Hey there! I don't have a new creation to post today, but I do have some good news! Some of you may not know, but my oldest son is getting married for the first time later this month. I have three daughters and three sons; all three daughters have been married for several years, but none of my sons have ever been married. Last year my oldest son, Troy, started dating a lovely girl named Grace, and they are getting married on March 23rd! Troy & Grace introduced my second son, Logan, to Grace's friend, Faith, and now Logan & Faith are getting married August 3rd! That just leaves my youngest Ben, but he still has time!

I've had three turns being the mother-of-the-bride, so I've been thinking this mother-of-the-groom gig was pretty easy, until the subject of my dress for the wedding came up. Like a lot of moms, I wanted to lose some weight before shopping, so it was this week before I felt confident enough to get into a dressing room. My oldest daughter, Jessica, went with me to advise and give a honest opinion.

Did you know that if you want to get a mother's dress from a bridal shop that it takes 3-4 months to arrive? I guess I bought my dresses for the girl's weddings off-the-rack at a department store, so I had NO idea!

I also discovered that most shops don't carry any "mother-of" dresses, because most gals think they are too "old lady" and are too expensive (for Southern Illinois, anyway) After checking with a couple of local shops and with less than 3 weeks  before the wedding, it was "back to the rack" for me! 

We headed to Dillard's, which was not too far away, and found "the dress" right away! I also found shoes and jewelry to go with it, so with just a little bit of length alteration, I'll be set! I'm so excited! I feel a little bit like a princess in this dress! I will share it with you after the wedding, so stay tuned for the week of March 25th!

We had set aside today to drive over an hour away to shop, but we decided on a whim to check out those bridal shops last night, so today is a free day to stamp! yay!

I'll be back tomorrow with a new card and instructions to share!

Until then you can always shop in my online store:   http://bit.ly/shopwithCarolPayneStamps

use Host Code: MFHEJDJ6

Any order placed in my online store through March 31^st will receive this Hello Cupcake card from me.

Any order of at least $50 (before tax & shipping) choose a free Sale-a-bration product!

Purchase the Starter Kit during Sale-a-bration, choose $175 of products for only $99! Add the Sale-a-bration Recruit-Exclusive Craft & Carry Tote for only $30 more! Contact me with questions, or go directly to my online store and click "Join" to get started!

                                           
Call me:  618-237-6281
Email me: carol@carolpaynestamps.com

Until tomorrow, have a Stampingrox! day!

All images ©Stampin'Up!™1990-2019

Hey there! What have I been up to? I've been busy busy, but not stamping. I belong to a women's prayer group at church called Ladies Friendship Circle that meets monthly. Earlier this year I volunteered to host the Christmas meeting at my house. Now, I have stampers in for classes every month, and my family is here several times a week, but for a Christmas gathering you kind of need to up your game a little bit, ya know? So every day this week, Monday through Thursday, someone has helped me dress the house for Christmas. Monday it was Maddie Kate & Ava, my two oldest granddaughters. They decorated my tree. Tuesday Alisa hung lights all over my dining room/living room. Wednesday Logan and his best girl, Faith, helped dress the rest of the house with my collection of Christmas decor, and Logan helped Mark put up lights outside. Thursday Mark helped with general cleanup to put the finishing polish to the house. I couldn't have done it all without my sweet family's help! Oh, I think I forgot to mention I babysat Darcy Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, with Darcy's first dentist visit on Monday, Tuesday School on Tuesday, and Dance/Tumbling Classes on Wednesday!

Here's my little nest:

I know it's a humble abode, but this is the place where I raised all 6 of my babies and the place where my grandchildren play on cold or rainy days. We gather here almost every Sunday after church for lunch and then relaxing together!

The only other thing I need to tell you today is that the Year End Close Out has begun! Retiring items from the Holiday Catalog, as well as select Annual Catalog products are on sale through January 2nd, but everything is while-supplies-last, so don't wait to place your order! Click on the graphic below to go to my online store, click "Shop Now", then click on "Year End Closeout".

After you get click on the closeout you will have two choices:

    OR  

After you have selected the products you are ordering, be sure to add Host Code:

WV2MG2FS                                       
Call me:  618-237-6281
Email me: carol@carolpaynestamps.com

Until tomorrow, have a Stampingrox! day!

