Whoo Deserves a Thank You???

(Wise Owl) from Alli Miles back in June, and I was soooooo excited to get a chance to stamp some images from it! I'm sure my fellow stampers know how hard it is to wait for goodies to come in the mail. Alli was so good about keeping in touch and letting me know what was going on. It seems that her goodies were shipped to her, but NEVER arrived! Unfortunately, I have had this happen to me a few times - I wonder where it all goes... hmmm... Anyway, we had to wait for another set to get to her (in Canada!) and then for her to ship them to me.

I seriously LOVE this set! I am usually not a big fan of owls, but these owls are just so cute and I love that you can customize them! I think Kim Hughes' owls are so cute too - they are on my long list of things I want! I started making just one of these from the idea in my head, but then realized they would be perfect for my daughter's Thank You cards for her birthday. So, as much as I hate mass producing, sometimes it is necessary :-)

I also got to use some new Cuttlebug embossing borders on the Chocolate paper. These are so cool and I love that they add just a little something. I hadn't received my PTI Pure Poppy paper and ribbon when I made these (that was in my Happy Birthday to ME! order this month) so I used some red Martha Stewart Christmas ribbon I picked up last year on clearance. I think they came together nicely, and I am so happy to be able to cross something off my list!

Here is the inside sentiment...

We took a little drive this past weekend and it gave me some time to actually flip through those magazines, PB catalogs and CTMH books that have been stacking up. Boy do I have ideas now, I think I have finally found my creative flow (it's been missing for a while). I kept walking by my craft area and wishing something would come, but nothing ever did ;-P But it's coming back - Yippee!

We are leaving Saturday for a little fun with the kids in DC to celebrate my 36th birthday! I still can not believe I am going to be 36 - I remember when I was a kid that was really old! Doesn't feel so old these days. We plan to visit the Museum of Natural History, among other things, to see the dinosaurs and then hit the zoo on Sunday. I lived in Northern Virginia for two years and never visited the zoo, so my kids and I will be experiencing it for the first time together.

Well, I have a ton to do today while my kids nap - ahhhh, love that sound... silence...

Have a fabulous day/evening!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

What I used:

Stamps: Papertrey Ink Polka Dot Basics, Simple Alphabet and Wise Owl sets, Fiskars - Kimberly Poloson Filigree Borders

Ink: Papertrey Dark Chocolate, White Craft SU!

Paper: Papertrey Summer Sunrise, Spring Moss and Dark Chocolate, MAMBI Patterned Paper

Accessories: Dimensionals under owl, Cuttlebug and Embossing Border, Sizzix Wingo Zingo Alpha, Cinnamon Stickles, Large scallop scissors from Dollar Tree, Chocolate ribbon from PTI, Pink and Red are both Martha Stewart, Chocolate Zig pen, glue dots

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life...

As I promised, I am FINALLY uploading some pictures of my son's first day of preschool. It feels like it was forever ago, but it's actually only been two weeks. I wish I could be on top of things, I used to be the most organized person I knew, my college friends hated me. Oh, if they could see me now, I have no idea what happened, but that is certainly not an adjective I would use to describe me these days!


The day started relatively painless as I took a few tips from my friend Mrs. P who gets everything ready the night before. I even prepared the ingredients for blueberry pancakes, of course leaving the liquid for the morning :-) So that is what he had for breakfast on the first day of school - brain food!

Isn't he cute!
Of course, his sister had to get in on the action. She WILL NOT be outdone!

I kept taking pictures of him as we stopped along the way (out the driveway, our corner, red lights, stop signs...). He was getting so sick of me taking pictures that he said, "Mom, stop taking pictures of me while you are driving, it's DANGEROUS!" Of course I had to laugh! He was a little quiet on the way, I think there was a little anxiety going on in this shot (he is so much like his mother in that way - fear of the unknown :-)

But as we pulled into the parking lot, or should I say "carpool lane", this big, bright smile came across his face. He was so excited, he was hopping from backseat to front seat to back seat again - it was so cute! I was so happy to see that, I needed to see that.

I was really proud of myself that day. I told myself I wasn't going to cry, but I felt it starting as we drove there. I wouldn't let the tears come out of my eyes though. Then when he got out of the car, I thought "Oh God, here they come!" I shed a tear from each eye before my daughter started singing a song from the backseat about how her brother is leaving her and never coming back... that obviously made me laugh out loud!

