REFLECTIONS IN A MIRROR

I began my morning with my usual AM routine; wake up, wash face, brush teeth, shower...etc. After I finished my hygiene routine, I began applying make-up. As I was doing this I realized that I had performed all of my routine tasks without once looking at myself...oh, I had looked at legs and feet while drying and my hair, while blow drying it...and even while applying my make-up; oh, yeah, I glanced at my face while applying moisturizer, even glanced at myself while applying my Bare Essentials but I had not LOOKED AT MYSELF!

I don't know what made me do it; but, I put down my face brush and just stared at myself; I mean I really looked at my face. Imagine my surprise when an old woman was looking back at me! OH, MY! Where in the world did those wrinkles around my eyes come from? WHAT IS UP with all the age spots? When did I get so many?! JOWLS!!! I have jowls now??? What the!!!!

I am 58 and every year of it! Not a thing I can do about my face...well, I could go "Hollywood" and get work done and I don't condemn anyone that feels it's right for them; but let's face it; I'll still be 58 and looking younger won't MAKE me younger and add years to my life! No, I'll just have to suck it up and realize that this is Jackie; every wrinkle, every age spot, and YES even the jowls! And what the heck, I had a BLAST getting here, that's for sure!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!

This month in club we're going to make valentines cards. Here's a sample of one that we'll be doing. We're also going to use the Love You Much Bundle to make a couple of other projects. I love working with these sticky letters. It can be tricky removing the backing but look how beautifuly they are with beads, etc.!

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!