All images ©Stampin'Up!™1990-2018

Hey there! Baby Ivory Zora has arrived! It was a long night, but Ivory didn't make us wait all day to see her! She arrived at 11:20 a.m. yesterday, October 7, 2016! Amazingly, I had picked her birthday months ago! Shortly after all of our grandbabies' coming is announced, a family poll is taken. Everyone guesses the date we think the baby will arrive. I think this is the first of all 9 grandbabies that I got it right! Here she is!

Her color is PURPLE, in case you haven't guessed it! She has some hair, about the amount her mother had when she was born.

A mama and daughter selfie, just a few hours after her birth!

With biggest brother Oakley. Lando was in too much motion to get a pic with his baby sister, although he seems to think she is pretty great!

My first chance to hold her!

We were all happily exhausted by the time she arrived. I have been blessed to be present for all three of Alisa's babies' births. Truly a miracle from God, and we are so thankful!

I'm going to keep this post short and sweet, but I hope to be back tomorrow morning with a Sunday Swap Day for you!

Until tomorrow, have a Stampingrox! day!

Hey there! No stamping today. We are at the hospital awaiting the birth of grand-girl #4. Pretty sleepless night, but she is more than half-way to the finish line. We hope to greet our little girl in a few hours. All is going well, but please pray for a safe and healthy delivery for mommy and baby.

Will keep you posted. I have a little stack of projects waiting to share with you in the next few days, so I'll be back! And of course I will share some pics of her too!

Until then, have a Stampingrox! day!

Hey there! We are heading home from Branson, MO, today. Mark & I usually take a little anniversary trip this time of year. Our anniversary is September 10th. We will be married 39 years!

I was successful blogging on the first three days of our trip, but we had to change hotels on Saturday and they internet here is not conducive to uploading pictures to the blog. ugh.

Just wanted to let you know I will be back to blogging tomorrow. I still have fun things to share with you, so please don't give up on me!

Until tomorrow, have a Stampingrox! day!

Hey there! I have just a quick post this morning. This afternoon the Mediterranean Achiever's Blog Hop starts at 4 p.m., so please back then to take the hop! ok?

I stamp monthly with a group of friends in Marion, IL. Each gal has unique personalities and talents, and I love stamping with them, but their talents are not limited to just stamping cards.

Last month, Kristine McCurdy gifted me with one of the fun little "baby balls" she makes for friends and family with new babies and small children. She knows with 8 grandchildren and another one on the way, it will get played with a lot!

She even packaged it up festively and used her Stampin' Up! dies and card stock to create the tag!

I just love it! I love the colors she used and the adorable little monkey fabric!

I've actually wished I could make one of these. I may have to ask her to be my teacher!

That's all I have until this afternoon when the blog hop starts. Our theme is Weddings, so I'm sure we will have lots of beautiful and inspiring things to share. I really like my project and can't wait to share it with you!

To place a Stampin' Up! order, go to my online store: www.carolpayne.stampinup.net

Remember while shopping:

All orders of any amount (except Online Class Orders) will receive a Thank You Project Packet in the mail.

Check the Weekly Deals and Clearance Rack for savings ranging from 25% to 60%.

When your order is at least $35 (before tax & shipping) and you use the March Hostess Code: PWN39NN2 you will receive the March Online Class; six cards, two each of three designs, with envelopes and instructions, FREE!

When your order (before tax & shipping) reaches $150, DON’T USE THE HOSTESS CODE, because you can choose free Stampin' Rewards starting at 10% of the total. You will still receive the monthly online class cards.
***During Sale-a-bration (Jan 5-March 31, 2016 all orders of $250 or more will receive $25 in EXTRA Stampin’ Rewards!!!!!

That’s all for now, until tomorrow, have a Stampingrox! Day!

All images ©Stampin' Up! ™1990-2016

Hey there! Just a quick post today. I am hosting my team Christmas party tonight at my house and I have a lot to get ready!

I spent last Friday sewing with Alisa. It was her birthday back in the middle of October and we hadn't been able to find a day that we could get together until then. I will have some pics of our projects we worked on soon!

Saturday was our annual "Payne girls" Christmas shopping  trip. It's pretty much our only day that we can all get together, just us four girls:

I am so thankful that God blessed me with my three daughters!

Yesterday was church in the morning and the evening, of course, and in between we had three of Jessica's for the afternoon while Maddie Kate competed in a cheer competition. She is a freshman cheerleader at Sesser-Valier. Here she is with her mommy Jessica yesterday:

I DO have some cute projects to share with you, so check back here for that and new Weekly Deals tomorrow! Until then, I just wanted to remind you that the Year-End Sale is still going on. You can check it all out and shop in my online store: www.carolpayne.stampinup.net

Four things to remember while you are placing your order in my online store:
1. All orders of any amount (except for Online Class Orders) will receive a Thank You Project Packet in the mail.
2. Be sure to check out the Weekly Deals and Clearance Rack while you’re shopping for savings ranging from 25% to 60%.

