Lots of HAPPY MAIL!!!

It has been a really low key day. I got up this morning, took a shower and then went back to bed. It is an absolute beautiful day and what did I do...I stayed in bed until 12:30. Tom took the kids outside to ride bikes and color with sidewalk chalk and I....stayed in bed. What a loser I am today. Thankfully I finally got out of bed when I heard the mailman come. It was definitely worth getting up for. I got TONS of happy mail today!
First envelope I got was an awesome thank you card from my friend Delia. I absolutely LOVE it! It is a cool pull card (I have never made one of these). I love the colors and stamps and everything about it! Just beutiful!!!

The next 2 envelopes I got came via Royal Mail...sounds so important :)
First one was this awesome card from my SBS-13 sister Jo (check out her blog, she makes some adorable cards!!). It is a beutiful card. Thank you SO MUCH for thinking of me! It really brightened my day!
The second Royal Mail envelope was from my other SBS-13 sister who just happens to also be name Jo (she has a great blog too, check it out). She sent me this terrific flower card/folder filled with awesome images and embellishments. I just LOVED it! Thanks Jo!
Now that I am out of bed I need to start figuring out what I am going to work on tonight at scrap mania. I need to get myself organized since it starts in 3 hours and I have no clue what I'm taking with. Wish me luck and hopefully I will have some finished projects to share tomorrow. Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday!

TGIF!

I am so glad it is finally Friday. I have had a sore back all week and today it is at its absolute worst. I can barely bend over right now. To make the day a little more challenging I babysat my 1 year old niece and one of Annabelle's friends. It actually wasn't that bad but boy is my back hurting. When my sister came to pick up my niece, my 7 year old niece was with her and she gave me this key chain that she bought for me. Yes, my 7 year old niece bought me a key chain with a picture of my "boyfriend" Zac Efron on it. It even says I *heart* Troy (for those of you who aren't crazy Zac Efron (or HSM) fans that was his character in HSM. I thought it was so cute and thoughtful of her and it is so true...I definitely *heart* Zac Efron! Thanks Raechell for the awesome gift. My keys will be on it tomorrow! Hope you all had a great Friday.
April and Jen and I are off to scrap mania at Archivers tomorrow night so hopefully I make some great projects that I can post on Sunday. Have a great weekend!

When a good card goes bad...

This card started out pretty cute this morning. I colored the baby bella image (thanks for letting me borrow your stamps Jen). I liked how it turned out colorwise but it is a pretty tall stamp and I had a hard time coming up with a layout. I started out with a glittery striped pastel colored background but I couldn't figure out anything to do with it. I tried adding photo corners with brads and I tried adding a cuttlebugged half circle behind the image...nope. Nothing seemed to work. It had started off on such a good note with the adorable image and the coloring but it was on the fast track to my trash bin. I left it alone for a few hours and took the kids out for lunch. When I got back I decided to give it one last chance. I swapped out the striped background and cuttlebugged a shimmery piece of vellum instead. It looked ok but then I got a little crazy and sponged it with blue ink and then added a some glitter to the already shimmery vellum using the essential glue pad (probably didn't need to do this but for me you can never have too much glitter). I couldn't figure out a sentiment to stamp or even where to put it so I decided to use some rub-ons and my tiny star punch. Overall, not a super card but at least it took a detour away from the trash can. It started as a good idea and ended as a so-so card. Hope you are all enjoying your Thursday! We are headed off to the doctor to have them take a look at an infected hang-nail on Beckett's thumb. Wish the kids understood when I say "don't pick at it or it will get infected", that I actually mean it. Oh well...wish us luck!

Check out this awesome blog candy!

My dear friend Kisa has some absolutely FABULOUS blog candy right now. Check out her terrific blog here!
Hopefully I can find some time today to make something worthy of posting; if not, I hope you all have a terrific day!

Ribbon Blossoms

Do you have tons of ribbon just sitting around waiting to be used?
Then you have to check out this blog: Indigo Studio

Happy hump day!

Well, we made it through half the week and we all sorta seem healthy. Annabelle got a HUGE spot (hive? - it was the size of a half dollar) on her forehead last night that may have been cause from the antibiotic but today was her last dose so hopefully everything is ok. For those of you who know me well know that I have a lot of up and down days. I've been depressed a lot lately which is why I have been trying my best to make bright happy cards. I tried yesterday and couldn't do a single thing. I colored a couple Elyzabells images and then couldn't do a thing with them to save my life. Today I decided to try a Whipper Snapper image that I got from someone in the wishRAK group (sorry, I can't remember who sent it to me). Once again things are pretty basic but for the first time in a while I actually used some ribbon out of my stash instead of just adding glitter (my absolute fav embellishment). Hope everyone is having a great Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by.

