There is nothing better than a spontaneous vacation day which is exactly what a snow day is!  It doesn't matter that the kids have to make up all those days, it is the spontaneity that makes it so awesome.  I'm just like a kid...(hope my husband doesn't read this since that is the line reserved for him, not me.  I'm supposed to be the adult in this family.)  With these pages, I only had three decent pictures which left me a little chanllenged.  But, I think it turned out OK by just adding a large journaling block and the scallop on the bottom.  

 

As I created these pages this evening, I thought about why I scrapbook.  I'd like to say it is so that I can document our lives for future generations.  But if that were truly the case, I would spend more time journaling than I do.  Some pages I haven't even noted a year...so that certainly blows that theory.  I used to say that I scrapbook because my kids are at that preteen and teenage mouthy stage and I want to see them but not hear them for a little bit.  (Love you Emily and Matthew!)  :-)  But, I think the truth of it is that I scrapbook for purely selfish reasons...time goes by SO quickly and it scares me at how much I lose the ability to truly remember 'the little things'.   When I sit down at my stamp table and work on pages, it takes me back in time and I get to see those little things again.  Tonight I looked at some photos of my sixteen year old daughter when she was a toddler.  I saw her face in some of those pictures and I had a whole new perspective on 'what she was thinking at that moment in time'.  When I looked at baby pictures of my son, I was reminded again of what a truly "happy" baby he was...and that made me happy all over again.  If you have never scrapbooked, I encourage you do so...even if it is simply for those selfish reasons.  :-)  Here is one set of pages that I got done tonight.

 

Well, things are starting to get back to a routine around here.  The Christmas season was extremely busy for me with Sweetbriar Designs.  So, I didn't get much stamping done because I was too busy filling those orders.  January is always crazy the first couple of weeks.  I attend a 'buying show' in Atlanta to hunt new products for Sweetbriar Designs.  Seems like an easy enough task, right?  Think again.  There are three buildings and two of the three have almost 20 floors.  I equate each floor to be about the size of a small mall.  We try to see all the showrooms in three days.  As you can tell, it is quite a task...but I love it.  It is like one big treasure hunt for me to seek the latest and greatest.  Here is a photo of building three which is the smallest with only 13 floors.  I find the sterling silver jewelry that we engrave from manufacturers in this building.  

 

One of the decisions I made after the Christmas season was to branch out into apparel printing.  We are currently receiving all the new machines and samples to print on t-shirts and sweatshirts, along with totes, bags, mugs, coasters, mousepads, picture frames...so many things!  Printing is an ideal extension to our embroidery operations as it gives our customers yet another option for personalization.  The picture below is 'colorprint' on a black quilted microfiber tote.  I love how the printing looks like part of the tote...it doesn't compromise the quilted look in any way.  How cool is that?  Not only is this tote one of our best selling, it is one of my personal favorites.  I can fit quite a bit of stamping supplies in there when I 'stamp on the go'!  

 

Now that I am through with the buying show and have ordered the new machines, I can get back to stamping!  I had ladies over this evening to stamp Valentine's cards.  Here is one that we did...I love the black and white, crisp look to this card!  But the real WOWZER for me is the glitter paper!  Love, love and super love glitter paper because there is NO mess!  Ahhhhh....a mother's dream!  :-)

This isn't stamping related but I was so excited about these new products for Sweetbriar Designs, I just had to share!  These are license plates that we personalized!  In Virginia we have to have our regular plates on both the front and back of the car, so we couldn't use these on our vehicles.  Even so, I still had several requests for them, so I decided to bring them in.  I figured being on online store, there were lots of other states that could use them.  But, I was still trying to figure out a way to use them here in Virginia though.  So, we came up with these door hangers!  These are just perfect for doors in college dorm, or the tween to teen bedroom door or wall...even nurseries or teacher's classroom doors....they are just so much fun!!!  Of course, I couldn't stop with just zebra and giraffe print...I also got houndstooth, polka dots, damask...lots of fun backgrounds!!!  I just LOVE these!  Fun, fun, fun!  :-)

OK, I know it sounds silly...but I'm freezing already!  I am always so cold.  But, I was recently enjoying some unusually warm weather for late October with temps in the low 70s.  Then my daughter had to say something about wanting it to get chilly again and now it is in the low 40s at night!  I wanted to put that kid on restriction for saying such awful things!  (Well, not really...but almost!)  So, here is a card that I did last year that depicts how I currently feel.  

