I'm here...briefly...

So, on Wednesday my eyes suddenly got all bloodshot. I went to the doctor straight from school and he thought I had pinkeye and gave me some eyedrops. To cut a very long story short, I had a severe allergic reaction to the drops and have seen 3 doctors in the past 2 days - ugh! They're also not even sure it was pinkeye; it might have been a viral infection left from when I had a sinus problem a week ago. My corneas were pretty badly damaged and it'll take 2-3 days for my vision to return. I'll be back early next week; just wanted to check in here and say hi!

Dare to be Different!

This is another Stamping Bella image that reminded me of Nattie when I saw it on their website - not just the image, but also the sentiment :) Nattie is very much an individual in the way that she dresses, which I think is pretty cool! She isn't afraid to wear exactly what she thinks looks fun, and doesn't bother what others think. Long may that confidence continue! :)

My week is going well so far back at school. I was wiped out on Monday after my first day back; I should probably have taken one more day, but I was ready to get back to the classroom! Today I'm working all day; I usually finish at 1.30pm, but I'm covering for another para in the Music class until the end of the day. Jamie's class will be one of the groups, so it'll be fun to see what he's working on in Music! Iain was in San Francisco yesterday, then flew last night to Chicago for a meeting today. He'll be back tonight.

We're starting to think about a few days away for the 4 of us over Spring Break - possibly San Francisco for a long weekend :) We lived in the Bay Area from 1997 - 2002, so it has a special place in our hearts :)

What's in a name?

Here are some fun questions that you can answer and share about your name :) Let me know if you play along!

1. What's your full name? Toni Armstrong
2. What do your parents call you? Mum used to call me Toni, Dad called me "Tone" or "Bones" :)
3. What do your grandparents call you? Toni
4. What do your friends call you? Toni, Tone, Toners
5. Do you like your name? I didn't like it when I was a kid, because I got teased for having a "boy" name (they didn't care that it was spelled differently!). But now I like it because it is so different!
6. If you could change your name, would you? I would have probably changed it if I could have before the age of 15, but since that age I've been happy with my name :)
7. What would you change it to? N/A
8. Do you like pet names (sweetie, honey, babe, etc.)? Iain calls me Beeb, but that's it.
9. Does it bother you when people use your middle name? Nope! I don't have a middle name :)
10. Who named you? I believe it was mainly my dad's idea...read on...
11. Are you named after someone? Well....here's a good one :) Dad got the idea for my name from a Playboy magazine (I guess it must have been right in the middle of one of those articles....). If Dad was around now, I'd ask him what he was thinking??? And I wonder when my mum found out where the idea came from....

Any occasion card :)

Last weekend I played with this little guy and the set of stamps he came with. The set is called "Framed Friends" and is available from Gina K. Designs. The patterned paper for this one is by October Afternoon. I colored the owl with my Copics; I am slowly but surely getting better with my blending technique, I think! :)

As you'll see on the left, I also used the small owl stamp to decorate the inside of the card....

TCP Tuesday Sketch Challenge

Hi all!! This week our TCP Tuesday Hostess is Leigh - she has a great sketch for you to play with! For my version, I turned the sketch on its side :) The stamp I used is "Mod, Mod Wedding Cake". The patterned paper (hopefully you can see the sparkle!) is by My Mind's Eye. Be sure to stop by Leigh's blog today to get the scoop on how you can become this month's "Swanky Stamper"!

Peace :)

Happy Monday, everyone! I'm going back to work this morning after being out sick all last week. Hopefully it'll be a nice smooth day :)

It's very pretty outside this morning; the sun is shining and there's a fresh coat of snow on the ground. There's more forecast for this afternoon, so after that perhaps I'll get a few photos. It's been a while since I posted snow photos on here; it's been such a mild winter!

Isn't this stamp image fun? When I spotted it on Stamping Bella's website, I knew it was for me :) Nattie (DD, age 12) is into everything peace-sign related right now, so the image made me think of her immediately! The patterned paper is an older line by SEI that I found in my stash.

Have a fantastic day; I'll be back tomorrow for TCP Tuesday!

Day 5 Blog Candy Winner

I knew I'd find it far too difficult to choose my favorite from the cards that would be submitted - and I was right! That's why I decided that I would let Nattie choose the winning card for Day 5 of the Blog Candy. So, without further delay.....the winner is.....

SHELLEY!!

