Merry and Bright

Page made this year using a photo from last year. Yes I am always a year behind with my holiday pics! lol

I hope you all a had a fabulous Christmas! It's been a very busy but happy holiday!We did some holiday baking, Christmas Eve at the in-laws, Christmas breakfast at our house and then off to my Mom's for Christmas dinner. Off to the mall yesterday to get candles. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Yankee Candles so my yearly ritual is to go the day after Christmas and get as many 2 for 1 candles as I can!! Tonight we are off to see a Christmas house. There is a local couple that decorated the inside of their home with 100 trees!! Should be fun.


Christmas Eve at Grandma and Pop Pop Levite's

Kelsey with Cousin James and his guitar.

Kelsey looking far too grown up to have just turned nine!!

Christmas morning at home.


Howard looking simply dashing in his Santa suit!

Christmas at Grandma Putter's house. AKA Linda from SCF.

Cousin Sean loved his blocks...ok really he loved dumping them and then watching his Mom pick them up. Just to dump them again. Sorry Auntie Kerin!

Santa left a big black scrap bag for Kelsey at Grandma Putter's house! So happy that this girl loves to scrap!!

Aunt Allie got Kelsey a Wilton Cake Decorating set and all the goodies to go with it. You know in the middle of all the chaos of Christmas day.....YES she had to make a cake! Her and Daddy made it from SCRATCH while I stole a little nap. Instead of Baking Cocoa they used Swiss Miss the cake also called for a COFFEE and MAYO which they also made from scratch. Surprisingly it was delish and she did a great job decorating it.

Kelsey and Grandma Putter made Hershey Kiss Mice and they were a big hit!! Too cute.

Finally My Tree is Up!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas. We have snow on the ground here in NY. I've made cookies and put the tree up. Sounds too ideal right? Yeah it is. I still have 70% of my shopping to do. The rest of the house is a wreck and hasn't been decorated. Fifty hand stamped cards are waiting to be assembled and mailed out. Oh and I haven't done laundry in a week. humph. Happy Holidays. OK. All kidding aside I really am feeling the spirit of the season. I just wish I had more time to prepare for the season. That and for crafting. I haven't had much time for that lately. I'm looking forward to a couple of weeks off and some hard core scrapping!

November What???

Is Novemember really almost over? Did my daughter really turn 9 yesterday? Is Thanksgiving Thursday? Do I need to start Christmas shopping? OMG What happened to the month of November? I'll tell ya what happened. Asthma, swimming, asthma, more swimming, sinus infections, two birthday parties and Facebook. Yeah Facebook. I never knew I had Tony Soprano lurking inside of me. I can't tell you how much fun I've had whacking gangsters! It's been a great way to take some aggression out legally!
This month has been a series of highs and lows. Such as life I know...just tired of the lows. How often does my girl have to fight off asthma. She gets this cough that just grabs a hold of her and wont let go. We have been lucky enough to stave off H1N1though so that's a plus. She also got a long awaited H1N1 shot. That has been the only upside of asthma, it made her eligble for the shot.


On the crafting front I've started my Christmas cards, made a couple of pages and a card for Kelsey's Birthday. I also got all of my swaps and challenge prizes mailed out yesterday so if anyway has been waiting on something from me...I am so sorry for not getting everything out sooner!!

I hope you all have a Happy Happy Happy Thanksgiving!!

Halloween Pics

I just wanted to add an update to this post. Thanks for all of the love and comps on the kids. I must tell you. Kelsey is the only one who is my child. The boys "my nephews" belong to my bff Kerin. We have spent every Halloween together for the last 15+ years. It just so happens her boys look more like me than my own daughter! lol When Kelsey and Kyle (her son who is a year older than Kels)were young we would take them out and people always thought Kyle was mine and Kelsey was hers. So although they are not my boys by birth or even blood, they are my boys in the sense that I love them all to pieces!

Every year for the last 8 years we gather at my house for some Halloween fun. My parents, my in-laws, cousins, friends...it's one of my favorite holidays! Here's the run down.
Matthew-high school, won't dress up anymore, won't allow pictures.
Kyle-5th grade, will still dress up, will only allow pictures if he's trying to kill Kelsey. lol
Kelsey-4th grade, would dress up everyday, loves the camera (at least today anyway)
Sean-toddler, had a costume but got overheated, cute enough to go without, the camera loves him!







Oh the new blog header pic was taken at one of our local haunted houses. I thought it was ghoulishly funny!

Facebook

Facebook. I even have a farm. What was I thinking? Enough said. lol

Pink Paislee Friend Card

Just a quickie here. I was wanting to use my new owl stamp set (Hampton Art) and thought the tree scrap from my swim page would go nice with this stamp set. I am really loving this Pink Pailsee. Have a great day friends!

One Stroke At a Time

One stroke at a time, that's the way my girl rolls! I took this picture over the summer at an outdoor pool. I thought the Pink Paislee went great with her team colors. She had another meet yesterday and once again no pictures!

