Card Making Marathon

A good time was had by all, I believe! I had several friends over today for a card making marathon! We made 10 cards. Some I posted in an earlier post. But, thought I would post the other four we made.

Enjoy the ride - This is not Disney World!!

40 Ways to Live a Better Life ~ If only everyone would read and try these!!

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
3. Buy a DVR and tape your late night shows and get more sleep.
4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to __________ today.'
5. Live with the 3 E's—Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
6. Play more games and read more books than you did in last year.
7. Make time to practice meditation, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
8. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
11. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.
12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
13. Clear clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.
14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, OR issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the negative blues away.
18. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree. (MY FAVORITE along with the next one)
22. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
23. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
26. Forgive everyone for everything.
27. What other people think of you is none of your business.
28. Remember God heals everything.
29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change. (I HOPE)
30. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
31. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
32. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
33. The best is yet to come.
34. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
35. Do the right thing!
36. Call your family often.
37. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for _______. Today I accomplished ____.
38. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
39. Enjoy the ride. Remember this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.
40. Laugh when you can, apologize when you should, and let go of what you can't change.

Heart Attacks in Women

Here are the stats for the average number of heart attacks among women every year:

Age 65 and older [352,000]
Ages 45 to 64 [74,000]
Under age 45 [9,000]

Total heart attacks among women for year [435,000]

Did you know that most people believe heart disease is mainly a man's disease? Not true. Cardiovascular disease does strike men about a decade earlier in life than women but once women reach age 50, their risk quickly climbs. Over a lifetime, two out of five women die of cardiovascular disease, making it the leading cause of death in women.

The Lifetime Risk... After age 40, the lifetime risk for developing coronary heart disease is 32% in women and 49% in men. As women age, the risk approaches almost that of men. Here are some stats that are mind-boggling (at least to me). Beginning at age 55, more women than men have high cholesterol levels. About 37 percent of women aged 45-54 have high blood pressure. More than 7 million women have been diagnosed with diabetes. Another 2.3 million have the disease and don't know it. After menopause, heart disease rates are 2-3 times higher. Why? It is because estrogen is believed to increase levels of high-density lipoprotein (good cholesterol) and reduce levels of low-density lipoprotein (bad cholesterol). Estrogen also boosts levels of a chemical called tissue plasminogen activator, or TPA, which dissolves blood clots.

Did you know... For a 200-pound woman, losing just 6.5% (just 13 lbs) of her body weight can have a positive impact on heart health. Dropping just a few pounds, even if you are seriously overweight, will reduce your cardiovascular risk. Think on this... Eating a low-calorie diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains and increasing your level of physical activity will lower your heart disease risk—even if you don't lose much weight. The American Heart Association (AHA) has established the following specific goals for women:

Blood pressure: less than 120/80 mm Hg
Total cholesterol: less than 200 mg/dL
HDL (good) cholesterol: 50 mg/dL or higher
LDL (bad) cholesterol: range of less than 100 mg/dL to less than 160 mg/dL, depending on risk factors
Triglycerides: less than 150 mg/dL
Body mass index: less than 25
Waist circumference: less than 35 inches
Exercise: at least 30 minutes a day, all or most days of the week
Don't smoke
Eat a balanced diet
See your doctor regularly

As you can see you can turn this around in your favor. We don't have to go down this road. We can help keep these health issues from coming through that door and staying. I will be the first to admit that there are times you can't keep trouble from coming—but you don't have to offer it a comfortable chair to sit in.

Sheetloads!

Here's a great site to visit and check out some of their card samples. .. Sheetload of Cards. They will even show you what to do with all those mini dollar stamps you pick up at Michaels!!

Sharing Time!

Just have to share with you the cool card my talented daughter made for my husband (her father!) for Father's Day. Isn't it cool?? I sure miss the "U" stamp set - wish SU had not retired it!!

Decor Elements

Introducing Decor Elements.....Stampin' Up!'s new addition to our Definitely Decorative product line!
Decor Elements designs coordinate with many of our exciting products, so you can combine them to make beautiful, handcrafted home decor pieces. Personalize your surroundings with a variety of exclusive images designed to create a customized, unique space. With our self-adhesive vinyl elements you'll discover how easy and cost effective it can be to do your own decorating!
This exciting new product will be available to customers on July 1st. I will have brochures available in about a week. Please email me if you would like one. You will love the new artwork, phrases & alphabets available to transform your room in just minutes.

Stamp a Stack

If you live in the Sherrills Ford / Lake Norman area, you are invited to a Stamp-a-Stack! We will be making 10 cards for $20 on Saturday, June 21. Come join us!! We will be using some of the recently announced Stampin' Up retired sets as well as a few new ones.

Here are a few examples of what we will be making.

Tab Punch Flower

Here's a card I made for my Monday Mailer this week. The flower is made with the tab punch and a circle punch in the middle. Thought it turned out real cute! I used the Stem Sayings stamp for the stem and used the Oval Punch for leaves.

Mountain Trip with Gabby!

We took a spontaneous trip to the mountains this weekend. Haven't done that in a long time. It was a great opportunity to test out Sonny's Father's Day present! Ashley bought him a GPS and we had a great time trying to figure it out on the road. We kept trying to come up with a name for the GPS. Many times, her name was "Dumb Azz" but think Sonny finally settled on Gabby!!

We drove up on Saturday and spent the night in Maggie's Valley. It was so pretty. We drove over to Cherokee also. Boy, has it changed since I was a kid. I remember going to Cherokee and Ghost Town with my Aunt Deese & Uncle Butch. There would be an Indian Chief standing on the sidewalk waving to everyone. And, during the trip to the mountains, we were always on the lookout for bears - even seeing one once in a while. Now Cherokee is pretty commercialized with junk stores abound and even a casino!! We walked into the casino (Harrah's) and looked around. It was pretty smoky and the Blackjack tables were video blackjack. If I play, I prefer to touch the cards!!! Later we found out that there is no alcohol in the casino either - the county is totally dry!! Unbelievable!! We had hoped to see the play, Unto these Hills but it was raining and we didn't want to take a chance on buying tickets and have to sit out in the rain!! Our motel in Maggie's Valley was quaint. We had a hot tub in the room, so I had a nice soak before going to bed - even ate a piece of cheesecake with chocolate dribbled on it while in the tub! Talk about decadent!! We walked down to a sports bar after dinner and played some NTN Trivia. But, were we surprised when their "last call for drinks" was at 9:30!! The place closes at 10:00 (and it was Saturday night). We hurried back to our motel before they rolled up the sidewalks!! The next morning after a yummy pancake breakfast, we drove into Tennessee. We drove up to the Douglas Lake and just looked around. Then drove to Gatlinburg. We had never been there and don't know that we were missing anything!!! We had lunch at a nice English Pup restaurant and then hit the highway back to NC.

Stampin' Up's Retired Stamps 2008

Ah, to be retired and sunning on the beach . . .

Oh - I forgot, I am retired .... just not sunning on the beach at the moment!!

For those of you anxiously awaiting to see which stamp sets from the Spring-Summer Collection 2008 will retire in August, you can find them here: Retirement List. So, which ones are you sorry to see go? Which ones are you relieved to see hanging around?

If you want to order any of them (or some that are not retired), give me a shout!!