recent craftiness

I played around with the oreo balls that my sister is so famous for and made chocolate peanut butter balls. they were amazing!!! like I have said before, chocolate and peanut butter are a match made in heaven, this recipe confirms that for any of you that doubted me. I'm no photographer, but they look delicious, right? It's way easy to make too! here's the recipe:

1 package Nutter Butters
1 box cream cheese
1/2 c peanut butter

mix all together in a food processor until smooth. roll into balls and dip in melted almond bark. let cool on wax paper and enjoy!

I also made this for Amber. I can't remember why but, the colors are her favorite. they are clothes pin magnets for her fridge.

and last but not least, here are the last two cards I have done for card club. very simple, but I like them. sorry the last one is so dark!

i loved my job

one of the many things i loved about working at Stampin' Up! was birthdays. look how cute they made my desk on my birthday:

some of the many other reasons I loved working there was the awesome people I got to talk to and laugh with every day, the fact that I got to do what I LOVE every day and get paid for it, the employee store and discounts, the beautiful building we worked in, the amazing demonstrators, and SO much more.

we had been forewarned about a month before the day of infamy arrived. but, no matter how much time we were given, nothing could have prepared us for the heartache and emotions we felt that day and every day since then. it's been tough. I loved my job!!! I wasn't planning on ever leaving. I wanted to retire from there. I loved it so much that I can't seem to find the motivation to look for a new job.

I'm taking it one step at a time. some days are long and lonely, but other days are full of fun stuff I never found the time for before. but, the best days are the ones where I get to see all my fellow laid-offers. we went to lunch the very next day after our unemployment meeting. aren't we all so cute?! a bunch of us went to lunch again today. it was great! nothing else has proven to cheer me up more than being with all my SU! peeps.

the day before the layoffs happened I took pictures of my latest projects. these items are being shown on stage at the Australia/New Zealand Convention this week.






so, with any luck, I will be able to find a new great job. I better kick it into high gear! or maybe I will just hang out and live on severance for a while. :)

project round-up

I haven't posted much of anything lately, and to be honest it has mostly been because of laziness. :) so, here is my first attempt at catching up. here are some of the projects I have made the past few months (the ones I can share anyway).




I made these pages for training videos at work. the top one (with the beautiful pics of the crawford family) was for a stencil video, and the next one (with the adorable picture of my niece Nynaeve) was for a bow-tying video.






These are all samples I made for our Leadership conference back in January. those were challenging stamp sets.


This is a gift basket I made for a friend who had been really sick for a while. It's filled with all of his favorite things. yeah, it was pretty sweet of me if I do say so myself.
and this is the card I made last night for my awesome sister, Amber. today is her 26th birthday! she liked it, I think.

so, yes, I LOVE my job! let's all pray for me. come on! I know you want to. for those of you that don't know, my company is going through major lay-offs over the next couple weeks. there is a pretty high chance that I could lose my job. this has caused more stress in my life than I think I've ever felt. I have been getting headaches and really tight and sore muscles in my neck and back. I have been clenching my jaw so hard at night that it has caused pain up my jaw and into my ear. my dentist gave me a night guard to wear, so hopefully that will help. but, seriously - your prayers are needed too. my plan has been to retire from this company, so losing it already would be awful!
Thanks y'all!

v-day cards

as much as I prefer to ignore valentine's day during February and focus on the fact that it is black history month, I can still make some good v-day cards. check these out:

christmas time is here!

I know it's a cliche, but the holidays are SO busy! I have managed to do a few festive things though, so here's my update.

last week I went to Heber and rode the Polar Express with James. it was so much fun! well, ok, it would have been a lot more fun if we were about 20 years younger, or had enough patience to handle obnoxious teenage "elves", but it was a great time anyway. is there a better way to ring in the holidays than to ride a train up to the North Pole to be greeted by Santa and Mrs. Claus and served hot chocolate and cookies by elves? I think not! thanks again so much, James, for taking me.



here are some pictures of my tree and favorite Nativity set. my tree has been up for a month now! I couldn't stand waiting, I was so excited about all of my new ornaments. isn't it beautiful? this is the first time I have actually had my own fully decorated tree. I guess you could say my adulthood is official.



and here's the first Christmas card I made this year. it's a lot harder to get myself to stamp at home these days since I spend 8 hours a day doing it at the office. but, I am sure this one won't be the last one I create this year.


a couple nights ago I hung out with Landon at a cute little coffee shop called Diva's. it was the perfect winter/Christmas night. hot choclate in the den, playing Scrabble and laughing with Christmas carols in the background. It snowed for the first time this week, too. now all I need is moolah for gifts and the season will be complete. :) I hope you are all able to enjoy this time of year as much as I am.

heaps of cards

ok, I have been making a ton of cards and not posting them! how dare I, right? so, this is just a pic post of all the cards I have done lately. enjoy!!

quiet day full of cardmaking

I made some fun cards today. I love them! I might use one of them for our card club in a couple weeks... and, yes, I need a new camera...




I also made this really cute box of chocolates and card for Ashley's birthday.

cutest niece EVER

so, I have the cutest niece EVER! I miss her a ton, and I am dying to take a trip to Seattle. anyway, I received a disc full of pics of this beautiful little girl known as Nynaeve a few days ago so I want to share them with you.





see! isn't she adorable? so, I got her some really cute valentine clothes and made her a card. I have to thank Stampin' Up! for this one. I never would have made a v-day card. but, look how cute this is!