Yesterday she swam a 50 Free, 50 Back and a 100 Breast. She finished first in two heats and second in the other. We also had a phone call from her coach the other night. Now you have to understand getting a call from the coach at 9:30 pm would be like the teacher calling at 9:30. I was expecting bad news! Nope. Great news. My Mermaid Girl placed on the Metro Swimming top 10 list. Now according to the coach? This is amazing and not only did she place? She is number one on the list for 8 and under Breast strokers. I'm so proud of her and grateful for her good health!

I don't know if anyone else has followed the story of Shiloh Pepin, aka The Mermaid Girl? She is a little girl whose legs were fused together from the waist down. Hubby, Kelsey and I have followed her story for awhile now. We all admired her and were deeply saddened to hear of her passing.

Noel Mignon Kit

I just pre-ordered Noel's new kit, Mill Street. I love, love, love the colors in this one!! If you haven't purchased one of Noel's Kit's before, believe me they are worth every penny. She PACKS them full of the latest and greatest plus there are always some unique goodies. Usually some candy too. lol Anyway, check it out here. I can't wait to get mine.

On the swim front my daughter did as well as she could yesterday. The competition was STIFF!! There was a girl there that I swear will make it to the Olympics! I wish I had it on video. This little girls legs were like propellers. It was if she were on TOP of the water and not in it. Too cool. My girl still did great though! She came in 3rd place in both Freestyle and Butterfly but Breast Stroke was where she really shined! She won by a landslide. I'm so proud of her. It was too dark for pictures and since you already know my history with that....I didn't dare use my flash! She has another meet in 2 weeks and I think that pool has skylights so I'll try again for pictures.
Hope you all enjoyed your holiday weekend. I know I am glad to have today off! I'm working on birthday invitations. Sleepover invitations to be precise. Yes, I hate myself enough to have agreed to a Sleepover for 6. Should be fun. Snort.

Thank You Cards

The card binge continues! I loved this butterfly stamp so much that instead of making one, I made six! I also used of some more of my Basic Grey Porcelain and used my new EK Success punch. Those new compact border punches are a new favorite of mine.

On the home front the official swim season starts tomorrow. My girl will be swimming a 50 Freestyle, 25 Breast and a 25 Butterfly. I'll post the results and maybe some pics tomorrow. I have to be careful with my camera at the meets. The first meet ever I snapped about 50 pics and momentarily blinded a few swimmers. When they announced over the PA to please stop with the flash photography I was mid flash. Ooops. Couldn't even pretend that it wasn't me! Now I shut the flash off and just hope for a shot or two. Here is one of the pics I got at her first meet. What you don't see is the girl on the blocks ready to dive. You know, the girl I momentarily blinded with my flash. I never figured out who the swimmer was or I would have apologized. I'm sure I'm known as the lady who blinded so and so! Anyway, here is the pic. It's not the greatest but it does capture her nerves and her coaches encouragement. She ended up winning that race (backstroke) and placed second in Freestyle.

Hey

Hey! Long time no blog! Seems like it's been forever. I haven't posted anything new in the last couple of weeks and I haven't even stalked any of your blogs lately! Shame on me!! Anyway, life has been busy. Back to school. Back to work. Back to swim practice. You get the picture.

I did manage to get a couple more cards done. Yes. The card binge continues. I have a couple of pages started but they all need tweaking before I post them.I know I already said it but I just have to say it again. I LOVE Crafty Secrets Stamp Sets. The images are so beautiful. I so need to buy more of these. So far I only have two sets.

Over at Scrapbooking and Crafting Friends I just posted this months Basic Grey Challenge. If you are interested check it out here. I'm offering some eye candy from my stash to the winner!

Crafty Secrets

I got together this weekend with my Mom, my friend Bonnie and my daughter. Thank god my girl loves to craft. I was able to spend time with daughter, mother and a friend all at the same time. I didn't get alot done in the way of crafting but I had a blast! We did a whole lot of eating and laughing!

I did manage to get this card done using one of my new Crafty Secrets stamps and some Cosmo Cricket paper that I got from a QVC special ohhhhhh last year or maybe even the year before. I really am on a mission to start using up what I have. When I use something up it makes me fell like I can buy more. Bwahahahahaha!!! Like this stamp set from Crafty Secrets I really didn't need them but dang I am in love with all of their stamp sets!!! How cute is this little fairy girl?? Next set will be Home Sweet Home or a Christmas one.

Hope you had a great weekend!

52 Sketches

OK I'm not sure what planet I've been on but thanks to Noel Mignon (you know how I love my Noel Mignon kits!!) I've been turned onto 52 Sketches. Here is a page I did using sketch #36. Whew I just made the deadline. I got this Crate Paper at CKC this year and I'm so proud of myslef for not taking a year to use it! lol

Thirty Nine?

Yeah 39. I am WAY not a happy about that number. Especially since I spent most of the year thinking and telling people I was 37! I realized a couple months ago that I wasn't 37 at all... Yup. I completely skipped 38 and went straight to 39. One year closer to 40, one year closer to not having another child. Ho Hum. The only thing sweet about 39 are these yummy cookies my SIL made for me and even they remind me of 39. Hmmm do you think SIL was stickin it to me? 39's right on my cookies! hmph! LOL

I'm not going to complain too much though. Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day happily spent with family and for that I am truly thankful. I know in a day or two I'll feel better about this 39 thing. But for now I think I'll go back to telling people I'm 37. I also plan on eating the evidence with a tall glass milk!

