Bling it On!

So glad you're here!  Today is the start of the Creative Charms Blog Hop.

Creative Charms is offering a cool prize on Monday.  All you need to do is visit each blog starting at the Creative Charms blog listed below.  At each blog you will receive a secret word.  Put all the words together to create a secret message and send it in by Sunday.  My secret word is THE.



      Creative Charms – www.creative-charms.blogspot.com

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I thought I would share some projects with you using some of my favorite Creative Charms products.  I love the extra detail that rhinestones add to any project.

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I would love to share some of my Creative Charms products with you.  Just leave a comment by Sunday night and I will pick a winner to receive some goodies. I have some gradient jewels, pearls, vintage brads, a fuzzy daisy and a few other fun stuff to give away. 

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Thanks so much for stopping by!  Make sure to hop on over to Chris' blog. www.workforscraps.blogspot.com

Relaxing Easter

Happy Monday everyone!  Hope everyone had a fabulously wonderful Easter.  Ours was especially relaxing.  The church that we have been attending is a decent sized church but the services are almost always full.  Last week the minister asked everyone to consider coming to the Saturday night service to ease up the attendence of the most popular services.  So we decided to got to the Saturday night service.  It was actually nice.  Past Easters we would have to rush around to get ready on time for church after the girls had finished finding their Easter eggs. 

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After going out for a nice Easter brunch we came home, changed into comfortable clothes and the girls told me they had a surprise for me.  They had set up a "spa" on the patio behind our house.  They were so sweet. 

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It started with a massage using the massagers they got for me a couple of years ago.

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 A pedicure, complete with a pummel stone. :)
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Am I spoiled or what???

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I also wanted to share a project I created for Emma's Paperie last week.  Jessica created a great card sketch and I decided to use that sketch for the tag on this Easter Candy jar. You can see Jessica's sketch and my supply list on the Emma's blog.

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Thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you have a fabouls week.  Don't forget to stop by for the Creative Charms blog hop on Friday.  I will be giving away some bling. 

Weekend Plans

Hi everyone!
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Getting very excited for the next two weekends!  The girls have Good Friday off so we are taking advantage of the day and heading to Bloomington.  DH will have to stay back since he has to work.  We are heading out a bit before school lets out tomorrow so we can be there in time for a 6th grade party that one of the teachers is throwing for the kids that used to be in her class.  Afterward we are taking a couple of the girls' friends to the hotel so they can all swim and then get some dinner.  Friday we will have lunch with friends and then head back to our old neighborhood to hang out for the evening.  I can't even tell you how excited I am.  We will come back late Friday so the girls can play soccer on Saturday and then spend Easter with DH.
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The following weekend I hope you will join us for a Blog Hop with Creative Charms. 

It is our way to say good-bye to some amazing talented women and welcome to wonderful new artists.  There will be goodies to give away. There is nothing better than free bling! :)
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Before I go, I have a project to share with you.  I created this card for our focus on glitter over at Emma's Paperie this week. 
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I created the tag on the pocket by using one of my favorite stamps by Melissa Frances and stamped it into a glue pad. Then after stamping the image on my cardstock I simply covered it with glitter and cut it out.  Super simple and a great way to add glitter to your project! You can find a complete list of my supplies here.

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Have a happy Easter everyone and thanks for stopping by!

Rainy and cold

Oh spring where have you gone???  Anyone who has read my blog for a while knows that I just love watching my girls play soccer.  Saturday was not such a fun soccer day though.  It was the girls' first game here and it was rainy and cold.  The rain felt like ice as we sat there watching the games.  It is rainy and windy again today.  I am soooo ready for some sun and warmth. 
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I am excited.  This morning this beautiful item is going to be delivered.

Pretty isn't it?  The one part of this house that I wasn't so sure I like was the master bath.  It is long with two sinks and a clawfoot type tub in between.  The builder had put up two flat mirrors over the sinks and it just made that wall look so long and bare.  I am excited to say that I am liking it a lot better.  We ordered decorative mirrors to go over each sink and this gorgeous sconce will go over the tub.  It is about 58 inches long so it will fill the space beautifully. 

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I am also awaiting the arrival of this beauty.

A while back the motor on my auto focus died and I have been dealing with that for several months.  I have to admit, manually focusing my lens is not something I am very good at.  

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I have also had several requests to see pictures of our house now that we have our stuff in and everything is relatively done.  I do not have a picture of my scrap room yet.  I still do not have anything on the walls and my shelving unit is more like a storage dump than anything else. But here are a few of my favorite spaces in the house. 
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Our bookshelves are done and I love them.  Matt, the man who built them for us is amazing.  I am very impressed with his work.  They turned out even better than I had imagined.  I love how they brighten up this space.
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I was a little worried about our huge buffet fitting in the dining room but it perfectly into the space the builder had added to this room.
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And my table that worked so perfectly in our other hosue actually works well in the front hall.  I am happy.  I was not thrilled with the idea of putting this table in the basement where no one could see it.

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I have been working on a few projects but I can't share any of them with you quite yet.  I will have some stuff to share soon though.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I truly appraciate you! Have a wonderful week!