The secret to dieting...

is not to eat cookies for breakfast. I've been experimenting with this type of dieting for the past couple weeks and my desired weight loss seems unattainable; in fact, I think the scales are tipping in + direction rather than the -. I think I may have to look at other breakfast options in hopes of diet success!
Anyway....it is cold and rainy and just all around gloomy here today. My motivation level is pretty much zero (except for my cookie dieting motivation - that seems to have peaked during this gloom). I didn't even want to take Annabelle to preschool today but in the end I managed to drag my tired butt out of the house. I even managed a little grocery shopping with Beckett after I dropped her off.
After grocery shopping, I decided that gloomy days and cleaning the house are an awful combination so I put a movie in the DVD player for Beckett and headed to my stash of colored images (no coloring motivation today). Once again the Penny Black frogs were calling (or maybe they were croaking) out to me. I am still using scraps from my stamp table so the color combos I have been using lately might not be the greatest but they are using up my scraps so that I don't have to put them away. Creating less work for later is always a good idea for me. Nothing too fancy here again today, just some glitter, brads and a few layers of paper. Seems I have been using a lot of bold bright colors lately, not sure why since I typically shy away from brights. Maybe all this gloom and cold is getting to me...what am I saying, maybe, should have said DEFINITELY getting to me. I can't wait for 70 degree weather! Hope you are all having a wonderful day!

Sunday already?

I can't believe it is already Sunday night. Where did the weekend go? We are still the household of the sick but I'm trying to keep a good attitude about it...the kids are building up a great immune system. I didn't get much accomplished today except for a long afternoon nap and a couple birthday cards that I should have had done last week. When I'm in stamping rut I tend to stamp and color a lot of images for future use. Today I wanted to throw together 2 cards in less than 30 minutes (the amount of time the crab cake mix has to sit in the fridge before I could make dinner). I dug through my colored image box and found these cute Penny Black chickens. Have I mentioned that I just love Penny Black? So I glittered, added the balloon, stamped the sentiment and threw these (I made 2) together in 36 minutes. Not too bad, especially since I just used scraps of paper that were already laying all over my craft table. I like how it turned out so much I decided to post it before I finished making supper...now I'm off to fry some crab cakes. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Just not my day!

I had a huge day planned for today and due to circumstances beyond my control nothing went as planned. First of all I had a hair cut/highlight appointment this morning. I left early because I finally had some Joann's coupons and the other day when I was there they had some of the new cuttlebug folders. I drive right by Joann's to get my hair done so it was going to work out just perfect...wrong! When I got to Joann's they were completely out of all of the new folders. Just my luck. Instead of using my coupons on CB folders I bought a pad of watercolor paper and some decorative candy flowers that go on cakes. Not what I went there to get but I was making a cake this afternoon anyway so at least the coupon didn't go to waste. Tonight Tom and I were supposed to go to a movie/pizza party at a friends home but Tom woke up not feeling well this morning so I was going to go alone tonight. I had my sister help make a really cool pink and purple checkerboard cake for me to take along tonight. I frosted it and decorated it with the cute candy flowers I got at Joann's. A couple hours later when I should have been getting ready for the party...I started feeling like total crap. I think I should have just stayed in bed this morning. I called my friend and had her pick up the cake so at least someone would still appreciate our totally cool spring colored checkerboard cake. So instead of partying with friends I hung out in my stamp room and experimented with the watercolor paper that I bought earlier today. The verdict...I TOTALLY SUCK AT WATERCOLORING. I tried and tried to figure out how people make such beautiful things on watercolor paper but the more I tried the uglier things got. In an effort to "fix" my image I had to resort back to touching it up with prismacolor pencils and gamsol. I was determined to make something with this and in the end it turned out ok despite the fact that I colored and recolored and recolored again. I'd love to hear how you all watercolor, maybe I'm doing something wrong.
Hope you all had a better day than we did. I think I am heading off to bed, early. I just have to remember that tomorrow is a new day!

