Happy Birthday Mom!!!

I just wanted to wish my Mom a early Happy 62nd Birthday!!! Her actual birthday is tomorrow on the 1st. She is such an amazing woman, and she has accomplished so much in her life. She is a friend to all who know her and the best Mom and Grandma that anyone could ever ask for!!! There is no one in this world like my Mother! Those of you who know me, know that the last year of her life has been a giant emotional roller-coaster. This time last year she was recovering from major surgery to remove her Stage 4 Colon Cancer from her Liver, only to find out that it was too far spread to remove. She was given a year to live without treatment. She decided to undergo 6 months of Chemo-therapy. She has had scan after scan and test after test and now she is in COMPLETE REMISSION!!! The radiologist had to call her Oncologist to ask if she was sure that my mom had ever even had cancer. The chances of her going into remission were 1% and she is a MIRACLE!!! So... Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

Sage wanted to make his Grandma a card so... I inked the stamps and he placed them on the card stock, and assembled the card himself! He was SO proud of himself. If my four year-old can do it anyone can!!!
Here's the card I made for her. Out of all my stamps, this is her favorite set and one of mine. It's called Live Your Dream and was in the Occasions Mini Catalog last spring, and the Paper is the retired Afternoon Tea Designer Series Paper.

Kids get in FREE

My cousin just told me about this and I thought I would share it with you. From October 1-31 children ages 3-11 can get get into the San Diego Zoo or The Wild Animal Park for FREE. Adult admission is $34. Children's Admission is normally $24, that's a $50 savings for my family! We will definitely be going to the San Diego Zoo or The Wild Animal Park this coming month. I'd like to think that the FREE admission is in Honor of My Birthday on the 27th :) Seriously wouldn't that be nice?

I Love Stampin' Up!

I have to tell you all how much I love Stampin' Up! In August I bought the Curly Label Punch Bundle, seen here:

I never got around to using it until this last weekend. When I went to go use it the punch would not punch anything out. After examining it closely I realized that the punch was defective. I e-mailed Stampin' Up! and they apologized for the inconvenience and shipped me another one to replace the old one at NO CHARGE! About a year ago, I purchased a punch from another Stamp/Scrapbooking Company who charged me again to replace their defective punch. I am SO happy to be a apart of the Stampin' Up! Family!!!! They truly do care for each and everyone of their Demonstrator's and Customers. At Convention you can feel it everywhere! We are so spoiled!!!

Promotions at a glance

Here are the FABULOUS promotions that are currently going on :

1. Never before seen stamps never before seen savings~ Until Sept 30th Click HERE

2.$99.00 mini starter kit / Regular starter kit w/ Free stamp set until Oct 11th Click HERE Purchase your starter kit online HERE

3. Spooky Spider Decor Elements Until Oct 31 click HERE

4. Cula's BIG SHOT special until Sept 30th click HERE . You must contact me for this special .

5. Country Living special subscription $12.00 for 1 year click HERE

And today marks the first day of my 50/50 club. For every $50 you spend on an order I will enter your name in a square on a sheet of 50 squares and once all the squares are filled, I will draw from those names for a FREE stamp set from the catalog. The more you order the better chance you have of winning.

New Stamps and Paper

This is one of the sets we received at Convention and I've had Stamper's Block with it since then. Until today! It hit me coming from taking kids to school. I am so proud of myself and love the way it turned out. My scanner made the ribbon look funky though.

Card Recipe

Stamps: Eastern Blooms

Paper: Close to Cocoa CS, Pretty in Pink CS, Whisper White CS

Ink: Close to Cocoa and Pretty In Pink

Access: Scallop Edge Punch and Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon

This New Sizzix Die for the Big Shot! gave me some trouble as well, but I decided to go with a gift tag. The insert comes out and you can write a little note for a loved one.

Recipe

Stamps: Fresh Cuts

Paper: Bella Rose Designer Series Paper, Whisper White CS and Riding Hood Red CS

Ink: Riding Hood Red

Access: Scallop Envelope Sizzix Die, and Pretty In Pink Taffeta Ribbon

World Alzheimer's Day

I was browsing my favorite blogs this morning and found a link to a great blog by Carolyn King called MY BLOG. This woman is amazing!!! It proves that just one person can make a difference. She wants us to honor those who take care of people with Alzheimer's. My Grandma had a combination of Alzheimer's and Dementia and for the last year of her life she was not to woman I knew growing up. She didn't know who people were and her personality had completely changed. It was hard to see her going through that and especially watching my Grandpa and my Mom dealing with my Grandma's Illness. Although it has been 1 1/2 years since my Grandma passed away, I wanted to thank my Mom for her unwavering dedication and kindness. So decided to sit down and make her a card today. I hope that when it is my turn to take care of her that I'll be able to as good of a job as she did for my Grandma.

Go to Carolyn's Blog to see how you can make a difference and win a HUGE Blog Candy!!! You'll be amazed at the generosity of companies and individuals who help provide her blog candy, I know I was!

Trampoline Fun!

The kids love to jump on the trampoline and dog pile each other. Jessica (red shirt) & Savannah (blue shirt) come over several days a week. Arissa (pink shirt) comes over every other Thursday for Activity Days (church program) which is held at my house. They all get along so well and love to be together. I love having them at my house they are all like my daughter's and Sage's big sisters. This picture perfectly describes the fun that ensues when they are all together.

