MIA ... again!

I have ideas running in and out of my head and all I can hope is that they are still there by the time all is said and done!

I've bought a house people! It's my sister's rent house. Her husband had a SECOND open-heart surgery ... this time to repair a leaking valve ... and on Monday had a pacemaker implanted. Praying for the best! Because of all the health issues, they were looking to unload the rent house. It was first offered to her daughter and fiance but they passed. Jay and I jumped on it! We move in August 31st.

I am so psyched, nervous, anxious, scared, excited, stressed and busy! :) My very own home to do as with as I please! :) I had not stressed about it until yesterday ... trying to relocate the ADT security system got me close to having a heart attack! :-| AT&T also jumped the price up! We currently have a $48 internet package... relocating across town was going to turn it into $75 approximately. New customers get a one-year contract for $48 but not customers that have been faithful for FOUR years! So we turned it off and since it is only for new customers ... Jay signed up for internet. :) Beat that horse pretty good! Not a real horse ... animal lover here! :) That was an easy fix. ADT... not so much! We completely cancelled that contract! :(

In the meantime, I had to pack my paper and stamps and move them to the other house ... I. Had. To! I couldn't pack with the distractions! :-|

Moving is coming along pretty good. Got all the utility services transferred... with the exception of the two I previously mentioned... any and all important people notified of the new mailing address. Truck rented and movers to be here at 10:00 AM on the 31st! Only one thing left on my to do list and if I could get that checked off my life would be completely complete! :)

The only thing left up in the air... and this has been going on for almost two and a half years now... to the point I must ask the question I did not want to ask... but I can't find the answer anywhere! Trust me on this one ... I've Googled it! Where does one go to fix a broken heart?

Baby Shower Invites

I have lived most of my adult life away from my family. I was born and raised in Lubbock. I moved away in September 1984 and only came back for a two, maybe three year time period while my children were young and I was still attending college. The rest of the time I allowed my status as a single parent dictate where we would live ... always chasing the mighty dollar so I could provide well for my children. Such is life!

I have missed numerous family events because of that. I could not afford plane tickets for a family of three so we learned of births and marriages through the eyes and voices of other family members willing to share the experience with us.

I am faced with the announcement one of my nephews is expecting his third child. I impulsively volunteered to make the baby shower invitations and birth announcements. I have always thought hand made invites and announcements top generic computer generated invites and announcements. Wouldn't you agree with me? :)

The request for the invites came as a surprise of sorts. It came on the heel of purchasing our first home! :) We are not doing the customary bank purchase but instead are buying my sister's rent house. Owner-financing! :) This is what Jay and I need in our life at the moment. We get to move in August 31st/September 1st. The baby shower is September 8th. Yes! We are packing right now! :-| I rushed to make the cards and am very pleased with how they came out. :) I had to share!

First, I used ... of course ... stamps from my favorite online store ... Raisin Boat. I used the set Loads of Love for the front of the invite and Goes with Hope Maternity Girl. The "baby" is an alphabet set I cannot remember for the life of me who from! All I CAN remember is that I bought it at Michael's ... maybe Hobby Lobby ... :-\ I desperately wanted to use real clothes pins but for the sake of bulkiness I held back. I did use the cutest twines! I made TWENTY of these! My first thought was to stamp the clothes pins on brown card stock and glue on to the original image. :-| I slapped that silly thought out of my head for the sake of timeliness! :) There are FIVE clothes pins on each of the invites.

Here is a close up of the invite.

Now to get back to packing. By the way, Saturday we are taking some boxes to the new place only because we have NO working room here anymore! One of the first things going over there ... my scrapbooking paper ... :-\ ... it keeps interfering with my packing! :( lol

Pinterest Inspired!

I wish I could have a special spot on here only for those Pinterest Inspired cards but well ... if there is ... I cannot figure it out!

Here is a card I whipped up tonight and I thought I would be able to whip up three cards! I was feeling ambitious! I have over 7K pins on Pinterest. I have completed 12 ... including this one ... of these pins. I had thought I would make 2012 the year I pinned all my pins ... :-} ... haha ... but instead I think I will just work on my pins for a little bit before I go back and pin some more! Although ... truth be told ... I do NOT need to pin anything any more! I have enough to last me a lifetime! :)

Here is a pin that inspired me ... and this was my take on it:

Here is a close up of the bling:

Paper was from HOTP and Stampin' Up, embossing folder from Cuttlebug, stamps from TAC

This took two hours! Silly me ... when I was at the office I really thought to myself I could whip this "easy" card up in no time and would actually have time to whip up two more! Ha!