A Lovely Hello x2 and A Reason to Smile $5 Promotion Stamp Set

Hi friends. It seems like I've been missing in action lately. I have a little bit. I've been preparing additional June Club Membership Kits and working on the July Kit, which will go out on July 10. I've been able to get in touch with all of you and get your feedback as to what exactly you want in these kits and thank you! It makes it so much easier on me when I can make projects for you that you want so I know what to focus on. Turns out that most of you are just diehard card makers and that so works for me because I'll be able to get you more in less time with more product in your kits without worrying about a lot of different projects, such as a lot of altered items, etc. Of course as the holidays draw near, we will toss some of those in as it is the season for giving! I can promise you that we will have a lot of clean and simple, fun projects because I know how busy you're all going to be. I know I'd like to be ahead of the game this year with my home decor, tags, and cards done in October so that I can enjoy the holidays.

Last week was a very bad back week for me. My radiofrequency wore off from S1-S5 and then I developed a new problem from L3 to S1 on both sides of some kind of diskogenic disease. I didn't think I could possibly have anything new happen to my back so by Thursday, I was in tears because of the pain, as it started on Monday and progressively worsened. I just drove down to Dr. Anand's office in Benicia, walked in without an appointment and told him to fix me. So I promptly jumped on the OR table and was off at 5:15 p.m. Friday morning at 7:30 a.m., I was back on it as he had just numbed me up to provide some relief on Thursday and did epidurals. I had never had those done before as my preferred method is to get my nerves fried so they don't send pain signals to the brain. It sounds barbaric but it works. The only pitfall of radiofrequency ablation at those levels is that you're paralyzed for about 8 hours and I really, really hate that. You can't flex your ankles so you can't walk. I also get afraid like what if one they they don't wake up. If he does one side, I can usually crawl to make my way around. If he does both sides, I can't even hang on walls to make it around. Like I said earlier, my sacral spine work had worn off but when you get down to those levels, it's very hard to get under control and it lasted 8 months when 6 was predicted. I will eventually have to get that done but he wanted to try to see how epidurals would work on me. Instead of giving me Versed, they gave me Valium and it was a Mickey Mouse dose, but boy did it nail me and so did the epidurals. I never did well with those as I had 2 when I had 2 of my kids and it took a while to bounce back. I don't want to do that again but for this new problem, it might be my only option. However, I will insist on Versed rather than Valium. Nasty stuff. So please keep me in your prayers. That was my 21st time on the OR table since September 25, 2011, and I'm getting a lot tired of this. The joys of rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. I am extremely blessed to have a father who supports me and takes care of me. He came down at the last minute to take me in on Friday morning driving down from Chico, which is almost 2 hours away. I am going to go up to his place on Tuesday and spend a few relaxing days with him doing nothing next week to unwind and destress. He insisted upon it and it will be great to spend some one-on-one time with him. I was away from California for 20 years and I sure did miss having him in my life. He's such a wonderful man spending so much time with my kids and they adore him. So, regardless of any physical issues, he's a real blessing. Needless to say, I won't be doing my challenge this week but I did do it 2 weeks in a row when it's really every other week, so I'm even 🙂

I hope that all of you are doing well and enjoying your summer. And thank you for just listening to me. For my long distance customers, this gives you a little glimpse into my life and I love hearing about yours as well. I love Stampin' Up! because it affords me the opportunity to meet so many new people and get inky with you doing what we love that's fun and no pressure or crazy deadlines. I'm really scaling back on my publication work because I just need a break for a little while. However, I will be in every single industry magazine for their holiday issues but am sitting out the Valentine's Day and spring stuff I think. Magazine calls run about 6-9 months in advance and I do make Christmas stuff in May and June for submission.

Well enough of me chattering away!

Today I'd like to introduce to you some of my favorite products using a wonderful sketch from Create With Connie and Mary (CCMC-NC2 Challenge). I used the beautiful Lacy & Lovely stamp set with super fun, graphic and great colors in the International Bazaar Designer Series Paper.

You can purchase both of these items and everything that I used to make this card at my Stampin' Up! store. For the month of July, you can purchase the beautiful and exclusive Reason to Smile stamp set for only $5 with a $50 purchase! I will be making some great cards and other items with this stamp set for you. It's a must have at an unbeatable price!

Now I would like to share my cards with you. I know that you'll enjoy it. I used card stock, designer paper, punches, twine, and a button to make this. That's it! I am also seriously loving the new Firm Foam Ink Pads too. The color is amazing! Of course, I have a video to share with you so we can make this together, so bring out your supplies and stamp with me! My banners are the same width across but in the video, I changed them to different sizes and am using different colors too just for fun.

Thank you so much for visiting me today and may God richly bless you.

Here is my first card, the video, and then the card that is demonstrated on the video.

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