Vanessa's Creative Visions

Happy 80th Birthday, Nana!!!

2012-01-01T19:33:00.012-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!!! Hope you all had a fun, safe night and rang in the New Year with the people you love. It was a pretty quiet night here, but it usually is for us. My hubby worked, but was home around 7 and my parents came over and brought Chinese food which has pretty much been our New Years tradition for as long as I can remember. The kids stayed up late, we played some games and hung out. Then we watched the ball drop, listened to LMFAO (LOVE that darn song and wish I could do the shuffle! LOL) and went to bed. My poor baby girl had a rough night sleep and therefore, so did the rest of us. I was up with her from about 2-5am when she finally decided to fall back to sleep in bed with us. :/

Today we actually went to my grandmother's 80th birthday celebration. My aunts (and my dad) rented a room and had a big party for her. All of my aunts, uncles and cousins were there. Even though we just had our family Christmas party, it was nice to get together again. Avery was not quite right all day, I think she must be cutting a tooth and that must be what kept her up all night. Even when we got home, she cried for an hour, didn't want to eat (totally not like her) or anything. I feel so bad because there's nothing I can do for her. I gave her some Motrin because she's groaning like she's in some type of pain, gave her a bottle which thankfully she took because I don't want her dehydrated and put her up to bed early. I'm hoping she sleeps better tonight. Fingers crossed for us please!!!

I just wanted to share the couple of birthday cards I made for my grandmother. My dad asked me to make her one for him with bees on it since her name is Honey. Luckily I had this cute bee stamp!!! I used paper from the Basic Grey Urban Prairie collection and hand cut the honeycomb(esque! LOL) shape. The bees are popped up off the card and I added some Stickles to their wings. I adhered some buttons to the edge, tied some twine through one of them and added my favorite rose trim to the bottom.

Nana also likes tea/tea pots. I used some of the same papers for this card and a bunch of Prima flowers. I love the doily one especially. It's very Nana-ish!!! HAHA The stacked tea cup stamp is from a Flourishes set I got quite a while back. I stamped it several times on the different colored papers and paper pieced them back together on the patterned paper. Kind of reverse paper piecing I guess. :P Lastly, I had some tea pot brads so I used one as the center to one of the flowers and it was the perfect finishing touch.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and the very best for 2012!!! {{{Hugs}}}

In the Meadow - WMC80

2011-12-30T00:13:00.011-05:00

Well, I had a long, tiring day home with the kids. I swear, some days they just run me ragged and I feel so beat down. I know that may sound horrible, but it's the truth. I love my kids OF COURSE, but I'm feeling very overwhelmed lately and I'm not sure how to get out of this funk. Ever been there? Any advice? I really miss stamping (not that I stamped anything on the card I made!!! LOL) and crafting in general. When I went upstairs earlier, I had my 3 and a 1/2 year old sitting on a chair next to me, but he was more like standing and looking over my shoulder/bumping me in the elbow. While he was being cute and complementary "Ohhh, that looks good", "Yeah, I like that!", etc., it was still highly annoying. Also, my 17 month old daughter was standing on a chair next to him, pulling everything out of my craft tote. Then she crawled under my table and proceeded to whine and try climbing up my legs until I picked her up. Needless to say, I couldn't get much done!!!

There are 3 challenges going on right now that I want to participate in. The first one is for my friend Jenny over at Wee Memories (Challenge #80) and since this one had to be submitted by tomorrow, I had to get to this one first. See, I have priorities. :P This week "anything goes" and this is what I came up with. I have had this Cosmo Cricket paper for a while and love the non-traditional colors. The card itself is 5x7 which I've actually never made before. I used the teal with the snowflakes for the top portion of my card for the sky and the pink swirly one for the bottom representing the meadow. I adhered a tall chipboard snowman from the same line and then used letter stickers to write "In the meadow we can build a snowman". I ended up pulling off the "o" in meadow and replacing it with a snowflake charm and added some twine to string it up... or down... not quite sure what you'd call it. HAHA Lastly, I added some "stitching" with a couple of Gelly Roll pens and a ruler. In my opinion, this totally ruined my card. When I moved the ruler, the ink smudged. I am such a perfectionist that this really bothers me!!! I know, I know. I'm being hard on myself. Maybe it's just my mood, but I am trying to get out if it. I promise!!! :)

JOY! haha

2011-12-25T22:41:00.007-05:00

Just another couple of cards before it's "too late". :)

I love pink and red together for Christmas. It's kind of traditional meets non and it looks pretty and girly. I embossed the word Joy from a CTMH stamp set I've had for a while. I added some rose trim (LOVE this stuff!!!), pom pom ribbon and adhered the acrylic snowflake with a glittery brad.

Again kind of non-traditional Christmas colors with the green and purple/pinks, but FUN! I used my Nesties to cut the shape for my sentiment then stamped a faint background and embossed the work Jingle from that same CTMH stamp set as mentioned above. I added some velvet holly leaves, a few pearls for the berries and strung a jingle bell from the word itself.

I love snowmen!!!

2011-12-23T09:49:00.013-05:00

Who doesn't love a cute little snowman? I know I do!!! I just don't necessarily like going out in the cold and snow to build one. :P

This first card was super simple. I used a sweet Christmas tree background paper, added a Cosmo Cricket (I believe) chipboard snowman, a felt snowflake and the "Merriment" sticker.

I found this set of Christmas screens to use with Glimmer Mist at Michael's. I honestly only had one or two colors of mist at home so I bought a red one at the retreat. I misted around the Snowman stencil. Then when he was dry, I added black pom poms for his buttons and a felt button to his hat.

For this card, I used some Nestabilities to cut the shape out. Then I embossed the snowman from one of Unity's kits and added a few black brads. I added some white flower trim to the bottom and tied some pretty red ribbon with pink trim in a bow and adhered to the top corner. The inside says "Snowbody like you". :)

Beauty of Christmas

2011-12-20T21:19:00.007-05:00

Just sharing a few more cards I made at that retreat. I'll probably have a couple more posts before the weekend arrives. SHOCKER! haha

I've had some SEI velvet paper for quite some time and decided to try embossing on it to see how it came out. It might be hard to see in the picture because it really has a subtle effect, but it's a cardinal sitting on a branch. I went with a polka dot background paper and added the word JOY in Thickers... which I have about 50 packs of. Can't have enough options, right? :)

I LOVE this pretty cream background paper with the blue glitter. Since I liked the effect of embossing on the velvet paper, I did that again with a snowflake background. I saw a pack of blue Prima wintery embellishments at the little store they had there and wanted to use the butterfly so I had to buy those. Who's surprised? LOL I also knew I had a stamp at home that said "A Snowflake is Winter's Butterfly" which would've been perfect for what I had in mind, but of course I didn't pack that with me. :P You know how it is when you know EXACTLY what you want?! Grrr! I ended up thumbing through what I did have with me and found this other sentiment that worked instead.

I used the same background paper for this card and simply embossed the Winter Wonderland sentiment then added the bird from that same Prima set. SIMPLE, but so elegant. I wish it was going to be a Winter Wonderland this year, but it looks like we won't be having a White Christmas this year. Awww!!! I'm sure they'll be plenty of snow in the coming months so I'll try not to complain!

6 Days 'til Christmas? Oh {rein}deer! LOL

2011-12-19T10:52:00.010-05:00

I don't know why, but time keeps going by faster and faster! People always said that's what happened when you got "older" and I think that must be what's happening. It seems the whole year just flew by. Each month, I'd say "I can't believe it's already September... November... December..." and then just as quickly, the month's half over. Now we're finding our way into the new year and it's just crazy to me!!!

I went to a scrapbooking retreat mid-November and said I'd be posting pictures of the cards I made throughout the month and here we are, 12/19 and no Christmas cards posted. And actually, no cards mailed either. What a slacker!!! Honestly, I haven't wrapped a gift yet and am not much in the holiday spirit. I think it's partially the lack of snow here in NH and also the fact that I can't believe it's December and Christmas is in less than a week!!! Guess I better believe it though because it's coming whether I'm ready or not!!!

When we went to the retreat, we went over to Michael's before checking in. I saw this little reindeer stamp and it was 50% off. I kept putting it down and picking it back up, but I just couldn't resist it and I'm glad I couldn't 'cause she's just the cutest!!! I also picked up some little Santa hats which fit perfectly on her head and thought that would be perfect.

It's kind of hard to tell in the first picture, but I stamped the image twice and popped it up off the card. Oh and I added a tiny felt pom pom for her nose. :)

For this card, I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder for the background. I sponged some white pigment ink over the snowflakes and added a few pearls. Super simple, but love the look!

End of November

2011-11-30T21:27:00.009-05:00

Well, it's the last day of November which was a great month for me! It started with trick-or-treating with my little ones since we had that freak snow storm before the actual holiday and postponed it a week. You can see a picture of my little cuties in my last post!

Mid-month I went to a scrapbooking retreat with one of my best friends. We had a great time and I'll be posting pictures of my layouts and cards throughout the next month. In the meantime, this is us!!!

And this is one of our favorite parts... BACON!!! LOL

The following week was Thanksgiving! This is a picture of me and my mom! <3

This is my cute little family... me, my hubby and 3 children!!!

Lastly, MY BIRTHDAY was yesterday. This is me. 34 years young!!! Just goofin' off at Walmart. LOL

And this is me with my other best friend who came out to dinner with us to celebrate my birthday!

I hope you all enjoyed November as well and had lots to be thankful for on Thanksgiving and this year in general. I can't believe tomorrow is the start of December. This year has flown by!!!

UPDATE!!! When I checked my e-mail this morning, I had an e-mail that I was the winner of a giveaway on the Scrapbook Steals website. I won two stamp sets from Sweet Stamp Shop. I had to add this news to my November post since the e-mail was dated 11/30. Told you it was a great month for me!!! ;)

Halloween... a tad late!

2011-11-27T11:05:00.016-05:00

Hey! It's me... LATE as usual. LOL But my mom always said "Better late, than never", right? :P We had a freak snowstorm on October 29th that made us lose power for 3 1/2 days and postponed our Halloween here in NH. I took this picture early on in the storm, but I loved how the crisp white snow looked against the bright orange pumpkins!!!

They cancelled trick-or-treating on the actual holiday, 10/31. Then we somehow ended up missing the rescheduled date for our own town so we headed over to a friends' neighborhood on Sunday, 11/6 to bring the kids out. Here are my babies, Buzz Lightyear and my little Piglet.

I had actually made some Halloween cards BEFORE Halloween, but never posted them. Imagine that!!! HAHA This first one is my FAVE, but I did end up tweaking it a little and forgot to take a picture before I mailed it off to my cousin Lisa, who I always used to watch The Wizard of Oz with when we were kids. All I did was switch one of the witches from another card and used the one I had colored green instead. Can you believe that I actually forgot to write inside the card when I sent to her? I was so mad when she left me a message about it on Facebook. What an airhead!!! In fairness, I *was* without power and at a friends' writing out the cards. I thought I'd double checked them all, but apparently I missed one. LOL I punched out the butterflies on black paper and used the negative space to add a pop of color with some twine. I used mandarin and lilac from The Twinery. It was kind of a pain to do, but I love the effect. The "Little Witch" stamp is one of MFT's Pure Innocence stamps. I was so upset when my whole stamp set went missing after making a few cards with it. Low and behold, I found it stuck to a bunch of my Nestabilities at a scrapbooking retreat I went to last weekend. I think I screamed in joy! LOL I really thought my daughter had swiped it, threw it in the garbage and it was gone for good. What a relief!!! I also found 3 of my Christmas Unity sets that went missing YEARS ago while packing for my retreat. Whoot!!! Anyways! I finished the card with a flower and one of the punched out butterflies and added the orange pearls down the center. I just LOVE how it came out!!!