Here's Shelley's card. Nattie loved the colors and the bling on the card (what 12-year-old wouldn't?) and (in Nattie's words) "the pouffy stuff on top of the cupcake and the wavy edge" :) CONGRATS, Shelley! E-mail me at toners@wispertel.net and I'll mail your Blog Candy goodies out to you early this week! And once again - THANK YOU to everyone who played along!

Thank You!

I want to thank everyone who has participated in the Blogoversary Blog Candy this week - and congratulations to all the winners so far! I'll be announcing Day 5's winner later tonight :)

Here's a pretty celebration card made with one of the Stamping Bella stamps I got with my gift certificate that Sue gave me for my birthday! Isn't this image fun??? It's called the "Leaning Tower of Stella" :) The patterned paper is the new "Bittersweet" collection by Basic Grey.

I feel so very lucky to have met so many friends through blogging! I appreciate each and every one of you and enjoy checking in with you through your blogs :) Thank you!

The Day 4 Winner....

...is SueB!! Congratulations, Sue!! You're the winner of the "Serenity Now" stamp set and the white gel pen :) Email me your info at toners@wispertel.net and I'll mail your goodies out early in the week!

The final blog candy offering is still up for grabs!! Pull out your cardmaking supplies and play along with Day 5!

The Day 3 Winner.....

is StampinCathy!! CONGRATS! Your comment was chosen by the random integer generator this morning :)

Here are your random numbers: 31
Timestamp: 2009-01-24 16:38:21 UTC

Email me at toners@wispertel.net with your mailing info and I'll get your candy out to you early next week! Yahoooo!

There are still 2 more chances to win - see Day 4 and Day 5 below :) Good luck!!

Day 5 Blog Candy :)

I know, I'm posting Day 5 on the same day as Day 4, but there's going to be a little more work involved for Day 5, and I wanted to give you as much time as possible :) For this final giveaway, there are 2 stamp sets and a white gel pen as the prize! The first stamp set is one of my favorites from The Cat's Pajamas - it's called "Smells Like Cake" :) The second set is by My Favorite Things, and is called "Bunny Slippers". Both of these sets are perfect for those of us who like to color our stamped images!

Yep, I'm gonna make you break out your cardmaking supplies for this piece of candy :) I'd like you to make any celebration card - birthday, blogoversary, anniversary....any happy theme you'd like! Post a link to your card in the comments here by Sunday evening (January 25th) at 6pm (MST). I'm going to have Nattie (my 12-year-old daughter) choose her favorite one, and that person will win the blog candy! So, what are you waiting for? Have fun!

Day 4 - Blog Candy!

Here's today's set of goodies, again from My Favorite Things :) There's another white gel pen, and the stamp set is "Serenity Now", which I thought would be a nice one for the weekend giveaway :)

For today's entry, keeping with the "serenity" theme, I'd like you to leave a comment telling me your favorite ways to relax. All entries should be posted before 6am (MST) on Sunday, January 25th. I'll draw a winner that day :)

Enjoy! And....breathe.... :)

We have a Day 2 winner!!

And the winner is......DEBBIE!!! This morning I let the random integer generator come up with the number:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:3
Timestamp: 2009-01-23 14:44:42 UTC

Congratulations Debbie! I'll get this set out to you asap :) And remember, you have to show us what you create with the stamps! :)

Day 3's blog candy is in the post below this one - you have until 6am Saturday (MST) to enter! Good luck!

Blogoversary Blog Candy - Day 3

Here we go with Day 3! Today's stamp set is another set of goodies from My Favorite Things. First, there's a white gel pen - this is one of my favorite things to use to add detail to my cards! And, of course there's a stamp set - today's set is one of the most recent "Flopsey" stamps from MFT. This one is called "Reading Flopsey" :) Isn't he sweet?

And...what do you need to do to enter today? Well, since Flopsey has his eyes on a good book, I'd like you to leave a comment to this post telling me about your favorite book ever. I'm always on the lookout for a great new read, and I'm sure the other readers wouldn't mind some book recommendations either! All the comments added by 6am (MST) on Saturday, January 24th will be entered into a random drawing, and I'll draw the winner that morning.

Good luck once again, everyone! And as always, thank you for stopping by!

