Just a Reminder

I wanted to send out a reminder that tomorrow is the last day to sign up for this cool club that I have going for the new Spring/Summer Idea Book and Catalog. If you're interested, I would love to hear from you. teristencil@centurytel.net

Teri’s Personal January Promotion
This is what I like to call the “try-it” club. It’s a great way to see and try the new products. I only have 7 spots left available to anyone interested. The cost is $31 ($36 if you want items mailed to you).

Each club member will receive the following items:
*1 6x6 sheet of EACH design from the new double sided papers (total 60 sheets)Spring Break, Jersey Shore, East Coast Prep, Spring Fling, Bali Breeze, Ginger Blossom, Berry Bliss, Western Sky, Notebook, Spring Silhouettes*2 yards of each of the four new striped grosgrain ribbonBashful Blue, Pumpkin, Real Red, Wasabi*1 set of the Sticky Cuts Letters*Felt Flowers (apprx 10 each)

Deadline to sign up for this club is January 30.

Anything but traditional

I sent an email to a stamper that I really admire and I entitled the email: Don't think I'm a weirdo. I have never heard back from this gal. Then I really did feel like a weirdo. Anyway, I'll try again in six months or so. She's young (just kidding if you read this oh-stamper-that-I-admire-in-a-crafty-kind-of-way).

The stamper that I speak of gave me some great ideas on color. So I wanted to share those with you today. (The two with Groovy Guava)

I really don't like Valentine's Day and I have been using a lot of non-traditional colors to make my cards. I have a workshop on Friday and I have been struggling to put a final idea together. I know, I should already have the house clean and brownies made. Leave me alone.

The Purely Pomegranate card is a favorite...This is used with the textured paper and purely pomegranate designer series paper, too.

It's who I am.

It occured to me yesterday that I don't share one of the more importatnt details of my life with people and that is that I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

I'm not sure why I don't. I love answering people's questions, even the dumb ones. But being a member of my faith has been a great blessing to me and my children.

Our church lost its president on Sunday evening and I wasn't sad, simply humbled by him. Gordon B. Hinckley was an unbelievable figure to anyone of any faith.

I saw an excerpt from Glenn Beck (you can pause the music down below in order to hear)...now you're getting to know me even more, and I was impressed with how he described President Hinckley. And like Mr. Beck, I was not saddened by the news of his passing. My first thought was how happy he will be to reunite with his dear wife Marjorie whom he loved and respected so much.

I think President Hinckley's example was a very outstanding reminder that I have a lot of work to do to carry the qualities of such a man, husband, and father.

Thank you card

I'm stuck on these crazy 3x3 cards. They are so simple and inexpensive to make. Maybe it's because I don't have to work with such a big space and try to fill it, but I have another 3x3 to share. It's similar to the earth tone ones I made before, but who cares.

The second one is debatable. I'm not sure if I like it or not. I'm leaning towards not liking it. Let me know what you think. All two of you who visit my website. I appreciate your opinions.

Maybe I should start offering blog candy...that is such a weird concept, but it works for a lot of people I know!!

Here are a couple more toppers

Valentine Class Cards

Here are the cards and bag toppers we made for the Three for Three class I had on Friday. I already showed you the 3x3's....

Don't Look if You Don't Want a Ruined Surprise.

I am going to post a couple of the 3x3 cards I have been working on for my workshops and classes. I love making these little ones. Don't put them in the mail, however, because the postal service will not be happy with you and will have to declare another federal holiday in your honor because you mailed a 3x3 card when you weren't supposed to. I'll have to think of a name for that holiday and get back to you...

I used the Happy Heart Day stamp set and the Sealed with a Kiss set. The rest is easy to see.

Tah Dah!

Okay, I'm going to be totally honest, I love Blaine's shirt! Ethan has one, too. My dad and step-mom got them for the boys for Christmas. I'm also going to tell you that I don't deserve the boys to be wearing those shirts this week.

It may be that Blaine is trying to butter me up. I have been referring to myself as "The Dragon Lady" this week. I swear I could breathe fire if I needed to. I would love to blame exhaustion, but that's no reason to have scales and breathe fire on my kids. Well...maybe.

With all of this "heated" energy, I finally went to town on my craft room. Ideally, I would love to have a counter top and cabinets, but I'm pleased to have the space I have and it's tidy and organized now.

You can refer to a couple weeks back when I attacked the craft room with the raging energy I had from missing our trip to San Diego because I didn't turn my alarm clock on. I'm over it now, but I was able to get a lot of things done that week. Believe me, I would have rather been in San Diego.

So, now that you think I'm a psychopath and are tempted to call social services, rest assured that Blaine and I spent quality time calming ourselves down to the sounds of Michael Buble while he stamped and I cleaned. I even made him homemade hot chocolate. Ooooooh Yeah.

