Stampin' Chica

It's a Mojo Monday 162!!

2010-10-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

More like Mojo Friday for me :o)

This is the first time I've decided to play along at Mojo Monday's and follow their sketch for the week, we'll see how long I can keep this up for. Today I'm using my "Fleur Anya" from The Greeting Farm. She's so cute bright and colorful. Was not really sure if I wanted it as a birthday card so I decorated the inside but I still don't have a saying on the inside. Stop on over and visit their site, look at all the other wonderful creations. The paper stack I used was the Citrus Stack by DCWV, I have so many paper packs, I need to keep stamping and creating, they have to go down eventually. LOL

Enjoy the Anya card!!!

Fall Break

2010-10-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the start of "Fall Break" for my son Louie, so I decided to take some time off with him. Mainly to drive him from one place to another. This year we really didn't take any vacation since we bought the house, but maybe next year. We'll see. So I'm going to try and dedicate this time to making cards now that the house is nice and clean and the clothes are washed, the kids are fed and the doggie is napping. I made this little guy he is also from "The Greeting Farm", the stamp set is the OA My favorite things. Still learning how to color hair and faces, obviously I'm not there yet, but hopefully in just a few more weeks of practice, I will master this. I have to master it. I need to watch more youtube videos.

Enjoy the new card!!!!

2010-10-24T18:36:00.001-07:00

Happy Sunday everyone. Currently watching "The Next Food Network Star", I need to stop watching some of these shows, it makes me hungry. Tomorrow I'm also starting my first day or waking up early and running in the morning. Wish me luck!!!! I want to try and run a 5K this year, we'll see how that goes. So this evening, I've been still working with my "OA My Favorite Thing" stamp, I like to call her my Strawberry Shortcake stamp. Changed her up a little by giving her blonde hair and also adding some glitter. Glitter comes a long way. I added glitter to the card I shared with you yesterday, and it just made the whole thing pop. I also worked on coloring some images this evening. Hope to put those cards together this evening. Enjoy the new card!!

Strawberry Shortcake

2010-10-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

I'm loving having the new stamp store in Dyer Indiana " Stamp N Scrap Ink". I've been able to buy specialty stamps that I normally order online from them. It's been pretty sweet. Trying to control myself though. One of our local businesses that has been open for 15 years is now closing, "Once Upon a Time", they have a lot of scrapbooking paper and accessories. Everything is 50% off til the end of the year.

So tonight I made a "Strawberry Shortcake" inspired card. The stamp set is the OA-My Favorite Thing from "The Greeting Farm". I had to get the stamp, it reminded me so much of Strawberry Shortcake and bought back my doll smell and the cartoons. Did you have a Strawberry Shortcake Doll that smelled like strawberries? I did, and I loved it. I think I can also dress her like rainbow bright, maybe somehow replace her strawberries and the color.

Enjoy the card.....

2010-10-22T15:31:00.000-07:00

It's a laundry, cardmaking day. Just got home from a San Francisco business trip, it was my first trip to the not so sunny city. More like a cold, breezy, chilly city. I imagined SF being a nice warm sunny city. But I guess that all depends on where you live in the Bay area :o) Everyday was a chilly night, much like Chicago weather in October, so I was prepared. And I love Chicago in the Fall, it's a beautiful time of the year.

So today I'm posting a few more Halloween cards that will be put in the mail this week. Yes, finally, Halloween will get here and nothing out yet.

Hope you enjoy the new cards. "The REAPER cards"..

2010-10-05T05:24:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd get in a quick post before starting my day today. Still cranking away with my Halloween Holiday cards. This year I plan on getting many of them out in the mail. I took them to work with me today, to give me some inspiration. I laid them on my desk along the back side of me. So I'd peek over my shoulder and I would feel stress free. No Joke, stamping and scrapbooking are great stress relievers. I had all sorts of people stop by my cube today and check out all the wonderful creations.

My new stamp room is still a mess, haven't really been able to get it organized, my son asked me just today. Mom when is your stamp room going to be organized. I snapped my neck around... and Said "Who u talking to Willis"... LOL My room, my mess.. I'd take a picture but it's really bad. I'm hoping to dedicate a weekend to get everything organized. Not sure when that's going to be, but it'll be soon. Enjoy today's creation.

Halloween

2010-10-04T07:11:00.000-07:00

Halloween is celebrated by millions of people around the world. It's a fun time for parents to take their kids out trick or treating, putting on costumes, knocking on doors asking for candy. So here's where I'm struggling, Do Christian's celebrate Halloween?

As a new Christian I'm really struggling with this. As I'm growing in my new faith, I have a ton of questions, I have never questioned before. Today, as I saw my previous postings, I was even thinking, I make tons of Halloween cards to send out to friends, is that encouraging bad behavior on "My" part. I'm not really sure, and not really sure I can answer that.

Today, I honestly woke up asking myself that question. In Mexico we celebrate Halloween as the day of the dead. We take food and celebrate the lives of those that have left us. So if I think about it that way. It's a celebration. In the states, it's about Witches, Ghost and Goblins...

Well I hope all who reads, really just enjoys my cards as a fun Halloween treat. I really just love making cards for all seasons.

2010-10-04T05:09:00.000-07:00

It's a chilly morning, so in light of the day, I thought I'd post this dark/fun Halloween Card. Very Girlie, yet chilly.. LOL This weekend was the grand opening of "Stamp N Scrap Ink" a local Scrapbook Store, more like a local STAMP Store... Yes, we don't have too many of those opening up around these parts. Most Stamp/Scrap Stores have been closing down. It's exciting to have a local store open in Dyer, Indiana. Saturday they opened at 9am and had goody bags for the first 100 customers. This place was "AMAZING", it had a ton of stamps. This can be dangerous.

So I gave myself a budget before leaving the house. I would spend $20.00 and that was it. I know that's nothing, when visiting one of these stores. But I had no money, so this was good enough. And going forward I'm going to give myself an allowance before I go. Because it worked out just great!! I stuck to it, I really didn't need anything, but it's so much fun browsing and picking out that special stamp. On Sunday, I decided to introduce the store to my sister..... She was like, "Oh this could be dangerous".... Exactly. Only another stamper would understand. It was like Stamp Heaven walking in there. They really out did themselves, they are better than "Achievers".. yes. I said it. But it really truly is a stamp store. So on our Sunday trip, I didn't purchase anything, stuck to my guns. I had two things in my hand and decided it could wait.

I came home on Saturday and just had inspiration to continue creating Halloween cards... hope you like, "Mitzi the Mummy" by Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps... ENJOY!!

More Halloween Cards.

2010-10-03T06:55:00.000-07:00

I think we've already covered I'm not a great blogger. Don't have fun facts to share and my English is horrible :D

I think I've also mentioned that Halloween and Thanksgiving are my favorite holidays. Love all the colors. And really enjoy making cards for the season. I've been sick for almost 3 weeks now, really bad allergies... hoping that in a few weeks, they will subside. In the meantime, staying home a little more than often and enjoying the peace and quite in the house.

This stamp set is from the Halloween set 2 by Rubbernecker.

My favorite time of the year!!

2010-10-01T08:51:00.000-07:00

The Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love warm sweaters, comfy hoodies, Flannel PJ's, leaves changing color, Fire pits, smores, hot chocolate, good Hair! LOL. The last one is the best, my hair will stay straight and curls won't look frizzy :o) Ya'll know what I'm talking about too. I love the midwest because of all the seasons, and would'nt change where I live one bit. The only thing I dislike about this season, is the allergies when Summer turns to Fall. But that will end soon, hopefully :o)

So I've been busy making Halloween cards, and I'll hopefully get some in the mail this year. A new stamp store opened in Dyer and I purchase two new stamps. Zelda the Zombie and Mitzi the Mummy. Really excited that a "Stamp Store" has opened.

Enjoy the season :o) Burrrr..

Zelda the Zombie, Krafty Kimmie Stamps

Halloween Set, Rubbernecker Stamps

It's my Birthday!!!

2010-09-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

I've been trying really hard to post everyday. Or write a few posts every night and set them to post automatically. I'll probably go back to being a bad blogger, but for now, I'll enjoy just writing, even if no one is reading. Oh and my English is bad. Maybe if I wrote in Spanglish, everything would be better.

So I decided to post an updated picture of myself. I'm so happy lately, even though these weeks have been rough financially. I still have faith in the Lord. He truly gets me through each day.

I've become more spiritual. I read the bible every night and I'm just in the best place I've even been..."EVER" . Today I turn 35 YEARS OLD! And I feel like my life has just begun.

The new ride

2010-09-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

Proud owner of a "Jeep Wrangler"..... a few months ago, I purchased a new car for Louie. He had a big decision to make either finish the basement or buy a new car. Who was I kidding??? This kid was going to pick a car.

He just couldn't wait to take the doors off the car, it was the first thing him and his friends did. I think he's been pretty happy with it. A few days ago he got into a fender bender and now he's a nervous wreck. So car's been in the garage hibernating. I keep praying that the everything comes out okay with the other vehicle and that God will see us through this mess. He really is a great kid, I never had any problems with him. I love my boy and we have to be confident that God knows why he puts us through this. And just be thankful that Louie has his life and so does the other driver.