 


3. When your order is at least $35 (before tax & shipping) and you use the December Online Hostess Code: 37GUXJKT you will receive the December Online Card Class cards, six cards, two each of the 3 designs,with envelopes and instructions, FREE! Here's two of the three cards for the December Class. I will be posting the third one here on my blog tomorrow:

4. When your order (before tax & shipping) reaches $150 choose free Stampin' Rewards starting at 10% of the total.With new Stampin’ Rewards you get credit for every dollar you spend!

That’s all for now, until tomorrow, have a Stampingrox! Day!

All images ©Stampin' Up! ™1990-2015

Hey there! It's time for Sunday Swap Day again! yay!

I want to share with you a little of my day yesterday. Some of you may remember that I'm the baby sister in my family. Our parents are long gone, and my brother and sister live about 3 hours away in Decatur, IL, so I don't get to see them very often. They are getting older, which of course I am too, so I treasure every chance I get to spend a little time with them.

Every time we take a picture together, my brother, Don, always says, "I'm just the rose between two thorns"! He's also the only person who calls me "kiddo" and gets away with it!

My sister, Connie, and I just love our big brother to pieces!

As we headed home, my family indulged me in a little trip down my memories' lane. This is the school I attended through 6th grade, Oak Grove. I really think this is the same chain link fence that was in place when I attended there in the 60's. My daughter, Alisa, who was with us, commented, "Decatur is a Wonder Years town"!

We stopped by the house I lived in until I was 11 1/2. It doesn't look anything like it did back then (who painted over the soft butter yellow?), but the maple tree out front is still there. Oh, how many times did my mother make me get down from that tree because I wasn't supposed to be climbing it?

A really neat thing happened while I was taking this picture. A lady sitting on her porch next door started calling, "Hellooooo, can I help you?" and when I answered her that I was just checking out the house because I lived there when I was a little girl, she asked me who I was. When I told her my maiden name, she remembered me! Turns out she lived next door to me back then, only she was a teenager! Who would've guessed that over 40 years later someone I know would still live next door?

We drove through Fairview Park so I could show my family the "bikini tree". This tree has been wearing a painted "bikini" for over 50 years! She's not lookin' too bad for an old lady, eh?

We also stopped by the church I attended faithfully with my parents when I was little. This church is responsible for my early training in my belief in God and the Bible. I'm also a fan of pipe organ music because of the marvelous instrument this church has!

I always had an excellent view of the church service. . . from the balcony! Apparently I was quite the squirmy chatterbox, so rarely did we sit on the main floor.

If you've lasted this long, THANK YOU and congratulations! Now you get to see some swaps!

First, Mary Waring stamped the Watercolor Thank You stamp with Tuxedo Black ink on English Garden Designer Paper, adding an Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack flower in Rose Red and stamping Crumb Cake  on the Crumb Cake card base with the splatter stamp from Perpetual Birthday Calendar:

Next, Sue Berreth combined English Garden and Farmer's Market Designer Paper with the Brick Wall Folder and a Bold Butterfly framelit. She partially stamped a phrase from Me = Grateful, cutting it out with a Tags & Labels Framelit.

Sue stamped the rest of the sentiment on the inside for a simple yet effective finish:

Third, Barbara Nagle combined the English Garden paper with the Watercolor Wings set for her tag card punched with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch:

Finally, Rhonda Bassler used one of my favorite color combos: Blushing Bride, Whisper White, and Soft Suede, adding a pop of Old Olive with the Garden in Bloom set. Can you see the little strip of English Garden paper peeking out from behind the layers cut with the Tags & Labels Framelits?

You can order all of your stampin' supplies from my online store:

carolpayne.stampinup.net

Three things to remember when placing your order:

1. All orders of any amount will receive a Thank You Project Packet in the mail from me!

2. Be sure to check out the Weekly Deals Link and Clearance Rack Link while you are shopping for savings ranging from 25% to 60% off!

3. When your order (before tax & shipping) reaches $150 choose free Stampin'  Rewards starting at 10% of the total.With new Stampin’ Rewards you get credit for every dollar you spend!

That’s all for now, until tomorrow, have a Stampingrox! Day!