Random Things

I found a list of 16 random things on Jayne's blog and really enjoyed the "randomness" (is that a real word?) - so here goes:

1. When these antibiotics start working, it will be awesome to be able to actually taste my food again!
2. When I emptied my vacuum bag at the weekend, there was enough cat/dog fur in there to make another animal! LOL! (and we do vacuum weekly and empty the canister, honest!)
3. It felt like Spring here this week - temps in the 50s!
4. Jamie and his class went on a field trip to the Stock Show in Denver today - he loved it!
5. I'd love to get all the windows on the ground level of our house replaced.
6. Sally (our oldest cat, age 9) seems to be doing so much better now that she's getting insulin shots twice a day.
7. Iain has been to Phoenix and San Francisco this week.
8. It's time to start looking at summer vacation bookings - I think we're going to try to go to Maui this year (the kids loved the Big Island last summer!)
9. My grandad will be 97 next month! Way to go, Gramps!
10. Nattie's reading the third book of the "Twilight" series :)
11. I wish I were a better cook!
12. I read this week that George Clooney is shooting some scenes for the last few episodes of "E.R." - yahoo!!
13. The Wii is a huge hit in our house - the four of us play tennis almost every night for about 20 minutes!
14. Jamie's first grade class took their first "official" weekly spelling test on Monday. He scored 100% and asked me when he'll get to be in the Spelling Bee :)
15. If my dad were still alive, he'd be 60.
16. I wonder if I will still have freckles when I get older? Or will they fade with age?

Sketch Challenge Winner! And an update...

Check it out! Tracy chose my card (yep, the one with all that pink that I posted on Tuesday!) as the winner for last week's Sketch Challenge on her blog! THANKS, TRACY!! You made my day :)

I finally went to the doctor today and found that I have a sinus infection! Got the antibiotics started this afternoon. Let's hope they kick in quickly....

I'll be back in the morning with Day 3 of Blog Candy - we had tons of entries today! Thanks everyone!

Blog Candy Winner - Day 1 :)

I put all the names of the entrants from Day 1 into a hat and had my son Jamie choose one - the winner is Denise! CONGRATS DENISE!! Send me an email at toners@wispertel.net with your full mailing address and I'll get your stamps sent out to you :)

Don't forget to enter Day 2 in my post below - there's a great set from The Cat's Pajamas (and some candy!) up for grabs!

And - I'll be back tomorrow with Day 3's goodies, as well as the name of the winner from Day 2!

Blogoversary Blog Candy - Day 2

Thank you to everyone who has been playing along so far!! Here's the scoop for Day 2 of the Blogoversary Blog Candy....

The prize this time includes the "Havin' A Pow Wow" set by The Cat's Pajamas :) I know a lot of you are big fans of this set, and I wanted to make sure there was one of these up for grabs this week :) And - there will also be some Reese's Pieces included with this prize (it is blog candy after all!). So, what do you need to do?

Just leave me a comment to this post telling me about your favorite kind of candy! I know, I know, it's hard to nail it down to just one kind :) All comments received before Friday, January 23rd at 6am (MST) will be entered into the drawing for this prize. I will randomly draw a winner on Friday morning.

Good luck, everybody!

Blogoversary Blog Candy - Day 1

Hi all!! As promised, I'm going to have 5 days of blog candy this week, leading up to my "Blogoversary" on Sunday, January 25th :) Each day I'll offer some of my favorite goodies and provide the details on what you need to do for a chance to win!

Let's start it off nice and easy for Day 1 - to win the "Call Me" set by My Favorite Things, all you need to do is leave a comment to this post telling me who you'd like to get a phone call from - and why!

Entries will be accepted until 6:00AM (MST) on Thursday, January 22nd. That morning, I'll make a random drawing for the winner of this set :) Enjoy - and good luck!

I'll be back tomorrow with more candy!

Blech!

Well, I guess it was inevitable...I've caught whatever Jamie had last week. I spent most of yesterday lying on the couch with the blanket - couldn't make my mind up if I was too hot or too cold. Ugh! So, I'm home from work today - and thankful that I worked on my MFT and TCP challenges on Saturday instead of procrastinating like I usually do :) Heading back to the couch now....

TCP Tuesday Stamp Challenge

Hi everyone! It's TCP Tuesday! This week Karrie is our hostess - and she has challenged us to use any TCP Valentine image. You can check out all the stamps here!

I used the "Be Still, My Beating Heart" set, along with some fun shimmery paper by Heidi Grace. The circle shapes are cut from Nestabilities dies.

This card is also made from a sketch on Tracy's blog. She issues a weekly sketch challenge which you can read about right here. Thanks for a super sketch, Tracy!

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for the first day of my "Blogoversary Blog Candy"! See you then!

Happy Mail!

Look what I got in the mail this week from my good blogging friend Shirley!! A lovely handmade card and a beautiful Post-it note holder, also made by Shirley :) Thank you!

If you haven't checked out Shirley's blog, here's a link. I think you'll agree that her work is stunning!