Oh Deer.

2010-09-24T07:38:00.000-07:00

This summer I was training for the 2010 3Day Breast Cancer walk that happened in August. It was my 3rd year walking 60 miles for Breast Cancer. This year was not a great year, as I torn my medial meniscus. So I walked 50 miles this year. I was miserable, but I managed. And I finished.

So onto the picture. I captured this picture while training at our campsite in "WoodHaven Lakes"

I was walking as I saw this deer eating. I started talking to it like a baby, "Oh your so beautiful", "Look at you little one, your the cutest of the bunch"... Remember, "Baby talk".... Well the deer decides to follow me. I was FREAKIN OUT!!! So much for being nice. "Oh Deer"... LOL

LOOOOOOseeerrrrrr!!!!!

2010-09-23T19:25:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh... I found this picture at the bottom of my scrapbook box, it's perfect.

Louie and my nephew Tony were probably about 3 years old in this photo. Louie's new word was "LOSER", I think maybe Chris Farley was big on saying that word that year.

Because once Louie heard it from my siblings, he always had his fingers ready to sign "LOSER"... But you have to say it like Farly, "LOOOOOOOserrrrrr". Haha....

We kept trying to snap pictures with him not doing it, but at the end he got it in. He and Tony were adorable at this age. They loved each other, and took care of each other all the time. Tony was the over protective one.. Louie was the goof ball. Things haven't changed :o)

2nd Order

2010-09-23T19:09:00.001-07:00

My day started off not on the right side of bed, but ended as a good day. Louie and I had dinner together, it's been a few nights, since he's grounded. We actually watched some television together and he was able to fix and rebuild his LAPTOP... GO LOUIE!!! He saved us some money, which was a blessing because we are going through some hard times :o)

Today was also the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy! Woot Woot. Loved it and tired of it, it's a love hate relationship. A lot of shows started this week. Glee, Biggest Loser, Vampire Diaries, One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl. I know show junkie. Time to get the workout done in the morning and lunch now. Thank gosh for Tivo. Louie and I watch a few shows together it's our thing to do.

Well onto cardmaking as promised!! A few months ago, I receive a second order. It was my largest order yet.

I made a total of 42 cards for a friend LoAnn. It was so much fun making all the wonderful handmade cards. I really appreciated that she loved my first set so much that she decided on placing a second order.

I'm hoping that my Christmas and Halloween cards do just as good.

These cards had a combination of the cards I previously made and new cards, some were doubles and others were singles. I hope you enjoy!

My New Beginnings

2010-09-23T06:15:00.000-07:00

I've been neglecting this site, I have totally failed as a blogger. I follow so many different blogs, and inspire to be more like them, updating regularly, taking pictures. Who am I kidding...

So if you like reading my blog looking at my creations, once in a blue moon. This is definitely the place for you :o)

Today, I don't share scrapbooking/cardmaking although I've been on a roll with that, pictures to come soon :o) I wanted to share my story on, being saved.

Alot has been going on in the past couple of months. My son and I became followers of Christ. I've always been a Catholic, but a non-practicing one. My son found this church and youth group all on his own and I followed.

Let's talk about "My" experience there. I've just recently started going to a Christian church... we'll it's been over a few years that I've been trying to find my place with Christ. I was just never was comfortable. Christian Church and Catholic Church, totally different fellowship. I'm not knocking on being Catholic. But I just found my place in a Christian Church. Grandma and mom weren't to happy in the beginning.

So I've been to a few Christian churches before finding my home, "Village Church". My son Louie had already been going to Youth Group nights there with all his friends. One evening he asked me if he could go to a Winter Retreat and I was thinking... Man, this is getting serious. So that Sunday I decided on going to "Village Church", to understand what my son had been learning. At first, it was just OVERWHELMING!! Have you been to a Christian Church? The "Foyer" is like pack to the gills with people talking and hanging out, enjoying eachothers fellowship. I was like a fish in the sea. LOST, SHY, OVERWHELMED!! I couldn't wait til' the doors would open so I could go have a seat... Kept looking at my watch.. LOL... The vision of this is cracking me up now, now that I feel I'm home.

The very first day I was there, the Worship music was awesome, I didn't know how I could stop the tears... Being that it was my first day at "Village Church", now I was really in for it. The music just bought chills to me. I now know it was the "Holy Spirit". Thanks Kathy Gjeldum for explaining. :o)

Months passed, Louie got more involved, I started to volunteer... hoping to meet new friends. My son and all his friends knew me and I had a good friend that was going. But I just felt, I needed to help. I'm single... I had time, and I needed God in my life.

My first volunteer job was helping at a silent auction. I met a few people that have now made footprints in my life. Amee & Shawn Liptak, Kristy Crider... Kristy and I both went to Crossroads, but we never connected.

Louie went on a week long conference to "Challenge 10", I wont' tell his story, I'm not sure it's mine to share. But he got saved there.... He was so excited when he returned home. I cried, he cried.. I was so happy. I had been praying to God that Louie would find himself there. And it just seemed like music to my ears, he answered my prayers.

Shortly after that Louie was telling me what "BEING SAVED" meant. I had no idea, and I was completely embarrassed that I didn't know. I was embarrassed that I couldn't explain to my own son what he was going through and help him. So I started asking questions, thanks to my good friends the Gjeldums, especially Kathy.. I am no a follower of Christ too.... And I've never been so happy in my entire life.

Thanks for reading through my beginnings....... there's much more to come. God has blessed me!

Soxs game tonight

2010-05-18T20:25:00.000-07:00

Heading out to the White Soxs game with a few friends tonight. Don't worry, I still cheer for the Cubs too. I just grew up on the South Side of Chicago and the Soxs were pretty much who we cheered for. I'm hoping for a wonderful evening tonight. Card making will be put on hold for an evening.

Happy Tuesday

2010-05-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

Still raining in Indiana. Today my mom invited us over to have some, Posole. YUMMO. Still working on the cards, almost done and pretty excited. I've been pretty exhausted due to the weather. And can't wait to get out and start training for my 3rd 3Day Breast Cancer Walk. It just hasen't been a good day to start, I keep putting it off. Tonight I watched, American Idol. And honestly I just stopped watching when Didi was voted off. But that Lee kid is doing really good he rocked the house tonight.

Well onto my card making. Hope you enjoy the next card:

Additional Cards

2010-05-17T14:55:00.001-07:00

I was hired to make cards and I'm so excited and nervous about it. I met a new friend LouAnn at a our last scrapbook weekend. She wants me to make some cards for her kids teachers. Not just some, but more like 42 cards. LOL

I have to finish them all this weekend, so I'll be working extra hard this week :o)

Enjoy the new the cards:

Cornerstone Memories.. Final count down.

2010-05-11T19:57:00.000-07:00

Great news this year. I've purchased my very first home, that's mine all mine :o) Things have been really busy. Buying furniture, cleaning house, PAYING BILLS :o) But it's been a crazy beautiful busy.

I need to take pictures of my new stamp room, which is not nearly as big as last room, but it's good enough. It's a nice rich cocoa color. Think of Stampin' Up Cocoa.

I just went away to a scrapbook weekend at "Cornerstone Memories", it was our last visit, the place is closing. Corina and Karen were wonderful hostesses, thank you we'll miss you guys. (sniff, sniff)

So onto the projects I made at "Cornerstone", I didn't scrapbook surprisingly, I decided to make cards, and actually got a client out of it. I'm selling cards again this year to raise money for the Susan B. Koman 3Day Breast Cancer walk. This is my 3rd year walking again, I know... what I'm I thinking. I guess, I'm just crazy and inspired by all these wonderful people that walk 60 miles for Breast Cancer. Fundraising has gotten harder, so I'll be selling cards, scrapbook pages, having card making parties and charging. You name it. I'll be fundraising :o)

Hope you enjoy some of my creations :o)

Christmas Cards 2010

2009-12-03T05:58:00.000-08:00

Yes, finally my Christmas cards are done. I cannot believe that it's December 3rd and I'm done. Now the task is to actually get addresses on the envelopes and put them in the mail box. I have a bad habit of making cards and never mailing them for birthdays, anniversaries and so on. I know, it should be very simple. But my life is so complicated that when I get home, I just need to relax. I hope you really like my creations, I really enjoyed making them this year, much more than any year.

I can't comment on the picutes (I don't have much time), I'll come back later and do so. Just wanted to get them up.

Happy Wednesday

2009-09-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

So it's been ages since I've posted to my blog... AGES... and although I promised each time to keep people posted often, I fail. I'm too busy reading other blogs and having parties. I've created many cards since my last post, but my camera broke, so I was unable to take pictures. And currently I'm too broke to purchase a new one :o)

So today I thought I'd compile a list of blogs that I adore reading, everyday I get my inspiration from the woman. To cook, create or simply just have a wonderful day. I'll read my top 3 blogs too read.

1. The Pioneer Woman - A country housewife who's life I'd love to live. You have to read her site. She just created a new cookbook that will be coming out in October a must have for those that LOVE cookbooks. Pictures are out of this world.

