Happy Halloween!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Halloween! Hope it's fun, safe and full of yummy treats for everyone!

Oh look, a card!

We just recently had our fall release over at Lizzie Anne Designs and so of course it's always fun to play with new stamps. This card was made using our new Way Up North set. The cute little penguin gives me warm fuzzies. :) Because I like sparkly things, and who doesn't love sparkly things?..I had to add sparkly things to this card. After I had stamped the the light blue cardstock with snowflakes using Versamark, I went over the snowflakes with my gelly roll glitter pen to make the snowflakes sparkle a bit. Since you cannot see this detail in the pic, I have a close-up to share. Anyway, I'm liking how this turned out.

As winter nears and the days get shorter, I'm actually looking forward to Daylight Savings. Did I say that? Mostly because then my daughter won't grumpily accuse me of waking her up at 2:00 in the morning like she did this morning...at 7:45 am.

Road Trip

Last weekend I was enjoying beautiful California weather. We took a road trip down to LA to hear my favorite band, Travis. (See two posts below.) I love road trips. There is something soothing about driving on the highway listening to favorite tunes and enjoying the landscape around you. The drive to southern California from SLC on I-15 is my favorite. I love the desert landscape that stretches as far as you can see. I've done that drive so many times I know it like the back of my hand. I've probably done it 30+ times in my life. Each summer growing up, we'd make the annual trek to visit my grandparents in California. Some of my very favorite memories stem from those trips with my family. My grandparents have long since passed away, but I still find myself making that trip about once a year. It feels like home to me. This time was no different really. I may not have been fighting with my sisters in the back seat as to who was crossing the invisible line declaring personal space, but I found myself looking for those familiar landmarks along the way, and feeling the excitement as we neared our destination. As always, it's good to be home, but I definitely look forward to the next road trip. :)

Here are a few pics of my weekend adventure...

Spent some time hanging out at the Santa Monica Pier and beach.




Ate some yummy Pinkberry frozen yogurt...This is Pomegranate and coconut frozen yogurt with strawberries and chocolate sprinkles on top. mmmmmm!



Caught my favorite band...




Went to the Getty Museum...





On the way back home...look what we saw! I'm still cracking up about this. :) Look in the right lane way ahead.



A Wienermobile! How cool is that?!



Then as luck would have it...they stopped for gas too!




For whatever reason, this road sign always gives me a kick when we pass it!



Almost home, driving through central Utah....



The end!

Card Club Assignment

Just the other day I was driving up one of the canyons here and I noticed that the leaves are now starting to change color. Fall is approaching and I'm getting excited. It's my favorite time of year! I am a little bit sad to see summer go though. Seems like we were shorted with the unusual month of rain we had in June. The good thing about that rain though is that my grass had a little bit longer of a lifespan this summer and didn't burn up as soon as it usually does. Anyway, back to fall. I can't wait to see the mountains and valley bursting with color again. Last week, my card club got together for our monthly card exchange. Our card theme this month was to make a fall or Halloween card. Since I'm in the mood for fall, this made me happy. I decided to break in some of our new stamps that I hadn't played with yet. Here is what I made...



Stamps used: Lizzie Anne Fright Night, All Hallow's Eve, and Spooked!

a little obsession...

I have a little obsession. It's with a Scottish band called Travis. I love this band with all of my heart. I will travel far and wide to see them. I have gone to San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago, and next month Los Angeles to see them play live. That's 6,498 miles traveled if you count round trip. These guys are amazing to hear live. Seriously. They have so much energy, they interact with the crowd, and their music is just so, so, so good! Plus, they are just really nice and genuine guys. I admit it, I'm in love. Sigh. And don't worry, my husband knows about this. He loves the band too...just not as much as me. :)

If you should so feel inclined, you should check out their music. They've been credited to paving the way for the likes of Coldplay and Snow Patrol. Only, I think they are much better! Here are a few of my favorites...Sing, Side, Closer, Something Anything, and Writing to Reach You.

I blame Facebook

Okay maybe not entirely, but I admit since I joined Facebook last year there has been a massive decrease in my blogging. Yes, I was one of those who got entirely sucked in. I really do love Facebook. Because of Facebook, I have been able to reunite with old friends lost over time, keep better tabs on family members (especially those who live on the other side of the country,) and get to know my neighbors better. Yes, I just said get to know my neighbors better. How crazy is that? But seriously, I see my neighbors out and about but Facebook has given me a whole new glimpse into the lives of those around me. Amazingly, we've all become better friends. We chat late at night when our kids are all in bed, and we are more in tune with each other's needs. It's pretty cool if you ask me. So yes, it's taken a huge chunk out of my blogging time. I don't really regret it though because like I said, it's drawn all of my loved ones closer to me. And that can't be a bad thing right?

Of course there are other factors that have contributed to my lack of blogging. As Lizzie Anne Designs grows, I've gotten busier and busier. Which is a good thing, but I rarely have time to stamp and craft anymore which makes me a bit sad. Thank heavens for an awesome design team to show off our stamps! I think along with those things I was suffering from a bit of burn out. Instead of doing my crafts and cards for fun, it became a bit of a chore. Plus, I never know what to write about my cards and crafts either. I mean, does anyone out there reading my blog really want to know how exactly I made something or why I did it? Maybe so? I really don't know. This takes me back to my design school days. Our professor always wanted us to have a reason why we did something. This was so aggravating to me at times. Sometimes I did have a reason for doing what I did, but mostly not. Mostly I did whatever I did because I thought it looked cool or just felt right. That wasn't good enough for him though. Sigh. I digress though. My apologies. :)

So in all of this pressure, stress and crazy busy life I was experiencing, I just kind of backed away from blogging and took a break. It felt good and I needed it. Needed to recharge. People are always telling me I have the coolest job ever...which I agree. I really do love what I do! Sometimes though, it can be mentally taxing though and it's easy to get burned out. What all of this comes down to is that I'm ready to blog again, but this time I'm not going to put the pressure on myself to be this super crafter that I can't be right now. I'm just going to blog about what I want to and not stress about posting a card every day. That's what our company blog is for. It's full of awesome ideas and inspiration! Since this is my personal blog, I realized that's really okay. :) So, I'll still share my cards and crafts when I make them, but there's going to be a lot of other random stuff too. Because really, there's more to me than stamps and crafts.

In my recharged state here, I've finally revamped the look of my blog. I hope you like! I'm one of those people that as a kid, I was constantly rearranging my room. The change was refreshing and made me happy! I'm sure I will change my header again in the near future. But for now, I like. :)

Mixing it up!

Oh my! Where did the summer go? I can't believe fall is fast approaching us. Today over at Lizzie Anne Designs, we are previewing our October Monthly Mix. It's full of adorable images! I just happen to have a couple of cards to share with you today featuring images from the October Mix. It has been awhile since I've been able to sit down and stamp. I've missed it!

This card features 3 stamps from the mix. I have to say I think this little sewing machine is adorable! My mom has always loved to sew, and she's quite good at it too. This image and sentiment is perfect for her!

This card is one I made for our weekly sketch challenge this week. It's super simple and clean and features 3 stamps from the mix as well.