At the end of EVERY school day the kids line up to ring the old fashioned school bell out front. It is really cute to see the little ones do it, they can barely budge it. My son has come to think of the bell as a rope swing, so I have to closely monitor his ringing skills, or should I say swinging skills??? :-)

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. I will have something crafty tomorrow - yes, two days in a row, can you believe it!

Have a fabulous day!

A Princess Is What You Were Meant To Be...

To think I almost sold this set without ever even using it! Well, thankfully I hadn't parted with it {yet} because I had to make a birthday card for a five year old who is VERY much a Princess. This was perfect for her!

And of course every princess must have a little sparkle in her life, so I piled on the stickles and glitter. This is probably the "sparkliest" (is that a word? :-) card I have ever made. Really not my style (if I even have one), but I can do sparkle when the need arises. I actually enjoyed making this card with all its sparkle. My son thought it was "cool," while my daughter said "oooooo, that's pretty mommy!". This coming from the child who deliberately touches every glittery thing in Michaels just so she can have "pretty hands." Ahhhhh, the little things...

We have been pretty busy around here the last week. I thought having one in preschool would make life slow down a bit, but that hasn't happened at all. But that's okay, I'd rather be running mad than bored out of my mind - we don't like to stay put around here :-)

Speaking of preschool... I have a few pictures to post from my son's first day. He was so cute! Now where are those pictures?...

Have a fabulous Monday! Thanks for stopping by!

What I Used:
Stamps: SU! Pretty Princess, PTI Mixed Messages
Paper: PTI Lemon Tart and Berry Sorbet, Basic Grey Two Scoops
Ink: Staz On Jet Black, PTI Berry Sorbet
Accessories: Diamond and Fruit Punch Stickles, Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils, SU! Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Niji Waterbrush, Dimensionals, Cuttlebug with Oval Nestabilities and Bloom Dots Embossing folder, Mini Scallop scissors, Organza ribbon

I Finally Stamped... Something...

This was tough! I hadn't been able to really do much of anything creative for the last few weeks, so when I finally sat down to create, boy was it hard! I had no idea where I was going with this, but I had to start somewhere, so I pulled one of the very first stamp sets I ever bought out, and believe it or not I have never used it before now! I loved it when I got it, but then I quickly bought something else, and then something else, and yet I still couldn't let this one go. So here it is, my very first creation using Art Warehouse Stamps!

It's a start; nothing fancy, but a start!

Fairly simple to produce, had I actually known what I was doing with it. But as it was it took me a few hours of walking away and coming back. You would think it should be fabulous as much as I played with it. Oh well, it is what it is! We all have those days and those creations!

Well, my son starts preschool tomorrow and I am trying to get myself into a routine, so I am off to prepare snacks for the week and get all of my belongings by the door so we can be off without a hitch (yeah right!).

Hope you all have a fabulous Monday! I am just hoping not to cry when my little man gets out of the car for his very first day :-( I know he will be fine, but he has been with me exclusively for the last three years, it's just hard to let go...

What I used:
Stamps: Art Warehouse (Interactive Graphic Flowers), Autumn Leaves (Elegant Flourishes), Papertrey Ink (Mixed Messages)
Paper: Kraft Papertrey Ink, Black ?
Ink: Pallette Noir, Papertrey Berry Sorbet
Accessories: Bracelet Bling from Michaels for center of flower, Sakura White Gel Pen, Dimensionals, Ribbon, Silver cord, Cuttlebug and Tag Die

She'll Always Be My Baby...

My little one just had her third birthday and I am still having a hard time believing she is three! You know how there are some things you can just remember like it was yesterday and yet you can't remember what you had for dinner last night? I really do remember everything about the births of both of my children - I don't know how considering the amount of drugs I was on and the length of my labors (over 24 hours with my son and over 13 with my daughter even though she was induced!). But I think mothers just have the ability to endure and remember the most wonderful moments that life has to offer.

The reason I am sharing so many pictures with you here on my blog is because all of our family lives in various parts of the United States, not to mention some friends who are overseas - Hey Vic! :-) - still fighting a war. So, I wanted to capture as many moments as possible so each grandparent could see her opening their gifts and so everyone could see how happy she was on her special day.