2. Busterbec - Just love her writing and how she tells her stories.

3. Pickled Paper Designs - If you are a cardmaker you'd love her designs.

There are many other blogs I visit, they are listed over on the side. But these are three I check more often.

Enjoy!! Hope to post more pictures soon.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

Hey All - Happy Friday!!! Man this has been a LOOOOOOOOOONNNGGGGG week. With it being cloudy and rainy all week, makes me kinda miserable. But I'm looking forward to a wonderful weekend, nice and hot. I've been working on Father's Day cards all week, making a few every night. Making sure I have spare cards, for last minute buyers. This year I wanted to make Father's Day a spectacular event, Mother's Day is always such a feast.

So we are taking my Father and older brother out to dinner at "Mi Tierra", in Chicago. My father has been going crazy trying to get a reservation there. Not sure what the big deal is, we make Mexican food at home everynight. But I guess the great thing is, my mom and I won't be cooking... So it's a great day for us too :o)

Enjoy the weekend!

2009-06-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! Again long time, I go through long periods of NOT posting. Work has really been consuming my time. I know ya'll read that over and over again in my blog, but it's true. If only I can find a way to just stamp all day. Hmmmmmmm.... Yeah, that will NEVER happen, unless I win the lottery. But I do love my job, although very time consuming, I do love working under pressure. That's just crazy me! These past couple of weeks we've been having fundraisers for the Breast Cancer 3 Day. This has been the hardest year ever to raise money, I know I'm on a tight budget. We (DS Mari and SIL Izzy) made tons of Mother's day cards and note card sets, thank you cards and many other things. I've made a ton of new cards, I just haven't had the opportunity to post. So I think I'll try posting pictures here and there. I will try hard to post a picture a day. I don't have all the receipes noted, it's been awhile.

This card was a simple card, a friend fell in love with during one of our fundraisers. She asked me to make a couple of them for her kids teacthers. It's always a great feeling to receive something from your students. I'm not a teacher, but I know how appreciative they are when they receive them. The pattern paper I used was from the DCVW paper school package. Love that set!

I hope you enjoy. I'm not really great a blogging and my English skills are pretty sad. But I do like showing my creations.

ENJOY!!!! Happy Thursday.

Been FOREVER!!!

2009-04-27T14:50:00.001-07:00

I know it's been forever since I've posted to my blog. Been really busy at home and work. I haven't been creative in A LONG time..... Seriously, I'm going through a creative block, any ideas on how to get out of the funk. I was working late every night and I just didn't have any creative juices stamp. So what have I been up too. I've been painting my casa. I moved my son downstairs to the lower level and painted his room grey, I moved myself to his old bedroom which was RED, so I had to prime it twice and paint it twice.... I'm exhausted and now it's a nice bashful blue (just a little darker than that). I got a new puppy and his name is "CHUEY" short for Chewbacca, he is a 6 week old Chihuahua. He's kept me pretty occupied these past couple of days. But overall can't complain, he poops outside... He is awesome.

I've also been participating in craft shows. Trying to raise money for the Breast Cancer 3 Day. Last year it was easier to make our goals, this year with the economy it's been a little more difficult. My sister Marisol has been making greeting cards, Shadow boxes, note card sets, composition notebooks.. etc.. And Izzy my SIL has been making her homemade soaps and making baskets. So far they've raised $400.00 in sales all going to the 3Day. We plan on participating in a few more events. Email me for further information in Northwest Indiana. skrmom247@aol.com

Have a great evening, enjoy this beautiful weather. I sure hope it sticks.

2009 Chicago Breast Cancer 3 Day

2009-02-05T12:35:00.000-08:00

I know! I already broke a New Year's resolution to "NOT" walk the Breast Cancer 3 Day. But it's for a good cause :o)

I'm a little nervous since I had so many problems last year, you can read about that in my August 2008 blog. I would compare my experience to child birth, you don't remember the pain, you just remember the journey. So after much contemplating on my part, I've decided that I would participate in this great cause and once again walk 60 miles for Breast Cancer.

I will been spending the next couple of months preparing for the August walk. This year my goal is to raise - $2,300.

There will be plenty of time to support my efforts with a donation. The net proceeds will support breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment through Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund.
Follow the link "2009 Chicago 3Day" to visit my personal fundraising webpage and make a donation by credit/debit card.

Please forward this to all of your friends and family too.
And please let me know if you would like me to add a friend or family member's name to the back of my shirt.

Thank you for your support.

Cyndi Rodriguez

Polyvore.com

2009-01-24T10:30:00.000-08:00

My friend Rebecca got me addicted to this new site called Polyvore , thanks Rebecca!!! :o)

This site allows you to create your outfits and it lists the price and the stores, you can actually shop online for some of this stuff. I've been creating outfits most of the morning, pretty addicting. Fashion, Shopping, and crafting are my addictions.. Oh and makeup, but that would be included in fashion.

I'm totally addicted to Black and White but you'll notice that almost instantly. Go visit Rebecca's blog she's got some really cute outfits herself. Love her color combinations.

Some of the outfits I've created are reasonably priced, but some are pretty high. This site allows me to view what I think I'd like to buy. I hate shopping at the store, I like to go shopping with a vision. This way I can do that.

Enjoy.

Find me on Polyvore

2009-01-19T05:26:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday everyone! What a weekend, I was really busy with my Dad's Wii. :o) We are so competitive in this household, I threw my arm out playing the "Home Run Derby" game. I'm proud to say that I BEAT my older brother Marco. I think he finally caught up, but it took him a long time to get there, hee,hee. I do believe that the Wii was the best thing created for family entertainment.

Well onto today's card. I promised I would make a Valentine Card, and I did. I was not focused last night, I had alot of anxiety about work this week, it shows in the card. My focus was for a younger audience. I was not crazy about it, so much more potential. Enjoy!

Designer paper: DCVW, The glitter stack

Cardstock: SU, barely banana

Stampset: Stampavie, Lelo Design - Dragon Flower

Colorpencils by Staedtler

Sledding

2009-01-18T10:26:00.000-08:00

I've put the Valentine Cards on hold til tonight. My son and nephew both want to go sledding before the football games start. So I'm gonna head out for just a little bit. In the meantime, I'd like to share these fun, colorful cards I made this week. My friend Belinda let me borrow a few stamp sets. I don't know why I need anymore, I have a ton. But it's always something someone else has that you need. That is why we can't stop purchasing craft material.

Anyhow onto the cards.

I made the card on the right using the "Limited Edition, Garden Collage", by stampin up. Designer paper used DCVW, The Blossoms and Butterflies stack. Pink Passion cardstock by stampin up. I paper piereced around the edges and sponge inked the edges with honey ink by CTMH.

Card on the left. Was made for my good friend Tasha. She's our taebo instructor at work. She's leaving overseas with Billy Blanks to teach taebo to the military. How fun!!! What an opportunity. She's a little nervous, so I thought of making this cheerful card wishing her luck. GO, TASHA!!!

Designer Paper: SU, Haiku

Cardstock: SU, Pumpkin Pie

Stamp set: SU, Provencal 2006 hostess set

Ribbon: American Crafts ribbon.

I used my scor pal to line the edges of the image and sponge paint the edges with chocolate ink by CTMH.

Thanks for stopping by.

Season of Love - Feliz Cumpleanos Papi!

2009-01-18T09:48:00.000-08:00

Today I was very much inspired to change my blog background to a Valentine background. It's always a great time to remind those you love how much they mean to you. I'm on my way into my stamp room to work on some Valentine Day cards, will post later.

My father (pictured, in Vietnam) turned 62 yesterday and got a Wii for his birthday, great retirement gift, Right? Feliz Cumpleanos, Papi! My sister and I pitched in to buy one, because he was so crazy about playing tennis. He has not stopped playing since we purchased it. My father, he is "OLD SCHOOL", this year already, he's purchased a laptop, learned how to view videos on "Youtube", learned how to purchase songs on "Itunes", and now learned how to play video games. This is really, really big time for him. Not that he can't do it, but he was so accustomed to his old ways. Maybe we'll get him to pay bills online. OH wait, that would be tooooooooo much, he still doesn't have direct deposit. hee,hee. Love you Papi.

Will post my cards this evening, stay tuned.

Stamp free

2009-01-12T17:57:00.001-08:00

Oh geez! Is it cold out of what! We are suppose to get a big blizzard tonight and tomorrow. I love snow, LOVE IT!! But I hate driving in it.

I made this card for Izzy, she doesn't check my blog so it's safe to post a picture. Happy 29th birthday. I'm trying to save money this year, therefore using whatever I have in my stash. I have no idea what I used in this project, because it's so old. But I hope you like. It was so much fun making it.

Birthday Cards

2009-01-11T16:36:00.000-08:00

This year I'm trying to commit myself to making birthday cards for everyone's birthday. I've been really bad in past years. Sending some and then skipping on others. My days get so busy at work, so I get very forgetful. But I'm planning on making time for me. So this year I'm hoping to get organized early. If I don't have your birthday :o) send it and maybe you'll get a lovely surprise in the mail.

