I wish all of my family and friends a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy, Prosperous New Year!

December?!!?

I can't believe it's been 3 months since my last posting; I'm a Bad Job!! No excuses; just a lot going on and no time to sit and write a little sumpn' sumpn'. This has been a great week; Michelle, Gayle and I have never laughed so much; I don't know WHY!...okay, we did manage to get work done too, but it's been crazy!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It's wonderful having Jeniese, Trevon and Jaelyn with us. Here's a picture of Tre and Jae with Junior.

Today's my 58th birthday! I KNOW! WHEW, seems like just yesterday I was 57!!! A few more wrinkles, age spots and need to get my hair done more often...but life is good! My Juan and only; two great kids; 7 awesome grand kids; and 4 brothers and 1 sister that mean the world to me...what more could I ask for?! OH, I KNOW, Tennessee Titans to win Super Bowl XLIII!!

This week-end I am finishing up my Christmas Cards; I've had fun making different one's this year. Here's a sample of one that will be mailed.

Later this month at Stamp Club we are going to make a card kit gift ; it's going to be such fun! Check it out here:

Merry Christmas and Happy Prosperous New Year!

STAMPIN' UP! CONVENTION AND STUFF

So, went to my first convention last month and let me just say what a BLAST! I stayed at a house about 14 miles outside of town with 9 other ladies...YEAH, I KNOW!!! But what a great time we had. Made new friends and re-connected with my team leader, Jennifer! Plus got to meet members of "our" team:This picture was taken outside of Stampin' Up! headquarters (see below).

When I arrived there were gifts on my bed from all the ladies...how SWEET was that?

Donna had even made dinner for all of us, I was so thankful to hook up with such nice ladies. We worked on several projects while there and I learned a lot of new stuff and got a lot of new ideas that I hope to share with my club and at future "parties". What a fun way to re-energize your creativity!

This picture was taken at a stamp camp I attended. WOW, were we tired after that one! I never did finish those projects! But I did win a pack of 6x6 in-color paper!

And of course, on the first day, you can't go to convention without shopping at MEMENTO MALL! So we stood in line for OVER 2 HOURS to be some of the first to pick up new products for our business with the Stampin' Up! logo on them: WHO doesn't enjoy shopping??!!

I cannot wait for next year! I am ALREADY planning!!

STAMPIN' UP! CONVENTION...HERE I COME!

I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about my FIRST Stampin' Up! Convention! From what I understand these are times of learning not only techniques but also new "business" information, receiving gifts (!) and fellowship with other demonstrators...cool, right? Another FIRST...I have joined two swaps...one 6x6 scrapbook page swap and one WOW! card swap! I'm just really looking forward to receiving my cards and scrapbook pages from other demonstrators that took the time to share their creativity with others!

Convention will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah July 30 to August 2; 10 members of my leader's team are going! I'm so excited, not only will I meet new people at convention but I will meet people that are part of our team for the first time...Yippee!

I've been with SUp! 17 months now and can tell you first hand that they are an AWESOME company to be associated with! They are ALL ABOUT supporting their demonstrators; developing new tools to help us with our business or modifying existing tools, offering fantastic promotions to our customers, and the products! Truly First Rate! One of the new tools that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE is the new training videos of stamping techniques that we can access from the demonstrator website. These are just too wonderful for words! The video shows you step by step different techniques so that you can learn something new or refresh your skills. This is especially wonderful for those of us that have leaders in in another city or state! YOU GO SUp!!

Okay, enough gushing already!! These are the projects we'll be doing in club this month. Do you like them? Would you like to make these cards? Contact me for details.. jam.n.scrappin@gmail.com

There are so many specials being offered this month...visit my website for more details... http://jackie4.stampinup.net

Thanks for visiting.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

Aren't you happy Spring is here? Out with the old; in with the new and all that jazz. I've been in Arizona now 2 years 3 months and find my self happier each year! The change in weather is not as apparent as it was in California but you are definitely aware of the differences between June - August and the other 9 months! All in all, I'm happy we're here. I've made some awesome friends that I love dearly. I thank God for their friendship and laughter! I'm afraid though that I've taught some of them my "jackie-ism's"..."PEOPLE, COME ON PEOPLE, WORK WITH ME!" "I'M JUS' SAY'N!" "ARE YOU S-S-SERIOUS?!" You get the idea. Sorry about that my dear Arizona Friends!!!