This is the card I swapped the green witch out from. It looked MUCH better with the two little white girls. ;)

For my friend, Melissa:

For my friend, Melanie:

For my mom:

The Play Date Cafe - Challenge #107 (PDCC107)

2011-11-11T21:30:00.005-05:00

Hello, friends! I have been slacking in the world of blogging for the past couple of weeks. I haven't done any hops (wahhh! LOL) and haven't created much either. I have been trying to get up into my space and organize a bit and I also have something else I'm working on that is taking up some of my "free" time. There are so many challenge sites out there that I decided I need to participate more. With that being said, The Play Date Cafe has their Color Splash challenge this week. The colors were black, white and a splash of ORANGE! I hardly ever use orange (besides for Halloween) so this was a FUN one! I had bought the two new spiral blossom Nestabilities and had been wanting to try them out so I just had to put a big flower on this card. I used the butterfly film stamp from the CTMH stamp set, Take a Picture and the Dream Big sentiment which is from one of Unity's Itty Bitty stamp sets. LOVE that one, one of my faves for sure!!! In addition, you know I had to add an extra butterfly to my creation... with a splash of orange bling! ;)

Just a side note, the link to the CTMH stamp set is my friend Peggy's site who currently sells Close to My Heart products. If you're interested in any items and don't have a Consultant, I know she'd appreciate your business. She's super sweet and a good friend. Hiii, Peggers!!! hehe

Swimming for Katie

2011-10-25T23:54:00.014-04:00

A few weeks ago, I {heart} Papers released some very special stamps trying to raise money for a fellow stamping friend, Katie Renz, who was diagnosed with stage 4 gastric cancer and is battling this nasty disease. Katie used to sell CTMH a while back while I was also selling it so I'd known her (or at least her name) for a while. Katie has 3 small boys and her story is truly heartbreaking!!! You can read her story on her blog. All proceeds from the sale of these stamps go directly to Katie and her family so how could you NOT buy it? I know I couldn't resist! Another stamping friend, Ashley Nguyen Newell, decided to have a giveaway through her own blog so the card I made is being entered for that and also to send to Katie directly. Jenny Suchin (love her!!!) was also kind enough to collect donations for flowers to send to Katie and I was happy to pitch in. It's really nice to know that people you've never even met truly care and will do what they can even from afar. I've been a part of some great and generous things lately and it makes me so very happy. You never know what you can do to brighten someone's day and I sure hope we've done that for Katie, even for just a moment. {{{Hugs}}}

It's almost Halloween!

2011-10-25T22:06:00.004-04:00

I hope everyone's enjoying my favorite season... FALL!!! It seems the leaves just barely start changing and then it's over!!! I actually heard a rumor that NH might actually see snowflakes later this week. I'm not quite ready for THAT yet!

My hubby and I actually got to go to a Halloween party this past weekend. Thanks again to mom for watching the little ones. I was out at Walmart with the kids and tried on this mask, but Andrew didn't approve! LOL

We ended up dressing up as pirates which we did about 5 or 6 years ago. I couldn't think of anything clever and I didn't want to spend a lot of money to wear something once. As it turns out, we didn't take any pictures so it worked out ok! HAHA Now I'm onto my NEXT costume dilemma. My 3 year old wanted to be Buzz Lightyear and I had friend who kindly lent me the costume, but now he's changed his mind and INSISTS {persistently} that he is being the Big Bad Wolf. I have bid (and LOST) two auctions on ebay and his school party is the day after tomorrow. I've convinced him to be Buzz for his class party and will hopefully pull off a small miracle and get the wolf costume by Monday. I'm just not sure HOW I'm gonna make that happen. Cross your fingers for me!!!

So I made these cards a few weeks ago, but figured I'd wait until closer to Halloween to post them. Hope you like 'em!!!

For this card I used some Halloween papers by American Crafts. I used the stars for the "sky", the pumpkins for the "ground" and stamped the fence in grey along the border to further separate them. I LOVE this tree from the CTMH set which I cannot think of the name of right now. :P I'll have to insert that later. LOL Those little ghosts are by Making Memories and I love those little guys.

I was really pleased with how this one came out for it being so "simple" to make. I embossed some kraft cardstock with an embossing folder. The brushed some black chalk over the embossed image, colored the skeletons in with a with a white gel pen, the crowns with a dark purple gelly roll pen and stamped the sentiment in the middle. DONE! :)

I hope everyone has a HAPPY HALLOWEEN and you get way more TREATS than tricks!!! Though I really need to lay off the treats. HAHAHA

Happy Anniversary to me!!! Ok and to my hubby, too! ;)

2011-10-25T20:14:00.035-04:00

Me and my husband celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary on the 14th. My mom came over to babysit for two nights so we could get away for a much needed mini vacation.

We started by getting TATTOOS!!!

We didn't get matching ones per se, but we did both get tattoos that represent the kids. I got 3 roses to cover up an older tattoo that I wasn't in love with anymore and I also got three BUTTERFLIES to represent my three children!!!

My hubby got our little ones' footprints and names.

After the tattoos, we went out to dinner and drove the 2+ hours to the Mountain View Grand Hotel in Whitefield, NH. We arrived late so it was dark, but we got to take a better look around the following day. Beautiful, huh?

Friday morning we went on a zipline canopy tour at Bretton Woods. That was such an AMAZING experience. I am afraid of heights, but it was so awesome, I can't even describe it.

We did 10 ziplines... YUP, I came across THAT! Wooo hooooo!!!

Two repels...

...and two suspension bridges!!!

There was also a rainbow out from the time we were getting on our gear for almost the whole time we were out there in the treetops. I have a "thing" for rainbows and one of the songs surrounding our wedding was "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" so it was really cool to see this on the day of our anniversary! :)

On the last day before we came home, we went on the Aerial Tram up Cannon Mountain. When we were living up "north" about 10 minutes from here, we never went so it was fun to finally do it.

It was pretty overcast and grey when we went, but still so amazing. On a clear day you can see into 3 states (NH, ME, VT) and Canada. How cool is that???

Happy Anniversary, Honey! {Not that he reads my blog! LOL} I LOVE YOU!!!

Operation Julie's Smile!!! :)

2011-10-07T08:00:00.003-04:00

The creative blogging community is coming together this weekend to help one of our friends, Julie Ranae. You may know her as the Design Team Coordinator for many wonderful companies from bakers twine, die cuts, rubber stamps and more. What many people don’t know about Julie Ranae is that she has had some pretty major dental surgeries in her lifetime due to medication she had to take as a child. It was in her plans to think about having all of her teeth replaced at some point in the next 5 years, a decision that was pretty easy to plan out. But then it happened... she chipped her front teeth on a weekend a month ago. The dentist told her there was no way to save them and that it was his recommendation that she give in and have all her teeth removed soon, but for that day, they needed to get her front teeth done so her gums could begin to heal. He said he would 'work out payments' with her to have ALL this work done, but when she called to make her appointment for the first step of impressions, they told her the amount of money that was needed and that the 'payments' applied only to the two teeth that were extracted that day. Her husband Paul was with her and that was his understanding as well. So this is how she has found herself in this situation... needing at least $4000 to get started and another $3000 to finish the process. A total of $7000!

Nicole Rixon, owner of Sweet Stamp Shop put together this benefit after finding out about this situation and before Julie Ranae knew it, it took flight! Because she is an event organizer by trade, she has taken on the job of organizing all of the blogs in this hop as her way of ‘working overtime’ for what she needs, the same as if she were able to work overtime at an outside job to pay for the work to be done. It is the goal of all of these generous friends & sponsors to help make this situation more do-able for our friend so that she can share a brand new smile with all of us soon.

If there is anything you can do to help with a financial donation, there is a donation button ready for you to click. Any amount is appreciated and ALL DONATIONS will be eligible for prizes from our sponsor pool of over $2500.

This past weekend was World Card Making Day and I had a good friend down visiting as mentioned in my previous post. On Sunday, my hubby was off so I made him keep an eye on the kids so her and I could play up in my scrap area for a while. Semi uninterrupted anyways!!! I had made a card using the same technique the day before, but had an idea for using the new mini pinwheel die I bought from Lil' Inker Designs thanks to my friend (and enabler), Julie Ranae!!! LOL What a cutie that thing is, let me tell you!!! I was giggling as I separated each little petal. ADORABLE!!! The stamp set that you can get along with the die has some really great sentiments as well. I chose to use the "I miss having you 'round" and "You mean the whirl to me" ones for my cards. I used papers from Fancy Pants' "It's the Little Things" line and made two cards because one of these simply wouldn't be enough... and it's also WAY easier to make two at once. hehe What CUTE paper this is, I really wish I had bought the full kit. I still might. ;)

I am so glad that you joined us on this amazing blog hop for Operation Julie’s Smile. If you came here from Avocado Arts blog, then you are in the right spot. If not, you may want to start from the beginning at the Sweet Stamp Shop’s blog and take your time. You have ALL WEEKEND to hop with us and win prizes!!!

I was super shocked to be asked to join in on this as this is my very FIRST blog hop I was actually a part of. So thank you to Julie Ranae and Nicole for thinking of me to be included. I am happy to be here and help in any way I can! I donated a few prizes and am also making a financial donation. I hope it helps Julie get to the place she needs to be. If everyone can make a donation in any denomination, it would be kindly appreciated. It could be $1, it could be $10, it could be $100... whatever you're comfortable with. The donation button is located just to the right. ;)

I hope you enjoyed your stop here on the hop! The next stop is Lynn Miller's blog. Make sure you leave a comment HERE on my blog before you go so that you can have a chance at the amazing prizes up for grabs and if you can, please make a donation so we can help bring back a new smile for our friend. REMEMBER, there are over $2500 in prizes donated by very generous companies and us crafters, too. Prize winners will be drawn from the following: blog comments left, PayPal donations and blog hop hosts. A complete list of sponsors is listed on the Sweet Stamp Shop blog as well as the FULL list of 120+ blogs participating this weekend so if you get lost along the way, head on back over there!!!

THANKS SO MUCH for being with us. Grab a cup of coffee, tea... or MANY! Enjoy the rest of the hop and the rest of your weekend!!! :)

World Card Making Day

2011-10-03T19:57:00.022-04:00

As some of you may know, my family and I relocated last year. We stayed in state (NH), but about 2 hours away from "home" and in doing that, it separated me from one of my very best friends who lives in Vermont. The last time we saw each other was in January so imagine how excited I was when she finally made the trip down to visit this past weekend. I literally ran down the driveway barefoot when she got here. Well, I guess that's not completely true... I had socks on. :P I had made dinner to be ready when she and her son got here so we ate, I gave her a tour of the house and we just hung out the rest of the night. It just so happened to be World Card Making Day when she was here as well which was super cool because we used to scrapbook and stamp together. I have to tell the story of how we met simply because it's what made me love her *almost* at first sight. I might've shared this before, but here I go again.

When my hubby got promoted, we relocated about 2 hours north of where I lived and town I actually grew up in. It was a welcome change, but I had my reservations. I was moving from my parents and friends, my son (then 10) from his school and further from his dad and also leaving a job I really did like and had been at the longest of any job I'd had. The day we moved, my hubby drove the UHaul truck and I drove my car up with my son who was looking out the window very upset most of the ride. We were going to be renting a house and not unloading the truck until the next day so I stopped at Walmart to pick up a few necessities to get us through the night and the next couple of days. While there, I was telling my son to just be himself and he'd make friends in no time. I brought him into the video game section to kill some time and make him happy even if for a few minutes. There happened a boy who looked to be about his age and me being me, I approached him and asked how old he was. Turned out he was the same age and in the same grade as my son, BUT he lived in Vermont. BUMMER! When the boys mother came over, we chatted for a bit and I told her I wasn't some psycho, but we were new to the area. After saying goodbye, a few minutes later she came back and asked me... "DO YOU SCRAPBOOK?" OMG. LOVE. Instantly!!! I hugged her and actually might've actually said I loved her or you're my new best friend or something along those lines. Luckily I didn't scare her away and we got together for coffee one morning very shortly after and the rest is pretty much history. We became great friends and I just love her to death. I can't imagine never meeting her or having her in my life. I do believe I was in the right place at the right time and things happen for a reason!!!

At any rate, my kids were running me ragged all day on Saturday and I was busy cooking, but we did find *some* time to play and I made a couple of cards. The first one is using My Mind's Eye papers from their Love Me Do line. My friend, Melanie, was actually the one who taught me how to make this style card so it was pretty appropriate for me to make a card using this technique. I used some foam stickers to put "Up Up" on the outside and stamped "& Away!" in the inside. The clouds I applied to the top are made using by My Favorite Things Cloud Trio die and I added a couple of buttons in the corner and tied them with some twine by The Twinery.

