Well Hello there!!!

I have a butterfly bush right outside my window, by the computer. It has been there for quite some time. I planted it while David and I were still dating. Anyway, it is almost a butterfly tree! It reaches taller then our rancher house, and I love it! The way it is positioned it is like I am sitting inside it and looking out at it's branches. I find myself gazing out the window often to see who is visiting it. This summer we had the very first hummingbirds I have ever seen in real life! I went out and put up a humming bird feeder so I can watch the little guys. They actually went away for about a week and I was worried that they were gone. But here I am sitting here watching them again! Today it is raining and miserable out. Hurricane Irene is supposed to be visiting today/tomorrow. Anyway I thought I would share some pictures of some of the visitors I have had this summer.
The first picture is my view through the Butterfly bush, looking up towards the sky:

A bee on the end of the bloom:

A group of swallows (I believe) one was feeding the others:

A tiger swallow:

One of the few good pictures I was able to get of a humming bird:

Another Tiger swallow:

The hummingbirds are quick! I have lots of pictures with them sort of in the shot, but not really. They will flit to all of the blooms, then come to the feeder. A few times they have turned to the window as if to say "Did you get a picture?" Or "Ha ha you missed me again!" I love the little visitors! Sometimes you can hear the tap tap of their feet on the windowsill. I have found myself staring out the window for hours!

August Promotion - Buy 3 Get 1 Free

From now until August 31st, Stampin Up is offering Buy 1 Get free on select packs of their Designer Paper. There is no limit on this special, the items just have to be listed on the flyer. Click HERE to see the list of items which are included!
Hurry, offer only good until August 31st!!!

Devastating Fire - Help needed for a fellow crafter's family

As a member of the Card Fairy Army on my Favorite MB, I was made aware of a very devastating story. A fellow member on my favorite MB has posted the story on her blog. Two of her children and their families lost their home and their belongings in a tragic fire last week. In the home were also 2 grandchildren. Thankfully they all escaped the blaze unharmed. They escaped with each other and the clothes and shoes that they had on. The next day the one son-in-law went in and found the flag which draped his father's casket. If you'd like to read the whole story, it is found on Kymberlee's Blog. They are asking for help for these two families. No gift is too small. More details on that are also listed on Kymberlee's blog. Both of the men, both named Nick, proudly serve in the US Coast Guard.

Even encouraging words would be great. Why not send a handmade card if you are a crafter. The address is also on Kymberlee's blog.

Craft Room Clearance Sale

Due to a lack of space, I have decided that it is time to part with some of my Stampin' Up sets.

Therefore, I decided to have a Craft Room Sale and clear out some of the many items I don't use. I will be holding a Craft Room Sale here at my home on Saturday July 30th, as well as one at a friend's house in Philadelphia on August 6th. I have MANY items up for sale, tools, ribbons, embellishments, stamps, etc. Along with these items I have the following stamp sets are up for sale. The prices listed do not including shipping. Here is a key for the letters I used. C=Clear, W=Wood, N.UM=New Unmounted NM=New but mounted, GR=Great stamp set is practically new, G=Set is in good condition, St=some staining. I will gladly take pictures of the sets and email them to you to show the condition.

Name wood/clear Condition Price
Patterned Pines w N.UM $7.00
Wandering Words w $7.00SOLD
Cold & Cuddly w most G but St $8.00
Big On Christmas w G $8.00
Give Thanks w G $9.00
Twick or Tweet w N.UM $8.00
Birthday Bliss w NM $9.00
July Fourth c N.UM $9.00
Good Egg w G $9.00
love You Much w GR but a little St $12.00
A Happy Heart w NM $15.00
The More The Merrier w N.UM $12.00SOLD
Sock Monkey w Wood Stains $12.00SOLD
Sock Monkey Access. w NM $9.00SOLD
Baby Steps w N. UM $6.00
So Cute w N. UM $7.00
Love Bug w NM $8.00 SOLD
Teddy & Train w NM $12.00
Picture This w NM $6.00
Animal Crackers w N.UM $15.00
Choo Choo w wood some St $9.00
Animal Stories w Great $9.00
Happy Everything w NM $12.00SOLD
Itty Bitty w GR $8.00
Hello Again w GR $6.00
So Greenw N.UM$9.00 SOLD
Wellness Wishes w N.UM $9.00
Priceless w Good little stains on wood $9.00
Enjoy Every Moment w "enjoy" stained, rest in G $12.00
Just Buzzing By w Good $12.00