January Birthday Wishes: May you all have a wonderful birthday!!

Sue, Tony (Dad), Izzy (SIL), Margie, Rebecca and Veronica

Check out Ethel, she's got style and is ready to party. I made this birthday card by paper piecing her pants to match the background DCVW pattern paper and close to cocoa stamping up card stock. You can find Ethel at Rubbernecker. She is totally excited!!

40 Tips for a Better Life - 2009

2008-12-29T06:44:00.000-08:00

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

3. Buy a DVR and tape your late night shows and get more sleep.

4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to __________ today.'

5. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.

6. Play more games and read more books than you did in 2008.

7. Make time to practice meditation and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.

8. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of six.

9. Dream more while you are awake.

10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants. Eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

11. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.

12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

13. Clear clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.

14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, or issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime .

16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the NEGATIVE BLUES away.

18. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

22. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

23. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

24. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

26. Forgive everyone for everything.

27. What other people think of you is none of your business.

28. REMEMBER GOD heals everything.

29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change

30. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

31. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

32. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

33. The best is yet to come.

34. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

35. Do the right thing!

36. Call your family often. (Or email them to death!!!)

37. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.

38. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

39. Enjoy the ride. Remember this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life, so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.

40. Give a hug a day.

May your troubles be less,
May your blessings be more,
May nothing but happiness come through your door!

Looking back at 2008

2008-12-27T17:10:00.000-08:00

Today I thought I'd take a look back at what 2008 was like and look forward to 2009.

I worked out with Billy Blanks

I went to my first Drag Queen show at the "Baton Club" in Chicago. Thought I'd share this picture, Jen looks so tiny next to this performer.

I walked 60 miles for Breast Cancer.

I went Skydiving.

And I got a promotion "Lead Financial Analyst"!!

My son graduated 8th grade in June and started High School in the Fall. He made his High School soccer team.

What a great year, to look back at. Next year I plan on participating in an Adventure Race in Philly, go Skydiving in April, "NOT" walk the three day, possibly travel to Europe, save for 2010 trip to South Africa FIFA world cup, take a short vacation somewhere sunny with my son... Oh yeah and lose weight :o)

Have a Wonderful and Safe New Year!!!!

FELIZ NAVIDAD!

2008-12-24T06:06:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. May you be filled with happiness, joy and wonderful memories of those lost. May you get everything your heart desires.

This year was a really tough, many people experiencing financial hardships, especially my own. The most important thing during the holidays is the gift of family and being able to spend that time with them, enjoy eachother's company and eat a lot of food :o)

Have a wonderful and Safe Christmas! - Cyndi

Finally

2008-12-22T07:36:00.000-08:00

Hey all - I have all these pictures to share with you, but I haven't had the opportunity to download them. December sure has been a busy month for me. I have not done one lick of Christmas shopping. I'm hoping to get that done in the next three days. Today I'm getting a ROOT CANAL done. I'm really, really nervous I had a HORRIBLE experience when I got a cavity filled a few years ago, I never went back to the dentist. So wish me luck.

I finally finished all 4 books of the Twilight series. I have to say once I got to book # 3 I was pretty sick and tired of BELLA the main character. I do realize that these books are young reader books. And that's probably why I can't relate to her. By book #3, she really just needs to make up her mind. I called my sister yelling, like seriously I'm too old for this stuff. But then I can totally understand if I was 14 reading this book. Those were the days!!! LOL My sister assured me that #4 would be the BEST and I shouldn't give up just yet. #4 was definitely a good read, I won't go into the details because I know some of my readers have not gone there yet. But read it, it's good.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. - Cyndi

Twilight

2008-12-11T11:51:00.000-08:00

Still no cards to show everyone, work has kept me pretty busy and I've been really under the weather. So I thought I'd talk about the Twilight book series. I wanted to read the books to find out what all the hype was about. And I have to say that I love it. I read the first book, "Twilight" in less than 2 days, I know I'm crazy. I totally get addicted to reading a good book. Like I can't function as a normal human being. When it's a good book I have to finish it in 2-3 days no ifs, and or buts. I just started on the second book "New Moon". If you haven't read the series, now is your time to leave. :o)

Here are my two cents:

I'm a little disappointed, I've just started reading "New Moon", a few days ago. I'm at the part where Jacob has just fixed the motorcycles. And I'm extremely sad. I miss Edward. I know this is a young authors book, but you totally get addicted. When is Edward coming back? I don't want her to forget him.

My sister read all the books, she recommended the read. She keeps telling me that she really likes Jacob and he's good for her. I'm always the one wanting the bad guy.. I know, I thought I grew out of that!!! LOL Apparently not! I can't get over Edward and I'm so upset that she is hanging out with Jacob.

Well chicas! I just thought I'd give my input. Can't wait to finish. I know Edward will come back, I mean they made a movie out of it and he's one of the main characters.. Duh......

Business Trip

2008-12-03T06:32:00.001-08:00

No cards to share with you. I've been out on business. But I have a very funny story to share with you guys.

On Monday afternoon I traveled down to to Columbus, Ohio on business. Flights were a little delayed, but not too bad. We'll I guess we were the last flight to Columbus that left at a decent time. Kristi, Jeannie and I traveled together. When we arrived at the Columbus airport, we picked up our luggage and we were going to catch a cab. We saw a pair of escalators that would take us there, this picture does not do the escalators any mercy, they were huge. Any how Kristi had commented on being scared of escalators and how she imagine them being these huge teeth. She's so tiny, they probaby could eat her up. So me, "Funny Gal", did the reinactment of Will Ferrel in the movie "ELF". Literaly all spread eagel with my hands cringing the side handles. There were two pairs of escalators both going down. Jeannie got on the one next to use. Kristi was in front of me and I was Will Ferrel. We were cracking up and not paying attention to the commotion going on below us. Man if we only had a camera!!!

So all of a sudden Kristi turns back around going the correct way and sees this guy with his eyes bulging telling us to turn around and start climbing the stairs backwards. Kids LOVE to do that, but not me. So this guy is yelling climb, climb. Then we realized as we looked at the bottom of the escalator that a poor little old man had fallen and created this pile of people at the bottom of the escalator. So here's me.... Climbing the "MOVING" escalator backwards, trying to juggle my suitcase which is heavy and huge. Kristi is "Yelling" at me like Jillian from the "Biggest Loser", go faster, your too slow, move it, we need to go faster!!!!!!!! Remember Kristi is scared of escalators. The guy behind Kristi was yelling at both of us telling us to go faster. So I yelled, "THIS IS NOT THE BIGGEST LOSER", the program had a competition on climbing escalators (do you remember that)... and he looked up at me and told me "NOW IT IS"!!! LOL. Finally I see a clearance and I stopped, I couldn't anymore. I think I lasted all about, hmmmmmm less than 5 minutes. Kristi stumbled, to try and not hit the man, that NO ONE had picked up off the floor yet. OMG, only if we had a camera. I think we realized that there is an "EMERGENCY BUTTON" at the bottom of the escalators the next evening on our way home! OMG. That was the funniest thing ever! I felt bad for the little old man, which I helped off the floor and we (Kristi, Jeannie and I) help him and his wife with their luggage. But the whole escalator climb, was hilarious... I just wish I had a camera.

Christmas Card Making

2008-11-29T14:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday a few of us got together and made our Holiday Cards. It was so much fun to have my family over. Lot's of food, wine, beer and LAUGHTER! We had a "Virgin" card maker, my brothers girlfriend, Claudia. She made 3 cards and got really addicted. That's her pictured to the right. She kept saying she was done after her first card and my sister would egg her on to make another and another.

Pictured to the left is my sister Marisol, giving you all the peace sign. She always loves to make her cards using non-traditional colors. She used a stamp set by CTMH. Cute!

Izzy made the card on your right. She didn't want to take a picture with her card. She's pictured in the background with the orange shirt, but you can't see her and I promised I would not take a picture. We also managed to capture a little bit of the Modelo Beer we were drinking too. Very good Mexican beer, hee,hee. She made this beautiful Angel. A discountinued set by Stampin' Up.

And my card. Not pictured either, I looked horrible. I don't know where this image came from. I've been looking for this cute little snowman.. FOREVER!!! So if anyone knows, please, please share. I was in a holiday swap over at "Splitcoaststampers", I received a bunch of stamped images. This is one of the many cards I made, I will be sharing the rest in the next couple of days.

My mom also made a few cards, but she sealed them before I can take pictures.

Enjoy! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with their families. - Cyndi

My Sister Mari

2008-11-18T06:35:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone, my sister Marisol has finally made her own blog site. She is very creative, and I love her work. So go on over and welcome her to a new world of blogging.

I just got back from a wonderful weekend of cropping with friends out in Tipton, Indiana. I made 23 pages, not nearly as much as all the girls. I think someone made over 60 pages. I stood up til' 5:00a.m. every night and only had about 4 hours of sleep. It was so much fun! I don't think I'm creative enough to make that many pages, it takes me like an hour to make one. I'll be sharing those pages soon. But in the meantime. I made this card for Veterans day for a friends husband. Not sure if it's gotten to it's destination, so I won't name any names. Enjoy!