All images ©Stampin' Up! ™1990-2015

Hey there! I was unable to get back home in time yesterday to add the names of the Sunday Swap Day card creators because the transmission went out in my car on the way home from TN yesterday. I know God was watching over me because:

1. The transmission went out AFTER I got through all of the construction/car wreck zone on I-24. If it had went out during the hour or so of just crawling along at 10 mph I would have had no where to go to get out of the way.

2. When I pulled over to the side of the road, I was only about 1/4 of a mile from an exit and it was DOWNHILL all the way to the exit! I was able to coast my car to the exit. When I got to the end of the off-ramp there were no cars coming and I was able to coast the car right into a filling station!

3. After we determined it was the transmission (my husband & I via the phone) my husband was able to borrow his brother's trailer to drive down and get the car and me. I was still about three hours from home, so I was prepared to wait.

4. I didn't have to wait by myself very long. My husband is the song leader at our church, so he had to call our pastor to let him know he would be missing the evening service and why. Our pastor's father-in-law, Tom Malone, lives just minutes away from where I was stranded. He called his FIL, who then called me. Bro. Tom picked me up from the filling station, took me to the evening service at his church, then he & his family took me out for a snack and kept me company until Mark arrived to load the van.

5. Mark had help from Bro. Malone and his son-in-law, Rick, to get the van loaded  and safely secured on the trailer, so we were on our way back to IL a little before 10 p.m.!

6. We arrived safely home around 1:30 a.m.

Needless to say, I slept in a little the morning, but when I got up I found this going on in my yard:

I immediately snapped this picture, which prompted one of the workers to knock on the door to see if I was upset with them. They had tried to knock on the door and even rang the doorbell, but I was sound asleep until I work up "thinking" I had heard the doorbell. I think they thought I was a little bit crazy because I told them I just thought it was funny and ironic that on the day we have to leave my van out in the drive instead of under the carport is the day the tree trimmers come to trim our trees for the power company!

Another funny thought, isn't the "WORK AREA AHEAD"  sign they put in my yard supposed to be set up on a road????

Anyway, they were able to get the trees trimmed without any damage to my van, so it's all good!

That's all for now. I had a MOUNTAIN of laundry waiting for me when I got up this morning. My guys are pretty good about keeping things together around here when I'm gone, but the laundry got the best of them, I guess!

I'm going to go add the creator's names to yesterday's post and then get busy with my day! I have two parties this week and a presentation to make at the Spring Into Stamping event in Champaign, IL on Saturday! I have a lot to do!

Until tomorrow, have a Stampingrox! day!

All images ©Stampin' Up! ➩1990-2015

Hey there! You've probably already heard. I've been shouting about it on Facebook for a few days, but in case you haven't, my newest grandson, Lando Ronan Hiller, has arrived! He weighed 8 lbs 9 oz. Mommy & Lando are doing great! I'm staying with her for a couple of weeks to mostly help out with Lando's "big brother", Oakley, who will be 18 months in a couple of days.

Now I can FINALLY finish his card:

I added his name using Simply Pressed Clay and the new Alphanumeric Mold in the Occasions Catalog. After the letters dried, I colored them first with my Lost Lagoon marker, then added the "stitching" with a White Chalk Marker. I attached the letters to the card front with Crystal Effects. The letters were not completely flat, so I put a couple of heavy books on top of them until the Crystal Effects was dry.

After stamping the Whisper White Medium Evelope with Zoo Babies images and Lost Lagoon ink, I used the Envelope Liner Thinlet Dies to cut the Sweet Dreams Designer Paper to embellish the inside flap of the envelope.

You can check out the supply list for this card in my post last month HERE.

Here are the additional supplies I used to create and attach Lando's name. Place your order in my Online Store HERE.

White Simply Pressed Clay [130685] $6.95	Alphanumeric Simply Pressed Clay Mold [137854] $9.95	2014-2016 In Color Stampin' Write Markers [133654] $14.95	White Stampin Chalk Marker [132133] $3.50	Crystal Effects [101055] $6.25
Envelope Liners Framelits Die [132172] $26.95	Medium Whisper White Envelopes [107301] $6.50

The instructions and tips to make the Alphanumeric Letters with the Simply Pressed  will be included in my next newsletter scheduled to go out next Tuesday. If you are not subscribed, be sure to sign up using this feature on the right side of my blog!

Until tomorrow, which is the monthly Stamper's Dozen Blog Hop, have a Stampingrox! Day!

All images ©Stampin' Up!™1990-2015