Ode to Miss Gingerdots!

Most Close To My Heart Consultants know Miss Gingerdots, Tina Sutton. When I got an extra lamp from Pottery Barn to replace a broken one, they sent the whole lamp instead of just the part I needed! When I got the idea for this project, I was thinking how fun it would be to go to Leadershare in Florida and see the beach.

So I call this lamp "Ode to Miss Gingerdots"! I am sure everyone is going to be having loads of fun at Leadershare, but I cannot justify going to Florida for one team meeting. Not happening. Most everyone knows how saddened and frustrated I am that Close To My Heart is not having an event in the Midwest! So, this lamp will have to do!

Fall in LOVE with Boring Stamp Sets

Do you have a stamp set that you just never think you'll use. Maybe it was a gift, or part of a workshop that you thought you'd use it for a particular project. I am talking about those stamp sets you just wonder how you are ever going to use it. Well, I have a bird stamp set that I got with a bundle of products that I just hated. I thought it was the ugliest stamp set ever. I never imagined I would ever, ever use this stamp set.

I decided that I was going to sit down and stretch my imagination to use this stamp set! I issued myself a personal challenge! Like Throw Down with Miss Scrappy Britches. HA! Anyway, I created two beautiful cards using this ugly stamp set. The first I used one of my Favorite Close To My Heart paper packs, Veranda. The second uses paper from my personal stash that I NEVER let anyone see. In fact, I think this is the first time I have posted products not made with Close To My Heart goodies!

Yes, I LOVE Close To My Heart, but I AM a scrapbooker through and through. If you only knew what I have hidden up in my scrapbook room, you would be amazed just how many product lines I go ga-ga over. So I am challenging you to take out that ugly stamp set and make something fabulous like some sentimental cards to give your closest friend and family!

What a Month!

I can't believe it has been SO LONG since I have updated my blog, or updated anyone on my scrappy happenings! Wow! Well, let's make it short and sweet. My unit has returned from Iraq, I happily have been reassigned to the Warrior Transition Battalion as a Squad Leader (SL). Jared just left for Germany for a new job for six months. All of our vacation plans were changed about a million times, so in the end we just enjoyed one another's company. I am going to beautiful Fort Sam Houston, TX for two weeks of training.

Oh yah! Look at this pretty face! Jared let me get a puppy! I have wanted an English Bulldog for years, and thanks to my Close To My Heart tax return, I was able to have some extra cash for my puppy, Gracie. She is the sweetest, snuggliest pooh-pooh ever. I adore her. She just puts a smile on your face and is so soft to pet. She loves laying under my chair when I scrap. LOVE HER!

I really miss my husband and I long for the time when we are both done serving Uncle Sam. I have only been home a little over three months. I think this will be a great experience for my husband though. Who wouldn't love having a expense paid trip to Germany to work for six months? Come on!