We all have our issues...

...and mine is my desk.

I did not realize it was an issue until this weekend, when I had the pleasure of participating in a great swap through Splitcoast Stampers up in Georgetown with my friends Lydia and Dana. We knew that we were going to have an amazingly fun day, because you cannot put the three of us within 10 miles of each other without a high amount of hilarity following. Little did I know that one little comment that I made would result in a near intervention right there at the stamping table.

It went a bit like this: We were discussing how brave it is of girls to post before and after photos of their stamping rooms when they are going from piles of supplies everywhere to a beautiful, organized space. I happened to say something about the fact that I cannot stamp if my stamping table is messy. Lydia looked at me like I just sprouted an extra head. "What exactly do you mean?", she asked.

"Well, I mean that if I finish a project and there is a bunch of stuff all over my desk I stop and put it up before I start something new. That way I know where everything is and can just free up my mind to design. Why? What do you do?"

You know that scene at the end of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" where poor Veronica Cartwright sees Donald Sutherland out on a busy street, and thinking he is still human, runs up to greet him only to have him slowly outstretch his arm to point her out, all while emitting that high-pitched screech so that all the other soul-sucking aliens would realize she hadn't been transformed yet? It was kind of like that. I think I could have said, "I like taking candy from babies and kicking puppies," with a much gentler response.

"You do WHAT?!?" That was the collective response from everyone withing earshot. I seriously thought a crew from "Intervention" might just materialize and after making all my friends confront me haul me off to Riverton for stamper rehab. (Come to think of it, that would not be all that bad.) The consensus of the group was that poor Kim should be loved anyway, God bless her heart.

So, in the footsteps of those who have been brave enough to go before me, I shall show you pictures of my inner conflict in the "before and after" format. Here we go...

Before: As you can see there is a large amount of just "stuff" all over the desk. Stamps, swaps, Christmas cards that are awaiting envelopes, a full trash can, just a lot of things all over my table. Now, I can hear many of you right now saying, "But there is a ton of room to stamp. I mean, you can still see the actualy table for goodness sakes!" Now, to let you into my mind. If I were to sit there right now to stamp, nothing would get done. Not a thing. Because all I see is a ton of stuff that wants to be put up and out of sight.

So I do, and end up with this:

See? All better now! Everything is back where it belongs and I can easily see 93.2% of the table. My little corner has my grid paper, paper cutter, and stampin' scrub. At this point my mind and heart get all happy and sing a little happy stamping song and I can work on cards.

So, now that I have shown you a behind the scenes secret, it is time for me to get to that table and make some pretty cards for my thank you card class that I am having the week after Christmas. I hope that each of you gets to spend some time in your stampy place this week, whether it is cluttered with piles of fun stuff or cleaned and organized. Thanks for stopping by, and until next time, Happy Stamping!

Kim

Halloween Fun...

...is about to start! I love Halloween, especially now that I have my own little trick-or-treater in the house, and this year I decided to make a few more decorations to enjoy. I took a page from the Stampin' UP! playbook and copied the cute white pumpkins that they showed us at Convention, and came up with this:
Cute, quick and simple using the new Spooky Decor Elements and the Black Rhinestones from the Holiday Mini Catalog. I was really surprised because I have never been able to handle the rub-ons without getting them stuck to everything I don't want them to stick to, but these are so easy to use it makes me want to decorate EVERYTHING!

So, if you come by and Bella has a big spider on her, don't swat at it, I probably just have her all gussied up for the holiday.

Onto other projects, Lydia and I have started a new Friday morning tradition. See, we typically meet up after I drop the kiddo off at school and have coffee and chat. I seriously believe we should have a film crew and buy some time on the TV because we would have an Emmy-award winning hit on our hands. Between the witty conversation and the fact that we know we can solve all of the world's problems if we were only allowed to handle things our way, it is a great time. Well, we finally got smart and added stamping to our Friday morning ritual, and it has been awesome!

I have actually made a self-imposed limit that I have to pack my stamping/coffee bag in 5 minutes or less to keep from overthinking what I will work on. Sometimes I just take one stamp and do a bunch of watercoloring, but this time I actually grabbed enough supplies to make a card, and came up with this little guy:

I had to put a close-up of the sweet little vampire on it because he is just too cute to be scary. Since I often forget to color faces (remember the disaster with the cards I made for Pioneer Woman?) I really like this little vampire because they are supposed to be extra pale, right? I have a feeling I am going to have a lot more fun with this set and the cool flocked polka-dot paper before October 31st arrives.

