Lifting you up!

Hey there!  How are things with you?

I'm going to share some personal stuff, so if you are only here for the details on the card above, scroll down!

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Bad things come in threes or so I've heard.

 Monday night, (in a moment of pure stupidity) I agreed to take my two boys and their two friends out for pizza/bowling/arcade games. It was insanity at it's best. But the real trouble came when I was trying to teach my youngest how to play Skee Ball and I whacked my fingernail so hard against the lane that a big, painful blood blister formed instantly underneath the center of my nail and I swore so loudly that everyone in the arcade stopped and stared at me. Yep. I blushed and apologized, while my 8 YO gaped at me with wide eyed horror. It still throbs even now. 

Then, Tuesday morning I get to work only to discover that I'm officially furloughed but considered "essential" and still required to work. *sigh* As a single mom, I can't continue this way for long and still pay my bills. This US government shutdown is frustrating to say the least. I don't mind doing my civic duty, but working for no pay just isn't cool man. Not cool at all. 

And the piece de resistance happened yesterday... a car smashed into me and messed up my front end considerably. I was behind someone at a stop sign, when suddenly they threw it into reverse and floored the gas! I was laying on my horn but it clearly didn't help. *grumble* 

So Universe, I'm good now. Be on your merry way and take your troubles elsewhere, please!

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Did you see that all stamps and Fri-dies are on sale at Casual Fridays Stamps?

I love inking up multiple sentiments and making them work for one card. It's kind of a personal challenge sometimes:) After stamping the link style BG, I grabbed colorful inks for the focus panel and went to town. In retrospect, I wouldn't paper pierce the white panel, but I did and it's done, and I'm not changing it! The plum ribbon is May Arts,

Stamps used:

Truth Is, Rad, Lotsa Links, Loving Thoughts, Calm & Gentle.

Oh, and don't forget that new release sneak peeks start October 6 on the Casual Fridays Stamps Blog! You won't want to miss your chance to win these awesome new goodies!!

Thanks for stopping by today, XOXO

Loving my Casual Fridays Stamps!

Hi all! *wave*

I'm so excited that Spring is almost here (theoretically) in upstate NY. The snow is melting and my driveway is a muddy mess, but I'm delighted:) Hunting for Easter eggs in the snow is not so bad (we do it every year) but I want this snow GONE!

I pulled out some CFS sets that help me feel Spring-like and created this card. Orange is my all time favorite color, and of course green is a must.

Stamps used:

Beanstalks

Casual Elegance

What signs of Spring do you look forward to the most? Birds, flowers, rain?

I love that asparagus prices drop because its in season! *chuckle*  We eat a lot of green vegetables in my house and asparagus is one of my boys' favorites. 

I always serve it for Easter.

So what do vegetarians eat on Holidays?

Grilled fresh pineapple, Roasted asparagus, Seitan Ham with pineapple dijon sauce, Corn spoonbread with chives, Ginger glazed carrots, Smashed red skinned potatoes with herbs...And for dessert?

Triple Lemon Cheesecake with my own vegan lemon curd on top:)

Two Favorite photos from our celebration this year:

(My youngest with his father-egg hunting)

(Both boys excited about finding eggs)

Thanks for stopping by today, 

XOXO

Sketchy Sunday #11

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms in the US!

Things been a crazy whirlwind of insanity since I returned from my trip to California! I had a really nice visit with 6 of my siblings, spent some lovely time along the West Coast beaches, and ate like a queen due to my SIL's delicious Vietnamese cooking.  

Through my airplane window.

Myself and 6 of my siblings.

Bodega Head beach

Cook your own (I'm cooking tofu and veggies!)

And I now have an official teenager in the house due to my oldest turning 13 on Thursday. *sigh*  Do they become obnoxious overnight?  Seems like it. *chuckle*

He blew up this balloon from his Grandma!

The above card is for the newest sketch over on the 365 Cards blog. I think it is the most literal I've ever been with a sketch!

I embossed the paisley background (from Cornish Heritage Farms) with white e.p. The flower, leaves, and sentiment are from PTI.