The second card was SUPER simple to make, but I totally love it. I used a Woodgrain embossing folder made by The Paper Company to emboss the kraft cardstock and stamped the sentiment which is one of Unity Stamp Co.'s Itty Bitty stamps, Direction of Happy, directly onto it. LOVE these stamps!!! I layered that on a piece of polka dot paper and adhered it to my card base. Then I added a piece of the floral ribbon trim along the bottom which I am totally in LOVE with also!!! It's super soft, just beautiful and adds the perfect finishing touch.

A close-up:

Spellbinders Wonderful Wings

2011-09-23T22:31:00.008-04:00

Well, I think most everyone knows by now that I LOVE butterflies and when I saw one of Spellbinders newest releases, Wonderful Wings, it was no surprise I had to have the set! Given the $60 price point, I thought I might never actually give in and buy it. However, my anniversary is next month, my birthday's in November and Christmas is in December. Duh! So I though "hmmm!" hehe Today, I got an e-mail from a website I've purchased from pretty regularly saying that their Spellbinders dies were half off and knowing they carried this set, I ran over to purchase it, but it was SOLD OUT! Grrr!!! So I went onto my friend Google and started seeing if there were any other sites out there offering the set for roughly the same price and ended up finding it on Amazon for $34.70 shipped. WHOOT! Now that I scored my deal, I thought I'd share with you! :P

Operation Julie's Smile!!! :)

2011-09-22T14:00:00.026-04:00

Hello out there! I'm sure many of you have heard by now that Nicole, Owner of Sweet Stamp Shop, has been putting together a blog hop for our friend Julie Ranae Murray who is pretty well known in our crafting world. She is the creator of CAS-ual Fridays and The Play Date Cafe. She is also the Design Team Coordinator of such companies as The Twinery, Lil' Inker Designs and OF COURSE, Sweet Stamp Shop. I'm pretty sure there are a couple of others that I missed, but you catch my drift... she is involved with a lot and I'm sure you all know her or have seen her face somewhere along the way. You can also get to know her better on her own blog, Julie's Open Window. This is the story about our friend who has lost her smile... for now!!!

Many may know that a few weeks ago, Julie Ranae had to have emergency oral surgery resulting in the removal of her two front teeth. The dentist at that time believed the best course of action would be to remove the rest of her teeth and replace them with permanents. Relieved at finding a solution to her major dental problem, she visited the office for dental surgery. Unfortunately, it wasn't the visit she was expecting. After the consultation and scheduling the surgery, the surgeon's office informed her that she would need to bring $4000 back to the appointment with her and they would proceed. This amount would not include the 'dentures' she would need as well.

Here Julie is today, sitting without front teeth that were pulled with the belief that they would be replaced immediately. This has been an overwhelming experience for our dear friend and one that I hope our creative community can help with.

Join us beginning October 7th for a blog hop to benefit Julie called 'Operation Julie's Smile'. There are a variety of companies and design teams who will be participating in this hop to help raise funds for this benefit.

Julie is such a sweet person and befriended me quickly even having never met her in person. She takes the time to get to know you even if you think you're a "nobody" in this crafty blogging world sometimes. I have my own thing in the works that I will be sharing more publicly soon and she's been willing to help and offer me advice. Again, having never met. I just love her and want to help in any way I can.

I called Nicole today to tell her I would be donating a couple of stamp sets and was WOWED at the fact that my donation brought the running total up over the $2,000 mark. Can you believe that?!?! How AWESOME!!! The blog hop will run October 7th - 9th and everybody that donates will be entered to win some fabulous prizes that have been generously and lovingly donated by fellow stampers, scrappers, businesses and FRIENDS alike. You can help, too by donating any amount you feel comfortable with. Every $1 counts and is appreciated deeply. I will also be making a monetary contribution and sincerely hope YOU will as well. We can make a difference!

Let's see our friend SMILING again SOON!!!

{{{Hugs}}}

Butterfly Elegance

2011-09-20T21:11:00.007-04:00

I had a chance to play around and made this card a week (or two) ago. Time sure does go by quickly I tell ya!!! I had used Stampin' Up!'s Manhattan Flower Cuttlebug folder. I bought this from a friend who hosted a party a couple of years back and it really is quite lovelyl. I embossed it on SU!'s thick vellum paper, mounted it on black cardstock and adhered it to my grey card base. I used a piece of flower ribbon, punched a large butterfly out of black cardstock and added some silver bling to the body to complete the card. Really easy and really beautiful. Gotta love that!!!

Who wouldn't love this blog candy?!?!

2011-08-28T08:54:00.006-04:00

La-la Land Crafts is giving away some SUPER blog candy!!! Couldn't help but share for my chance to win!!! :) HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, Marci and Luka! Visit their website as linked above to do the hop!!!

HIP, HIP, HOORAY, Marci and Luka had a BIRTHDAY!

On August 1st, our Marci and Luka finally turned ONE!

We want to thank each and every one of our customers for your continued excitement and support as we celebrate this amazing milestone! We couldn’t have done it without you, and we want you all to know…YOU ROCK!!

Are you ready for some birthday FUN?!

To celebrate this momentous occasion, we have a special surprise for you!! We’ve brought back some La-La Land Crafts’ alumni and friends to celebrate Marci and Luka’s birthday with us….YIPPEE!

On top of our special guest bloggers, we are offering up a HUGE BLOG CANDY for this exciting event.

Take a look at this prize package!!

This Blog Candy contains the following:
~ Set of 12 Copic Markers in NEW 2011 colors
~ Spica Glitter Pens (set B)
~ Pack of X-Press It Blending Cardstock
~ New Scor-pal
~ Pack of ¼” Scor-Tape
~ 3 sets of 12x12 Basic Grey Collections paper packs
~ $20 gift certificate to the La-La Land Crafts Store

To be eligible for this FABULOUS blog prize, you must follow these 3 easy rules:
1. Become a follower and/or subscribe to our Blog.
2. Display a picture of our Blog Candy on your blog with a link back to THIS POST.
**if you don’t have a blog, please spread the word
3. Leave ONE comment BELOW after completing the blog hop answering this question:
“Which stamp used on the projects in this hop is your favorite?”

You have until August 31st to leave your answer below in our comment section (one comment only please).
We will draw the winner’s name on September 3rd.

Butterflies are my FAVORITE!!!

2011-08-21T12:40:00.013-04:00

About a week or so ago, my friend Brenda came over to play with me. I didn't have much mojo going on so I just stamped this little My Favorite Things Pure Innocence stamp from the set Butterfly Kisses. Of course I HAD to have this one since she is a BUTTERFLY after all and you know how I feel about those!!! Or maybe you don't? My name is Vanessa which means "butterfly" in Greek (though I'm NOT Greek! LOL). My mom had an affection for them herself and actually has a butterfly tattoo on her chest. Shhh, don't tell her I told you!!! hehe So I suppose my own affection for butterflies began before I was even born. I just simply ADORE them!!! My son's new thing is to say things are his "favorite". For instance, the other day out of nowhere he says "Avery (his little sister) is my favorite!" Yesterday he told my husband "Oatmeal is my favorite!" So, this inspired the title to my post today... "Butterflies are MY favorite!!!" :)

Last night, I was wanting to get up to my scrap area to play but I was glued to the TV watching Cupcake Wars! Luckily, the next episode that was on was one I'd seen before so I did eventually make my way on up. LOL I really need to get cable up there, I think I'd be more inclined to visit my space more often. I do have a TV/VCR up there so I popped in a movie (My Life in Ruins) and decided what I wanted to do with her! I had already paper pieced her with papers from the DCWV All About Girls mat stack so I thumbed through to find a background paper for my card. I really liked the words "Set your <3 on something beautiful." I have something in the works so I will update you on that SOON! I will just say that I am super excited!!! I ended up using some pink velvet paper to fill in the space on the side... and the TOP due to my paper trimmer being uncooperative. :P I added some teal colored ribbon along the top to balance the border on the bottom and to cover up where my paper was pieced together. Lastly, I added a BEAUTIFUL pink rose by Prima Flowers and some self-adhesive pearls. I hope you enjoy her!!!

Three is ENOUGH! haha

2011-08-19T23:12:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to post a current picture of my three babies... Devin, age 15, Andrew, age 3 and my baby girl, Avery, age 1. Although, this was taken on 7/17 and she turned 1 on the 23rd. Pardon my heading, but I don't know how people handle more than 3 children. I have my hands FULL and am happy with my family of 5. Nothing against anyone else who aspires to have a larger family of course! They are quite good looking though, aren't they?!?! :)

You Are So SWEET!

2011-07-20T23:36:00.008-04:00

Hi, everyone! This is a really quick post because I am exhausted and just burnt my hand embossing my card for this challenge. But, hey! Quitters never win, right? :P

The challenge from Cas-ual Fridays blog was to make a simple and sweet card. Honestly, this came out even a little more simple than I'd hoped but it took all I could to cut it out after burning my right hand. Urgh! Here's the proof... LOL

Sending you a line...

2011-07-09T13:50:00.009-04:00

To let y'all know I'm still alive!!! HAHA It's been 10+ months since I've last posted on my blog and I won't lie, it had been a long, long time since I'd done much crafting at all. I've been busy with my little ones. My youngest son turned 3 in April and my baby girl will be turning ONE on July 23rd. I can hardly believe it, she's growing up too quickly! I will post a few pictures on my next post. In the meantime, I've been doing a lot of shopping (so many enablers out there in the crafting world! LOL) and rearranging my craft area a bit. In the house we're renting, there's a large loft area outside of the kids' bedrooms. I *thought* I could put them in their rooms and they'd play BUT I was wrong. They are just so up my behind that almost as soon as I put them in there, the baby's crawling out to find me and she's not 100% stable on her feet so she falls and it just goes on and on! Then by the time they go to bed, I'm too wiped to do anything. It was a miracle that one night, I dragged myself up to my table and made not one, but TWO cards. They're both pretty simple but they took me a while since I was so out of it for a while. I used kraft for the card bases and cloud paper for the background. The stamps are from Unity Stamp Co.'s Watermelon Gazpacho Soup. I tried paper piecing then I tied some string into little bows and attached them to the ends of the line. I definitely need some practice (not thrilled with the pink bathing suit) but I do like the effect. I also made a little boo boo (I'm good at that! HAHA) and got a little extra ink around my sentiment. I used some white puffy paint and drew a little cloud around it to cover it up. Not sure if it looks better or worse. :P On the second card, I just used the "For You" sentiment with a few butterflies... my FAVORITE! Hope you like them!!! And, I'm happy to be back!

My poor abandoned blog...

2010-08-31T23:15:00.006-04:00

Well, I know I don't have many "followers" BUT just wanted to say hello and let whoever checks in from time to time know that I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth! The last couple of months of my pregnancy were hectic as there were a lot of changes going on with our household. My husband got promoted and took a position a couple of hours away from "home". He was living out of a hotel during his work week and we visited when we could. It was a bit much with me staying home with my teenage son and our two year old but I survived! We are now all together, renting a house in between his new store and my parents' house so things are going well. Our baby GIRL who remained sexless throughout my pregnancy (LOL!!!) was born on Friday, July 23rd at 7:42 am and weighed a whopping 9 lb. 11 oz.!!! It's hard to believe she'll already be 6 weeks this Friday. Though, my oldest son just started HIGH SCHOOL yesterday. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was in high school but this year was my 15 year reunion. It's just crazy how time flies!!! I won't be posting any artwork for a while since all of my stamps and scrapbooking stuff is packed from our move and I'm obviously tied up with a newborn and my two year old but I will try to pop on occasionally and post some pictures and eventually get back to crafting. I hope everyone enjoyed their summer. I myself am looking forward to fall, my absolute favorite season!

Have a Happy Day!