Who's That Girl? Challenge :)

Here's my card for the Who's That Girl? Challenge for this week. Laura and I are challenging you to use any MFT set and a red, white and blue color combo. If you want to play along, here's a link to the post on Splitcoast Stampers. The keyword this week is MFTWTG18 :)

For my card I used the featured set, "Ride 'em Cowgirl". Patterned paper is by Stampin' Up, flowers by Prima and the image was colored with Copic markers. The sentiment is stamped on a shape cut out from a Nestabilities die.

Have a great Monday! I'll be back tomorrow with TCP Tuesday - and then on Wednesday the "Blogoversary Blog Candy" will begin :)

Tea Time!

Here's a card I made using one of the new sets of digital papers by My Favorite Things. Aren't they fun? I used one of my favorite MFT images - "Hot Stuff" :)

What are you up to this weekend? We're hanging out at home today - I'm hoping to get some stamping done! Tomorrow we have to go shoe shopping for Nattie and Iain, and perhaps we'll have lunch out somewhere. Monday, I'm not sure yet....

Have a great Saturday, whatever you're doing!

Aspen

Here's Aspen, hanging out on my craft desk :) She loves to sprawl out all over my paper - so I have to do a "cat hair check" when I finish a card!

A happy hello :)

Thank you for all the well wishes for Jamie! He's a little better, but I'm going to take him to the pediatrician today to have his ears and throat checked...you never know if something else is going on, right?

Today's card is another one using this great tulip image from Hero Arts. I've had this stamp for several years, and every year I'm drawn to it at this time of year. I think it's because it's a really versatile image that's fun to color :) The patterned paper is from the 29th Street collection by My Mind's Eye.

Blogoversary Coming Up!

Hi all! You'll see over on the right that I have a "Blogoversary" coming up in just 11 days! I've decided to do 5 days of blog candy to celebrate, starting on January 21st and finishing on my "Blogoversary", January 25th! Stay tuned for more details :)

Super-simple "get whale soon"

This is one of the simplest cards I've ever made! LOL! It's hard for me not to add things to cards like this :)

Actually, it's pretty appropriate for me to post a get well card today; poor Jamie has been sick for a couple of days with a stomach virus of some kind. He got sick on the way to school on Monday, so he spent yesterday and today at home with Iain. I'm taking the day off to be home with Jamie tomorrow since Iain's going to Seattle for a couple of days. Fingers crossed that we'll have a smooth night tonight....

TCP Tuesday - Color Challenge

Hi everyone! Jen is hosting TCP Tuesday this week, and she has come up with an awesome color challenge! This week's colors are olive, teal and pumpkin :) You can get all the details on Jen's blog right here. For my card I picked "Sick Sprinkle" and "Feel Better Soon" from my TCP stamp stash.

Happy TCP Tuesday! I hope you can play along!

Who's That Girl?

This week's Who's That Girl? challenge that Laura and I are hosting is featuring the "Serenity Now" set from My Favorite Things. Our additional challenge was to incorporate stripes, so here's my card :) The patterned paper is from Crate Paper's "Seaweed" Collection, and the sentiment is stamped on shapes cut out with my Nestabilities dies. Thanks for stopping by!

Kitty Kat Pack!

I wanted to let you know that The Cat's Pajamas are offering a special price for the 3 Valentine's sets :) Alma is calling this collection the "Kitty Kat Pack" - 3 sets of clear stamps for just $33. That's a savings of $15 compared to buying the sets individually. Click here to check them out!

It's the weekend!

This was a long week, it seemed - even though the kids and I didn't start back at school till Tuesday! I guess it just takes a while to get back into the routine :)

We got several inches of snow yesterday! It looks so pretty out there, and we really need the moisture. This winter has been very dry here in the mountains!

Any weekend plans for you? I'm going out to a meeting this morning about the budgets in our school district; unfortunately a couple of measures did not pass in the recent election, and the schools are having to make decisions about where to cut costs. As you can imagine, it can be quite a heated topic.

Yesterday I went to an assembly at Nattie's school; they had a special presentation for the kids who made gold, silver and bronze honor roll last quarter. Nattie had such a proud look on her face up on the stage :) She has worked very hard so far in middle school!

Today's card is another one made with an Elzybells stamp. I love coloring these images! I found this fun patterned paper from the Blue Cardigan collection by Creative Imaginations - love it! The hearts on the bottom half of the card are actually cut out from scraps of another sheet of paper. I think it worked out really nicely! Have a super weekend!

Bright Thanks!

