Gotta Let 'em Fly...

So sorry I haven't been posting the last week or two I should say (after the bee incident). After being forced into a bit of a hiatus with only one hand :-) I have also been super busy and my mind has been a bit bogged down. I finally decided to register my son for preschool, something I wasn't sure I was going to do. My son has severe alergies (some of which are deadly to him) and the thought of him being cared for by someone else, in another place, quite frankly scares the heck out of me. Put it this way, he has been tested for 36 allergens and he is allergic to 34 of them. We joke that he can have a pet cockroach and dust mites would be fine (the only two things that came back negative)! Putting things into perspective, I know it could be worse, but until you know that your child has the ability to make good choices, it's hard to let go. I know now that he is ready, just not so sure I am! But I have to be, and I have to let him go. What good is having the wings if you don't get a chance to try them out, right? So, I finally registered him in preschool.


Boy has that proved to be a difficult task - which school to choose??? We visited 7 schools and quickly narrowed it down to two. One of my friends made me laugh when she said "Just imagine what it will be like when we have to choose a college!" Thank God I have a good 13 years before that journey begins - I need a break! In the end, I decided that a warm, friendly, place with dedicated staff and a well-rounded curriculum was more important than whether or not he can read at the end of the year; after all it is only pre-school :-).

On a lighter note, my parents, sister and nephew are coming to visit in just two days! Yippee! They haven't been here in about a year, and they haven't seen the kids other than in pictures since just after Christmas. It's been getting harder to get up to Pennsylvania to visit and let's face it with the price of gas these days, a bit more expensive too!

I may have some things to share by tomorrow. I am hoping I get some time to myself today, although I have Mom duty with no reprieve until tomorrow night! These are long days... On our agenda today, a trip to the recycling center, Blockbuster, riding our bikes, clearing some debris from the backyard, giving haircuts, cleaning, and a NAP!

Thanks for stopping by today! Be back soon with something pretty (I hope!)

Make today a fabulous day!

Beauty and The BEEst...

In this case, I will start with the "BEEst". Here I am trying to better my life and get back into shape. It is 6:30 AM Tuesday morning. I am "walking, walking, walking" as my friend Kelly C. would say. I am about 1.25 miles into my walk, enjoying some Colbie Caillat on my MP3, and BAMM! out of nowhere I get stung by a BEE. Not only did this bee sting me, but he had the audacity to leave his stinger in my wrist (which by the way I have since learned to scrape out carefully so as not to release anymore venom into your skin - yeah, I didn't do that!!!!!!!!!!). So I have to turn around and walk the 1.25 miles I have already walked to get back home while I am in excruciating pain. I was literally saying to myself "You can do this, it doesn't hurt that bad!" WHATEVER!!!

Now here is the thing, I have been stung by bees before, but they must have been yellow jackets because I have never seen a stinger before. (I have learned a lot about bees this week!) It turns out only honey bees actually leave stingers behind, and as a result of this dastly deed, they die, so you see it really doesn't work out well for either party here :-)

Well, apparently I am allergic to honey bees! My right limb from fingers to elbow has been blown up like the Goodyear Blimp - pretty sight, let me tell ya. Luckily, my reaction this time is considered mild, in other words, I did not go into anaphalactic shock and die!!! (Ok, I know I am being dramatic, but what's life without a little drama?!) However, I am told that this may not be the reaction I get if it happens again; it could actually be much worse. Great now there is something to look forward to...

Well, the swelling is going down, and I am now able to type, but who knows, you might still find a typo or two...


Anyway, I wanted to share some things I made last week for my friend Beverly, whom I met at the PTI Forum. Beverly is a wonderful person, and will go out of her way to do extra special things for people just because. I have never met her in person, and have only corresponded via email and mail, but her words are always kind and thoughtful. She is a very generous spirit, and for that I thank her...


With this card...

And this magnet...


I wanted to remind her that being creative isn't about what other people think of your work, it's about what you think and how you interpret those thoughts. At least that's what this quote says for me. I hope it inspires her to create and share her work! And I hope it inspires you just to share yourself with someone today.

Well, I think that is all for me for now. I was a bit long-winded; I missed my blog!

Have a fabulous Monday!

What I Used:

Thank You Card
Stamps: Studio G Thanks So Much, Impression Obsession Solid Florals Paper: Cream Premade Notecards from Paper Studio?, Chocolate Paper Studio Ink: Versamagic Dew Drops Jumbo Java Accessories: MS Butterfly Trio Punch, Rust seam binding ribbon, scallop scissors, nestabilities

Creativity Magnet
Square Nestabilities, Cuttlebug and dies, Whole Punch, Felt, Wrights Ribbon, Brads Joanns and Making Memories, Computer and Scriptina Font, Fabric Glue, Butons American Crafts, Embroidery Thread

Happy Anniversary!