2010-04-27T13:35:00.001-04:00

We started getting some nicer weather here in New Hampshire a month or so ago so I made this spring card. I really love the cloud background paper! I stamped the sun onto velvet paper and cut the grassy hills out of felt. I originally stamped the phrase directly on the felt but it came out fuzzy so I added the ribbon and layered the sentiment on top. I love when you are able to fix your booboos and it looks intentional :) The tree, well, it got blinged out! HAHA Typical for me I guess. What'd we ever do without all those little gems??? Hope you all have a happy day!!!

Oops, 1 more Valentine card!

2010-04-27T12:27:00.003-04:00

For this card, I embossed the roses with my Cuttlebug on white velvet paper. I added the velvet leaves, punched out little hearts and handwrote the numbers to go with the "How do I love thee..." quote from one of my Technique Tuesday sets. Actually, I think it was from one of my friend Melanie's sets. We both have so many! HAHA This is one of those cards that isn't really my style, if I even really have one! I kept looking at it thinking "I made that?!" Does that ever happen to any of you?

Valentine cards... in April??? LOL

2010-04-27T12:02:00.005-04:00

Gosh, I am so bad!!! I always have good intentions but somehow I just don't manage to get on here and update my blog. A lot probably has to do with the fact that I don't get to play as much as I would like to. Here are a few Valentine cards that I actually did make before the holiday :)

Better late than never!!! LOL

2009-12-26T09:13:00.008-05:00

I have to admit that I am a huge procrastinator. It's one of my faults but at least I acknowledge it, right? HAHA I had made a bunch of Christmas cards at the retreat I went to in November and never posted any!!! Better late than never is what my mom always used to say so here are some of them! I think I ended up making 25-30 total and when I went to mail out my xmas cards, I was short and ended up using some boxed ones. Eek! I know but when you know a lot of people end up tossing them out, it's hard to justify putting in the time. Some of these were super fun to make and I was giddy at just how cute they came out. The snowglobe card was one I saw a lot of on SCS and just had to try it out. It was the first pattern I ever attempted. The snowball fight one was just adorable. I found these cute little white pompom things and attached them as snowballs. The "Ho!" card had to be one of my personal faves! She just cracks me up but was a PITA to color. I had to color in around those tiny polka dots. Now that was a chore!!! LOL I had found this awesome green garlandy looking ribbon that I wrapped around the tree. Well, onto the next holiday... Valentine's Day. MAYBE I'll post them before March ;)

Wow, it's been over a month since I've posted anything!

2009-12-26T08:55:00.009-05:00

I am so sorry I haven't been updating my blog! I have been sick for over two months and just not feeling well. I am ok, it's just a nasty cough/cold that is lingering and I wish it would just leave already!!! I do also have some good news to share. I found out I was pregnant 2-3 weeks before Thanksgiving and had such a hard time keeping my mouth shut!!! LOL I wanted to surprise my family since we'd all be together (my mom, dad, brother, Nana, Auntie, cousin, and of course my 13 yo son, the baby and my hubby - he's the only one that knew before. Well, him and a few close friends who I knew wouldn't blow my cover! hehe). We always go around the table saying what we are thankful for and when it was my turn I said I was thankful to not have to cook the meal (yuck!), my family, husband, two great kids... and soon to be a third. It was a little too quiet for a second so then I blurted out that I was pregnant and everyone started screaming and crying and there were a lot of "no way, no sir, OMG's". My mom, among others, was instantly in tears and hugging me! I made sure I sat next to her! HAHA It was awesome!!! I'm so glad I waited to tell them. I just wish I had gotten their responses on video but I think it would've been obvious something was going on. Hopefully the memory will last forever :) I hope all has been well on your ends and that your holidays were all wonderful.

Gypsy Contest and Giveaway!!!

2009-11-22T07:48:00.003-05:00

Hi, all. I'm not sure how many people have bought the Gypsy... or plan to but if you go to this website, they are having a contest and you have a chance to win a Gypsy!!! They also have some great ideas on there too. I haven't gotten to play with mine yet since it's an xmas gift but I can't wait to! Go sign up... or better yet don't so my chances to win are better ;) HAHA Just kidding!!!

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 10 and My Scrapbooking Retreat Weekend

2009-11-19T20:38:00.021-05:00

WHOA!!! So I know I said I expected to gain this week and boy did I... 4.5 pounds! LOL My friend and I went away to our scrapbooking retreat this past weekend put on by Savory Memories at the Mountain Top Inn in Chittenden, Vermont. It was FABULOUS and the food was AMAZING!!! We had cheese and crackers and desserts and soup (or chili) in a bread bowl with salad for dinner the first night we were there. The salad was INCREDIBLE!!! Dried cranberries, cherries, candied walnuts, goat cheese, balsamic vingarette... oh my head, so good! Breakfast was a buffet with lots of carbs and BACON... my fave!!! Burger and fries for lunch with a Coke. Buffet dinner with prime rib, chicken marsala, scalloped potatoes, root vegetables (so friggin' DELICIOUS!!!), more yummy salad, rolls. Repeat for breakfast in the AM and a tasty turkey club for lunch. I'm tellin' ya I didn't want to leave!!! Sorry if I made you salivate but trust me, I just did it to myself too!!! HAHA I will be celebrating my birthday at the end of the month so this weekend away was my "present". It was AWESOME! My friend also treated me to a massage as my gift from her. Thanks, MELAINE!!! LMAO We never did take a picture of that ;) Love you, girl. SO fun to get away with you... it always is!!! xoxo OH! I suppose I should've mentioned that I actually accomplished something in addition to eating and gaining a few pounds. I didn't bring anything to scrap since I wanted to work on Christmas cards. Plus, it's a lot easier for me to pack all one theme. I don't even know if you'd call what I do "packing". It's more like throwing all of my stuff in a bag... or 4 (good thing I won another one while I was there)! Try cramming that into 4 feet of crop space! LOL We had to take a little trip to Wally World to get some racks to put our stuff on! Anyhow!!! I set a goal of 12 cards to get done since I do make them all different and I actually did 13!!! WOOO HOOO!!! Go me! LOL Pictures of my cards to follow shortly.

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 9

2009-11-12T20:07:00.003-05:00

Whoopsie! I forgot to check in yesterday. I actually didn't lose or gain this week. I stayed exactly same. That's not bad considering I was off track since Saturday when I went to a crop for the day. I ate a ton of cheese and crackers (my fave) and couldn't resist the cheesecake either. YUMMM!!! I knew I was going away this coming weekend too so I kinda didn't give it the effort I should've. Oh well! There's always next week...

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 8

2009-11-04T11:28:00.004-05:00

Good Morning and Happy Hump Day!!! :) Look at me reporting in on the day I'm supposed to! LOL I was late the last two weeks but I'm pretty much talking to myself on here anyway! HAHAHA Anyhow! I lost 1.5 pounds this week... not too bad considering I wasn't reaally good but I guess I wasn't horrible either!!! I had gained a pound last week so I'm happy to get that back off plus a little extra. It's been 8 weeks and I'm down 11 pounds total, weighing 170. TEN pounds to go!

Super bummed!!!

2009-10-30T13:27:00.003-04:00

My card didn't win the Unity challenge this past week. I was sooo hoping it would and actually thought I had a real chance. POO!!! :( Only one week left to try and honestly, I'm not feelin' it. Wahhhhh!!! Just wanted to whine for a minute! :)

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 7

2009-10-30T13:24:00.002-04:00

I forgot (again!) to report my weight on Wednesday. I gained 1 pound. My week started off very well but come Saturday, I just wasn't into it. I also didn't feel well and didn't want to cook so we got Chinese one night and pizza the next... not so good on the diet!!! LOL I have been on track so far this week so hopefully I'll have a decent loss next week. I basically have that week and one more week after that to lose a few pounds. I am going to a scrapbooking retreat mid-November and the menu looks sooo good. I don't plan to count points at all that weekend. I'm going to eat, drink and be merry!!! HAHA

UBBRO6 Hey, Stud Muffin!!!

2009-10-27T10:44:00.003-04:00

I made this card for week 6 of Unity's Bachelor Challenge. I participated for weeks 1-3 but skipped weeks 4 and 5 as I just had no clue. I am REALLY hoping this card will win this week as I am super happy with how it came out and there's only one week left after this if it doesn't!!! We had to use PINK and BROWN and it had to be SWEET and MANLY. "Stud"ly is the same as manly, right? hehe I really wasn't sure if I was gonna have time to get this done yesterday but when the baby went down for his nap, I went down to my room and something immediately came to mind when I saw this big cupcake! YUMMM!!! I used a piece of paper out of the Chocolate Box pad I have, embossed it with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder and sanded off the brown to see the pink underneath. I stamped the cupcake (or in this case, MUFFIN) twice and paper pieced the chocolate top with pop dots for some dimension. Since this was supposed to be for Bro, the Bachelor, I thought the sentiment Hey, Stud Muffin was cute! I used Liquid Pearls to make the "studs" on the chipboard letters and also studded the cupcake... *clearing throat* excuse me, MUFFIN... with brads. I also used Liquid Pearls to go over my letter stickers for the word muffin to make them pink. A piece of brown ribbon finished off my card perfectly!

Witching You... a Happy Halloween!!!

2009-10-26T10:27:00.003-04:00

I made this card a few weeks ago and totally slacked off about getting it up on here. Well, sorta!!! I have a good excuse ;) I have somehow managed to lose my memory card to my camera. UGH! I have another camera so I finally broke down and used that instead. I figured I should post this since Halloween is coming up this Saturday and I have already started making Christmas cards which will be posted here soon! I used Bazzill swiss dot paper which I love in this deep purple color. I stamped the witches feet across the bottom and adhered the ribbon just above. I made up this purple paper flower combo which I totally LOVE and used a gemstone brad for the center. I was stuck on what to do for a title but my dear friend, Melanie, always has the answer!!! Luckily, I was at her house and she said "Witching you..." and that was just perfect! I had to wait until I got home to do the lettering since I didn't have any with me but I thought the silver sparkly ones went very well. The inside says "a Happy Halloween". Wishing you all a Happy Halloween in which you eat many mini chocolate bars! YUMMM!!! hehe

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 6

2009-10-22T09:24:00.005-04:00

YAHOOO!!! I lost 4.5 pounds this week. I was really hoping for a great number since I had gained 3 pounds last week. I only used flex points one day and I was really good about drinking my water. I am down to 170.5, having lost 10.5 pounds in 6 weeks and I'm exactly 10 pounds heavier than when I met my husband 5 years ago! I will be so happy if I can just get this last 10 pounds off. I know they say the last 10 are the hardest though so I'm not sure how long it will take. Really, I should lose another 20 to weigh 150 but I was really comfortable at my weight before. I was a size 8/10 and that's fine by me! It's so funny how the scale can say one thing but your clothes say something else. I mean, I see the number 170 and I'm like "I'm so fat!" but when I get dressed and am wearing a 12 jean, I really don't feel that way. I guess I'm just big boned ;) HAHA

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 5

2009-10-15T08:00:00.003-04:00

Yup! As suspected, I gained this week... 3 pounds! YIKES!!! However, I cheated and weighed this morning (only 1 day after my official "weigh in" day and was back down 2.5 pounds from yesterday) SOOO with any luck, I'll lose a great number next week. Gotta love this up and down stuff! I take full responsibilty though because it really has been about a week and a half since I've really counted my points and I definitely ate a lot of stuff I shouldn't have. Well, not really what I ate but HOW MUCH!!! That's the main thing with WW... portion control. I was really good yesterday though and plan to have a great week!!!

Unity UBBRO3 Challenge

2009-10-13T22:39:00.008-04:00

I'm late on posting this card from last weeks' Unity challenge. We were to use plaid and polka dots. I used the flower stamp from Confession : I {luv} Unity which I borrowed from a friend ;) It was quite the task to cut around all those flowers and get them glued down since it was actually 3 sets of stamped flowers. I embellished them with Kaiser Craft rhinestones and pearls, MM window charms and also a couple of buttons. I had gotten this new punch and used it as grass along the bottom and adhered the sentiment from the September KOTM. The polka dot ribbon and a paper flower finished the card off. Sadly, I did not win last week and didn't have time (or an idea) for this past weeks' challenge which was to make a recipe card. Hopefully this week I will be able to participate! I haven't stamped in a while and I'm getting the urge ;) I hope everyone else has been getting time to play!!!

