A Paper Princess!!

Hello everyone & happy Monday to you all!  Hope you had a blast this weekend and did something OUT OF the brutal heat we’ve been having—wowza!  After having such beautiful spring here in Virginia, we had tons of rain and everything was beautiful and green---GUESS WHAT!  Now everything is a lovely shade of BROWN because we haven’t had any rain and temps have been in the high 90’s and low 100’s (low 100’s—that’s an oxymoron huh)!  I like summer and I like it hot but this is the extreme for sure, LOL.  My dogs just look at me like I’m crazy (hey I am) when I tell them they have to go outside—they don’t stay out for long.  There favorite spot is the kitchen tiled floor near the A/C vents LOL—a dogs life of luxury and pampering I guess!  We take them for long walks every evening when its much cooler—there just is no way they can do a 2 mile walk in the heat of the day.  I see joggers out running in the high heat and I’m like “What the heck are they thinking”---I’m a runner but I’d NEVER run in the heat, too hard on the body.  So I run on the treadmill and I’m starting up my Pilates classes at the gym again---I have so been slacking the past few months and that’s not good.  So back to the gym 4 times a week and doing Pilates classes on the reformer---if you see me over the next few weeks and I’m walking funny—WELL you’ll know why LOL!  Pilates on the reformer will kick your rear in gear no lie---I leave those classes drenched in sweat even though I wasn’t moving around much but I love how it stretches and builds lean muscles.  We are members at Lifetime Fitness---do any of you have them around you?  A huge gym that was made for families—the kids can use everything once they are 12+ yrs of age so we go as a family a lot.  The place is GIGANTIC and has pools, jacuzzis (ahhhhh) and lots of equipment and classes.  Personally I like the smoothie shop, hee hee best for after a class (Alexa does too) LOL!  And NO I do NOT LIKE to work out---in fact I despise it.  I’m not one of those (annoying, shhhh I didn’t say that did I) people (ahem….like my mom lol) that totally get a rush out of it and love it.  I’ve TRIED really hard to love it but I just don’t---but its like laundry to me.  You may NOT like it but you SHOULD do it, so I do and yes it makes me stronger and feel better but the process of it BITES BIG TIME.  I don’t like sweating or feeling like I might die at any moment, so exercise is just a necessity at this point for me but it sure AIN’T FUN! LOL!  I prefer to do activities like kayaking, hiking and such to get exercise but that doesn’t always fit into my schedule and age 40 is looming closer so certain parts of me need all the HELP they can get KWIM!  Ok now I gotta get my rear in gear today---lots to do!

And for those of ya (I love to hear from you about this hee hee) who need some acronym help I have a key for you all below ok for ones I use the most!?
KWIM---know what I mean
LOL/LMBO/LMAO – laughing out loud / laughing my butt off / laughing my arse off
WTH--- Suzannne’s clean version is “what the heck” LOL
MS—Martha Stewart
CS--- cardstock
JK—just kidding

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A Paper Princess!!

Since it’s the first of the month that means its another fun Magnolia-licious DT Challenge!  This month our fabulous hostess is Ms. Diana Crick herself (celebrating a birthday this month on the 17th too) and she gave us a HARD CHALLENGE this time.  We were asked to use ONLY PAPER on our projects—egads!  Most of it I had no problem with but I’m a product kinda girl and you know I cannot NOT use Stickles or pearls so I cheated (shhhh just a teensy bit---don’t hate me)!  But the pearls were handmade so that counts for something right? LOL!  Anywho you can find all the details on the challenge at the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog!

I'm entering this cutie-pie into the following challenges as well: 

Come & Get It Challenge (anything goes)

Creative Inspirations Challenge (summer)

Sparkles Forum Challenge (for the girlz)

Just Some Lines Challenge (summer/outdoors)

Paper Creators Crafts (flowers)

I used this adorable “Tilda Celebrates Summer” from Magnolia-licious---isn’t she beautiful?  And have you seen all those NEW cuties from the new “Winner Takes All” Collection---oh my, you must go see them HERE (I ADORE them)!!  My colors came from these beautiful papers by Best Creation “Spring Feast”—love the mix of soft colors and glittered paper.  I get asked a lot where my card inspiration comes from and a lot of the time it comes from the papers---depending on the mood I want the card to reflect I peruse thru my MANY paper pads or collections until something strikes my fancy. Then I put the card together around the paper’s colors/patterns/theme.  For my PAPER accents I used my Marianne Designs dies for my flowers and leaves.  The lattice like borders in the center are new JUMBO punches by Martha Stewart that I bought at Michaels—I bought 4 (cuz I need more punches like I need more paper lol) and I LOVE them.  Instead of having to punch each side of the paper, these punches do both for you—love that!  The delicate scroll frame behind my image is another Marianne Designs die frame that I cut in half and added to each side of my image.  And YES I did make those pearls, LOL, with my Viva Décor Pearl Pen in ice white.  How did I get such round perfection---welll they come out of the tube pretty perfectly but if you want larger pearls the exact same size use a mold.  I bought a few that I use and this one is a candy mold from my craft store that makes pearl/candy shapes for cakes and such (it was like $3)—you squirt the Pearl Pen into the mold and let them dry for 24 hours and then pop those babies out.  YEP perfect pearls everytime in any color you want (cuz you can buy the pens in colors OR you can airbrush them)!  Another great mold is fishing bobber/sinkers molds at your sports goods store—they are super cheap too.



Yep I used more product (sigh) – I admit I’m a product junkie, I just cannot help myself.  She looked so BARE without product that I HAD to go in and add some Stickles to her shoes, lace & rain LOL.  And then I thought she needed some Flower Soft too (it’s a sickness I admit, but I’m ok with it) so I mixed Baby Pink and Polar White Flower Soft together to create a custom mix and added it to her hair wreaths.  I just love her lil’ self and I think she’s a keeper, hee hee even if I did CHEAT a bit!
Now head on over to the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog to see all the challenge details and the other DT gals projects (I bet they didn’t cheat lol)!  See you tomorrow!