On another note, I think I am going to go trick-or-treating dressed up like a trauma victim since I have added a knee immobilizer to my own personal stash of orthopedic devices over this past week. See, on Thursday I decided to go out and check my mail. Now, for most people this is just another everyday thing to do, but I don't like doing anything the regular way so I thought it would be fun to see what I could trip over like a klutz on the way back into the house. Luckily, my driveway had a spacer that had come up from between the two concrete slabs, and I hit it in the middle of a full-on stride. I remember hearing the first few strains of Blue Danube Waltz while I began to soar.

Time slowed down to a crawl as I went full-on superman across my driveway. I can only imagine how spectacular I would have looked if I had had a cape on. My arms and legs both actually achieved a full horizontal position as I flung my mail to get that whole "ticker-tape parade" effect for myself. I mean, after all, I was flying!

The only problem with flight is one that I have heard from pilots my entire life: Take-offs are optional. Landings are mandatory. And, since I failed to think this entire thing through to the natural, gravity driven conclusion, I fell like a stone to the earth, striking my knees and foot first, with my hands to follow. The great news is my noggin did not get close to the concrete, which probably would have knocked me unconscious. The bad news is that somehow the part of my flip-flop that goes between my big toe and the second toe got shoved into my foot with enough force to break the big joint of my big toe, and I really banged up my right knee.

I can say that at first I was so happy to be alive that I stood up, gathered my mail, and the the little gymnast manuever where you throw both arms over your head to "salute" your judges and the crowd and to let them know that you are indeed finished with your show. Then I took a couple of steps. The funny thing about a nervous system is how quickly it lets you know that you are in trouble. See, I made it a good 4 steps before my nervous system overrode all of that adrenaline and said, "Hey, uh, Kim? Yeah, you got some broke stuff inside your body." I got into the house and to the sofa, where Little Miss fetched my tylenol and ice and eventually got herself a book and a snack for our trip to the emergency room.

Prognosis: broken toe on the left foot, really banged up knee on the right, and a knee immobilizer and "walking" boot, one for each leg. So, if you are worried about who the zombies will get first, well, I have you covered for the next 10 days because right now I cannot outrun them with these contraptions on.

I hope that you are all having a great weekend, and I just want to say if anyone got video of my stellar fall and decides to post it on YouTube, please, just spell my name correctly and don't put me on the same page as the full-on double rainbow guy.

Until next time, Happy Stamping!

Kim

M-I-C-...

See ya' real soon!

K-E-Y....

Why? Because we like you!

M-O-U-S-E

Yes...we are officially in the Land of the Mouse. Funny thing is, we intended to do one day at Disney during this vacation. Just one. Because last time we were here, we did a full week at the parks. Seven complete days of all things Mickey, Minnie, and definitely a little Goofy. So this time, we decided to use some restraint, because anyone who has done 7 days at Disney knows that by day 5, you are looking at it like you are a hostage in a bad movie, and that doesn't bode very well for the small child in your life. Decision made! Just. One. Day.

Then we took Little Miss to dinner at Downtown Disney, specifically, at T-Rex.


Did I mention that they have "Build-a-Dino" there? Yes, it is Build-a-Bear, but with Dinosaurs.

This is Little Miss giving her pterodon a bath. I thought it was a pterodactyl, but I was misinformed. Little Miss said to me very matter-of-factly, "Mom, I have familiarized myself with the dinosaurs, and this is a pterodon, not a pterodactyl. You can tell because the top of her head is different." Yes. Of course I can. How could anyone not have known that? Guess I'll be doing a little remedial study on the different variety of flying dinosaurs when we get home.

I have always given it to Disney...they go all out on things like this. That is a full-sized T-Rex skeleton "buried" in the ice cave that leads to the restrooms, which were labeled...wait for it...wait for it...She-Rex and He-Rex. Notice the little pre-historic bow on She-Rex's head? Yes, that is a bow. Because, well, even meat-eating ginormously scary dinosaurs like to look pretty!

After dinner we did some shopping and sight-seeing. David decided to try on a Capt. Jack look, while Little Miss opted for the super cute route. Finally, a quick peek into the Bibbidi-Boppity-Boutique, where Fairy Godmothers turn little girls into princesses.

Yes, our intentions were great, but after this first night of fun we decided that we might ought to plan on at least 2 days at Disney, with a Blizzard Beach day thrown in for good measure! Tomorrow is a lazy day for us to just chill out, then it will be off to Mouse-land, where any little girl can be a princess and mommies and daddies get to see some pretty awesome smiles.

I hope that your life is filled with magic and love today! I promise we will return to our previously scheduled stamping program once I get home, but for the next week I am going to be relaxing and having all kinds of Florida fun with the family.

For those of you wondering about those cute little mutts that we left at home, well, they are safe with the house/pet sitter, who called today to let me know that Bella ate his cell phone. Nice. I wonder if a pair of mouse ears will make it up to him?