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 4

2009-10-08T13:22:00.003-04:00

I forgot to check in yesterday with my loss! Well, I actually didn't have one! I didn't gain either so that's good. I binged for like 3 days and got my "thing" on Tuesday so that explained why. Honestly, I expected to gain so I'm pleased with staying the same weight. Next week I'll be celebrating my 3 year anniversary so me and my hubby will be going out this weekend. I'm not quite sure what our plans will be BUT I know it will involve dinner out at least one night. If we stay overnight somewhere, it will be more than that. I'm thinking a big breakfast :) Mmmm!!!! I usually give myself some freedom over holidays and special occasions so I'm not sure what will happen next week. I sure hope I won't gain but will be extremely satisfied with staying the same weight again. We shall see!!!

Unity UBBRO2 Challenge

2009-10-02T19:01:00.009-04:00

This card was for the Unity Bachelor's second week challenge. We had to use one patterned paper, 2 buttons and make it shiny/sparkly/glittery and of course use Unity Stamps!!! I used a piece of paper from My Mind's Eye Laundry Line which was glittery. Then I chose So and So Loves for my image, wicked cute stamp! I stamped the trees on white shimmery paper and used Crystal Stickles to color in the skinny trees and used some on the other trees as well. The buttons were meant to look like knots in the wood. I tied metallic thread through the buttons and man was that a pain in the ass! The stuff frays at the end and it's nerly impossible to get it through. So annoying, I should've won for that alone! HAHA They chose the winners yesterday and sadly, mine was not chosen. There were some GREAT cards this week so it's hard to feel too badly about it :)

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 3

2009-09-30T10:17:00.003-04:00

I lost 3.5 pounds this week. YEAHHH!!! My goal was 3 since I only lost.5 last week and was really disappointed. Needless to say, I am very happy!!! I have lost 9 pounds in 3 weeks and back down to 172. I'm hoping for another 3 pound loss next week BUT I would be ok with just 1. 3 would put me at 12 pounds lost in 4 weeks and back into the 160's, even if it's the high end :) 1 would put me at 10 pounds lost in 4 weeks and that's really good too! We'll see what happens but I feel better already!!!

Boo!!!

2009-09-28T22:30:00.004-04:00

I loved the little Maya Road chipboard house so much I had to do another one!!! I painted this one purple and stamped the web black then stickled the window and parts of the web in lime green. I embossed the tree from the CTMH Spellbound set black on black. I wasn't sure how it would look but I decided the answer is AWESOME!!! I used an exacto knife to cut along the bottom of each side of the tree so I could slide the piece of patterned paper underneath. The ghost is from Making Memories and they're just the cutest ever!!! I have to say I just kept giggling as I was making this. It came out exactly how I wanted and that doesn't happen to me often. See my post below! ;)

Ding, Dong! The witch is dead!!! HAHA

2009-09-28T22:04:00.011-04:00

Hard to believe that October 1st is only a few days away!!! I've been seeing lots of Christmas cards posted lately on SCS and on everyone's blogs. I just can't go there yet so I thought I'd make some Halloween cards. My friend, Melanie, came over last Friday for a few hours and we got to play. I had already half made this the day before. I had gotten this little Spook Alley stamp set with the witches feet and I just had to do a Halloweeny Wizard of Oz card. I used to watch that movie on TV every year when I was little. I had these little chipboard houses by Maya Road and I was like "OMG, perfect!!!" I painted it black and stamped the web from the CTMH Creepy Cobwebs set in white. The little spider is from the same set and he's embossed with a black velvet marker and has rhinestone eyes (of course!). The web border punch was something I picked up at Michael's and the paper is from Basic Grey's Eerie collection. I have to admit that I messed up the bottom and I'm still not happy about it! I had punched the border out on front of the card and sponged it black so you could see the purple coming out behind it. Well, I adhered the patterned paper over part of the punched border and could not get it unstuck!!! I got pissed and cut off the border and then punched the back instead. I lost that extra effect and it looks kinda funny with the paper being all the way to the bottom but having a border on the top. UGH!!! The only thing I was completely happy with was my layered flower... but how could I screw that up? LOL I was having fun thinking of different sayings to go with this card like "You killed her..." on the front and "with your kindness" inside. I ended up with HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Original, huh? LOL

Unity UBBRO1 Challenge

2009-09-28T21:46:00.008-04:00

Last week (well, now closer to two weeks ago), Unity announced their Unity Bachelor 7 week long challenge. Click on the link to see what it's all about!!! If you are chosen as the winner or runner up, you get 25 stamps. The grand prize is very generous, as Unity always is! Unfortunately, my card was not chosen last week BUT I'm hoping one will be sometime throughout the challenge. This first week's challenge was to make a date invitation for "Bro" (the Bachelor) or your significant other. You were also supposed to use the colors green, red and black. At first I was having trouble thinking Christmas but eventually got off it and came up with this card. Everyone's gotta little trailer trash in them ;) HAHA j/k The inside was simple... just a bunch of Thickers!

I fibbed. My apologies :)

2009-09-27T09:08:00.012-04:00

Well, it appears I told a little lie to you all last week by saying I had not created any cards. I have a small group of three ladies that come to my house once a month for my Close to My Heart business to make a couple of cards. They had come over and I actually had made two cards for them to recreate! How could I forget? Probably because they're nothing too exciting but I like to keep it simple for them. Ok, and for me too!!!

For the first card, I used paper from the Emporium paper pack. I stamped the apple, flower, leafy flower and the word friend from the September Word Puzzle. I simply punched the stamped images out with a 3/4 inch circle punch and adhered them to a piece of dark brown cardstock. The monthly Word Puzzle sets are being discontinued so now's the time to get them! They will no longer be available to purchase after December 31st. Please contact me directly if you'd like to purchase any (or all) of them! hehe They're very versatile and have lots of good stuff on them!!! Of course, I have them all :) The layered flower is from Cottage Floral. I really like this set! You can make almost endless flower combinations with it.

For the second card, I used paper from the Silhouette paper pack. I used the Top Note die from SU (sorry!) to use as a background. I stamped the word SMILE in Autumn Terracotta and the matching sentiment in Outdoor Denim. Both of these stamps are also from the September Word Puzzle stamp set. I used one of our clear buttons, tied jute through the center and adhered it to a paper flower. I used 3 tiny little rhinestones to balance out the left side and a piece of twill ribbon finished the card!

100th post!!!

2009-09-27T09:01:00.003-04:00

WOOO HOOO!!! I realized the other day when I was "weighing in" that it was my 100th post! I should've done something fun but was in a rush and just wanted to report my weight loss. So happy 100 posts to me!!! Actually, 101! LOL

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 2

2009-09-23T10:03:00.004-04:00

So I only lost HALF A POUND this week :( I'm really disappointed since I was on track, drank most of my water (yes, this part is still hard for me) and didn't use all my flex points. I was really hoping for a 3 pounds loss but would've been happy with 2... but HALF, .5... NO!!! I am not giving up though! I think I can, I think I can! hehe Better luck next week!!!

CTMH stamp sets for sale!!!

2009-09-17T13:15:00.002-04:00

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 1

2009-09-16T12:38:00.004-04:00

Just a quick update with my weekly weigh in. I lost a sack of potatoes this week! HAHAHA FIVE pounds and I am back down to 176. Off to a great start, now to keep it up!!!

Starting over!!!

2009-09-09T22:17:00.002-04:00

Ok, so a couple/few weeks ago (excuse me but my conception of time is warped) I had posted about my 20-something-or-another week on Weight Watchers. Well, I have been off track for months now and after many gains and several weeks of not even weighing in, I have decided to just start over. I was going to start last week but was going away for part of Labor Day weekend so figured that wouldn't be the best idea. Sooo today was DAY ONE of my official third time starting my program. I had a good day and even drank more than eight glasses of water. Phew! So my new starting weight is 181. YUCK!!! That means I gained 16.5 pounds back of what I had lost. I'm so disappointed and disgusted with myself. It just happened so fast and you don't even realize it's happening. Here's an end of summer tip - NEVER buy shorts with an all elastic waist ;) LOL

Back to my time warp! I can't believe a whole week has passed since I posted on my blog. I just don't know where the time goes, I really don't!!! I have not made a single thing since the last card I posted for that challenge. In fact, I haven't played at all... perhaps tomorrow. I always say that! HAHA I hope you've all had more time (or should I say energy and motivation) to play than me :) I've been checking out a lot of blogs and there really is some fantastic artwork out there. Keep up the good work, ladies. I enjoy seeing what you all create and have even made a few new friends! xoxo

Happy Harvest - MTSC37

2009-09-02T14:36:00.032-04:00

Hello! Look at me posting two days in a row!!! Whoot, whoot. Go me!!! HAHA I made this card this morning for a challenge I saw over on my new friend Jessica's blog. She designed this adorable set called Butterfly Wishes for The Greeting Farm and I've had no moula to buy it so I decided to participate in this challenge in hopes to win it. WISH ME LUCK!!! The challenge is actually hosted by Mercy and you can view everyone else's submissions through her blog. This is the second ever challenge I've participated in so I'm no pro BUT I am happy with how the card turned out. I decided to use this Hampton Art - Autumn is in the Air stamp set I picked up A.C. Moore last weekend while I was down "south". It felt fall-like just like the weather we've been having here in NH.... which I love by the way!!! This little squirrel is so cute! The background paper is called Autumn Plaid in the Shades of Autumn Collection by Reminisce and the solid colors are Bazzill. I stamped the sentiment on some twill ribbon and added the extra little acorn with an orange brad. I'm glad I used this set before it went into my box of stamps that have never been inked! LOL My friend, Melissa, had given me a gift card for hosting a scrapbooking weekend last month so I was able to pick up a few things. Wasn't that so sweet and thoughtful of her? Thanks, Mellie!!!

Here's the sketch we had to use for the challenge...

How does the time go by so fast???

2009-09-01T11:45:00.018-04:00

Ok, so I'm sitting here in amazement that it's been over 2 weeks that I've posted on my blog. Really? The last month went by super quickly and I can't believe summer is over. My oldest went back to school yesterday, 8th grade!!! I forgot to take a picture of him and I meant to this morning BUT guess what? I forgot again! I'm seeing a layout titled "1st Day of School" with the 1st crossed out and replaced with 3rd. I'm such a slacker sometimes! LOL

Well, the good news is that September is here and we are already getting the Fall weather which I love! It's my absolute favorite season of the year!!! I love everything about it... wearing pants and a sweatshirt, the colors of the changing leaves, the smell of the air, apple picking. Oh yeah!!!

You know what else happens today? The new Close to My Heart catalog is effective :) WHOOT WHOOT! We have some great new fall and winter stamp sets along with the cutest house set called "Neighborhood" and matching set with a couch, lamp, coat rack, fireplace and accessories called "Welcome Home". Those are definitely the two sets I'm ordering first! Do you know what's better? We are having a promotion where if you spend $60 in STAMPS, you get a card kit, Delight in the Everyday, valued at $39.95 for FREE!!! How cool is that? Also, with a $60 purchase, you'd qualify for our Stamp of the Month, Treasures, for half price. I just love when my customers can get a bit more for their money so take advantage while you can :) I know I will be!!! Please contact me directly to place your order as I do not have a personal shopping website.

Here's what's included in the card kit:

1 – My Acrylix® Everyday Celebration Stamp Set
(D-size) (Only available with this kit!)
16 – 4 W" * 5 V" Colonial White Card Bases
16 – 4 W” x 5 V” Colonial White Envelopes
1 – 12" * 12" Dutch Blue Cardstock
1 – 12" * 12" Colonial White Cardstock
4 – 12" * 12" B&T Duos® Paper
1 – Chocolate Distressing Ink
1 – Dutch Blue Distressing Ink
1 – Mini-Medley Accents Shades of Chocolate Collection
5' – Chocolate Ribbon with Colonial White Stitch
50 – 3-D Foam Squares
Sponge
1 – Full Color Step-by-Step Instructional Brochure
Featured Colors: Chocolate, Colonial White,
Dutch Blue, Sweet Leaf

I've got the best hubby!

