Happy St Pat's Day

I don't think there's a lick of Irish in my heritage, but we always celebrated growing up. Mom always made corned beef and cabbage.

My card was inspired by this color challenge:

 

My Fiskers heart punch has been getting quite a work out. Words: My Sentiments Exactly! Stem, paper, and ink: Stampin' Up!

March Swap Card & 250

For the monthly card swap hosted by my SU! demonstrator. Theme was "manly" cards. Pinwheel is 2.5" square, cut on the diagonals, and folded in.

This is my 250th post. Since I first started blogging Christmas 2007, I've mostly posted about cross-stitch, stamping, and books. I've also had my hands full raising twins who are now 4.5 years old!

In honor of my 250th, I'm offering a small give away. Comment on this post by March 16, 2013, and I'll pick one person from those who comment to receive a surprise package, which will include some cards and possibly other items hand-made by me.

Flipping Fairies

Have you paid any attention to children's television lately? I'll admit, we watch too much of it. And it's starting to get under my skin. Anything that's not marketed to the 3 and under set is ... well... kind of outrageous when you think about it. And I do think about it, sometimes. I know a lot has been written about this topic; I've read some of it over the years. It's really hitting home now, though, as I see what my girls are absorbing.

For example, what is wrong with this picture?



It's worse when you realize that the mythology of these fairies says that a fairy is born when a baby laughs. Then why the impractical, overly sexual clothing, folks? And why is there a focus on pairing up with the boys in the latest movie? They don't need to pair up.

Lately, NickJr has been promoting Winx dolls, which seemed cute, so we watched an episode tonight.



Egads! These are worse bodies than Barbie has! This show is marketed to the 7-10 year old crowd. I told DH that we won't be putting this into the regular rotation.

Since I don't see us curing ourselves of our TV addition any time soon, I would like to find some shows or movies that present somewhat normal looking girls who aren't looking -- or dressed -- for a hook up. Suggestions?

Happy Heart Day

Stampin Up! paper, ink, ribbon, sentiment

Passion Pink, Real Red, Creamy Caramel

Friskers heart punch

Retired Stamps Swap Cards

For February's card swap, the theme was retired stamps. I outdid myself. Instead on one retired stamp, I managed to use four. My design was based on this card. Sorry the card is so blurry; it didn't scan well.

All products: Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Friendship's Journey, Noteworthy, Canvas, and Bella Toile

Paper: White, Creamy Caramel

Ink: Creamy Caramel
Embellishment: Hodgepodge Hardware (antique brass)

Thank you cards from years past

Happy New Year!

I feel like I'm still catching up from the Christmas holidays. We travelled this year, going first to visit my BIL in Atlanta and then to see my sister in NC. A lot of time on the road, but it was worth it. The girls really liked seeing their relatives.

I'm slowly writing all the Thank You notes that need to be sent. I purchased the ones I'm sending this year, but here are a few I've made in years past, using all stamping up products.

I'm working on an exchange piece for stitching. It's been fun working on something small. I like the colors I'm using, but the number of thread changes is slowing me down. The back is a mess, sadly. Pictures once my partner receives the piece.

In other news, it snowed here yesterday enough for the girls to go out and make snow angels before school. They were delighted. We didn't get enough dry snow last year to do anything with it, so they're doubly excited.

20 Years Ago

20 years ago, in the aftermath of this nor'easter, and while the Bills were beating the Broncos on the way to their 3rd AFC Championship, this is what we were doing.