Today my husband and I celebrated our 5th Anniversary! We have known each other for a little over 10 years, and yes, many thought we would never get married (I being one of them). I guess one day he just decided he couldn't get rid of me so he might as well marry me :-)

Forgive the photos, I had to actually photograph photos - he-he! Our photographer never gave us digital photos, but he did take some fabulous pictures so we can't complain! These are just a few of my favorites.

In the photo below you might laugh at the size of my eyes. There is a little story to go with that.

You see we paid for pretty much our entire wedding. Our parents helped out with the bar and the DJ, but everything else was ours. Well, I was disappointed that we couldn't afford everything, but we had to make choices. Of course we would have liked to have had a video, but pictures were more important, so we nixed the video. But one of the biggest things I wanted was a horse and carriage after the reception so we could ride off into the night. Perhaps I have seen too many movies - but I just couldn't get this vision out of my head. It was the ONLY vision I had when I thought about what my wedding would be like. But, we had to make do with what we could afford, so no horse, no carriage. People had to eat right?! Needless to say I was crushed. I tried to find some way to make it work, but it wouldn't, so I gave up. I cried and moved on... reluctantly...

My husband and his friend spent a good portion of the day prior to ou wedding washing my car, my six-month old Honda CRV, as this was our departure vehicle. How exciting right?!

Well, after a fabulous evening, everyone left me in the reception hall (my friend Diana stalling me while everyone got outside), and when I walked out I was just about blinded by all the flashes until I came to the bottom of the steps to see...

THIS!

Hence, the reason for the big eyes - I was ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED! When? How? But never why? I knew why...

To this day, this is THE most romantic thing my husband has ever done for me. He knew how much I wanted this and he made my dream come true. He ONLY wanted to make me happy, to see me smile. He obviously succeeded, and he still does :-D

Happy Anniversary! Love you!

Papertrey Bog Hop #2 (for me anyway!)

Here we are again for Papertrey Ink's Blog Hop! Woo-hoo! Thank you all for visiting, and I hope you are having fun!

The challenge for this month was to use vellum on your project. My first thought - YIKES! I don't like vellum (well at least I thought I didn't :-P). I have so many packages and rolls of vellum that up until now I never used (kind of like that paper crimper we all have and haven't used in years - you know the one...). But after just a few short days I had so many ideas flowing I was writing things down in the middle of the night! I just had no time to implement them :-( So I went with my first thought and I hope you enjoy it. But be warned... now that the vellum is out, you will be seeing more of it!!!

I actually used Taylor Vanbruggen's Cupcake Challenge Sketch #25 from about a week ago - cute sketch. I punched the flowers out with two different EK Success flower punches. I used plain old see-through vellum that I had on hand to make the large flowers. I smooshed them into Versamark, and pounced some Pebbles Shimmery Chalks onto them and sprayed them LIGHTLY (from a good distance) with some acrylic sealant to make the chalk stay better.

The small blue flowers are made from a roll of Martha Stewart blue vellum called Ice Water (which I got for $1 at a Michaels Clearance sale about six months ago!) Then I glued some pearls on to add a little elegance.

This card is very pretty in real life, not so sure I captured the shimmer and the softness in the pictures. I tried :-)

Simple, soft, shimmery and so worth it! I had a lot of fun, and have a lot of ideas. Thanks for the challenge!

Well, I was so glad to have you here tonight. Hope you have a fabulous night and an even better weekend!

What I Used:

Paper: Kraft, Cream (Papertrey Ink), Patterened Paper Prima Paper Sasha Collection, Ice Water Vellum (Martha Stewart), Clear Vellum (?)

Stamps: PTI Quilter's Sampler Sentiments

Ink: Versamagic Dew Drops Sahara Sand

Accessories: Pebbles Shimmer Chalks, Half-Pearls (MAMBI), Scallop punch (Martha Stewart), Scotch foam tape, Aqua Mist Satin ribbon, embroidery floss (to tie ends of ribbon), EK Success Flower Punches, Ek Success Corner Rounder

You Make My Heart Happy...

I have been trying to figure out a way to really make my blog something special for me, so it doesn't feel so much like something I HAVE to do, but more something I WANT to do. It was seeming like a tedious task, and I often contemplate whether it is even worth it.

But then today I came to the realization that I don't keep a journal and although I used to be better about writing the funny things down that my kids said/did, I have not been very good about that in the last year. I always wanted to be sure I had them when it came time to scrap their pages, and since I hadn't scrapped in quite some time, I guess I just kind of fell-off-the-wagon so to speak :-)

At lunch today I had one of those "light-bulb" moments - that's it, the perfect way to look back and remember how funny my kids really are (because let's face it, they won't be this cute forever!) *SMILE* So, I will start including some funny things my kids did or said from the day/week, depending on how often I find the time to post and how funny they really are :-). Stay tuned...