2009-08-13T14:30:00.007-04:00

I think I might've already told you that once before and posted one of these pics but allow me to tell you again... I've got the best hubby! :) Last May he came with me to the Creating Keepsakes Convention so I didn't have to miss it. I was nursing our 5 week old baby boy and wasn't sure I could go since it was an hour and a half away. I can't tell you how many of the women commented to him (or to me) about being there and how sweet it was of him. They didn't even make him pay to get in! LOL The flower on the right-hand side pulls out and is journaled. I believe this is the first scrapbook layout I've posted on my blog. I had gotten into this "rut" if you will and it was just easier for me to make cards. Scrapbooking (to me) takes so much more time and effort!!! I did this layout when my girlfriends were over a couple of weekends ago. I'm not sure why but I had it saved as a draft and never posted it. Whoopsie! I am really please with how it turned out. The Bazzill scalloped circle paper went PERFECTLY with the shape of the flowers on my background paper and even though it is floral, it's still masculine... I hope? HAHA

You're a Hoot!

2009-08-13T14:08:00.007-04:00

Here's the other card worthy of posting ;) HAHA I used SU Kraft and a piece of some Basic Grey paper for the background. I stamped the branch directly on the paper but stamped the owl seperately just in case I goofed. I Stickled the heck out of the little guy but just look at him now! I added some brads to the center of the flowers and some more Stickles for the leaves. I just love that stuff!!! The sentiment "You're a hoot!" is from the CTMH set titled the same... which by the way, is adorable!!! I'll have to make another card with that set and put it up. BTW, all my guests over the weekend WERE a hoot! We had such a blast :)

Just my Type

2009-08-13T13:51:00.007-04:00

Well, my weekend was successful but my productivity... not so much! LOL I only made 3 cards (one's not even worth posting) and a one page layout over the entire weekend. I thought it'd be easier and I'd get more done since I had all my stuff here at my house but when you're the hostess, I think your mind is preoccupied. I made this card using Stamping Bella's Just my Type. I thought the background paper by American Crafts (Baby Collection - Ring around the Rosie) was perfect with the alphabet printed on it. I had the pink Top Note die cut laying around which matched well so I just outlined and colored in the edge for a little something extra. I built my own flower with some felt ones from Maya Road and used a brad for the center.

What a super fun weekend!!!

2009-08-10T09:43:00.006-04:00

Well, my weekend was a success (except for my attempt at coconut jasmine rice! LOL). Melanie was the first to arrive and get leid on Friday! hehe Melissa and Jo Jo came shortly after and we mixed up some drinks. Didn't want to waste any time! HAHA It was just the 4 of us that night but Shell came by for a couple of hours before she had to work on Saturday and then Shannon came later and spent Saturday night. Unfortunately, one of my friends wasn't feeling well and couldn't make it (missed you, Peggy!). I did have a no show too which kinda irritated me BUT I still had fun and am so glad that the girls that came, did. Thank you so much for coming and all your help and yummy food you brought. I had a blast and hope to make it a yearly tradition!!! xoxoxo P.S. Aren't I FAB at self-portraits? LOL

I'mmm soooooo exxxcited.....

2009-08-04T10:46:00.004-04:00

... and I just can't hideeee it! hehe I am having my girls over for the weekend to scrapbook!!! It's a LUAU themed weekend and by the time they leave, they won't want to see another pineapple or coconut in their lives! LOL It's BYOB (Bring Your Own *coconut* Bra), girls. I'll provide the grass skirt and prepare to get LEID! HAHAHA I bought all sorts of stuff for drinks like Pina Coladas, Strawberry Daquiris, Mojitos, Malibu and Pineapple. Oh yeah!!! Hmmm, we'll have to eat as much as we drink so we don't get sick so there will be lots of food too :) Only 3 more days to wait. I'll be driving my boys down to my mom Friday AM and they're staying with Gramma for the weekend. SWEEET, freedom! HAHA Hey, everyone needs a break once in a while, right? WHOOT WHOOOT, PAR-TAY!!!

I must confess!!!

2009-08-03T18:46:00.004-04:00

I went down to my parents' house for the weekend. I was being really good until Saturday night when we went out for Mexican food. I can't resist the chips and salsa then my meal was so good, I ate like... A LOT! haha Sunday my mom had a party for my aunts' 50th birthday. It was a cookout which meant hamburgers and hot dogs and of course cake and ice cream. Not good! I was really hoping for a good week this week but I have a feeling it's just not gonna happen!!! I guess it doesn't matter much because I'm having a girls weekend this coming weekend and I know I'll be bad, real bad. It's all good though! I'll still weigh in on Wednesday and see what the scale has to say but for now, I'm fat and happy :)

Weight Watchers - Week 29 (or more like week 1...)

2009-07-29T11:01:00.005-04:00

Well, I officially restarted WW last week so I'm not sure if I should call it week 29 or week 1. I was never completely off I guess since it was on my mind and I still weighed in each week sooo I'll just stick with 29 (with several bad weeks in between). Whatever it is, I had a successful week and lost 4.5 pounds so I'm back down to 171.5. I was hoping for a 4-5 pound loss so I'm very happy. Now let's see if next week cooperates and I can get below 170. That would be GREAT! I'm back on track, baby! Yeahhh!!!

Guess who's backkk???

2009-07-22T16:51:00.004-04:00

MEEEEE!!! hehe My hubby and the kids took a road trip to North Carolina to visit his family then on the way back we stayed in DC for two nights. We squeezed a lot in... the Washington Monument, the zoo, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Lincoln Memorial. The only thing we didn't get to see that I wish we did was the White House. We tried to go before heading home but the roads were blocked off and there was a large crowd hanging around. I'm not sure what was going on but we just couldn't get in there. Next time! I hope everyone's been well and I hope to make a card or two here in the near furture!!!

Weight Watchers - Week 28

2009-07-22T16:37:00.004-04:00

I had posted back on 7/1 that I was off track with my diet and would be on vacation for two weeks so I'd report my loss (ok, gain) then. YES, GAIN! LOL I never diet while on vacation, that's just silly! :) I did gain over the last 3 weeks as expected but 6.5 pounds? YIKES!!! It SUCKS but what can you do??? Get back on program, that's what! I restarted WW today weighing back in at 176. UGH! How does the weight come back on so much fater than it comes off? No fair!!! I need to make sure I start drinking enough water. I think that has a large part to do with it this time around. I usually don't drink a lot of soda and I did over the last couple of weeks and barely any water at all. BAD, BAD! On a seperate note, 3 zits have mysteriously appeared on my face. Where the heck did they come from? I haven't had one in YEARS! Needless to say, I feel like a hideous, fat cow. Just thought I'd share!!! hehe

Roll out!!!

2009-07-01T17:46:00.014-04:00

My friend Melanie has made some of these cards and I really liked the look so I wanted to try one myself. I didn't see one of her cards using this technique on her blog so I've linked you to her Etsy shop instead. As for the technique itself, you simply draw a frame maybe about an inch or so in around the backside of your paper. You then use a ruler and exacto knife to cut from corner to corner of your drawn frame. Lastly, you flip the paper back over, mat it to your paper that will be in the background (only gluing along the outer edges) and tight roll each triangular piece outward kinda like the bottom of your pants in the early 90's! LOL As for my card, the bird cage and sentiment stamp is from Unity's May KOTM. Other than that, I just tied some jute through a clear button and adhered it to a paper flower in the upper corner. I have to add something here... a plug if you will :) I just signed up for Unity's KOTM program in May so I've received two so far and I just love them... so much so in fact that I've even purchased a couple of the past kits as well. They're just so cute and fun and best of all, high quality and affordable (not to mention they have great sales on top of it)! You must check them out if you haven't already though I'm sure you have!!!

Hey, Sugar!!!

2009-07-01T17:29:00.005-04:00

I made this card using the Pink Paislee Sweet Cakes stamp set and matching background paper. I used the Labels 4 dies to layer and stamp on then I popped the popsicle up and added some orange Stickles to make it extra "Sugar"y! The light blue and orange/white gingham ribbon worked really well but I wanted to add the word "hey" on there somewhere and I just couldn't get it so you could read it. It was blending into the background... and really ticking me off if I must admit it! I hate that!!! Perhaps I'll try again as I do feel it's "unfinished". For now, what you see is what you get :)

Happy Birthday card

2009-07-01T17:16:00.003-04:00

Ok, so this has to be the most uncreative card that anyone has ever made with Unity stamps!!! LOL I still think it's pretty though and sometimes it's just nice to come up with something so quick and have another card under your belt! The flowers, happy and birthday word stamps are from the May KOTM. I stamped the dragonfly and the "enjoy your day" sentiment from the same kit on the inside. I colored the word HAPPY in pink to match the little bit of pink on the yellow paper which I really like. It's so bright and "sunny"... unlike the weather that we've been having here in NH! It's all good though :)

Sweet Summer Strawberries

2009-07-01T16:58:00.002-04:00

I have had this SU Tart & Tangy set since last summer and had yet to use it. There's a surprise!!! I cut the bottom corner out with the scalloped circle die but it was kind of an accident. Originally, I was going to use the green to mount the strawberry images but I liked them on red better so the green became my background (which I ran through the Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots folder) and the red circle popped right into the hole in my card :) Since my card was 6x6, I had a seam so I placed the ribbon over it to cover it up. I freehanded the "You're so Sweet" which actually didn't come out too horribly. It isn't my favorite card but hey, they can't all be!

One size fits all...

2009-07-01T16:34:00.006-04:00

Okay so maybe that's not true for a bra :) I actually really hate bra shopping! I can never seem to find out that's just right and what a pain in the a$$ to try them on and how come you can be one size in one brand and something totally different in another? Also, uniboobs are not good!!! I don't know what's worse... that OR muffin tops! Or even worse... camel toe! LMAO Ok, back to my card because I'm getting out of control. I made this little card using the Nestablities Blossom dies. I haven't yet ordered this set but a friend of mine bought it at CKC and I'm so glad she did because I got to use it :) hehe This stamp set is by Skipping Stones Designs and is so fun. I got it a while ago on ebay but she still sells it. The inside says "Bras are like FRIENDS they don't care if you're a boob". Again, quick and easy but cute!!!

Make a Wish

2009-07-01T16:25:00.003-04:00

This was a pretty easy card but I like how it came out so I thought I'd share. I used some background paper with dandelions on it to go with the "Make a Wish" sentiment that I cut out using the Cricut. I matted it on dark gray which matched perfectly and I was pretty pysched since I almost didn't buy that color at Joann's when I had went shopping the day before. Don't you love when that happens? Other than that, I just added a few black gems to add a little something to it. DONE!

I've got PMS!!!

2009-07-01T15:53:00.007-04:00

No, not that kind!!!!! LOL I was on SCS a few weeks ago (well, I'm on there every day but you know what I mean) and I saw this card and thought is was adorable. I ran off to see what kind of stamps this company had since I'd never heard of Paper Makeup Stamps (hence the PMS). Well, I loved the Nature's Song set so I had to buy it of course. This is the card I made. I was really ticked that my sentiment was a little crooked BUT I didnt want to waste the cute pink background paper. Besides, it's not that bad and that's what makes it look handmade, right? Humor me here :) Remember, I am a perfectionist and working to get over it!

Weight Watchers - Week 25

2009-07-01T14:37:00.003-04:00

Miracles happen! I didn't GAIN this week! LOL I didn't lose either... but I didn't gain :) I will be on vacation at Lake Winnipesaukee next week AND I will be in North Carolina visiting my hubby's family the week after so I won't be home to weigh in either week. Besides, diets never work on vacation!!! So, I will weigh in on 7/22 and officially "restart" my diet. I have not been on track for a while so I think that will just be best. Please send me some motivation while I'm gone!!!

Happy mail on a crappy day!!!

