the wheelie one".

Kayley at her new desk in Mr Maglinte's class.

Friends from last year's class - Jillian, Kristina, and Kayley

Our Vegas Get-Away!

Chuck had a meeting up in Vegas last week, so we got to tag-along for a little get-away. We picked him up after work and then headed on up. I used my new favorite hotel reservation site, Priceline.com to book the room. We got a room at the Riviera for $39! It has just been renovated and the rooms were really nice! Great beds with comfy down comforters and pillows!


Since we didn't have a lot of time and we didn't arrive until after 7:00 pm, we thought we'd head down to the M&M World. The traffic was already crazy on the Strip when we were trying to find the hotel, so we decided to take the "Trolley" - also known as the city BUS! It was an adventure - not one that Chuck ever wants to experience again! It took us almost 2 hours to get down to the M&M store! We learned our lesson - make sure you have map and always be on the right side of the street! We walked most of the way back to the hotel since we never saw any busses and the ones we saw were packed!! I think we finally caught one for the last few blocks! Kayley was a trooper - we were proud of her!










Kayley had fun anyway once we got there! The M&M World is 4 stories!







A view from the 2nd floor of the bus - we got the front seats! Talk about a WILD ride! People in Vegas have a death wish I think!




























My mom loves Paris, so we had to get a pic of Kayley with the Eiffel (or as Kayley calls it "Awful Tower") in the background. Notice she is on the cell phone talking to Grandma!



We got to see the Fountains at Bellagio on our way back up the Strip to our hotel.