INKin' All Night! with Rhonda

POINTE it is!

Today was a sweet and simple kind of day!  A bit of working around the house, a bit of card design and class prepping for this weekends Christmas Card Class ... and then taking Rachel to her first Pointe shoe fitting appointment! 

She was very excited.  She has had some (several) issues with her feet the past couple of years from injuring her arches, to broken toes, tendinitis, etc...  so she was so happy to finally make it to today!

Here are a few pictures of her special day!  Her wonderful teacher Mr Aaron even met us up there for her fitting, he's known her since she starting dancing... our 3rd studio together actually when I think of it.

 

They tried several different brands, styles and you name it on to make sure that they get the one that fits just right for each dancers individual foot.  Here the store owner is fitting her in one pair.

Here's Mr Aaron, notice these aren't perfect as she's slipping out of them ... nice dirty tights! We bought new ones while we were there, too bad they only stay that way in the package!  Ha!

Shiny and new... they won't look this pretty for long!  And no more pedicures for Miss Rachel - she has to toughen up those feet and keep the toe nails trimmed short!  But if you look at the next picture you'll see that it was all worth it!

 

Here they are!  Sorry the scrapbook mom in me made me do it!  Some day she'll be happy she has these pictures!  Again, simple gestures of someone taking the time to put someone else first and the dedication of someone else to make sure they do their best... what a nice day! 

And to top it off, we all four actually managed to eat dinner together at home!  Imagine that!  All the simple blessings that make life great!

Hope you had a great Monday as well!
Rhonda

Mariner of the Seas... what a vacation!

Well it's certainly been awhile since I blogged... and there's good reason (sort of) for that.  We went on our 1st cruise ever over the kids fall break week back in October and we had a marvelous time!  But on that wonderful vacation I also blew out my right knee on the Friday we were in Cabo San Lucas (shown below in the pic).  Since we've been back I have been to two doctors and have had x-rays twice and finally the MRI earlier this week.  So now I am waiting to meet with the orthopedic surgeon on the 24th (3 weeks...) of this month.  Getting around has been limited and my stamping has been slowed down by not feeling very creative as well as not having an idea of dates for appointments and what to expect.  So I apologize for not being online much lately but there hasn't been too much to show you or to write about.  For now, I know the next appointment and have a couple of classes that were planned on the calendar that I need to get ready for, so hopefully I'll have some cards to show you soon!

 

We are getting ready for Nicole to get her learners permit... oh gosh, help us!  I guess each parent goes through this at one time or another ... but can it really be our turn already?  She finished up with her 1st season of Cross Country and did really well, trimming almost 4 minutes off her time from her 1st race to the last race of the season - a great job considering she had those darned shin splints near the end of the season that kept her out of a few races!  She's still dancing at high school and has decided to give track a try in the spring, so she is already running again after a 1 week break.  She and a couple of friends are gearing up to run a 10k this Sunday, her first!  And a last little note, she looked beautiful at homecoming along with all of her friends as well. (She's in the middle, turq/black dress)
 

Rachel has been busy dancing and attending school events.  She is reaching a new milestone for dance on Monday too - getting fitted for her 1st pair of Pointe Shoes!  Happy for her but not looking forward to how rough they can be on their feet or at how fast they can burn through them (not a cheap thing).   Rachel is on the bottom in the middle, orange name tag.

 

So that's all for this post, hope you enjoy the little family tidbits today of what's happening in our neck of the woods! 

Hugs
Rhonda
 

Tons Of Thanks!

So here is the recap... all of them at once! This is all of the cards that were part of my Tons Of Thanks 101020 card class (10 cards, 10 designs, $20) ...  now I need to get crackin on the Christmas Cards for this weekends Stamp-a-Stack class (4 designs, 5 of each, 20 cards/env for $30)!

Check back soon so that I can share a few pictures of the cruise and the great time we had!
Rhonda

And the final card from my 101020 Tons of Thanks class is here today... thanks to Jill H for the inspiration!  This is just perfect for this time of year - the one "midwest" season I miss is fall and especially the changing of the leaves.  As kids we grew up raking them and yes, we were allowed to burn them by the side of the road... eeks and we lived in the "city" ... although it was a small town but I do remember the Large Maple trees out front of the house I grew up in.  So this kind of reminds me of home - Hi Mom and Dad!  Sorry but you'll have to rake the leaves yourself this time!

  This card uses the stamp set Trendy Trees!  Easy Peasy everything all in one stamp set!

Colors are Old Olive, More Mustard, Really Rust and Chocolate Chip (cardstocks and inks)

Stamp-a-ma-jig is a great tool to use with this set, it makes lining up the tree/trunk so simple!