Why not join in on the fun and link up your project using this sketch for inspiration to the 365 Cards Blog?! 

And if you need more samples, be sure to check out the rest of the design team:

ERIN

ANNIE

JENNY

WENDI

ROSE

Thanks for stopping by, hope your Mother's Day is wonderful!

XOXO

Jumbled amalgam of stuff

I made a bunch of thank you cards for a local business last month, and this one was one of my favorites. They wanted simple but bold, and easily mail-able. This seemed to fit the bill. 

Unless requested, I try not to make all of them the same, but still supply multiples of several different designs.

I could NOT get good lighting for this card. *shrug*

It just looked off no matter where I took the photo. 

This one above was taken with my phone in my studio at night. Blah.

Although my kids get bused 45 minutes away to private school, I had to drive them in on Tuesday because the local public schools had the day off.  It is truly Autumn here in Western New York and I could not resist taking this photo of them with the gorgeous backdrop of changing leaves. The grass was still covered in dew and it was chilly, but the sun was peeking out from over the hills behind us and shining on the tops of those trees.

This was taken at night with my phone (ignore the graininess!) as a quick image text to my husband who was out. Even though a terrible photo from a photography perspective, I adore it! Our happy, goofy smiles make me laugh!

Thanks for stopping by,

*mwah*

I love giraffes

Yes, it's true. 

I love giraffes.

But I also love Denami kraft colored buttons too!

 (although they aren't called "kraft" on their site, they match it perfectly)

I made this card for the Denami product spotlight. 

This little giraffe stole my heart and I couldn't resist 

stamping him multiple times. 

And he (or she!) is 10% off this week, so grab him/her while you can!

This card went out to my nephew Nicholas, and his significant other who are expecting again! 

Their first daughter, my great-niece Evelyn, is adorable 

and I like to think I'm not too terribly biased. *wink*

I took a picture of her this past weekend with my phone.

Cute, right? *smile*

Be sure to stop by the Denami Blog and see all the cutie-patootie 

cards made for the Product Spotlight! 

You won't want to miss this giraffe in all his/her glory!

Thanks for stopping by,

*mwah*

Requisite post-holiday pics

Those of you who know me or have been following my blog for a while, know that I like to post photos of our holiday festivities.

Because I don't scrapbook, these posts serve as a visual reminder of how fast time can pass when we aren't paying attention, and help us remember the little things!

Stamped, heat embossed, dyed eggs. Let's just say that Versamark does not apply to eggshells as well as it does to paper...

PTI sets used: Masculine Motifs, Turning a New Leaf.

P-dub's Apple Dumplings. Ready to go into the oven...or almost...I forgot the Mountain Dew. Yes, you read that correctly, her recipe calls for pouring a can of soda over these babies right before putting them in the oven. Not allowing HFCS in my house, and having children allergic to food dye, I subbed ginger beer (ginger ale in super spicy form) and these were DIVINE!

Apple dumplings fresh from the oven. Can you smell the cinnamon? Yum! We served them with vanilla ice cream for breakfast. My kids thought I was truly super-mom. *wink* 

I allowed my 11 year old son to design the centerpiece and gave him many things to choose from. This is what he decided on! Pretty isn't it? (please ignore the wrinkled tablecloth!)

After dyeing eggs we had tons of leftover dye, so I let the boys "decorate" the sidewalk with all the colors.

 

Here is my dinner plate: Seitan ham with pineapple dijon sauce, fresh grilled pineapple, ginger glazed carrots, roasted asparagus, red-skinned smashed potatoes with chives, and corn pudding. Forgive the few bites missing...*sheepish grin*

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope everyone had a great Sunday!

*mwah*

Sad news.

Hi everyone. I'm home from vacation and back into the swing of things.

Sadly, I came home to bad news. My Godmother (and my mom's BFF from college) passed away, so we are pretty torn up. I was relatively close to my Godmother, and have called her Aunt Bunny since I was old enough to speak.