Even though her celebration was small, we had a fun day. We went to Burger King to meet a friend and her son for lunch and some crazy kid fun in the play area, then we had a nap (I needed that time to blow up balloons and hang up decorations), followed by play time with daddy, pick up her ice cream cake with Coco (her new stuffed dog) and daddy, some pizza (her request for her birthday dinner), and some party fun with our neighbors! That's enough for a three-year old if you ask me!

It's sometimes sad to see that all of their birthday presents come wrapped in either brown paper or brown boxes; that reminds me of how lonely these special days can be if we let them. Which is why my husband and I try to make them extra special for the kids. She loved her birthday and all of her gifts! I guess you can't miss what you never had!

Here she is in all her glory with a few of her new prize possessions...

Her first Strawberry Shortcake dolls...

A handmade card from Mana (my mom)...

Her new "he-haw" hat (her words :-)...

Money from G.G. (my grandmother)...

Her new dog "Coco" from Paw-Paw Gary and Grandma Connie,(she named him right away and we have no idea where the name came from)...

Her favorite "Princess" hat and her favorite brother (OK, ok she only has one brother :-)...

And the piece de resistance (read in French, I have no idea how to make those little accents :-p ), the ice cream cake that makes everybody happy...

Thank you all for making her day so special! She is one lucky little girl! Here is a kiss...

until we see you again!

Happy Birthday Little One!

Much love,

P.S. For my fellow stampers who may be visiting, I finally got some time to stamp. I actually have some things to share and will post later. Thanks for stopping by!

Overhaul...

Well, after seeing some of the very crafty blog headers out there, I decided to give myself a crash course in digital scapbooking. Where did I go to get some tips? Why, Two Peas In A Bucket of course! There are so any helpful people on the forums there, and so many fabulous scrapbookers willing to share their talents with those of us who have NO CLUE what they are doing.

So, this new header is my VERY FIRST attempt at digital scrapbooking! Not too bad for a newbie if I do say so myself! I had a lot of fun creating it - too much fun actually! It probably won't stay around too long as I am now on a quest for some digital freebies. So if you know of some great sites for freebies, please share.

These papers and elements were all downloaded many months ago from the Shabby Princess website. Cute stuff!

Well I hope to find some time to do something creative this weekend, especially considering it is a long weekend and my husband is here the whole time- yippee!

Have a fabulous evening/weekend!


*ETA...
I am also learning a bit more on how to change some of the HTML code on Blogger to change my template and make things bigger and wider. So you may see some weird things happening here, just a heads up!

Only Papertrey Could Get Me Back To My Blog...

Well, I have certainly been absent from my blog for one reason or another, but I couldn't let another day go by and miss the PTI Blog Hop! I love seeing all the creations that you ladies come up with, and althought this was a tough challenge, I am confident that you will still "knock my socks off."

So our challenge was to alter a CD case in some fashion other than its intended purpose. My inspiration actually came from IKEA. I spent a fabulous weekend with one of my bestest girlfriends who came to visit for the weekend, and boy did we shop literally til we dropped!!! Among the many places we went was IKEA and I came out of there with so many fabulous ideas (I'm in the middle of decorating my daughter's bedroom - can't wait to finish!). Anyway, I was so glad I checked the challenge before I left because otherwise this might not have occured to me. Here is the inspiration piece, but of course I had to liven it up a bit!

The whole thing...
Individual pieces...

Me and my Husband...

My daughter...

And finally, my son...

I will be back in a bit to compile a list of ALL of the supplies! I used quite a few bits and pieces from many, many, many Papertrey sets.

Enjoy the Blog Hop and as always thank you so much for visiting!

**ETA...

What I used:
Paper: Papertrey Vintage Cream, Aqua Mist, and Dark Chocolate
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics, “family” from Boards & Beams, “heart” from Wedding Day, “Love” from Mixed Messages, Forever and Cherish from Truly, Madly, Deeply set by Technique Tuesday, Flourish from Whirligigs set by Technique Tuesday
Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate, Versamagic Dew Drops Cloud White
Accessories: Making Memories Manila acrylic paint, Cuttlebug with heart die and polka dot embossing folder, EK Success small retro flower punch, pearls from Michaels, ribbon Dark Chocolate from PTI , Flowers from Prima and Making Memories, chipboard heart Making Memories, dimensionals, and EK Success Square Punch, and of course CD cases

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