Stampin' Up! Survey

Stampin' Up! is inviting you to share your thoughts and opinions about its products, the catalog, online options, and me, your demonstrator!

Please click here to take a short 10 minute survey;

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=zAjIeESBQxk_2f1nBt7flkYA_3d_3d.

Your responses are confidential. You will not be asked for any personal information and your answers will not be disclosed to other parties. You will not be subjected to any marketing or sales efforts as a result of your answers to this survey. The deadline for completing the survey is Wednesday, September 24, 2008. Thank you in advance for your time and opinion.

NKOTB or Wicked?

Okay, so I said in an earlier post that I LOVE NKOTB! But.... I also LOVE....

Wicked!

Being that money is tight right now with our Annual trip to Utah coming up in just 6 1/2 weeks, I have to pick just one, and I'm having serious problems trying to pick.

I have always wanted to see NKOTB since I was a little girl, but.... Wicked is just simply FABULOUS!!! I love Musicals and Broadway Shows.

Here's where you my Blog readers come in. Tell me what you would do and help me make my decision.

Room Makeover

The Kid's Room has been bugging me lately, so I rearranged it. We painted it a neutral color right before Aurora was born since Sage and Aurora share their room. One of these days they'll have thier own rooms.

I left the dresser where it was since it's bolted to the wall.

I moved Sage's Toy Box that his Grandpa Sugar made them and their chair that used to be their Grandma Sugars into the nook. The portrait hanging over the rocking chair is a Canvas of Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip. Aurora Loves it, and says "Ahhh..." every time she looks at it. Their nice church clothes hang from that little rack because their closet is full of food storage.

This is Sage's half of the room. Can you tell he loved Buzz Lightyear when we did his room 2 years ago. My Mom made the quilt, pillowcase and curtain.He's been asking for Spiderman and Batman lately, Maybe next year for his birthday we'll re-do it.

This is Aurora's half of the room. The crib skirt is made from Pink Tulle was handmade by my Mom. In fact my Mom made her entire Bedding Set by hand. The Bumper is long gone, since Aurora used it to climb out of the crib and the quilt is folded up for the Summer since it's too warm. The curtains match the bumper and quilt.

This is a close-up of the phrase at the head of the crib. It's a Wall Vinyl that I bought for Aurora's room last year. I thought I had lost it until today when I found it organizing the kids blankets up of the shelf in their room. So I thought I'd finally put it up. It totally fits her. She is my little Ballerina!

Online Ordering Is Here!!!

Online Ordering is NOW available!!!!

You can click on the MY STAMPIN' UP! WEBSITE link to the left and be connected directly to my own Stampin’ Up! website. There you can click on the SHOP NOW link in the upper right corner and you will be able to view the new catty and order directly 24/7. The items will be shipped directly to you.

The web address for this site is: http://www.culaparker.stampinup.net/

All you have to do is set up your account and you can shop online !!! Isn't that FANTASTIC !!! And...if you order through a demonstrator online and your order is a minimum hostess order ($150) You'll still get all the hostess credit too!!! Again.... Isn't that FANTASTIC??? Say you're up late at night and looking through the Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalog and you realize that you need to order some product to make cards, scrapbooking pages, Decor Elements, Big Shot...anything and you need to get them sooner than later, you can now order it all online and it will show up on YOUR DOORSTEP (you have to pay for it though....hehehe) Just as a reminder that any orders under a $100 are automatically charged $6.95 for shipping so I wouldn't suggest you only order a package of paper. Also there's a prompt to ask you who you're demonstrator is and if I'm your demonstrator or you don't have a demonstrator and you select me, you'll be helping me too !!! So, take a look at the site and please contact me if you have any questions!

Thank you for purchasing your Stampin' Up items from me! I am always here to help you with ideas and techniques!

P.S. This does not replace the traditional ordering through me in person and workshop orders – all the past ordering ways are still available. =)

NKOTB!!!!

Okay, so this post is NOT stamping related but it's still SO awesome!!! About a month ago my friend Dawn told me that NKOTB (New Kids On The Block) were reuniting for a tour. I was so little when they were popular that of course I was never able to go to a concert, even though I begged and begged my parents for months and months on end. I was determined for NKOTB to be my first concert. Once NKOTB broke up I forgot about it. Even now as an almost 27 yr old, have never been to a concert. Now it looks like I'll get my original wish!!!! I still love NKOTB and know ALL the words to EVERY song!!!!!!

So..... who's going with me on November 25th????

Recipes Wanted

My family and I are sick of the same dinners every month. I have a hard time with recipe books because the pictures look so intimidating. I do however LOVE the Kraft Food & Family Magazine. It's filled with easy and yummy recipe's that take 30 minutes or less. I also like Taste of Home Magazine, it's FULL of tried and true recipes. Both magazines are extremely kid friendly, which is a MUST with Sage. He is a VERY picky eater! So... here's where you come in. Please, please, please share some of yours and your kids favorite recipes, you can either leave it as a comment or email them to me at culaparker at yahoo dot com. Thanks in advance!!!