Some of you may remember the card I made for her to thank her "in advance" for her continued love and support. I'm sad to think she will never receive it...*sniff sniff*

The larger card above was made for a challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts last week to "stamps a scene."

I've ALWAYS had trouble with scene stamping but was really happy with how this one turned out! 

All  stamps are Unity. The gold bird and gorgeous blue seam binding are from Bearydo Paperie.

Thanks for stopping by today, I'm glad to be back. Keep us in your thoughts...

Double sweetness

 Thank you to everyone for the numerous and heartfelt Birthday wishes yesterday!

It was a good day.

This card was made to try the double bow technique that Clare uses. She kindly made a video to show how she does it and I couldn't resist giving it a shot!
Some old Basic Grey paper, a notebook border punch, some fine linen twill, a few die cut felt butterflies and some pearl pins! Stamps by PTI.

Most of you heard or "saw" on the forums and FB that my hubster bought me an iPhone4 for my birth day. He also made me dinner too! And I received some simply beautiful tulips from my best friend Mary, and had key lime pie for my birthday "cake" and my kids made me some sweet cards. All in all I'd say it was a wonderful day!

Hope you have a great day today, thanks for stopping by!
*mwah*

Little Bundles of Joy

Happy Thursday!

Did you get your new Little Bundle stamp set yet? It was released at midnight last night at Practicing Creativity Designs!

Aren't all the sentiments the sweetest things? I particularly like this one (but maybe I'm just partial to boys?). Although I didn't know my children from birth (they were adopted), they have definitely brought sunshine and joy into our house. And loud, rambunctious, craziness too! LOL

CrumbGrabber (6) and StickyFingers (11). March 3, 2011

Thanks for stopping by today, hugs all around.

*mwah*

I'm alive and well (finally)

Yes I'm alive. 
For all you sweet, sweet folks who emailed me, called me, texted me, sent me cards, and thought about me...I thank you. 

This has always been an emotionally rough time of year for me (Both my FIL and my Dad died in the month of November), but the death of my 22 year old niece this year really threw a wrench in the spirit of Thanksgiving. She will be missed.

I have also just gotten over a severe illness in which I could only keep down water for several days. (On the pus side, I lost quite a few pounds! *grin*)

I whipped up this wedding card for my youngest's first grade teacher. She got married over Thanksgiving break and all of the moms in the class got together and purchased gifts and threw a surprise party for her.

I used Wedding Day and Giga Guidelines. The large poofy flower was just some punched scallop circles that I crumpled up and stacked together.

Here's the inside. I love that sentiment from Birthday Basics!

If you are looking for a good deal today, Practicing Creativity Designs is having an AMAZING Cyber Monday Sale today. All stamp sets are only $10!!!!!!! So if you've been wanting that one particular set, now is the BEST time to get it!

Thanks for stopping by today, and for all the love and support you've been showering me with. I am truly blessed to call you all my friends!


Big Hugs,

Birthday Boy

Our oldest turns 11 years old today! When we first adopted him and his brother the state gave us new birth certificates showing that we were the legal parents. I almost choked at the part where it gave my age at the time of his birth...21! 

I was MOST DEFINITELY not thinking about having kids when I was 21 and still in college! lol

So it seems weird (to me) to have an 11 year old when I am only 33.

I made this card for him late last night when we returned home from our trip to visit some family on the other side of the state. All products except for the PP scrap are from PTI. I just love that Fly Away set. Oh, and I tried Belinda's technique for making clouds and it was so easy and fun! You can see I also added some white dots to the BB: Retro BG.

The birthday boy asked if we could go bowling for his BD treat. He loves to bowl! Here we are on the way to the bowling alley with my great-nephew to the far right.

(The birthday boy is in the center)

And here we all are at the bowling alley (I'm taking the photo). Notice the completely absurd expression on the birthday boy's face? What a nut!

Hope all you mothers and grandmothers out there had a nice Mother's Day. Mine was spent mostly driving, but when we got home my hubster did cook supper for all of us, so that was a nice change.

Thanks for stopping by today friends! It's good to be home.