The recipe is as follows (Brace yourself, I don't think it's high in fat):

Mix 1/4 cup water with 2 TBS cocoa powder and 2TBS sugar (I use Splenda or half Splenda, half sugar). Put in the microwave for 30-40 seconds.

Then add 1 1/2 cups fat free milk and put in the microwave for 3-4minutes. Times vary. I have the world's smallest microwave. When finished, make sure the chocolate doesn't have bits left at the bottom. Be advised, these chocolate bits are not tasty because it's pure cocoa powder. Ugh.

Add 1/2tsp of vanilla and then ruin the weight-conscious goodness with a wollop (that's about 4 dollops) of whip cream. I like the stuff out of the can or homemade, but either way...bring it on big time.

At this point, you'll want to make sure the kids are wearing their "Mom Rocks" t-shirts because this is a really good recipe and they will be too busy drinking the goodness to tell you how cool you are!

My mom and step-dad were able to come up for a quick visit, too. It was a blurr because we crammed a lot into the short weekend, but it was fun. We have been so fortunate to see the Grand-P's for two weekends in a row and from all over the nation!!!

I will be posting card pictures after tomorrow. I have a workshop and don't want to spoil the surprise for anyone who may be attending.

Sell-A-Bration Swap Card

Here is my card for the Sell-a-Bration swap I am in. It's not my favorite card, but for the time that I have, it will have to do. I used the Lots of Thoughts stamp set.

Disney's Desperate Housewives

It's a beautiful Friday here in Northern Ohio. Sadly enough, when the sky is this blue this time of year, it's usually because it's too cold for clouds to form in the sky. It's supposed to be only 7 degrees on Sunday. You'd think we could catch a break on a Sunday!

I think this comic is funny. However, we totally love going to Disney World. In fact, I might try to start saving again to go. I think I'd even be willing to sell a kidney. That would make for a great trip. We could even stay in one of the resorts and I could get on the rides before everyone else because hey, I donated a kidney!

I'm not sure if donating a kidney would be better than donating a liver. Did you know that your liver grows back! I think that is so stinking amazing!

Can you tell I'm simply procrastinating the fact that I need to get on the "tread mule"? Blaine calls it the tread mule. Ethan tries to correct him, but I tend to correct Ethan because I don't want Blaine to stop using those kinds of terms.

Ethan until just recently called a cell phone a "cell-a-phone".

It's what it's all about!

Retired Stamp Sets for Sale

I am listing the following retired Stampin' Up! stamp sets for sale. I accept the following forms of payment: Cash,Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Paypal and Money Order (If you are a local customer, I will also check). Items will be mailed upon receipt of payment.

__________________________________________________________________

You may click on each of the stamp sets listed. From there you will be directed to the stamp index of Splitcoast Stampers which displays each stamp set and includes the number of stamps in a set. If you have any further questions, you may contact me.

As the sets are sold, they will be removed.

1. Hung Up On the Holidays $9.50


2. Bundle of Joy $14.00


3. Bitty Boos Too $10.50

11. By Definition $9.50

12. 13. Word on Word Hostess Set $15.50

14. 15. So Very (unmounted) SAB $9.50

16. Looks Like Spring $18.50

19. Stipple Celebrations $14.50

21. Gently Falling $11.00, pending

22. Olive You $11.00

23. Big Blossom $8.00

26. Alphabet Soup (Hostess Set) $11.00

27. The World Over (Hostess Set) $11.00

28. Simply The Best $14.00, pending

29. Toucan of My Love $14.00, pending

32. Bitty Boos Too $10.50

A Quick Visit with Dad and Pam

There wasn't any time for pictures, but we certainly will have a memory of this past weekend. My dad and step-mom were able to come for a very short weekend visit this weekend. I found incredible airline tickets for them and they took the offer and flew with it.

The boys were really happy to have a set of grandparents around and I was thrilled to see my dad and step-mom. Plus, it gave me a reason to throughouly clean the house.

On Sunday, we watched the Chargers beat the Colts which no one expected. I was kind of glad because it gave me hope to think the game of football isn't really rigged. We finally exchanged our Christmas gifts and that was so cool for the boys. We are all Charged up...each of us have a piece of San Diego Charger wear.

Monday, with permission, I let the boys stay home from school. I never do that, in fact it makes me quite nervous, but Ethan prepared himself ahead of time and it was all good.

We played educational games and had a great time. Dad and Pam were able to see the boys practice soccer and enjoyed that.

Dropped them off this morning at the airport and poor Blaine cried.

Closing off for now, Matt and I are going to check for flights for the Spring to go to San Diego.