The tough week doesn't end with yesterday's post

After I posted yesterday Tom came home early so that I could run to Target and to the post office. In the 45 minutes that I was gone Annabelle went from a fairly normal 4 year old to a 4 year old with the WORST ear infection EVER! When I got home Tom loaded her up in the van for yet another Friday night trip to the urgent care. She has had several ear infections (and when I say several I mean A LOT) in the past but usually once we get to the doctor and get her some meds she calms down. Last night was a totally different story. Her ear hurt....BAD. Tom dropped her off after the doctor appointment so he could run pick up her script at Walgreens. She cried and screamed and cried some more because her ear was hurting her so bad. I did everything I could for her and in the end she cried herself to sleep. I just don't understand how she can play and act normal all day and then out of the blue is in this awful pain. I felt terrible, but honestly she didn't give me any indication anything was wrong during the day, not the slightest bit.
So on that note, I needed something to make me smile today so I pulled out a picture of a card that I made last summer. No fancy embellishments or techniques...just plain and simple. Penny Black animals always make me smile! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Tough Week

Thank you to everyone who sent messages asking if everything is going ok. We have had a tough week. We did go to my parents house for Easter but Annabelle's asthma/allergies started acting up and by the time we got home she was coughing like mad. Meanwhile, Beckett was still running a low grade fever. Annabelle seemed ok on Monday and part of Tuesday but then the fever kicked back in, in full force. It has been a really really long week. I haven't had much time to do anything crafty what so ever. I think I am in yet another stamping/scrapping slump. Yesterday I did try to do a little basic scrapping. These pages are a far cry from good but I'm way way way behind on working on the kids scrapbooks so I need a couple easy pages. I made this layout twice (one for each book). I've had the Cricut for almost a year and a half and I am finally starting to play with it. If only I had more fonts to choose from. As you can see from the pages, I am still WAY WAY WAY behind. These are from June 2005....yes, almost 3 years ago. I don't scrap in any particular order. I look through my stash of pictures and pick whatever I feel like scrapping. I still haven't done Annabelle's birth or 1st birthday but I do have Beckett's birth and first birthday done. See...no sense what so ever. I spent some time organizing some of our photos today and found a bunch that I can definitely play with. The problem with having everything digital is that we never ever print any of pictures. If I want to scrap I usually go through several months and send a huge printing order to Wal-mart...on the likes of 500 pictures at a time. Anyway...that is a long story about nothing. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Cards from my SBS sister Jo

I don't really have anything new to post today, but I just wanted to share a couple cards that I received in the mail yesterday from my SBS-13 sister, Jo. These are cards are absolutely adorable. Thank you for brightening my day!

HAPPY EASTER!

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter!

It's a holiday weekend, SO you know what that means...

We are SICK. Annabelle and Beckett are both running fevers. Beckett's started in the wee hours of Thursday morning and Annabelle's started last night. We ran out of Tylenol last night and I had to brave the elements (it was a blizzard here yesterday - 8 inches of snow) to go to Wal-mart for a thermometer and some children's Tylenol and Motrin. For those of you who have been with me since the begining you know that it is our joke here that it isn't a holiday without a trip to the urgent care. Someone from our house is sick on every holiday. We are supposed to be traveling to my parents tomorrow for Easter but those plans are up in the air until we figure out how sick we all are. Sucks since this year instead of the traditional Easter dinner the plan is to have Lobster and Prime Rib. I'm crossing my fingers (but not holding my breath) that everyone is feeling better tomorrow. I hope you all have a wonderful day and a Happy Easter! Thanks for stopping by!

Blog Candy WINNER!!

Thanks for all the great color combo comments! For those of you who asked, my favorite combo is always Chocolate chip with just about any color, I also like black and purple combos!

The winner of my first ever blog candy give away is: ElyBlair!!! Please contact me with your snail mail addy so I can get this sent out to you!

ElyBlair said...

Good luck with everything. I tend to go for red and blue :)

March 18, 2008 2:17 PM

ElyBlair - please send me an email with your snail mail addy so I can get these sent out to you.


We are in for a LONG weekend here. Beckett has been running a high fever for the last 24 hours with no end in site. As you have "heard" me say before...It isn't a holiday without one of us heading to the urgent care. To top things off we are getting 5-8 inches of snow today.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a Happy Easter!!!

Easter Treats

I found a little time yesterday to whip together some Easter treats. The basket bottoms are cut out of dp using my Cricut and I just cut a strip and added a handle. The little tins are from the wedding favor section at Michael's. I filled them with bunny/duck shaped sweet tarts. The stamps used were from a retired TAC stamp set (sorry, don't know the name). Bunnies and chicks were colored using prismacolor pencils and gamsol. As usual, I couldn't finish a project without a little glitter so the bunnies and eggs are covered in dazzling diamonds! Hope you all have a Happy Easter!


Don't forget to sign up for my blog candy drawing by leaving a comment here. Drawing will be held on Friday!

Time for some BLOG CANDY!!!