Have a great night, and until next time...Happy Stamping!

Kim

Wow...

...is all I can say about this past week! We have had such a great time here, and I am sad to see it end (but I am so happy to get home and see my Little Miss again).

Here are a few random pictures from this past week for your enjoyment:


This is the Salt Palace Convention Center, where we spent the week learning more amazing things about stamping than I can begin to describe or share here. It is so pretty lit up at night, and we had a straight view of it from our gorgeous hotel room.

This is my group of friends that I call "SASS-y", which stands for "South Austin Sassy Stampers". At this convention it included Lydia (giving me bunny ears, myself, Cheryl, and Dana as well. This group is subject to change, and we really do accept anyone who is anywhere remotely near the South Austin area, drinks coffee, eats sushi, and is willing to play Twister. (Lydia abstained from Twister but she is the founding member of SASS-y so she can do things like that without endangering her position in the group.

Not sure if you can see it or not but some of us also have our faces painted in this picture. The entire party was amazingly fun, with hula hooping, twister, game show try-outs, and just general 60's and 70's frivolity.

Next up is one of my favorite pictures, myself and Meg on awards night. There are several reasons that it is my favorite, but one of the top ones is that I got to see Meg in several marches across the stage, one of which was the march for Founder's Circle. This means that Meg made the top 100 demonstrators in the country and is going on a special trip out to St. George, Utah in September. Way to go, Meg! We are all proud of you!

Now, I had a contest yesterday and really enjoyed reading everyone's comments on what your favorite Stampin' Up! products are. The winner yesterday was Susan Brown, who gets her choice of either a reusable grocery bag or a Stampin' Up! clear ruler that has a designer series paper design on it.

Once I get home there will be some more contests, and a lot more pictures. For now I am going to tuck in and get some sleep. I hope everyone has a great day tomorrow, and are ready for a fun week! I will be hitting the phones Monday to make a lot of phone calls because there is an August hostess special that you do not want to miss. In fact, the first four hostesses that book a workshop with me for the month of August will receive their order delivered in one of those ultra-cute new reusable bags. Imagine your free merchandise arriving packed in one of those bags. Yes, I said free merchandise, because for every workshop that closes at $350 in merchandise for the month of August, the hostess will get:

--any Level One or Level Two Hostess set out of the Idea Book & Catalog, the Summer Mini, or the Definitely Decorative catalog, plus

--$40 in free merchandise, plus

--an additional $25 in free merchadise.

That is a huge value in totally free merchandise, just for having a fun afternoon or evening with your friends. And with all the new techniques and designs I have just spent the week learning about, I promise it will be fun. If you need more fun and girl time in your life then get your calendar out because the calls will start on Monday morning. If I don't have your contact information but you would like to have a workshop, then please email me at baxter1@austin.rr.com and I will get in touch with you to get your date on the calendar.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend, and until next time, Happy Stamping!

Kim

Breakfast with the Executive Team...

...will be happening in the morning! I sure hope that they look in a little better shape tomorrow morning than they did Wednesday night. Just take a little look-see:

No idea who the man with the beard is, but the blond, peace-loving guy next to him is Mark Jessen, who is THE trainer with Stampin' Up. Mark is the guy who helps put together all the amazing training, both online and in-person, that the demonstrators receive.

Let's move on to the groovy couple on the dance floor. Those are none other than Shelli and her husband, Sterling. Even in 70's clothes, Shelli is so cute you just want to put her in your convention bag and bring her home with you. Not that I would ever do that, I'm just saying. Maybe I've said too much. I'll just show a couple of pictures now instead.

This is how the main stage in Demonstrator Theater is decorated. I will do my best to get some more shots tomorrow, as my camera has been ill with me and not wanting to work the way I would like it too, but the set looks like big, huge stamp blocks, a tag with an eyelet and the new ribbon, and on the sides are borders that are done in the eyelet and new scalloped edge border. So cute!

One other cute thing is the perk of bringing your roommates little gifts to welcome them. Now, last year I did not bring any gifts, but I was told that when you are a first time Convention attendee that you aren't expected to. It wasn't until about a week before I flew out of Austin that I realized that this time I would not be a "first timer", and I had better be making some presents, so I created these:

I just love how well the Friends Never Fade set coordinates with the paper. The best part about it is, I don't have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out if it will go together, because I know it will and that these colors look amazing together! The girls were very happy to get these little journals to take notes in for Convention.

So, before I head to bed, time for another contest. Just add a comment and tell me what your favorite new product in the Idea Book & Catalog is and why. I will take entries until 7 p.m. Friday night (Central Time) and will post a winner later that evening.

I hope everyone has a great night, and I will see you all very soon! Until next time, Happy Stamping!

Kim