Las "Chicas" Sexy

2008-11-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

Sorry, today I have no cards to share with you. This weekend we Melissa and I went with Kristi to run the Indianapolis Monumental marathon. This is Kristi's third marathon in less than a year. This was my very first marathon experience. It was awesome and tiredsome :o) I know I didn't have to do the running, but being a spectator is a lot of work. Melissa and I got a little lost trying to meet Kristi at Mile 9 so we waited a few hours at mile 21. The important thing was that we were, where she needed us to be. We calculated the first runner at a 5:05 pace. Can you believe that! I get tired just thinking about it. It was amazing to see these runners come through with their determination. We cheered for each individual runner that came by...let me tell you ringing the cow bell and yelling... "Great Job", "You can do it", "Your almost there", and "21 down, water around the corner", is exhausting. But I know how the spectators made me feel during the 3 day walk and I WAS NOT GIVING UP ON THEM. Seeing these runners bought tears to my eyes, I was an emotional reck! I'm way to sensitive. :o) Melissa and I attempted to run Kristi in, taking turns jumping in and out of the vehicle and running. But we had just finished a Venti "Hot Chocolate" from starbucks and boy did we feel that. Sorry for giving up Kristi. She's a CHAMPION! And I just wanted everyone to know that I'm so proud or HER and all you RUNNERS! You guys are definitely a different breed. You can read more about her run her site. Just click on her name above or down below.
(Pictured above from the left Melissa, me and Kristi)

"Champions are not made in the gym."
"Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision."

- Muhammed Ali

A CHAMPION

Little Tee Swap

2008-10-30T21:47:00.000-07:00

It's 11:49p.m. central time. Finally I finished my little tee swap that my friend Gabby is hosting over at splitcoaststampers. I couldn't come up with ideas on what to make. I had the "Hottie" one done several weeks ago for the naughty spot, which is pretty tame. But I couldn't think of anything creative for the other spots (funny and nice). My ideas came to me about 10:30p.m. tonight, it was like a light switch. This stamp set is the Little Tee set created by Melaine Muenchinger. The additional background stamps used where from Rubbernecker and CTMH. More details to come tomorrow. I'm exhausted.
Buenas Noches Amigas!!!

Blog Candy

2008-10-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

Donna over at "Serenity in Stamping", has a chance for you to win some blog candy. Just go on over to her wonderful site and leave a comment. You have a chance to win a brand new unmounted SU! set Along the Same Lines, a brand new See-D's Inque Boutique set, Falling For You Sophia by Paper Pretties, a 2x stamper by JustRite, assortment of ribbons, some felt snowflakes, ribbon, embellishments & dp from the current holiday mini.

Good Luck.

Heat is on.

2008-10-29T06:08:00.000-07:00

I gave in, I finally turned on my heat. I try to wait til' I absolutely have to turn it on. It's not that I'm cheap, it really is expensive and being a single mom and all, well we have to make some sacrifices. Now, don't think I freeze my butt off, the house is really comfortable. But it's the morning, when you wake up and it's a little chilly. So I've been turning the heat on at night and turning it off in the morning. I wanted to make this warm card using my new stamp set that I just purchased from stampin' up "Harvest home", isn't it a beautiful set. I paper pieced the leaves at each corner. Lots of cutting, but it's so relaxing. I wanted to make sure I stamped the leaves on watercolor paper so I can get that nice fall effect on them.

Cupcake fun.

2008-10-28T06:02:00.000-07:00

Yummo! Making cupcake cards makes me hungry for them, and I normally don't have a sweet tooth. I made this fun card for my friend Belinda, I'm a little late in posting the image, since her birthday was in September. :o) We share the same birthday so that makes us twinkies :o) I made this card using the Birthday Cupcake stamp set from Inkadinkado. I paper pieced the foil with DCWV pattern paper as well as just plain grey paper. Enjoy the sweets!

Hola Baby!

2008-10-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

I'm always in search for a last minute baby card, and I never, ever have any on hand. So I decided on making a few cards in blue and pink. Here's a little baby boy card using Bashful Blue and Gable green. I've used the "Hello Baby" stamp set from "The Angel Company", and the background paper is from Nana's Nursery baby boy paper package. The pattern paper already comes with glitter so all I had to do was cut the right size for the card. The scallop circle was cut out using my Spellbinders nestabilities scallop template. I love these templates, if you don't have them, GET IT! I use mine on my cuttlebug. They are so easy to use and affordable.

I'm back

2008-10-26T19:21:00.001-07:00

My blog has been pretty sad lately. I had a huge mess to deal with at home. My son's XBOX live account got Hacked into! They stole my credit card information and charged away, so I've just been in a depressed/sad/angry/violated mood. On top of that, they sent a trojan (Virus, ladies) to his laptop and completely wiped it out. So, finally I think our lives will get back to normal. My advice to all the mom's with kids that have XBOX live accounts, DO NOT leave your credit card as a main account. Change it to a visa gift card or something else. Take my word. So onto some cards I've been making while my PC has been down. I hope you enjoy them all, because there are a few to go around :o)

This fun little guy is from Inkadinkado, I purchased him at a Stamp convention recently, I've had tons of fun with him. I created the background images using the cactus stamp from the same set. I used my watercolor pencils as well as copic markers to color images.

I received these two cards in the mail from my sister Marisol. Aren't they cute!!! She made these matching cards for Louie and I. I've never received a card in the mail for Halloween, it was so much fun opening them. Louie had a kick out of it. The stamps set she used was from stampin' up. I just love the versatility in the skull. Thanks Mari! :o)

So, Mari inspired me to make a Halloween card myself. I used the Monster Party stamp set from Storage Units, Ink & More .

Hope you enjoyed this post. More cards to come.

Cyndi

Sunshine on a cloudy day!

2008-10-08T18:02:00.000-07:00

What a miserable day today. Rainy, cloudy and chilly. Only 3 more months left for the year to end. Where did the time go? Are you feeling the same way? I feel like I slept through this whole year. But I can't complain, I had a wonderful time this summer and gosh I love the fall. I've decided to pull out my stamped images of "By the seashore" from stampin' up, I know, I use it often. But I love it so much.

The card up above, will be sent to some lucky person that needs some cheering up. I love just making random cards I can send to folks. It's always great getting unexpected mail. The card off to the side I made and guess what, my son was looking for a birthday card to give me and he came into my craft room and took this one. LOL. So I got this for my birthday, which I created, but my wonderful son personalized it on the inside. I hope you all enjoy!

1st time JUMPER! Free Fallin.

2008-09-27T17:58:00.001-07:00

And I'm free, free fallin

Yeah I'm free, free fallin

*Chorus to Tom Petty, Free Fallin'*

Back at home, computer up and running. It was the best experience of my life. The picture I share with you guys was taken at about 14,000 feet up, free falling at 126 miles per hour. I was the first in my group to jump out of the plane. A big thank you to my instructor JOEL and my video chica JENNY! You guys ROCKED, thank you for this wonderful experience.

The people at SKY DIVE CHICAGO were amazing, everyone was so friendly and free spirited! Loved them all. Also a big thank you to Kristi, Mel and Chris, thank you girls for sharing this experience with me.

I did it!

2008-09-27T07:08:00.000-07:00

I went Sky Diving and I'm alive. Pictures to come. It was the best experience of my life. I'm ready to go again, anyone interested? Just thought I'd leave a comment that I was alive. I'll come back and post later.

Going Sky Diving & World Alzheimer's Day

2008-09-23T20:37:00.000-07:00

"I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu."And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,"And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,"To live like you were dyin'."

I thought I'd start off with the chorus of I believe it's "Live like you were dying" by Tim McGraw.

I'm going "SKY DIVING", yes me. This Friday for my Birthday. Thanks to some friends at work that are joining me. I can't believe it, I'm actually gonna go through with it.

This year I've walked 60 miles for breast cancer, something I thought I could never accomplish. I know many people think, but you only walk. Let me tell you, when you walked 20 with blisters it's no fun. Then to wake up the next morning and walk another 20 and know you still have to do it another day. Well that's a HUGE challenge. So that for me was a Huge accomplishment. But now.. I'm going Sky diving!!! I'll have completed 2 out of the 4 things I wanted to do in this life time.

I'm really excited and very nervous. I've been looking at videos on youtube and it's making me even more nervous. My friends are all fine, no worries what so ever. And here I am, sweaty palms and jittery. LOL.

I haven't been able to upload a card, but I have many too share. I'm having issues with my computer. I'm on my son's laptop, I should have my PC up and running on Friday.

ONTO, the Blog Candy at Carolyn's site.

In celebration of World Alzheimers day. Carolyn is sharing with all of us a HUGE, HUGE blog candy. I'll be sending some cards I made to the staff at Artman home. Alzheimer's run's in my family. I remember when I was a little girl and had to help my grandma, that was a really hard time. I love my grandma Feliz. May god rest her soul.