I haven't had much crafty time the last couple of weeks but did manage to get another card done. I really liked the color scheme of the last Basic Grey Challenge so I stuck with them for this card too. I think I have used Porcelain more than any other Basic Grey line. Anyone one have a favorite BG line?


Hope you all had a great holiday weekend!

Basic Grey Challenges

Basic Grey Challenge Blog is back with challenges every two weeks. I missed the first one but was able to do this one. This time around is a color challenge. The color combo was brown, yellow and pink. Of course you also had to use Basic Grey. Not a problem. I think I have almost every pack ever made. lol I played with my Copics for this. I still have a long way to go but I enjoy working with them. I'm hoping to take a Copic class but so far nothing in my area. Both of my LSS's closed. Anyway here's my card.


Oh just to let you know the squatter came home from school yesterday full of story's about her "man teacher". She loved him! Whew. So glad she's not going to become a Hobo. I do hope she starts calling him by name soon. The "man teacher". Snort.

Back to School Squatter

I thought the older she got the easier it would be to put her on the bus. Maybe it's because she was so sick most of the summer or maybe I'm just sad to see her growing up. I don't know. Either way neither one of us were to happy about the first day of school. I of course hid it a little better than she.

She also has a man teacher for the first time and she is not OK with that AT ALL. This is what I've been listening to for the last week.

I don't want to go back to school.
I don't want a man teacher.
I don't want to go to 4th grade.
I'm going to quit school, become a hobo and live in the club house.
I decided I'm not going to college either.

Fabulous! At 8 my daughter aspires to be a squatter!!

Our morning went something like this. I don't wanna go....sit on the couch.

Put your sweatshirt on it's almost time to go. Sit on the couch. Hold blankie number 2, "one last time". Yes. My 8 year old has a blankie. I know alot of people have views on this but It brings her comfort and I don't feel the need to take it away. With that being said, it doesn't go to school with her.

Ok, got everything? Move from the couch to a chair. I don't wanna go. A little smile. A little giggle. Probably gas related.

On her way to the bus stop doing her best impression of Hi It's Fred! If you don't know who Fred is?? Consider yourself lucky.

Whew! Finally we are at the bus stop!! Grandma Putter and Pop Pop are here and we are all taking pics of her at the same time. Elbows are nearly flying and It's like the paparazzi going after Jon and Kate. At least this gets her laughing!


Hope you all had a great back to school experience!

Stampin' When I Can

Wow I was featured as Newly Discovered at Stampin When I Can. Pretty amazing since I didn't even submit it myself. giggles and takes little bow. Check out it here.

Basic Grey Lemonade

Just a quick post today. Love, love the Basic Grey Lemonade line. The pp, the felties, the chipboard, OH MY!



Over at Scrapbooking and Crafting Friends there is still time to get in on the Basic Grey Challenge. The winner will receive a RAK from my stash.

Summertime

It's hard to believe that summer is almost over and school will be starting next week. ack. That's early for us. We usually start right after Labor Day/my birthday. Snort and Insert smile here.

With all of the coughing my daughter did this summer it seemed we didn't get around to much summertime fun! I was glad to find these Lake George photo's, taken right before the cough began. hohum. She is much better now though. Right now she is off enjoying herself. I'm really homesick for her.

I also used some of my June Bug. Yay! Perfect for summer photo's. At least I think so anyway. The yellow was a little brighter (ok ALOT brighter) than what I usually work with but since my photo's were a bit dark I was trying to get them to pop.

I'm off now to pack my bag and go scrappin! I hope you have a scrappy day too!

HI

Just a quick post to say Hi! My daughter left for vacation with her Grandparents so it's been busy busy. I had to have all of her school shopping done before she left on Friday since she will start school a couple of days after she comes home.

Here is another card from convention, finally finished! Most of the classes that I took came with the stamp set. This one, because it was my favorite did not.

Over at Scrapbooking and Crafting Friends I am hosting another Basic Grey Challenge. This month the challenge is to create a two page lo using mostly Basic Grey. Click here for details if you are interested in playing. The winner will get a RAK from my stash. Ok off to work for me now. Have a great day!

Technique Tuesday

Technique Tuesday was one of my favorite classes that I took at CKC. As with ALL the classes...my only complaint was that there wasn't enough time to finish ANY of the projects in ANY of the classes. I came home with bags of unfinished projects! I've slowly been pulling them out and finishing them up. Technique Tuesday had great directions so I was able to finish these without a problem. There are two missing though because I dropped my DARK BROWN ink pad on top of it....soooo not cool and I can't find the other one! I should really drink more coffee before I post in the morning!







I used some of my new Copics that I got at Die Cuts R US. They will be having another Copic Marker sale starting August 18th. $2.99 each!!