Bugs and Kisses w Wood Stained $14.00
Picnic Parade c NM $7.00
Tree for All Seasns w Good $6.00
Garden Greetings w Good some St $12.00
Country Morning w Great $7.00
Country Morning w N. UM $9.00
Eastern Blooms w Great $10.00
Cheap Talk w Good but a little St $13.00
Fresh Cuts w Good $9.00
Lexicon of Leaves w Great $14.00
Petal Pizzazz w some stains $12.00
Always w NM $15.00
Wagon full of fun w N.UM $22.00
Asian Artistry w some stains $8.00
Silhouette Sentiments C NM $7.00
Apple Blossoms C Great $7.00
Punched Posies C N. UM $9.00
Watercolor Trio C N. UM $9.00
Fast & Fabulous C N. UM $9.00
Fast & Fabulous C Great $7.00
A little Bit of Magic C N.UM $7.00
It's the Thought C N.UM $6.00
Rough Type (Alphabet) C N.UM $8.00
Playful Pieces C N.UM $8.00
Birthday Bakery C N.UM $8.00
First Day C N.UM $9.00 SOLD

Well Scripted C Great $10.00
Blissful Bride C N.UM $9.00 SOLD
Sentimental Journey C N.UM $9.00
Sweet Scoops C Great $8.00
Vintage Labels C N.UM $6.00 SOLD

Bouquet Bunch C N.UM $7.00
Whismical Words C Great $7.00 SOLD
Good Neighbors C N.UM $6.00
Things I Love w Great $9.00
Sprinkles w N.UM $12.00
Very Thankful w N.UM $8.00
Branch Out w N.UM $12.00 SOLD
Happy Moments w N.UM $8.00
So Many Scallops w N.M $6.00
Totally tabs w Great $8.00SOLD
Eight Great Sayings w N.UM $16.00

Sizzix Decorative Strip - Join in the Cheer. NEW $14.00

Simply Sent - Lifelong Notes. Stamp set is mounted, but unused. $25.00 Originally sold for $42.95! Photo of what's inside, but not my actual kit, (I didn't open up my packages):

Kit contains everything you need to make 10 handmade cards, 5 of 2 styles. Includes assortment of cardstock, self adhesive die cuts, glue dots, dimensionals, 3 unopened coordinating Stampin' Spots classic inks, OnBoard chipboard pieces, and one mounted but unused 6 piece stamp set. Includes 12 small Open-ended Whisper White envelopes.


Simply Sent-Sending Happy Thoughts. w NM $30.00 Originally sold for $54.95SOLD

If you see anything that interests you, please feel free to email me at GRKIDDO at Verizon dot Net

Sunny Fun

Ok I love this set! What could be cuter then some cute little flip flops? I got the idea for this card on Stampin' Connection, which is a site exclusively for Stampin' Up Demonstrators. This image is from the Sunny Fun set which is available from Stampin' Up only until August 31st! It features craft colored cardstock, white cardstock and some patterned papers I had on hand. Not to mention ribbons and buttons! I colored the images in with my Marvelous markers (aka Stampin' Write Markers) and then added in some white gel pen, then added some rhinestones to a pair of the flip flops. I made these for the summer theme for my Addicted to Cardmaking swap on my Favorite MB.

A Technique Page

You are probably wondering what all of these little squares are for. Well once a month when our group of Stampin' Up Demonstrators, the PhillyInkers, get together we make a page for our Technique book. We take turns making up the squares for our technique page. In July I did one of the pages. My Technique was the Shaving Cream Technique. This is a lot of fun to do, although a little messy. But I love how different each page came out a little differently. When the squares were dry, I used Basic Black Craft ink to stamp on the flower image from Upsy Daisy.
At the meetings we adhere the squares down to Top Notes which are pre-cut. On the reverse side of this, are the directions of how to do the technique. Below is a finished example.

June's Card Club cards

Each month I host a card club here in my home on the third Friday of each month. In June I wanted to showcase a now retired stamp set, "Pun Fun". I love this stamp set, and am sad to see it go, but it had to retire to make room for some new sets. :) I also wanted to incorporate some Designer Series Paper into some cards, and I came up with this idea. The Designer Paper (DSP) is from the 2010-2012 InColors Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack (117158), and I chose the Concord Crush paper. The cardstock is Pretty in Pink, as well as Whisper White. We then used the Stamp and Write (Marvelous Markers) markers to color in the images. Often times when I make the design for card club I feel like maybe something is missing, or maybe something should be changed. So this time when I demonstrated, I also made the cards without the designer paper, so that the ladies could see both versions, and they could choose which they liked better. I also chose a different image from the same "Pun Fun" set. The sentiments were included with the images, and we stamped them and punched them out with the word window punch, which we layered on a piece punched out with the Modern Label punch.