 

Well, apparently the action is all here at my house for stamp camps.  Last night's class is certainly one that I will always remember.  It seemed like a 'typical' camp stamping some great Christmas cards.  About an hour and a half into the class, I ran upstairs to grab something.  While up there, I notice several flashing blue lights through my living room curtains.  So, I open the front door and step on to the porch to see quite a scene.  In the street in front of my next door neighbor's I see several police officers with one demanding (in that made for TV police voice), "Keep your hands where we can see them!"  Whole nine yards here everyone...multiple police officers, surrounding vehicle, guns drawn.  It didn't take me but about 1.2 seconds to realize that I wanted to be inside the house, not outside.  So I quickly went back downstairs to rejoin my ever so pleasant...and friendly...and fun...and nice stamp camp!  In my almost ten years of holding classes, I have never had to explain to my guests that it probably wasn't wise to leave just quite yet.  Surely, they wanted to stamp another card or two.  Now mind you, I live in a 'normally' very safe neighborhood.  No really, I do!  We have a very strict homeowner's association, great amenities including a huge pool and clubhouse, lighted tennis courts, sand volleyball and basketball courts, soccer and baseball fields...truly nice features that drew us to this subdivision when we were house hunting.  

Oh but hold on to your britches, the story gets even better...or worse, technically.  So, the police apparently arrest the suspect (of course, we don't know what he/she is a suspect of quite yet).  A tow truck picks up the suspect's vehicle.  End of story.  Well, not just yet...did I mention this book gets even better.  One of my guests, (aka, my very dear friend, Gloria) sticks around until just after 4:00am.  (That, for the record, was not a typo...just typical Lisa/Gloria fun until "stupid:30 in the morning.")  I drag my extremely tired-self upstairs and crawl into bed.  By this point my husband is getting up for work, so I chat with him for a few minutes.  All of a sudden, my cell phone rings...at 4:45am!  Gloria's calling.  She got home, opened the back door of her car to get a bag out, and the door wouldn't shut.  Turns out, her car was hit while she was here!  She confirms my address with me and calls the police to report this.  It appears as though the suspect from this evening must have hit her vehicle that was parked on the street.  Can you believe this?

Oh but wait...yes, indeed...there is more!  So chances are, if you are not new to my blog you know that I took about a year and a half off from stamping.  Just getting back these past couple of months to stamp classes.  A couple of days ago, I received a call from a potential new stamper that found me on the web.  She wanted to come to a class to try out stamping.  Her first class was...of course, last night!

Let's think about this for just a minute...imagine being brand new to stamping.  You search for someone who offers classes and you find them on the website.  You have only talked on the phone for about ten minutes but you decide to go to this stranger's home where there are several women you don't know.  The stranger tells you the police are outside with guns drawn.  They finally arrest a suspect who did who knows what!  This of course happens a few minutes after this stranger was telling everyone about her cars being recently broken into and the neighborhood tennis courts being vandalized a few weeks later.  But, don't worry...after the police arrest the suspect, she tells you it really is a very safe neighborhood!  So my question is, do you think she will come back to stamp with us again?  :-)

See, I wasn't kidding when I said all the action is at my house!  Have you ever been to a stamp camp that was also a real live episode of Cops?  But hey, you can't say that I don't offer quite the deal...two shows for one price.  Can't beat that!

So here are the cards that we stamped...because it has been a busy week for me with Sweetbriar Designs, I ended up having to use cards that were cased from others this time.  

Here is the original:  http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_YFixyU2fjYA/TLyLKWNNLvI/AAAAAAAAFvA/HMnl-9Vm0EU/s1600/simplysimple23005883.jpg

 

Used different colors and a different punch on the bottom along with brads instead of rhinestones.  The original was stamped by Terry Mongeon.

 

 Here is the original:  http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BK8LjL4BqEI/TFkFVOOm4xI/AAAAAAAAJOE/nk8jIDHIjYE/s1600/ilinacrouse_tags+till+christmas1_1.jpg