My April Stamp Club members had a great time; here are pics of the projects we completed. One cute purse to hold 5 cards; fun was had by all.

This month we'll be working on the projects below using the One of a Kind stamp set, Boho punch and some great cardstock colors and designer paper. And let's not forget the embellishments!

We're also having a FANTASTIC recruiting special; if you've ever thought of joining Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator this month is the time! You'll get a 20% discount on the demonstrator kit and a free set of Hodgepodge Hardware (an assortment of label holders, ribbon charms, etc.). Check out my Stampin' Up! website http://jackie4.stampinup.net/ for more information about the special. Or feel free to contact me directly at jam.n.scrappin@gmail.com. Looking forward to talking with you soon!

I'VE BEEN TAGGED

by my redheaded scrapper friend; Kim..So here goes..You must post the rules before you give your answers. You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name. After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details).My middle name is Ann:

A ---- Actively pursuing my Stampin' Up! career!
N ---- Nana to Junior, Anthony, Trevon, Angel, Jaelyn, Alexi and Trinity!
N ---- NUTS about my husband Juan 37 years later!!

Okay I tagged 3, YOUR TURN!

My Stampin' Up!

Most of you know by now that for the past year I've been an independent demonstrator for Stampin' Up!

I love working with this company! This year is their 20th anniversary and it's easy to tell why they've been in business so long! They ensure their demonstrators have all the essential business tools they need to have a successful business. After that, it's up to you. Do you want to earn enough to make a car payment? Or do you just want to make enough to support your own stamping/scrapbooking cravings? It is totally your call. This July I'm attending my first conference and I am just so excited, I can't stand it!

From now until March 17th we're having an exciting promotion called Sale-A-Bration (SAB). During SAB you can earn sets FREE just by hosting a workshop, making a minimum purchase or becoming a demonstrator. If you would like to see the free sets that are available, e-mail me your address and I will mail you a mini catalog. jam.n.scrappin@gmail.com

This picture is of a couple of items I made using one of the free sets from our SAB sets. These were made using our Rub-Ons. Aren't they fantastic? Rub-ons can be used on any medium, and they always look great and professional! OH, AND THEY'RE EASY AND FUN TO USE!

If you want to know more about Stampin' Up!s SAB promotion or products, please contact me at the e-mail address above!

HAPPY STAMPING!

BEFORE GOOGLE!

Who was the actress that played Jane in the Tarzan movies with Johnny Weissmuller? Who was the 22nd president of the United States? When was the Hindenburg disaster?

If you're like me and questions like these come up, you just "Google" the answer. Am I right? The day of looking it up in the encyclopedia appears to be over! Isn't it amazing how fast we've all come to rely on search engines? There is nothing we can't find the answer to by utilizing our favorite search engine.

But what did you do BEFORE GOOGLE? Well, for me and my family, we called our Mother. She was our Google, I guess she was our Moogle! An avid reader and movie LOVER, she picked up information here and there and it stayed with her. A couple of her favorite past times were playing games and crossword puzzles; both of which refined the knowledge she already had. My sister, Pippa, and I were talking about how we would call her when we were stuck on an answer. My sister said even her friends would say, Call Your Mother! I remember in 1978 a woman I worked with was telling me about an old movie she had watched on television the night before and I said, Oh, I saw that too. This friend told me she thought the actress was so-n-so; I said no, that's not it, it's....well, I just couldn't remember. It was killing me trying to remember that actress's name, (has that ever happened to you, isn't it annoying?) and I finally called my Mother. Mom, remember this movie about blah-blah, and before I could say another word Mother says, oh, the one with Eleanor Parker? YES, THAT'S HER! To THIS day I haven't forgotten that actress's name.

Mom, how many president's died in office? Mom, when did Elizabeth become queen? When did Henry Ford make his first car? Okay, yes, maybe we should have known some of this stuff, but it was just easier to pick up the phone and call Mother.

Just like with Google, it's easier to type in the question and "google" the answer! I'm right, right?! SO, what did YOU do before Google?

By the way, the answers to the first three questions at the top: Maureen O'Sullivan (Mia Farrow's mother); Grover Cleveland; and May 6, 1937...I had to GOOGLE that last one!