So go and visit Cammie's site here http://myblogbycammie.blogspot.com/ for your chance to win over $1,000 in products. What a great cause to make someone's day by sending them a wonderful card. They deserve that and much more. Thanks Cammie for setting this up.

Fall is near

2008-09-09T18:59:00.000-07:00

Fall is near. YES!!! I love this weather. It feels so great to wake up to nice crisp sheets, Don't you think? You poke one foot out of bed and bring it back in, because it's just to chilly to get up. Or simply walking out of the house and wearing a light coat. Fall colors, fall clothing...

Gosh, I love the Midwest. Well, at least this time of the year.

Today I was inspired by the weather to make a fall card. My camera was acting a little funny, so the picture is not as clear.

Enjoy and have a wonderful night.

Recipe

Stamps: Pumpkin/Stamp paper inspiration and Thoroughly thankful/SU

Paper: Topiary textured/CTMH, certainly celery/SU and close to cocoa/SU

Ribbon: American crafts

Color: Staedtler color pencils and grey flannel/CTMH

Busy bee.

2008-09-06T19:13:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been on a scrapbook frenzy. I've learned to organize my pictures, pattern paper and embellishments in separate folders, so that when I have time, I can easily make a page.

Cool Louie is my theme. One "HOT" Summer day my son kept asking if he could get wet. I had stated that I would be right out to turn on the sprinkler. BTW, this was before we had a pool. I went in to get some sandwiches and came back out to find him in the cooler. He made his own swimming pool.

I don't have many cards to share with you. I made this very simple card. Previously stamped image, not sure what set was used.

If you'd like to know the recipe, I can find out. I know I said I'd get better at writing the recipe and I swear I will, when I become less busy. These days I stamp and run.

I've been busy with work and my son. He made his High School soccer team which was really EXCITING!!! and STRESSFUL". Tryouts had been a horrible week, waiting for the cuts. BUT he made it. He is officially a Soccer High School Player. He is #25!!

My nominations for "Brillante Weblog"

2008-08-30T06:10:00.000-07:00

This was harder than I thought, I have so many different sites I love to visit. Or that I'm addicted too. I'm going to try my best to give some awards to folks that might've not received them in the past.

1. Bec - I live vicariously through you. I love the way you write, makes me feel like I'm actually participating. I'm so proud of you for all your accomplishments. Anyone that reads her site will get completely hooked.

2. Kristi - Another marathon runner like Rebecca. She inspires me. She doesn't update her site much, but her current stories are wonderful. Her marathon stories are hilarious.

3. Mel - Because you were my partner in crime at the 3Day. If you want to read our 60 mile adventure, she has it.

Now onto my stampin friends.

4. Gabby - Another spicy stampin Latina. :o) Her web blog is fun, fun. I love the stamp sets she uses.

5. Charmaine - Inspiration at it's best. Very clean and beautiful cards. I honestly think I need to see her blog once a day. It's like my Happy pill.

6. Melanie - You have to check out her ideas on the Little T set she created. Love it!! If you haven't purchased the set, you should.

and Finally...

7. Taylor - Cute, fun, colorful, tasteful. Love all her cards. She's an amazing stamper. She takes the icing off the cupcake :o)

The rules, if you want to play:
1) Add the logo of the award to your blog
2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4) Add links to those blogs on your blog
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

CONGRATS CHICAS!!!!

Thanks Sandi.

2008-08-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

I've been nominated for the "Brillante Weblog". What an honor to get a premio, thank you Sandi Brown for nominating me, it was totally unexpected. I always think no one is really reading, then I get this wonderful award. I can't wait to choose my lucky 7 bloggers. Will be posting soon.

2008-08-26T17:30:00.000-07:00

I've finally got around to stampin'. I had stamped and watercolored this image some time ago. I really enjoy the simplicity of this stamp set, you can use it for just about any occasion. I only wish I had this very old stamp set by stampin up. But I guess I can always stamp more images if needed. The pattern paper shown is from CTMH.

Hope you all had a wonderful Tuesday!!

Showered with gifts.

2008-08-24T17:37:00.001-07:00

My sister Marisol made me this wonderful believe card. Isn't it precious. Inside the card the both stated how proud they were and it just bought massive tears to my eyes. They got me a pink plastic carry tote for scrapbooking, a 6x6 pink album, pink glitter, pink embelishments, pink glittered stickers, a pink candle and pink ribbons. They also got me a gift certificate for a full body massage, which I've already used.. IT Was WONDERFUL and the best gift of all was the fluffy house slippers I stuffed my feet in after the walk. My friend Jennifer got me a dozen pink roses and lasted almost 2 weeks they smelled wonderful and looked beautiful and she got me some fluffy soxs which I used when I got home. The I got to work and my friend Linda got me lotion for my feet and some foot soaking salt and fluffy soxs. IT WAS THE BEST!!! Thank you to all for the wonderful gifts.

3 Day Card Care Package

2008-08-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

Alright.. Onto stamping, no more foot pictures.. PROMISE!! Sorry if you were disgusted. I wrote in my previous blog about some wonderful cards that my BFF Belinda made for me. Each card had a special message and instructions on when I needed to open them.. The first card she made me was the priceless card and that I opened on Friday before the walk started.

The second card I opened on Friday night after all the wonderul blisters appeared and boy did I need a pick me up card. This believe card was just what I needed.

Card number 3, Hang in There!!! I opened this card on Saturday night. Each night I was exhausted and right after dinner the first thing that I would think about was opening up Belinda's card and seeing her message that evening. Just one more day that's all I kept telling myself. Just 20 more miles and I'll be home.

So here is the final card that I opened on my way
home, the "Cheer's Card". I had to open it almost
immediately, I was in the car and just needed to
see the final message. Because I did it! "BLISTER'S DON'T NEED CHEMO" and that my friends got me through each day.

Special thank you to Belinda for being a great friend.

3rd and final Day.

2008-08-18T20:28:00.000-07:00

We woke up at 4:00a.m. in hopes to get going by 5:00a.m. We needed to take down our tent and repack it, they (3Day) donate the tents to the Girl Scouts. So we made it down to breakfast about 5:30a.m. and onto the loading buses that got us down by Lake Michigan. All I kept thinking was I only have 20 miles to go and tomorrow I can sleep in as much as I wanted too. Today Melissa was having a hard time, we kept pushing eachother to finish. I pretty much ignored the pain, because I knew that it would be over. No more waking up to do 20 miles. Thank goodness. The volunteers along the street were just wonderful people, every stop we made Mel would hug all the people. I'm a hugger, but I just couldn't do it. I was pooped. About 2 miles from lunch I got my "Comadre" and boy was that unexpected, I was so upset, first the blisters and now this. Oh geez. At lunch time I was going to see the medics, but the line was so long I decided just to forget it. This is when all the fun stuff starts. I became delirious.. well actually we both did. We started playing mind games and started power walking with like 10 miles to go :o) Melissa was screaming all the way down Michigan avenue asking for High Fives and I was chanting and making everyone cheer.. LOL... Did I say we were DELIRIOUS!!! Well let me tell you, you can't imagine how bad it got. I was leaving all the girls behind, by the time we got to the "Cheesecake Factory" at the watertower. I was like faster than all the skinny chicks, they couldn't even keep up. I just wanted to finish and I just needed to go faster and faster. If you've seen the Olympics, I was one of those Speed Walkers, yes ME!! My BFF Jennifer surprised me on Michigan and like Jackson, I couldn't stop screaming with excitement, but I also couldn't stop walking . We rested at our last and final pit stop with only 1 mile to go. I didn't want to sit because my blisters were killing me, I just wanted to keep going, but I decided to sit for a minute and that was my worst mistake. I could hardly get up. After that I think I started walking like a turtle, nice and slow. We finally made it to the finish line and there were ton of people cheering us on. I had my name on my shirt and people were screaming "Good job, Cyndi", I couldn't stop crying. It was definitely the best and worst experience of my life. I might do it again :o)

Mari, Izzy, Jennifer and my son Louie were all there for me at the end. With the final walk I heard my sister call my name and I started screaming hers but I couldn't see her and in the sea of all these people I saw my son and he was like my sun on a cloudy day. The closing ceremonies were beautiful, very emotional and inspirational. We all took off our shoes in respect to all the women and men lost to breast cancer.

The picture you see adjacent are of my feet. Swollen, bruised and blistered. You really can't see a good picture. But I had 6 toes... my pinkie had an attachement. I would show you that picture, but it's pretty disgusting.

I hope that one day, there's a cure so that all of our children or theirs would live in a world without breast cancer.

Thank you to all my donors!!!