A trip to remember

What a great weekend!  After we found we were moving we realized that the girls would get to have a second spring break.  We decided to take the girls to Washington D.C for a few days.  Thursday promised to be a gorgeous day so we decided to spend some time outside.  We rented bikes and made the rounds to most of the monuments.  K's time studying World War II definitely made an impact on her.  It was very obvious throughout the trip.  When we arrived at the WWII monument she spent a lot of time reading and reflecting.  I was able to get a photo of the girls afterward.

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And of course we had to see the Lincoln Memorial.

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We weren't able to get to the Iwa Jima Monument on Thursday but it was one that K really wanted to see so we made sure to get there before we left. I have to admit, it was impressive and moving.

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We also went to the Ford's Theater on Thursday.  We saw a play about the night Lincoln was assassinated and then toured the museum and theater.  What a cool experience.  The box off to the right was where Lincoln was sitting when he was shot.

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Not sure if L could handle visiting all of the Smithsonian museums we chose to go to only one.  We gave the girls the choice on which museum they wanted to visit and they chose the American History museum. We were in the museum only minutes when L spotted this doll house.  We had to drag her away so we could actually see some of the museum before it closed. :)

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K was thrilled with all of the WWII exhibits.  She was especially excited to see Ike's war uniform. 

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Of course L loved seeing Nastia Liukin's Olympic leotard and an Olympic torch.

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My mother-in-law and father-in-law took the girls to see Lion King last year so both girls loved seeing a mask from the play up close.

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We decided to visit the Spy Musuem based on recommendations about how good this museum was.  I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised.  It was a great museum with lots of hands-on activities.

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The best part of our trip was actually a complete surprise.  We weren't able to get tickets to tour the White House since we planned this trip on such short notice.  We were on our way to the White House Visitor's Center when a police officer stopped us on the sidewalk.  After asking us where we were from he reached into his coat and pulled out four tickets to a garden tour on the grounds of the White House.  Without much of a wait, we were able to get right up by the front steps of the White House.  What a great experience!

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Our last day in DC we drove out to Mount Vernon to see Washington's mansion.  What an amazing place!

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I also wanted to share a card I made a couple of weeks ago. 

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Check this out!

Creative Charms Design Team Call

Monday, April 11 – Sunday, April 17

Creative Charms is an embellishment manufacturing company and we are looking for a designers to add to our design team. We are looking for several people who are passionate and excited about sharing their ideas and creativity. The designers we are looking for are in at least one of these categories: scrapbooking, card making, and altered design.

The designers shall:
• Post twice a month to the Creative Charms blog
• Post to their own personal blog and Facebook any specials and giveaways
• Contract for at least three months with an optional 3 month extension

Compensation of $30 of Creative Charms product each month with additional monetary compensation for publication in print magazines.

To apply please email the following to midori@creativecharms.com with the subject line Design Team.
• Name
• Address
• Phone Number
• Email Address
• Blog Address
• 3 of your favorite projects
• Design team experience (past and present)
• List of projects that have been published

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Lunch with Friends

Happy Tuesday! 
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Relatively quick post today.  The girls are home for Spring Break today and we have way too much to do.  Wish it were going to be a relaxing break but it is not looking like that. It will be fun anyway. :) 
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My in-laws were here this weekend and helped us pretty much finish up the house.  Pictures are hung and I am so happy to say my bookshelves are already in the great room and fully decorated.  I will try to get some pictures soon. 
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I have a few things to share with you today.  I am behind on posting my projects for Emma's Paperie so I thought I would share two of those today.  The first is a card that I made for the spotlight on My Mind's Eye.  Oh how I adore that company!!!
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The second is based on this great color inspiration Anabelle chose for this week. 

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And here is my layout based on these great colors. My sweet friend Mary captured this picture with her iphone one day this last year. We had lunch with her and her sweet daughter and were taking a walk afterward on the Monon Trail.  The girls were having so much fun just being silly and spending time together.  Love spending time with these girls. Mary knows how to make me laugh. Luv her!

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The last thing I have to share with you are the kit and deal that Creative Charms is offering this month.

Deal of the Month – Hopping into Spring – 6.99

• Purple Gradient Gem Stickers - 72 Pieces
• Yellow Flared Flowers - 3 Pieces
• Yellow Sparkled Butterflies - 2 Pieces
• Yellow Flower Bows - 3 Pieces
• Yellow Large Sparkled Flower - 1 Pieces
• Pink & Yellow Flower Brads - 6 Pieces
• White Flower Brads - 3 Pieces
• Amber Pure Blossoms - 12 Pieces
• Yellow Gem Butterflies - 12 Pieces
• Bunnies with Flower Gem - 2 Pieces
• Purple Organza Flowers - 4 Pieces
• Purple 3D Sparkly Garden Brads - 12 Pieces
• Pink Gingham Butterflies - 3 Pieces
• 18" Purple Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon
• 18" Yellow Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon

Kit of the Month – Spring has Sprung – 14.99

• Orange Sparkled Flowers - 6 Pieces
• Yellow Sparkled Flowers - 6 Pieces
• Orange Flared Flowers - 4 Pieces
• Pink Flared Flowers - 3 Pieces
• Pink Sparkled Butterflies - 3 Pieces
• Orange Gem Butterflies with Bag - 5 Pieces
• Pink Vintage Pearl Brads - 9 Pieces
• Pink Gradient Pearl Stickers - 72 Pieces

Have a fabulous week and thanks so much for stopping by!