Our Christmas Letter

My aspirations of doing anything on time for Christmas came to a halt. I decided, as I did last year, to send out an end-of-the-year card. I'm such a dork, too, because I made a card using Bravo Burgundy Paper, Very Vanilla and Bravo Burgundy ink and celery 5/8" ribbon. The colors look really nice together. You would think I would have taken a picture of such card... May you enjoy the guts and the final picture. I do feel bad, however, because I took the picture very early in the morning and Ethan still looks a bit sleepy. Sorry bud.

The Stencil family, which still consists of Matt, Teri, Ethan, Blaine, Archie and Keesh (we lost Goldie the fish at Thanksgiving) would like to wish you a Happy New Year.

Another year gone away and another one of these letters telling you all of the things that have happened to us this year…if you don’t want to read on from here, that’s okay because I’ve already missed Christmas greetings and who knows how the rest of this saga will go on from here.

Ethan is in 5th grade and Blaine is in 2nd. I’m the kids’ Spanish teacher and I assist the 1st grade teacher on the days I don’t teach Spanish. It’s great really. We all go to the same school and I get to spy on the kids.

Matt is finishing his second Masters Degree Program. I don’t know if it’s that he really likes to stay up late or we just want to one-up other grad students with student loans. There are moments where we know not to bother him (usually when his hand is on his head and he’s tapping the table while his legs are fidgeting very fast) and other moments when we all scatter because he’s taking a study break. Even the dog has learned to hide. He just gets that weird “I’ve been studying too long” look and he’s ready to harass anyone in his reach. We have very few friends, very few.

Ethan played his second year of football this year with his dad and grandpa Stencil as two of the coaches. Football is Ethan’s true love and often you will find him sleeping with a football or some sort of football camp t-shirt. He’s well versed in football stats, players and plays. I think it’s great and I’m happy to say that he puts almost the same amount of effort into his schoolwork, especially history.

When he’s not playing football, he is honing up on his foot skills in soccer. Presently he and Blaine are in a futbol club together and practice and work on their foot skills. Blaine’s still unsure about facing girls…but he’s getting the hang of it. Soccer has taught Ethan a great deal about patience and communication and gives him great field vision. He plays on a travel soccer team which should be starting up again soon. Can you feel the excitement in my voice? Yeah.

Blaine loves soccer and is playing for a league out of our city. I can’t tell you what it is, but I know I wrote a check for it a couple of weeks ago. I’m certain he has his ability to play so well from playing with his brother and the two neighbor boys across the street. The boy doesn’t need camps, just friends.

I’d love to tell you that Blaine loves playing baseball, but he doesn’t. All of us love going to see the Tribe play. We had great times at the Jake this season and when the Indian’s were in the play-off’s we would go down to the field to watch the games on the jumbotron for FREE! We’ll be back there next year, I’m sure.

I don’t really know what else to tell you. I’m hoping next year will be filled with an amazing amount of good news and information. However, in the meantime, you’re welcome to visit my blog. Sometimes you’ll see stamping stuff and crafts there, but I put a lot of stuff about the family, etc., too.

www.teristencil.blogspot.com or email us: teristencil@centurytel.net

May the new year find you in a good place!

One More Thing and then I'm Done

Anyone who has read my blog the last week knows that we were supposed to be in blue sky, sunny California right now. Not really going to rehash the story. We were able to go down to WV to visit Matt's grandma which was a nice visit.

But do you remember that Thank You card I made for Mother Nature? Well, I'm taking it back. I spent all of last night shoveling snow. Nothing like rubbing winter right in my face! Thanks a lot!

I'm not mad or anything...

Hang in there...

Someday, I hope to have this portion of the basement furnished like the other half. Someone is going to come and build shelves and counterspace for me. Let me tell you, it's an icebox down there right now! Ugly picture #1

Ugly picture #2

Somewhat of an organized picture #3

Love my stamping organizers #4

I have been working on rearranging and straightening up my craft room after all of the Christmas preparations, soldier cards and overall madness that ends up in my room.

Now! For the record, this is not how bad it really is. I started rearranging furniture and tables, etc., so the room looks disastrous. In fact, I'm certain I could collect money from some sort of relief fund somewhere.

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I'm speaking the truth and I'm actually quite meticulous about almost everything. In fact, it has at times made my husband question his yearning to be married to "Monk".

I will say, however, that 2 small boys and 1 big boy, working, churching, crafting, soccering, footballing, baseballing...all that will cause one to slow down quite rapidly and not be so worried about every little thing.

I also have a hard time starting new projects if the area around me is cluttered, so that is why I haven't had time or the desire to stamp recently.

Am I rambling a lot? I'm just really embarrassed about posting this picture. So I'm posting a couple of pictures to show you the work in progress. Please remember that furniture moving was the major reason for the mess. More pictures are coming later.

By the way, the stamping organizers that you are viewing have been made by my friend Bob. I have a lot of them in stock for purchase in my really clean side of my basement. If you are interested, feel free to contact me.