Now for my latest project... I made this card for one of my mothers-in-law; yes, I have three, but amazingly they are all great - how blessed am I! I was so pleased with this card, I hope she likes it. She isn't likely to check my blog, so I can share this even though she hasn't received it.

This was the first time I used anything made from felt on any of my projects. I am addicted!!! I cut the felt with my Cuttlebug and Nestabilities and even used a hole punch - super easy actually! I used three different stamp sets on this card, another first for me, I am so proud... and I LOVE this color purple! I never thought I was a purple person, but this shade is PERFECT!

What I used:

Paper: White and Plum Pudding (Papertrey)

Stamps: Simple Little Things, Polka Dot Basics, Beautiful Blooms (all Papertrey)

Ink: Plum Pudding (Papertrey), Craft White (SU!), Spring Pansy (Versamagic)

Accessories: White Felt, eyelet (American Crafts), brad (MM), Nestablities, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Flower Dies, Ribbon Plum Pudding (Papertrey), 1/8" hole punch

Funny Moments...
My son got in trouble AGAIN today for hitting his sister, so I decided that would mean that she would get the little sweet treats that were supposed to be his for the day (they usually get two little pieces throughout the day). His face - majorly confused. He tried to make sense of this, but in his mind this was completely ridiculous! After some dismay, he went to his sister, had a little talk (not sure what he said as he whispered in her ear), said he was sorry and came back to me a few minutes later. He says, "I'll make you a deal (his favorite line at 4)... she said she doesn't want my candy, so how about you give it to me and I will make her take it!" I had to laugh out loud! He was so sincere and adamant about it! Needless to say, no one got any candy yet today!

Sweet Moments...
I am sure many of you are familiar with the fruit and vegetable dilemna many of us face with our kids. My son is no exception. So today I told him he had to eat half of a banana before he could have yogurt. He wasn't happy at all. So, I said (with a huge smile and big eyes!) "how about if I put a little chocolate syrup on top and it would be like a chocolate covered banana?" He said, "Ok, that sounds good." He took his first bite and said "Mommy, you make my heart happy" - love that kid! He makes my heart happy!

Enjoy your day! Make every moment count!

Where Does The Time Go???

We finally went to have pictures taken! I can't believe how big my kids are now! I see them everyday, but it really hit me when I saw these pictures. It is sad, but it has been almost two and a half years since we last had professional photos taken of the kids. My son had pictures taken like every three months for his first two years, my daughter, well let's just say the thought was there :-(

Let me tell ya, my kids are not camera shy when it comes to professional photography! This photographer took over 140 pictures and these are just some of my favorites. It cost us an arm and leg, really killing my craft budget this month :-) but we are so happy we finally did it.

The only bad part about it is that Doug was supposed to be there so we could get a family portrait as well, but found out at the last minute that was not going to happen, so we went through with it anyway. To our family, he promises he will make the Christmas pic!

Enjoy! I hope they make you smile today!

My Mom...

My Mom just celebrated her birthday on July 12th, and although I could not be there with her I wanted to send her something special to let her know that I was thinking about her and how much she truly means to me. She has always liked butterflies, ever since I can remember, so I thought a butterfly shaped card would be appropriate. I was on the phone with her when she got the package, and she was a bit shocked when she realized this was her card. It was packaged inside a clear box, obviously it didn't fit in your standard sized envelope!

A little tribute to my mom... She is one of THE most important people in my life, and I am forever grateful to her for all she has done and continues to do for me. My husband even says that he is VERY lucky to have her as a mother-in-law. She never judges, almost never gives advice (I think that is more because she doesn't want it to come back and haunt her :-), and she loves unconditionally. She is always there to listen and she always lets me vent without trying to fix things (something my husband still hasn't figured out). She tells me when I am being stubborn, but she knows exactly where it comes from (she lives with the man :-) so she doesn't hold it against me. When everyone else told me I couldn't do something, she would always remind me that I was capable of anything. And even when we are on the phone 3oo miles away from each other, I still know that she is there for me and she would give her right arm if it meant my happiness. For that and so very much more, I love my mom. I can't imagine my life without her...

Hug your mom today, or at least give her a call :-D

What I used:

Stamps: Impression Obsession Solid Florals, PTI Butterfly Kisses (swirls on the small butterfly)

Paper: MME Bohemia patterned paper, Heavy Acetate

Ink: Staz On White and Black

Accessories: Gingham May Arts, American Crafts Rub-ons, Adobe Photoshop (butterfly template), sharpie, White acrylic paint Making Memories, Cropodile, Martha Stewart Butterfly punch and detail scissors

Here is how I made this card. First I needed a butterfly template, so I made the shape using the cookie cutter in Photoshop. I then cut it out, and traced it with a sharpie onto a PTI clear box, they use these to ship their stamps, then I hoard them :-) I have many! I cut it with fine detail scissors, stamped the florals with staz-on in a random pattern, added the transparent butterfly after stampin some swirls with black staz-on, added the "happy birthday" rub-on, punched some wholes on the side and tied some bows. Hope you like it!