Day 2

2008-08-17T21:06:00.000-07:00

Day 2 started off to a rocky start. That morning I woke up I still had tons of blisters on my heals so I made the mistake and stopped at the medical tent that morning to have them looked at and they stated they needed to lance them. Well that was not good, because the blister was on the lower part of my heal. The medical team asked me to take the bus to the next stop and I refused to do it. Partially because I'm stubborn and the other cuz' I was not giving up. So we went out about a quarter of a mile and I was feeling pretty bad and saw another girl walking back so I decided to walk back with her. I was walking on my tiptoe because I couldn't plant my feet. I was crying all the way back because I felt defeated. So I took a little ride on the bus and met Melissa a few miles down the road. Waiting for the soreness of my heals to go away. I was not giving up that easy. That afternoon we took a little more stops then normal, taking off my shoes and stretching. I had steam come out of my shoe at one point. I was craking up. Melissa was also having a hard time that afternoon, her hips were bothering her and her blisters too, so it took us alot longer to get back. The last couple of miles were on gravel. WHO does that to women that have blisters. That was the longest 2 miles of my LIFE!!! The picture above are from a medical crew that would drive around all day with really loud 80's music, it was so much fun, I think the music would motivate us and keep us going. Getting back to camp was great. We ate first, I finally got a little of my appetite back, then we took a shower and went back to the medical tents to get more blisters lanced. And then went to the main tent were they had a DJ, Mel got on stage and was jacking everyone up... it was great. Yes we had the energy to continue to dance. I was on the ground level and the CHA, CHA slide started to Mel stook on top of the stage the entire time and I taught some girls how to do the slide, it was fun. After we danced a song or two, we went to look at the mail box and I had mail from Melissa's mom and sister. It was the best!! They are so sweet. Also my friend Belinda made me a card package, I had a personal greeting card for each day, I'll share as soon as I take the photos of the cards. I loved reading her messages at night, kept me going.

3 Day Completed!!

2008-08-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

What an event. An inspirational, emotionaly event. There are just so many good people in this world. Today is Wednesday and I finally have the strength to talk about the 3 day. I really, really enjoyed it. But I didn't enjoy the blisters during and after the walk. I'm still pretty swollen.. FACE, FEET, LEGS.. You name it. But it's nothing compared to a possible world without breast cancer. 6 MILLION dollars was raised this weekend, can you believe that. The whole experience was wonderful. The crew was amazing, always happy and willing to give you a helping hand.

Day 1 Friday: Woke up at 3:00a.m. we needed to arrive at Northbrook, IL by 5:30a.m. My sister, mom and SIL dropped me off. It was really organized, there were trucks lined up taking your bags. There was probably about 2,500 walkers. The guest speaker was very motivational, I cried the whole entire time. We were (Melissa and I) so excited to start the walk. People were lined up high five'ing us. My sister, mom and SIL met us at the first cheering station and I was so excited to see them. They made us signs. My mom made a cute sign that said, "The Boobies thank you", she had all sorts of women stopping and taking pictures with her and her sign. They also appeared at our second cheering station and boy did I need them at that time, I was so happy to see them, my sister was so proud of me.... I wish I had them at every corner :o) After many hours we arrived at camp. We had to pick up our gear (luggage and tent), we had to put up our 2 dome pink tents, thank gosh we found a nice young man helping because I couldn't walk, my feet were full of blisters and swollen. After our stuff was in our tent we went to dinner, I felt like I was going to pass out. I drank alot of water and gatorade, but I don't think I drank enough. I went to the medical tent but they needed me to shower before they worked on my legs. So I showered in these little showers, no privacy!! :oS

Hitched a ride from a crew member to the medical tent and had my blisters worked on. That was pretty much the end of my evening.

Chicago Breast Cancer 3Day

2008-08-06T18:15:00.000-07:00

No card today, just finalizing everything for the Breast Cancer 3Day walk. The day has finally arrived!! Registration is Friday at 5:30a.m. in Northbrook IL, which is a little hike for me (1.5hrs). I haven't had much time to pack. I know I always talk about not having time. But it's just a busy time for me right now.

I'm really, really excited about the walk and very nervous but I've been training, so let's hope that it's payed off.

You can visit my personal website page here and you can also visit the Supporter Guide there will be a live webcam between the hours of 2:00 pm and 9:00 pm on Friday and Saturday during the event..

It's three days of none stop walking. A good friend of mine Melissa is doing the walk with me and our team name is "Chicas 4 Tetas", we've raised a whooping $6,741.07 is that unbelieveable or what. THANK YOU!! to all of you who have donated and made a difference in someone's life.

This is our first 3day, so any, any advice on blisters or walking is much appreciated.

Hip-hippo-ray!

2008-08-05T17:54:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. Today I got to work at 6:15a.m. and left at 5:30p.m., what a day, I could've stay a lot longer, but I was getting a little slap happy. Another long day tomorrow. I'm not really complaining, I actually LOVE my job. And I love, love being challenged every single day. I just don't like not having enough time to stamp, or spend with my son. Sometimes, I wish I was a teacher and had the summers off, but to handle a classroom full of children all day, hmmm that's a challenge. I love kids, but I don't have the patience when they are so many. I give teachers all the praise in the world. THANK YOU!! for doing an excellent job.

So onto card making. I made this card for Selena, she turned 5 a couple of days ago. The inside of the card says "It's your Birthday"!

Hope she had a wonderful birthday.

2008-08-02T21:31:00.000-07:00

I couldn't make it to Belinda's house this evening to actually stamp, I had to work a couple of hours today. I did stop by her house to stamp a few images on cardstock, before coming home. Belinda has "A LOT" of stamps, I wish I had half of what she had. But I just can't afford it being a single mom. :o) If I won the lottery, I would buy everything.

I created a few cards knowing the girls had fun today stamping and creating. I thought I'd post them here, so they can see that I was thinking of them, I just couldn't make it. I also got alot of watercoloring done on images that I had stamped. Here's a close up of the images. The stamps sets used were from an old Stampin' Up set and the little old ladies are from Diamond Stamps.

Here is a close up of the cards I created. The card on the left was stamped using CTMH "With love" set, which was June's SOTM; the flowers were glittered with art institute glitter. The card on the right was stamped with My Favorite Things mini set "By the Seashore". This card was my favorite card for the day.

Here is a close up of the final 2 cards I made this evening. The first on the left is from Stamping Bella she is your "Cosmobella", the olives are from Bugawumps set "Olive you". The card on the right is not a stamped image, it's just cut out cardstock and I also used a CB folder for the embossing.

I've been busy tonight :o)

I'm really excited about tomorrow, I'm going down to Chicago to watch a soccer match between Spain(Barcelona) and Mexico(Chivas) I love both teams, they are fantastic. But my heart is and will always be with LAS CHIVAS!! Hope we have wonderful weather.

Simple, yet elegant.

2008-08-02T05:42:00.000-07:00

I was challenged by a friend to create a black, red and white card with polka dots. And this is what I came up with. I do hope that I did her idea justice. It's a very simply yet elegant card. Love CB embossing folders, they make your card "POP". I also added a glaze to the rose petals, but you really can't see the effect on here, even if click on the image, it just appears dark.

Today I'm going over to my friend Belinda's house for a creative day. She's my very good friend and my Stampin' Up demonstrator. Can't wait to hang with all the girls and be creative. I'll have to take some photos on what we all come up with. The Lake County Fair in going on this weekend. Rick Springfield and The Plain White T's are coming down to the fair grounds. I missed the Plain White T's yesterday. I just couldn't believe they were here. They also had pig racing yesterday :o) and Izzy's pig won. Congrats Izzy. poink, poink.

Cowgirl Fun

2008-07-31T19:32:00.000-07:00

I love my cowgirl. Can you tell I'm from Indiana? Hee,hee. This was a fun little card to make. No real special occasion just wanted to say hello to an old friend and thought what better way to do it then to say it with a card. And she would totally appreciate the "howdy". I really enjoy watercoloring, it's like my zen time. I purchased a few copic markers, but I haven't gotten really into them yet. In the process of learning. I saw a site on coloring without copics on Paper Pleasing ideas site using your own SU or CTMH markers. Check it out it's really cool.

Today was another busy day at the office, so no real time to play with crafts. Maybe tomorrow. Lately my cards have been pretty simple to make. I hope you enjoy. More techniques to come in the coming weeks. My schedule at work won't permit me to really be crafty til' after September 3rd. So stay tuned.

2 cards to different occasions

2008-07-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I said to myself, " I don't care how tired I am, I will be creative". I sat for hmmmmmmmm about an hour or so, before I came up with any idea. You'll see that the cards were very simple but yet it took a long time. I'm just not having a creative edge lately. I've been working alot, and some of the numbers come home with me. I dream about numbers, I day dream about numbers.. I almost called my son by his soccer jersey number.. "COME HERE #5". Seriously, I need a vacation in the sun with a nice cool margarita. So I created and I imagined. That's where the drunken bee comes to play. I wish, I wish :o) I purchased this stamp at www. rubbernecker.com they have such cute fun stamps. I stamped the inside of the card with, "Friends don't let friend drink white zen".

Now on to my second card, yes... I made two cards.

But this one is a masculine card, like I've stated in the past,

I don't make many masculine cards. Only birthdays and special occasions. I got this stamp at a convention, and it's so horrible of me, I can't remember where I got it from I thought at first it was from http://www.stampland.com/, but was wrong.. I'll figure it out one day. I'm currently working on 2 belated birthday cards. Lots of birthdays in August. I'll post them, once I'm finished. ENJOY!!

