Where, Oh Where Has Lisa Been?

Hello all!  Were you starting to wonder where I was?  It's been a busy week preparing for upcoming shows, work around the house and getting ready for the big Stampin' Up! Incentive Trip to Disney World!

Like I said, I was prepping for upcoming shows.  Last weekend I participated in the local Children's Festival.  Sherri and I were busy making stuff for our display, but we had the most fun with play dough!  We featured the Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps at the Children's Festival and we let the kids play with them with play dough!

That's me playing play dough just as the doors were opening!  I learnt a few things that day...

1.  Mixing thousands of kids with cotton candy, ice cream, cupcakes and loads of candy results in a LOT of VERY sticky fingers!  We were smart and had lots of play dough to switch out throughout the day and at the end of the day it went in the garbage!!!!
2.  Rolling, kneading and stamping play dough for 6-7 hours is a GREAT workout for your hands and forearms!!!  My hands and forearms were sore the next day!
3.  Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps are super popular!  Thanks to all the people who bought cookie stamps from me on Saturday.

We will be at the Diva Show this Friday (Fritz Sick Center, 5-9pm) with a little different display...no play dough for the grown ups!  Stop by and see us if you can!

A couple weeks ago, Kevin and I started the big job of fixing the landscaping in our front yard.  Really, we should have done it right 3 years ago when we first did it, but we didn't and it's been bugging us ever since.  I guess that's what happens when you are dealing with back surgeries, moving and little kids!  Here's a few before and after pictures.

Before

We dug out the flower beds and removed the top soil and some of the clay we have for soil here until we were about 6-8 inches down...we filled the truck about 5 times!  Once that was done, we filled it in with bark mulch.  We chose that because it repels weeds (yahoo!) and retains moisture, which is important in the summer when it's so dry here!  And, because it's so deep, they guarantee it won't blow away...another big plus in Lethbridge!

After

After...I still have a little spot to plant whatever kind of flowers I want each year.

After

We are so happy with how it looks now and can't wait for our plants to get bigger!  There's buds on all the trees and shrubs and the flowering plants have also started sprouting.  A little rain and some nice sunny days and it will all be greened up...hopefully by the time we get back from Disney!  And then we are going to tackle the back yard and staining the fence, front steps and decks...oh, and I have to plant my garden!  Busy spring for us!

But, you probably stopped by to see some stamping, right?  Well, one of the other things I  have been busy with is making table tags for the Diva Show.  These are cute little somethings that identify which vendor is at which table.  Since it's a Diva Show and we just got a super cute purse die, Sherri and I decided it would be perfect to make some purses.

We made about 80 of them!  The show coordinator requested pink, so we used up our Blushing Bride stuff (because it's retiring) and then had to use some Pretty In Pink and Pink Pirouette to get them all done!  They are pretty basic.  We cut the purse out of cardstock and stamped it with Soft Suede ink using the rose bunch stamp from the Elements of Style set.  A little ribbon for a handle (attached with some brads) and a fun flower accent finished off with a pearl just makes them so cute!  We then attached a little banner with each vendor name.

I am absolutely in love with all of them!  They're gonna look super cute on the tables!  Don't forget to stop by and say hi tomorrow night.  We will be at the Fritz Sick Center from 5-9...and admission is FREE!!!!

That's all for today!  Have an inspired day!