2009-06-27T16:36:00.004-04:00

I meant to post this on Monday but as usual I didn't get around to it. I had seen the cutest card on Splitcoast Stampers. I sent the girl who made it a PM to say how much I loved it and told her when she was done with her Chef stamp by Rubber Romance that I would gladly take it off her hands! LOL Well, she responded and offered to send me some stamped images which was so nice. On Monday, I was having a really bad day. I had a bounced check (not mine) make some other things bounce on my account and got slammed with $96 in fees. I had also had a migraine for 5 days which landed me in the ER later that night (I'm ok) but first I had to take a 3 hour round trip drive to pick up my son from his dad. It was just a crappy day to say the least. Well, wouldn't you know that I received Pat's package in the mail that day and that cheered me up if only for a bit. Not only did she send me some stamped images, she sent me a whole kit that included some patterned paper, ribbon and the most adorable charms!!! How sweet was that??? THANK YOU, Pat!!! You really made my day :)

Weight Watchers - Week 24

2009-06-25T16:01:00.003-04:00

Ok, I'm supposed to be LOSING weight not GAINING it. I gained another 2.5 pounds this week and am pretty thoroughly disgusted. I only have myself to blame though because I haven't been counting points and have been eating horribly. I'd say I'm back on track this week but I'd be lying to ya! I do need to straighten myself out but am having a hard time doing so. I think I'm borderline depressed. All I feel like doing is eating and shopping. Two tell tale signs! SNAP OUT OF IT!!! LOL

Weight Watchers - Week 23

2009-06-17T15:31:00.000-04:00

I gained 2.5 pounds this week. I give up!!!

Rain, rain, and wait... more rain!!!

2009-06-15T15:11:00.005-04:00

It seems like that's been the majority of the weather here lately and I guess it's supposed to hang around all week. The baby was pointing and making all sorts of sounds at *something* and then I realized it was his sweatshirt. He finally got a hold of it and thought that meant he got to go outside. We had to show him that it was raining and we couldn't go out. I felt so bad :( Poor guy!!!

Sing along with me...

Rain, rain, go away!
Come back again another day! (or not! LOL)
Little Andrew wants to play!!!

Hope everyone who's sharing in this weather are keeping dry and for those of you with sunshine, please send some our way :)

Weight Watchers - Week 22

2009-06-10T08:18:00.002-04:00

Good Morning and Happy Hump Day!!! I am in a good mood because for the first time in a month, I liked what my scale said today! I had gained the last three consecutive weeks (.5, 1, 1.5) but this week I lost a whopping 5.5 pounds! YAHHHOOOOO!!! I am now down to 164.5, having lost 28 pounds total. I'm still a little bit behind where I was hoping to be but I'm getting there! I am only 4 pounds heavier than when I met my hubby and that was my main goal. If the other 10 pounds would like to drop off from there, it's more than welcome to :)

Unity baby card

2009-06-03T10:36:00.008-04:00

Good Morning! I'm just sitting here drinking a cup of coffee, updating my blog while the baby naps. This is one of the cards I made over the weekend. I used two different, no, actually three different stamp sets from Unity. Let me just tell you, they're addicting!!! LOL The elephant is from Wild & Crazy Bunch, the tree is from Little Sprout and the peanut is from Little Me. I stamped all the pieces on patterned paper (October Afternoon) which I've never actually done before. I was really amused by how it came out. I kept giggling every time I stamped something. I cut up around the elephants' trunk to be able to tuck the peanut underneath and bent it up a little bit. I obviously used brads for the eyes and I did add some stickles to the tree. The grass stamp is from a new CTMH set, True Happiness. I sure hope Dawn doesn't mind me linking to her website as I do not have one of my own. In fact, CTMH is having an online special through the month of June. Each day they are offering something different and have lowered the shipping costs in case you take advantage of the deals on more than one day. Please feel free to shop from her website during this month and I will let her know that I've put this offer out there. Otherwise, you can always contact me directly to place an order which I would totally appreciate!!! The sentiment inside originally said "welcome little sprout" but I changed it to say "welcome little peanut". I just think it came out adorable!!! Hope you do too!

Our Craft Lounge Swingin' By

2009-06-03T09:54:00.015-04:00

It's been a little bit since I've posted any cards. That's because it's been a while since I've made any!!! LOL My mom came over this past weekend and while she was cleaning up some old e-mails from her laptop, I brought up some of my supplies and made a few cards. I was browsing some blogs several weeks ago and came across this card. I immediately went to check out the stamp set and bought it since it was just TOO cute. The card linked in this post was actually made my the girl who designed the stamp set. Her name is Debbie and she has some great artwork over on her blog. You should check her out! I made two cards with this set but for both I used a striped piece of patterned paper by October Afternoon (who I LOVE by the way!). I made one card vertical and one card horizontal just to see how different I could make them (dif layout, dif swing, dif sentiment, one tree is cut out, one isn't, etc.). On the vertical one, you can't tell in the picture but I popped up the owl on the swing and the bird up in the tree. I also added some stickles to some of the leaves and stapled a little piece of ribbon up in the corner. In the vertical version, I cut the clouds freehand out of some white velvet paper and stamped the sentiment directly on there! I was so happy that worked or I would've been cursing!!! That one's pretty basic but it's cute none the less... at least I think so :) Thanks for "swingin' by"!!! hehe

Weight Watchers - Week 21

2009-06-03T09:46:00.003-04:00

Hmmm, I thought when you were dieting your weight was supposed to go DOWN not UP?!?! Again, I'm blaming it on this so-called "friend" who seems to be vistiting more often than usual AND overstaying her welcome too! LOL I have had the hungry horrors something awful and I won't even begin to tell you how much I ate yesterday. All I know is that I gained 1.5 pounds this week and I knew it was coming. I'm pretty frustrated. It seems like I can be good for about 3 days then I totally blow it. I am 10 pounds away from my goal and it seems as if I'll never get there. The only good thing is that the pants I wore when I had lost all my weight before do fit... but not for long if I keep gaining!!! My hubby thinks that my body is "happy" at this weight. Maybe he's right but I don't like looking down at the scale and seeing 170! It's just weird because I wear a size 12 and I could probably get into some 10's too. I just might need to jump up and down a bit! HAHA Oh well, I'm not giving up!!! Now what's for breakfast? :)

Weight Watchers - Week 20

2009-05-28T15:41:00.002-04:00

Let me just say UGHHHHH!!! I gained .5 this week (back up to 168.5/24 pounds lost). I started my week off well but blew it Memorial Day weekend. Although, I wasn't that bad? I'll blame it on my "friend" again this week. I'm really bummed because I expected to have all the weight I wanted to lose gone by now so I'm about 8 plus pounds behind. I really need to get back on track. I've been saying it but it's hard to stay on. I hate to admit it but I am kind of a junk food junkie. I love chips and chocolate and ice cream especially. Not good!!! Well, good but not so good for the ass! LOL It doesn't help that I'm home all day and the snack cabinet is right there, tempting me all day. It would be a lot easier if I was working and it wasn't just there, available to me at any time. Let me reiterate... UGHHHHH!!! hehe

Blog candy over at Denise's!

2009-05-20T09:40:00.019-04:00

Denise celebrated her birthday last Saturday and she's celebrating with us by offering up some blog candy. Who doesn't love that??? Denise used to be a demonstrator for Stampin' Up but has recently moved on to bigger things and is now the owner of Whimsy Stamps. She has lots of great cards on her blog. Go check her out!!! By the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Denise :)

Weight Watchers - Week 19

2009-05-20T09:36:00.003-04:00

Well, I gained weight this week as I kind of figured I would. It was only ONE pound though so it's not that bad. I went away for the weekend with my girlfriends and had planned on eating and drinking whatever I wanted... and I did :) We had a great time! I especially enjoyed the chips and salsa and margaritas!!! hehe Back on track this morning and hoping for a great week next week!

YAY! I got my first blog award :)

2009-05-19T14:11:00.021-04:00

Thank you to Brenda Rose who totally surprised me today with my first blog award!!! I know, you're all chanting "Speech! Speech!" HAHA It was so sweet of her to think of me and my blog so thank you again! I really appreciate it :) If you want to check her blog out, she can be found at www.roseblossomlegacies.blogspot.com. Here's the deal on this award if you want to share a sweet glass of lemonade with one of your blogging buddies...

The Lemonade Stand Award:

*Comment on this blog
*Cut and paste the award logo and use it on your own blog
*Nominate 5 to 10 blogs that show great attitude and gratitude
*Link your nominees within your blog post
*Comment on their blogs to let them know they received the award
*Link back to the person who gave you the award to show your appreciation

Here's who I am awarding the Lemondade Stand Blog Award to:

1. My dear friend, Melanie, who is super talented at paper crafting. I just love getting together and scrapping or making cards with this girl. Who'd have thought I'd meet someone I have so much in common with at Walmart?!?!
www.takealittlepieceofmyart.blogspot.com

2. Meredith whose blog always makes me laugh (find the post about Yard Sales if you want to pee your pants)!!! I just love her sense of humor!
www.mereslair.blogspot.com

3. Jamie whose scrapbooking pages blow me away. I am so envious of her talent!!!
www.ahappyscrappyplace.blogspot.com

4. Chelsea whose blog ALWAYS makes me cry with the music that she has playing, her faith that I wish I shared, her beautiful family and her unbelievable layouts and cards. She's just precious, I can tell.
www.hapemome.blogspot.com

5. Heather whose blog I just recently came across. Her cards are AMAZING!!!!!
www.heatherpulvirenti.blogspot.com

Basic Grey Ambrosia/Butterfly card

2009-05-18T13:39:00.005-04:00

I made this card a couple of weekends ago and never got around to posting it. I used Basic Grey Ambrosia paper with the coordinating butterfly stamp. The metal photo corners are from CTMH. The color actually matched perfectly so that worked out well. The sentiment reads "Hopes and dreams and the possibilities of it all....". It was an older woody that I had lying around... and by lying around I mean in a bucket full of sentiments that I have organized in a cabinet that holds bins and bins FULL of rubber stamps!!! I need to go through them and purge about half. Add that to my list of things I want to do but never will! HAHA

I'm sooo anxious!!! CKC: Here we come!

2009-05-13T22:18:00.010-04:00

This coming weekend I am going to the Creating Keepsakes Convention with my girlfriends. We have been counting down for MONTHS and now it's only days away!!! Our festivities will start early as one of my friends is driving over tomorrow night and sleeping over so we can leave bright and early at 7 am on Friday. I have been attending CKC since they started coming to New Hampshire so this will be my 4th (or is it the 5th???) year going but my first time staying at the hotel it's being held at so it should be extra fun!!! The first couple of years, I went with my friend Melissa. I think there was a year in between where she couldn't go and I might've went alone. Then the year before last, we added my then new friend, Melanie, to the mix. We stayed at a cheap hotel that considered packaged snacks their continental breakfast! LOL Always an adventure! Last year, I had a baby on April 8th but was still able to make it. My hubby was a sport and went with me toting our 5 week old in the Baby Bjourn as pictured :) This year we're adding one more... my friend, Michelle. I think I'm going to go crazy with the 3 M names (Melissa, Melanie, Michelle) so I think I'll have to give them all nicknames! HAHA I am so looking forward to spending time with my best friends: taking classes, shopping, going out to eat, enjoying some cocktails, dancing and just having the best time ever!!! I truely love my friends and am so happy that we'll be able to spend this time together. Love you, girls!!! xoxo

Weight Watchers - Week 18

2009-05-13T08:24:00.004-04:00

Good Morning and Happy Hump Day!!! I lost 1.5 pounds this week. I was hoping for a better number but I can't be too upset. I had stayed at my mom's over the weekend and we had gotten chinese food Friday night. Then I ate pizza from Pizza Hut last night :/ That was a splurge for sure but I had went to a friend's house and that was just so much easier to feed the kids. Anyway! I am down to 167, having lost 25.5 pounds. I am a bit behind where I was hoping to be (about 7 pounds) but I keep reminding myself that it isn't that far off and I'll get there. I've also not been torturing myself this time around. If I feel like having something, I have it. I want the weight off but I also want to be happy! What can I say? Sometimes food makes me happy :) I hope anyone else that is dieting is doing well and that you are still enjoying life... even if that means an ice cream sundae once in a while!!! hehe

Weight Watchers - Week 17

2009-05-08T08:26:00.002-04:00

I'm sorry to report that I gained .5 this week! I wasn't even really bad but I didn't write anything that I ate down and I hardly drank the water you're supposed to. I am happy to report that I am still down 24 pounds since I started. I had also joined The Biggest Loser Pound for Pound Challenge so 24 pounds of food was donated to local food banks. WOOO HOOO!!!