I Finally Did Taylor's Challenge...

Hope you all had a fabulous 4th! We had a busy weekend, despite the fact that we really didn't go anywhere - go figure! We saw WALL-E on Friday, it was really cute, and it has a really great message to for the young and old(er). My kids had no clue what the movie was really about, they just liked WALL-E and EVE and all the other robots in it. This was my daughter's first movie ever in a theatre (she is almost three). She did pretty well, although at one point my husband let her go out into the aisle and she thought she could hang from the handrail. I was out of my seat like a shot to get her, needless to say she really did not like me at that point and everyone in the theatre knew it! But, I would suggest going to see it if you are looking for a kids movie with a good message. We enjoyed it!

Now for the card... Taylor VanBruggen has a "Cupcake Challenge" every week. She is a fabulous designer and I get a lot of inspiration from her. In her Challenge she encourages you to use cupcakes (hence the name "Cupcake Challenge") in your projects, but most importantly she really just wants you to follow her sketch. I have a cupcake or two, but none that were large enough to fit the rectangular panel, so I went with something a bit different for me.

I have had this Doodlebug stamp set for quite some time and never used it. It brings a smile to my face every time I look at it though and I have a friend who is going through a divorce who could use some cheering up. I am hoping this does just that! I used a lot of stickles to make it sparkle and quite a few dimensionals to make it pop out too! Like I said, this is very different for me, in more ways than one, but I really like how it turned out. Hope you enjoy seeing it!

Since it is very late here, almost 1:15 am, I will say goodnight. My son has swim lessons at 8:30 am, and my daughter will be up a good two hours before that!

Have a fabulous night/morning!



What I Used:
Stamps: Doodlebug Friends, PTI Mixed Messages
Ink: Stazon Black
Paper: PTI White and Berry Sorbet, Basic Black SU!
Accessories: Dimensionals, Stardust and Black Diamond Stickles, PTI Berry Sorbet Polka Dot Ribbon, Martha Stewart Coal and Pink Flamingo Markers, Paper Piercer, Mini Scallop Scissors

I Hope It Isn't Contagious...

I don't know about you, but we have had a lot of friend's and family members announce they are either having a baby or have had a baby. I love my kids, but I hope it isn't contagious - LOL! So, I have been making a lot of baby cards and gifts lately, some of which I will share here on my blog as time permits. Right now, my kids are sleeping after a three hour trip to the pool this morning, so I have a good amount of naptime on my hands - YIPPEE!

The card above was inspired by one Lisa Nichols did for PTI a few months back. I loved it; it was so soft and sweet, yet natural. I knew I would use it soon and here it is. My friend Terri just had a little boy and I thought this would be perfect for her. She isn't a real frilly/girly person, and with three boys now, that works out great for her!

The second card was made for my cousin in Philadelphia who is having her first baby. I wasn't able to go to the shower as my son came down with pneumonia just before, so I missed all the fun again (this is one of the things that makes me really sad about living so far from my family). I tried to keep this one neutral since they are thinking she is having a boy, but we won't know until mid-July! Most of the supplies on this card are from Papertrey. For a complete list see below.

We aren't doing much for the 4th, probably taking the kids to see the fireworks at the raceway here. Not sure how my 2-year-old will handle them in person. My son, on the other hand, will love them! Then we have a barbecue on Saturday at a friend's.

I have some great memories of fireworks from living in Philadelphia as a kid. You couldn't live there without a true appreciation of the 4th of July! Whether setting them off in my aunt and uncle's front driveway or seeing the huge display just off the Delaware River, it always felt like home. I hope my kids have memories like those one day.

Happy 4th! Stay safe and enjoy your weekend!


What I Used:
Sweet Baby Card
Paper: Kraft, Martha Stewart Fennel (green), PTI White, Basic Grey LilyKate patterned paper
Stamps: Fiskars Baby, PTI Mixed Messages
Ink: Timber Brown Staz-On, Sponged Colorbox Chalk Ink Chestnut Roan
Accessories: White Gel Pen, Sponge, Paper Piercer, Nestabilities and Cuttlebug, Scalloped Scissors, Riibon (Michaels Clearance), and Foof-a-lah Buttons with Su! Twine

Sweet Pea Card
Paper: PTI White, Aqua Mist, Lemon Tart
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics, Green Thumb
Ink: Aqua Mist, Thatched Straw Dew Drops
Accessories: Nestabilities, PTI Aqua Mist Polka Dot Ribbon, White Embroidery Thread and Needle, Dimensionals, Paper Piercer