Sunday nights always totally bum me out. I had so many things that I needed and wanted to get done this weekend and now that the weekend is almost over the # of items crossed off my to-do list is ZERO. I NEEDED to get some housework done...nope. I WANTED to get some stamping done...nope. I NEEDED to get some good rest...nope. I am also suffering from the "WINTER IN WI IS TOO LONG" blues. The weather has been nicer the past few days but not nice enough. I NEED spring to get here ASAP! The one positive thing about the weekend is that I saw a robin today...a sure sign that spring is almost here! To celebrate this first robin of the year siting I have some blog candy to give away: some super cool glitter rub-ons (they go on like regular rub-ons and then you add whatever color glitter you like-totally cool), some metallic red chord and a clear holiday stamp set from Autumn Leaves. To be entered to win all you need to do is leave me a comment on this post telling me your favorite color combo to use scrapping or stamping. I will draw a name from all the entries on Friday morning. Have a TERRIFIC week!!!

*Please read my previous post for info about donating handmade items to help raise money for a 3 year old who was recently diagnosed with Leukemia.*

*Blogger with a cause*

My friend Lynn has a post on her blog about a 3 year old family friend that was recently diagnosed with Leukemia. Lynn is taking donations of handmade items that will help raise money for the family and for the hospital where 3 year old Lyndsey is getting treatment. These items will be used for a raffle/silent auction at a future fund raiser. Lynn is also donating money through her Fashion Flips business. Please visit Lynn's blog "Just Monkin' Around" for more details. As a parent of a 3 and 4 year old I can't imagine what this family is going through. I am working on making a couple items that I will be sending her way. If you have the time to make a little something please consider this, it is definitely going to a good cause!

A Birthday Surprise!

I am SO excited that today is finally here. I started working on this project almost 2 months ago. Shortly after I started my blog I got a message from someone named Melanie, who just happens to also be friends with my friend Delia. She told me of a plot to surprise Delia for her 40th birthday (which happens to be tomorrow). She asked me to make a 2 page 12x12 layout as part of the surprise. Delia is the best scrapper that I personally know and let me tell you, I was NERVOUS! I spent many nights laying in bed trying to think of themes/layouts/colors/etc...
When I finally decided on layout and colors I nervously started getting my stuff together.
As my ideas started to flow, I got pretty excited about these pages. I searched this entire town on multiple occasions looking for exactly the perfect pieces and I think in the end it turned out terrific. Those of you who know me well, know that I seldom think anything I make is terrific but I LOVED these pages when they were done. I honestly think they are the best pages I have ever scrapped...EVER. I am so thrilled that they turned out so well, especially since they were going to such a special person. To go along with this surprise I so wanted to make the drive to New York for her surprise party (which is scheduled to start in less than 10 minutes from now), but Tom was too nervous about me making a 15 hour drive by myself (I think he was really just nervous about fending for himself with the kids for a few days). As a consolation I will hopefully be getting a call from Melanie (from the party scene) so I at least get to wish Delia a Happy Birthday from Wisconsin.
So without further ado...

Here is a close-up of the flowers I added.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DELIA!!!!!!

I've been tagged!

Earlier in the week I was tagged by my good friend Jen from Glitter In My Hair.
Here are the deets:

P.S. - You've been tagged!

The rules of the game:

• Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.
• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Random Facts About Me:

1. My middle name is Renee (so with my hyphenated last name I have a total of 9 E's in my name)
2. I've broken my right arm twice in my life, once when I was 4 years old (falling off our swing set) and once when I was 26 (falling off my mountain bike).
3. In my mid 20's I did several off-road mountain bike races.
4. In high school I played fast pitch softball and I was a varsity basketball and football cheerleader.
5. I love singing. I'm hoping dh will buy me a good karaoke machine for our anniversary (but I'm not holding my breath). My dream is to be in a band (and also to be about 10 years younger than I am).
6. My first music concert I ever attended was MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice for my 16th birthday. I have since bettered my music/concert tastes to the likes of Prince, REM, U2, John Mellencamp, Harry Connick Jr., Indigo Girls, Bare Naked Ladies, Sheryl Crow and lots more. During our pre-marriage/dating years (all 5 of them) dh and I went to A LOT of concerts.
7. I love HS Musical and Zac Efron (you ladies knew I couldn't post facts without this obvious one)

Boy this was a challenge. After trying to figure out something interesting about myself, I realized that I am totally boring. I'm going to have to spice up my life so next time I get tagged I have something good to write!

According to the rules I need to tag 7 people so we can learn all their secrets too. I know it says to tag 7 other bloggers but I'm going to bend the rules and tag a few bloggers and a few non-bloggers. All of you non-bloggers please post your info in the comments for this post.

Here we go:

Kisa

Delia

Mary Webb

April (my sis)

Nessy (Nessy's Notes)

Lynn (Just Monkin' Around)

Jo (Only Joking)