Enjoy!  See you soon
Rhonda

A Note of Thanks, Friends 24-7

Hi

Hope you are doing great and enjoying a wonderful week.  I really love both of these stamp sets.  The Friends 24-7 is so versatile and I'm not a huge bird fan at all, But there's just something about this set that each time I use it and see it, I like it more and more!  And Thank You Kindly is just a great little greeting set, something each stamper should have handy!

This card uses:

Stamps: Friends 24-7 & Thank You Kindly

Inks: StazOn Jet Black, Bermuda Bay, Certainly Celery marker

Paper: Bermuda Bay, Basic Black, Whisper White

Misc Items: Bermuda Bay Polka Dot ribbon, Blender Pen

I saved this picture to my computer but it does not have a watermark for the creator.  I have modified it from the original but I did case the basic layout.

Hope you are enjoying my week of thanks!
Rhonda

For All You Do!

This card is For All You Do ... the one and only Patty Bennett, she made this card at one of her events and since this stamp set hasn't seen enough use, I decided to give it a whirl!  Hope you love it!  I know I did when she posted it. I changed it just slightly to add the small grommets & switched the jumbo brad to a chocolate one.  Sadly, I've had these small grommets sitting around forever, just waiting I guess... well they are so cute and duh, so easy peasy to use!

This card uses:

Stamps:
For all you do

Inks:
Dusty Durango, Soft Suede

Paper:  
Dusty Durango, Soft Suede, Whisper White

Misc Items:
Soft Suede Polka Dot ribbon
5/16" jumbo chocolate chip brad
whisper white small basic grommets
paper pierce, mat, hammer
small oval punch
big shot machine 
Elegant Bouquet textured impressions embossing folder

Thanks!
Rhonda

Thoughts & Prayers

The stamp set Thoughts & Prayers is so versatile!  I think it is a must for everyone!  The images are so easy to stamp and useful for so many ocassions.  Check page 52 out to see if you love this set!  This is a modified case from something that I found online.  In my classes, I always try to balance the coloring in with some that are quicker and this is definitely a quick card!

This card uses

Stamps: Thoughts & Prayers, Sincere Salutations 

Inks: Basic Black and Melon Mambo & Garden Green markers

Paper: Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Whisper White

Misc Items: Melon Mambo Polka Dot ribbon, Big Shot Machine and Clear Scallop Square die

added a bit of glitter to the centers of the flowers.  Thanks so Much for taking a peek today!

Enjoy
Rhonda

Priceless & Eastern Blooms

Todays card is such a simple but perfect card!  It was inspired by Jen Del Muro and a card she'd done for another vendor... and I don't know if hers was with stamps or rub-ons... but anyhow I knew from the beginning it was a layout that I wanted to save, to make one of my own using Stampin' Up! products.  Seems like today we can get so carried away with all of the layers and embellishments that we forget to do simple!  Sometimes simple works!

This card uses:

Stamps:  Priceless, Eastern Blooms, Thank You Kindly

Inks: Rich Razzleberry, Orhchid Opulence, Old Olive

Paper: Whisper White, Old Olive, Cottage Wall DSP

Misc: Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot ribbon

Have a great day!
Hugs
Rhonda 

Flowers in Silhouette

I am so glad that Stampin' Up! decided to keep several of last years single image $10 & under stamps on the "dormant list" ... this was one of my favorites!  So quick and easy and just beautiful any way you use it.  These stamp sets are available for purchase even though they are not shown in the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog.  Check it out, there are lots of great stamp sets on this list!

This card uses:

Stamps:
Flowers in Silhouette, Thank You Kindly

Inks:
Ruby Red, Always Artichoke markers

Paper:
Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Kraft, Very Vanilla

Misc Items:
Lg Oval & Scallop Oval punches
Spiral Punch
Photo Corners Punch
Paper Piercer & Mat
Vintage Brads
5/16" Jumbo Very Vanilla brad
Big Shot & Textured SU Backgrounds 1
Chocolate Chip wide stitched ribbon
Stamping Sponge

This card was pretty much a CASE but I had to change a few things to meet my supplies. Thanks to Eileen L for the awesome idea!

Many THANKS for checking us out today!  Hope you are enjoying this week of posts!
Rhonda

Fall Thank You

I absolutely loved this card when I was browsing on line (thanks Jen A) and I knew that I'd just have to make it myself!  Well when I did, I really LOVED IT in real life.  I simplified it a bit from her original design and changed up the ribbons to use what I have.  Hope you love it too!

This is a 3"x6" card and uses the whisper white small open-ended envelopes.

Paper: Autumn Traditions DSP, Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard, Whisper White

Stamps:  Autumn Days, Short & Sweet

Inks: More Mustard, Ruby Red, Creamy Caramel markers, Elegant Eggplant

Misc Items: whisper white tafetta ribbon, ribbon originals eggplant rick rack, 1-1/4" and 1-3/8" circle punches, scallop circle punch

I hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Enjoy
Rhonda