Stampin' Up!

I joined as a demonstrator for Stampin' Up! in 1998, and it has been a great blessing to our family over the years. It was a wonderful way for me to stay home with my young children and earn money. In the early years of my business, I worked it very diligently and ranked high with the company (as high as #2 in recruiting out of 40,000 demonstrators). When my husband was laid off, my Stampin' Up! business supported our family and helped us buy a new home. Through my business, we've also been able to travel extensively, going on nine all expense paid cruises.

In more recent years, I've done much less with my Stampin' Up! business. I still have three stamper's clubs that meet once a month, but other than that, I am focusing on my family, my health, and my writing.

If you are interested in learning more about my Stampin' Up! business and/or purchasing products visit my SU! website at: http://margo.stampinup.net

Do you stamp, scrapbook, or have other hobbies you love?

Labor Day Weekend Activities

(Crazy long post. If you don't have time to read it ... just look at the pretty pictures!)

We had a great event filled Labor Day weekend!

It started off with bugs (what else?).

I had been bitten several times on each ankle Wednesday night, and Friday night when I went to apply more anti-itch cream, my kids freaked out when they saw my ankle! YIKES. One of the bites had swollen to the size of a golf ball.

I clearly wasn't thinking straight, because I honestly hadn't even noticed. Sheesh. So, my kids insisted I go to "Quick Care" a.k.a. Doc in the Box. The doctor took a look at my ankle and said, "Hmm. That's unusual." Gee, thanks, Doc. He said I was having an allergic reaction and needed to take a double dose of Zyrtec every day until the lump was gone. (That was Friday night. It's now Tuesday morning, and lump is still there ... maybe a bit smaller.)

Saturday, I hit the ground running (even though Doc said I should rest all weekend). I had a Stampin' Up! workshop in the morning.

photo source: http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/margo

Then met some friends and used a long arm quilting machine to quilt an big queen sized log cabin quilt. YAY!

This isn't the exact machine I used, but silly me, I forgot to take my camera!

Here's the quilt (it still needs the binding finished):

Close up of the free motion quilting I did (this is the back side of the quilt).

After quilting for 4 1/2 hours, I raced home, grabbed the kids, and headed for Meridian. Because, we had free tickets for the Meridian Speedway! And, it was a crazy crashed filled night! What a blast!

picture source: http://www.asa-racing.com/news.aspx?Id=47835

By Saturday night, my swollen ankle was killing me. So, I took the doctor's advice on Sunday and rested. I finished the hand embroidery on one of my favorite quilts. Then Monday, I sewed the blocks together and "sandwiched" the quilt. While my family watched movies, I started the hand quilting. YAY. Great weekend.

What did you do over the holiday weekend?