I was asked to make a batch of cards by the school's secretary - these cards will be used to send to staff members who are sick, need a thank you, have a birthday, etc. This is one of the cards I made :) The image is by Penny Black, and the sentiment is by Hero Arts. The patterned paper is the 29th Avenue collection by My Mind's Eye.

We had a spurt of warm temperatures today - we hit 50 degrees! Woo hoo! It was a welcome change after the icy cold wind for the couple of days earlier this week.

I have some school work to do tonight - I'm finishing up a class on Research in Criminal Justice - and then I get another 2-week break from school before the next class starts! Yeah!

Have a super Friday, everyone!

You made my day!

Here's a card I made this past weekend. I used one of my Elzybells stamps; these images are so much fun to color! The sentiment is from a set by Hero Arts. The card is pretty simple, but I think that the patterned paper is so busy that a simple layout definitely works here!

How's your week going so far? The kids and I went back to school/work yesterday. It was tough getting up early again, but at the same time it was nice to get back into our routine. On Tuesday afternoon Iain and I went and ordered a pellet stove to try and heat the main level of our house more efficiently. It'll be delivered and installed on Friday. Our winter so far has been very mild snow-wise, but it was soooo cold out on the playground yesterday - especially when the wind kicked up! The kids kept asking, "Mrs. Armstrong, is it time to go in yet?", which is something I don't hear too often when they're busy playing outside :)

My Favorite Things Blog Hop!

Hi all!! My Favorite Things will be releasing four brand new sets tonight, and the Design Team is having a blog hop today to celebrate. For my card I used the new "Maid for You" set...isn't it fun!! Naughty and nice at the same time :)


For another peek at a creation made with one of the new sets, hop over to Kelli's blog. Then continue on with the blog hop from there! Enjoy!

One Lovely Blog! (actually, more than one)

Thank you, Shirley, for this blog award!! These are so much fun because I get to show links to some of my favorite blogs!

Rules of this award:

1. Add the logo to your blog.
2. Link to the person from whom you received this award.
3. Nominate 7 or more blogs.
4. Leave a message on their blog, letting them know they are “One Lovely Blog”

Now to choose 7 blogs to pass this award on to:

Patti

Sue

Karrie

Maria

Lisa I.

Lisa F.

Emily

TCP Tuesday - Inspiration Challenge

Hi everyone! It's my turn to host TCP Tuesday this week, and I found a fun, cozy image to use as our inspiration piece :) The colors jumped right out at me, so that's what I decided to go with on my card...

Here are all the TCP Tuesday details:

If you play along, please leave a comment to this post with a link to your creation by midnight on Saturday! If you upload to Splitcoast Stampers, use the keyword TCPTUES40 so that we can find your work there.

All of the fabulous cards will be featured in Alma's "Holey Moley Monday" slideshow, and at the end of each month Alma will choose the next Swanky Stamper, who wins $25 in TCP Cat Cash!!

Be sure to stop by the blogs of the other TCP Cat Pack members to see their creations throughout the day. Have fun!!

MFT new stamps coming on Wednesday :)

My Favorite Things will be having the January Release Cocktail Party on Wednesday, January 7th from 9-10 p.m. EST. This month there are FOUR new sets being released, including a "Who's that Girl" set that is Maid for You!

Head over to the MFT forum on Splitcoast Stampers to find out all the details and to find out how YOU can be the next MFT Guest Designer. We hope to see you there on Wednesday night!

Swell News :)

This is a card I made for this week's "Who's That Girl?" challenge for My Favorite Things. I used the featured stamp set, and one of my favorite patterned paper stacks from Die Cuts with a View. I believe it's called "Nana's Nursery" :)

How was your weekend? We got all our holiday decorations taken down and the house got a well-needed clean! It looks so nice now - at least for today, right?

We still have one more day off; school starts on Tuesday. Tomorrow Iain is taking the kids snow tubing, and I'm going down to Denver to get a facial - I have a gift certificate to use up from our anniversary. Sounds like a nice day to me!!

A New Year!

Today was a pretty laid-back day for us; we stayed home this morning and I got a little stamping done :) In the afternoon we went to the movies and saw "Despereaux"; it was cute although not as good as I thought it would be. The kids liked it.

Tomorrow Iain and Nattie are going skiing, and I'm taking Jamie to the Denver Art Museum. I found a book called "The Art Book for Children" for him for Christmas, and we have read it twice already. Needless to say, he's pretty excited about tomorrow :)

Today's card is a super-simple one; it's made with patterned paper by SEI, and a "thanks" sentiment by Stampin' Up. Thanks for stopping by - have a super Friday!!