Summer, summer, summer time

2008-07-28T18:36:00.001-07:00

I know I've been neglecting this site for days. But it's summer time, and I'm also currently training for the Susan B. Koman Chicago Breast Cancer 3 Day. So it's alot of time outside and no fun inside. You'd think I'd create more with the new room, but it's important that I train to prevent injury. Well my walk is almost here, it's next Friday, August 8th, for 3 days and 60 miles. My son has kept me super motivated, walking or running with me. He's a good kid. We've had alot of fun this summer when possible. Camping, Taste of Chicago, camping... :o) We went to see Dark Knight in Chicago, what a great movie. I definitely recommend.

Now on to card making. I just wrapped up a swap that I'm in, my camera is a little fuzzy so it does not do any justice to the card. It was fun and simple. No watercolor :o( I hope you enjoy. Stay tuned for more soon.

Scrapbook/Stamp Room

2008-07-09T18:18:00.000-07:00

All moved in!!! But still making changes. I need to purchase a few things and possibly do some stencil in the room, to bring out the color of the walls. The black cart you see in this picture is actually a hair stylist cart, I purchased it at a yard sale for $5.00. The owner asked if I was a hair stylist and I said that I wasn't but planned on using it for scrapbooking. She also scraps and would've never thought to use it for that. She almost didn't want to sell it. They cart has little holes on the top, great size to keep my embossing gun and hole punchers. The other drawers hold my many punches.

This is the other side of the room. I don't have alot of money so I had to use what I had. That is why you see the two desks in the room. The desk shown in the picture is my ultimate favorite desk.
I purchased it at IKEA, it has the right amount of shelves and desk space.

And finally the closet. I got a gift card from Costco and found this nice storage unit. But it's got some empty shelves... I'll have to fix that! :o)

The room is still a work in progress but I thought I share the pics with you all.
I'm so excited that I have a place dedicated to just scrap. I've made something everyday!!

12x12 Layout

2008-07-08T05:30:00.000-07:00

Good Morning everyone! Oh what a beautiful morning. My scraproom is finally done, everything moved in. I still have a few things I need to purchase at IKEA, maybe I'll make it there this weekend. It's been so easy creating 12 x 12 layouts now that everything is so organized. I just finished my son's School years, which I'll share with you in the up coming days. Have a wonderful day. Hope you enjoy my creation.

Scrapbook/Stamp Room

2008-06-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted. But I'm working on my stamp room finally a place designated to make a mess not a corner in my room or my dining room table. I haven't gotten everything purchased or done yet, but at least all the walls are painted. Can you believe it, I finished painting in one day, I was on a mission to get this room done. So I've been really busy at work and haven't had much opportunity to get things done at home and on my blog. I hope you enjoy this wonderful picture, stay tuned for the finalized scrap room.

I'm really excited :o)

Friendship

2008-06-08T10:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend was great. Went to see the movie "Sex & the City" it inspired me to send a card to a good friend. What a fun flick, if you were not a Sex & the City fan, you might not get "Mr. Big". The movie was just what I expected. Although I think it would've ended better if Samantha would've been with the neighbor.. Huba, huba.. I cried and laughed the entire time. LOVED IT!!!

I loved good ole' Charolette, always can rely on her character.

Friendship is what inspired this simple card

that says it all.

CS: SU Close to Cocoa, PP: K & Co., stamps: SU set

"One of a Kind"

Mi Vida (My Life) 12 x 12 Layout

2008-06-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

What a crazy morning, I was up all night finalizing those note card sets I spoke of in my prior post. I made gifts for the teachers and bus driver, I finally got them finished and guess what!! I forgot to take a picture. I was in such a rush this morning, that I totally forgot. I'll have to make a card sometime this week, just to show the simple creation. It's just so much fun receiving handmade items, at least that's how I feel. I hope they enjoy their gifts.

I wanted to share with you all this wonderful, fun and vibrant 12 x12 layout that I created of My Life, "My Son" we had some fun times together last summer, hoping to get some more this year. Hope you enjoy my creation, have a wonderful evening.

Up, up and away

2008-06-04T06:45:00.000-07:00

I love this stamp set "Pun Fun", it comes with really cool small stamps for every occasion. I don't always make many boy cards, I just don't get the opportunity because I'm always doing cards for friends. But this card was very fun to do. I used a bunch of bright colors. I just recently bought a few copics but they are so EXPENSIVE, I'll have to come up with different alternatives. I've used some Mavy markers on this set, nothing to complicated. I made a few of the same cards, just in case we had another birthday boy. ENJOY!!!

My girl Ethel

2008-06-03T06:57:00.000-07:00

We are always so worried about what people think and what we look like. You know I like "Ethel's" way of looking at things, "If you've got it, flaunt it!" and if you don't "Flaunt it anyways" O.K. I just made that last part up. I could've paper pieced her swimsuit, but I didn't have the correct pattern paper. Can you believe that, all the pads of papers we purchase at Michael's or JoAnns and I couldn't find the perfect PP. OMG, yes it's true, so I used my color pencils that I love so much. I received them from a good friend during a swap "StampinQBee", check out her creations on Splitcoast Stampers.

Ethel is an Old Character from http://www.rubbernecker.com/ I love their images, I purchased a bunch of Old Character stamps from them recently. They are so much fun.

2008-06-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

It's Monday, out a little early from work waiting for a shipment. I promised myself that I would try and work on posting to the blog everyday. I love reading and seeing other blogs. Every morning before I start my day and leave for work, I sign on just to look at some creations.. they make my day. My friend Belinda makes a card a day and I try very hard to do the same, but something always comes up. I stop by her desk every morning just to see what she has in store for me. I have so much going on in life, I enjoy just looking at people's ideas. I hope you enjoy mine as well.

12 x12 Layout BFF Sisters

2008-06-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

Several months ago I went on an all weekend scrapbook getaway and I had so much fun. Getting ready for it was a little stressful, I was not sure what to take. So guess what! I took everything. Lately I haven't made any pages because it just takes a long time to get the idea. I'm very complicated when it comes to scrapbooking, alot of time and preparation is involved. Some people are creative and can pop pages out. I need to make sure I have everything in order and I love matching things. What might take someone 15 minutes, probably takes me an hour. I made this page and several others that weekend I will be sharing with you as time goes. My camera was acting a little funny and would'nt give me that much of a clear picture. Enjoy!

2008-05-31T18:30:00.000-07:00

My first Craw Fish Boil, what a great time, just hanging out with friends and enjoying good food and company. My son tried a raw oyster today, and said it was not that bad :o) He's always been good at trying new things. But I'm not sure how soon he'll eat another one.

I'm not feeling so good tonight. I'm just hanging low and making note card sets as thank you presents for Louie's 8th grade teachers. I love using fruit and veggie stamps. I hope you enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by.

2008-05-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

I officially have a Freshman!! We had 8th grade graduation this evening, Louie received a few awards, I am so proud of him. My brother Marco and sister Mari and SIL Izzy were able to make the awards assembly. We had dinner at Louie's favorite place "Buffalo Wild Wings". Mom, dad, brother, sis and SIL were able to attend. I'm home now, he has an 8th grade dance. So I'll need to pick him up at 9 and drop him back off at some place to eat. So I'm the cabby girl today.. YIPPEE. In the meantime, I'll make some cards.

I'm always a day late in posting some of my cards. I was able to make a few more cards. I need to pay closer attention to my material, but in the meantime, hope you like. Stamp set is from MFT, background paper was from a 4x6 package from K&Co., I paper pieced the rain coat, boots and doggie coat, lots of cutting and finished by watercoloring the image. With the weather lately this card was very appropriate.

2008-05-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

I'm back, what a great weekend. My son and I spent plenty of quality time together at the trailer. We made smores and were just plain lazy :o) We got in late Monday morning, so it was great. I definitely needed another vacation day to recoop. Currently I'm training for the Chicago Breast Cancer 3Day so I was able to do some of my miles. My father accompanied me for some, not all 13 miles on Saturday and 6 on Sunday. I'm getting a little burned out, especially when I have to repeat certain spots. I'm not sure if you understand but I hate having to repeat my miles, passing by my house 3 times is a killer because I know I still have more to do. But I love that I'm doing this walk for a cause and that's what keeps me going. You can visit my personal site for the walk at http://08.the3day.org/goto/CROD. I've made few cards during one of my trips to my camper. I don't own any bella stamps, but I'm had a few friends from swaps stamp images for me. So I hope you enjoy the cards. Soon I'll keep track of my material and share that with you all.

Long weekend!

2008-05-23T07:58:00.000-07:00

I took a vacation day today to run around and do some errands before the big weekend. We're going camping, I'm really excited!! It's not hardcore camping, but there's still bugs :o)

At our camping resort there will be a nice memorial service for all the armed foreces. My brother served in the Navy during Desert Storm and my father in the army during Vietnam.

This is my first time blogging, I'm not sure how great it's going to be, maybe in a few months it'll get easier.

I made a few cards. One for the holiday and another for a sick friend, I'm sending it with a box of Chicken Noodle Soup. I hope the card picks up her spirit and is ready for a long 4 day weekend.