Unity Stamp Company - FIRST challenge

2009-04-30T13:25:00.003-04:00

This is my first ever challenge that I've participated in and ironically, the challenge is for the company's first anniversary. You had to use the acronym F-I-R-S-T and these were the elements:

F - Flower (I used a paper one with a butterfly brad in the center)
I - Insect (a butterfly... what else?! HAHA)
R - Ribbon (across the bottom on the front)
S - Scallop (I used the SU border punch and lined the sentiment inside)
T - Turquoise or Teal (the color of the cardstock I used to stamp the sentiment on)

I am really happy with how it came out... and of course hope I win :) I believe the prize is their KOTM for a year. HELLOOO! hehe

As a side note, and I guess kind of a plug for the company, they are having a great sale. All items are 30% off plus with a $20 purchase, they're giving away a free mystery prize. Shipping is only $5. Go shopping!!! I just did... AGAIN!!! LOL

Plastic card with flowers and butterfly - pink and orange!

2009-04-30T13:03:00.005-04:00

I was able to get down into my room for a few minutes a couple of days ago while the baby was napping. Of course it really was only a FEW minutes so I had to finish this up when my husband came home from work. All together though, it only took about 20 minutes so it came together quickly. The background paper is really cool, it's acually more like plastic and it had the swirls pre-printed on it. I just added a few paper flowers with square brads and the butterfly die cut with a little bling of course. The sentiment stamped inside is from the Unity Stamp Company. I've grown quite fond of their stamps and my collection has also grown in the past several months :) I finally placed an order for one of their kits of the months that was on sale the other day so I'm anxious to see what that's all about!!!

Weight Watchers - Week 16

2009-04-29T10:54:00.003-04:00

YUPPP, another big fat ZERO week. Gotta love 'em! I was good all week but I think there's a culprit claiming to be my "friend" if you know what I mean that had something to do with it!!! LOL Sorry if it's TMI but we're all ladies here, right? Better luck next week... or else Doritos and junk food here I come! HAHA

CTMH Butterfly Wings

2009-04-23T12:19:00.006-04:00

This was the Stamp of the Month from March and I hadn't gotten a chance to play with it until yesterday (or the day before). The colors are black, white and hot pink... YUP, my fave color combo!!! I don't think the colors come out quite clear when I photgraph my cards. I need to work on taking better photos like I've seen on some other blogs. Any helpful hints for me??? The first card is embossed in white and I used our bitty brads to embellish part of the wings. The other kind of reminds me of a tattoo. I used a couple of rhinestones to dress it up a little. I don't get nearly enough to "play" as I would like but am trying to squeeze *some* time in when I can!

Weight Watchers - Week 15

2009-04-22T11:14:00.003-04:00

Hello and Happy Hump Day!!! I am just reporting my weight loss for the week. I lost 4 pounds so I am down 24.5 total and weigh 168. Yay!!! I only have 8 pounds to lose for my first goal of weighing what I did when I met my husband... then another 10 to my ultimate goal weight for myself. I had pledged to lose 32 pounds on The Biggest Loser Pound for Pound Challenge and have to report my loss in 2 weeks so I'm kinda bummed that I won't make it. I almost pledged 22 but thought I'd have enough time. I just didn't expect several weeks of a ZERO loss. I should've went 27, right in the middle! Oh well, I'm still happy that I signed up and am helping feed the hungry :) Did anyone else sign up??? It was super easy and there's still time if you want to!!! Click on the widget on my blog and it will bring you right there. Let's help make a difference!

Sizzix Butterfly card

2009-04-21T08:46:00.005-04:00

I got a few minutes to play the other morning and made this card. I really love black, white and HOT PINK together. If you've seen my scrap room, you'd know this :) This was my first time playing with this butterfly die that I bought from my SU! friend, Jen, and I just love it. Thank you, Jenny-fa-fa! The sentiment is from the CTMH set, Butterfly Wings, that was the SOTM in March which BTW is sooo pretty. I will be posting a card or two having used that set shortly. I used the Cuttlebug folder, Leafy Branch, for a little extra dimension in the background and of course some rhinestones for the butterfly bodies. Ooh la la!

Close to My Heart promo!!!

2009-04-17T09:06:00.006-04:00

Good Morning :) I just wanted to let everyone know that Close to My Heart has a promotion going on from now thru May 31st. If you spend $60 in stamps, you get our Tickled Pink Constant Campaign FREE!!! WOOOO HOOOO!!!

The kit consists of the following:

Tickled Pink Scrapbooking Kit
Featured Colors: Blush, Crystal Blue, Twilight, Hollyhock, Sweet Leaf
1 – My Acrylix® I Am Stamp Set (D-size)
2 – 12" × 12" Floral B&T Duos™ Paper (1 with glitter)
2 – 12" × 12" Stripe B&T Duos™ Paper (1 with glitter)
1 – 12" × 12" Blush Textured Cardstock
1 – 12" × 12" Crystal Blue Textured Cardstock
5 – 12" × 12" White Daisy Textured Cardstock (1 sheet with die-cut shapes)
1 – Mini-Medley Accents White Daisy Collection
1– Foam Texture Tool
1– Brochure

I absolutely love CTMH and especially love the months when we offer a little something extra to our customers!!! It's nice to get FREE goodies and this kit is so pretty, I'm sure you'll love it. If you would like to see the flyer which shows the paper, stamps and die cuts more closely, please e-mail me and I will send it to you. Also, please contact me directly to place your order. I currently do not have a website but if I am able to get some orders through my blog, I will eventually be able to afford one! hehe Keep in mind that our new catalog becomes effective May 1st and there are TONS of great new stamps in there including a cute tree set and an adorable owl set too. As if that weren't enough, qualifying orders will receive our stamp of the month set for a discounted price or FREE with a $100 order. April's SOTM is World's Best Dad and May's is Be Yourself. Yippee! Can you tell I'm excited?

Thanks so much in advance :)

Weight Watchers - Week 14

2009-04-15T11:25:00.004-04:00

Well, it's no surprise... I GAINED this week. I was so disappointed with my last 4 weeks that I totally binged all week. It didn't help that I bought a pound (and a half) of fudge and am the only one in my house who eats it. Ironically, I gained 1.5 pounds this week! I am back on track this morning and hoping for a great week to get me motivated again!!! I need to start excersing too so hopefully I can come up with some kind of routine. Of course, I should've took advantage of the baby's nap this morning but didn't. Ugh, I'm in a funk. Help!!!

Weight Watchers - Week 13

2009-04-08T16:39:00.002-04:00

UGHHH!!! I only lost .5 this week and I'm really pissed about it if I may be honest! I was within my points, drank my water and was really good so WTH??? I am so frustrated. My first 8 weeks were great and these last 4 have totally sucked. I know I need to start exercising but it's just hard with the baby and not being able to walk from my house since we live on a main road. I guess I need to start jumping on that trampoline! Note to self - invest in a very tight bra first!!! LOL

Weight Watchers - Week 12

2009-04-05T23:14:00.003-04:00

Oh my aching head with my internet service!!!!! I officially hate Fairpoint and can't wait to switch (though Time Warner is not proving themselves to be any better in the customer service department). Being without service for 5 days is unacceptable and having a "call tag" or whatever they call it in for over a month with no way of telling me WHEN they actually might come is even worse. Oh and I just love being on hold for 28 plus minutes!!! Can you tell how happy I am? LOL I just signed up for an online course and I NEED my internet, not an option! Anyway, I am late posting my weight loss for last week but it's not my fault :) I lost 1.5 pounds last week making my current weight loss to date 21.5 pounds. The past 3 weeks have been slow going (0, 0, 1.5) so I'm really hoping for some good losses in the coming weeks. I'll be weighing in on Wednesday so we'll see what this week holds!

Weight Watchers - Week 11

2009-03-29T18:47:00.002-04:00

Yippee!!! I stayed the same last week after expecting a 3 pound gain from how badly I ate. Between the Spicy Sweet Chile Doritos (my fave!!!), it was my oldest son's birthday party so I had to have pizza and ice cream cake... and regular cake too :) I had also been horrible about drinking water so I really was relieved to have stayed the same. I've been back on track and hoping for a great number this week. I'll try to post it on time. I've been really bad about it but atleast I'm being truthful with my numbers! hehe I'd only be cheating myself!!!

CTMH Bird Basics

2009-03-22T14:14:00.003-04:00

I did this card several weeks ago and realized I never posted it. I used the Close to My Heart sets, Bird Basics and Playful Flourishes (for the branch). I used the scalloped oval nesties for the tree and made the trunk with an oval punch as seen on SCS. I added the fence border punch along the bottom but I really felt like the top was missing something so I later added the little music notes and I think that was the perfect finishing touch for the sentiment on the card which I made out of rub-ons. The springtime colors are cheerful and making me look forward to the nicer weather which seems to be quickly approaching :) HAPPY SPRING!!!

Weight Watchers - Week 10

2009-03-22T14:10:00.003-04:00

Ugh!!! I am late posting again. I've been having horrible internet service which is sooo frustrating. I lost ZERO pounds again this past week, very disappointing since I was within my points. That's the worst so now I have been off track all week and honestly, wouldn't be surprised if I have a gain this coming week... poo!

Weight Watchers - Week 9

2009-03-11T10:48:00.002-04:00

Good Morning! I am happy to report that I lost 4 pounds this week. YAHOO!!! I had stayed the same last week so I was hoping for a great number this week. Phew! I am now down 20 pounds in 9 weeks. I was hoping I could accomplish that goal in 8 weeks but I had 2 weeks of a zero pound loss so it threw me off a bit. I am glad to be back on track and just waiting for the weather to get a bit nicer so I can start walking. C'mon SPRING!!!

Vanessa's Creative Visions

Happy 80th Birthday, Nana!!!

In the Meadow - WMC80

JOY! haha

I love snowmen!!!

Beauty of Christmas

6 Days 'til Christmas? Oh {rein}deer! LOL

End of November

Halloween... a tad late!

The Play Date Cafe - Challenge #107 (PDCC107)

Swimming for Katie

It's *almost* Halloween!

Happy Anniversary to me!!! Ok and to my hubby, too! ;)

Operation Julie's Smile!!! :)

World Card Making Day

Spellbinders Wonderful Wings

Operation Julie's Smile!!! :)

Butterfly Elegance

Who wouldn't love this blog candy?!?!

Butterflies are my FAVORITE!!!

Three is ENOUGH! haha

You Are So SWEET!

Sending you a line...

My poor abandoned blog...

Have a Happy Day!

Oops, 1 more Valentine card!

Valentine cards... in April??? LOL

Better late than never!!! LOL

Wow, it's been over a month since I've posted anything!

Gypsy Contest and Giveaway!!!

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 10 and My Scrapbooking Retreat Weekend

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 9

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 8

Super bummed!!!

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 7

UBBRO6 Hey, Stud Muffin!!!

Witching You... a Happy Halloween!!!

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 6

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 5

Unity UBBRO3 Challenge

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 4

Unity UBBRO2 Challenge

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 3

Boo!!!

Ding, Dong! The witch is dead!!! HAHA

Unity UBBRO1 Challenge

I fibbed. My apologies :)

100th post!!!

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 2

CTMH stamp sets for sale!!!

Weight Watchers (Take Two) - Week 1

Starting over!!!

Happy Harvest - MTSC37

How does the time go by so fast???

I've got the best hubby!

You're a Hoot!

Just my Type

What a super fun weekend!!!

I'mmm soooooo exxxcited.....

I must confess!!!

Weight Watchers - Week 29 (or more like week 1...)

Guess who's backkk???

Weight Watchers - Week 28

Roll out!!!

Hey, Sugar!!!

Happy Birthday card

Sweet Summer Strawberries

One size fits all...

Make a Wish

I've got PMS!!!

Weight Watchers - Week 25

Happy mail on a crappy day!!!

Weight Watchers - Week 24

Weight Watchers - Week 23

Rain, rain, and wait... more rain!!!

Weight Watchers - Week 22

Unity baby card

Our Craft Lounge Swingin' By

Weight Watchers - Week 21

Weight Watchers - Week 20

It's almost Halloween!