Scrapbooking My Life

Creating Coming Soon

2012-01-23T19:01:00.001-05:00

But first. I gotta clean that room!! Finally! I'm getting my space back together! It's been a long process and still not complete but it's getting closer. I think I have wandered into the HOARDER phase of scrapbooking. OK I don't think it. I. am. a. scrap. hoarder. There I said it! This is the floor in front of my table.

I'm going to fix it. I'm now thinking of the flood as a blessing. Gotta think positive right. I don't think I EVER would have sooo thoroughly gone through any of it. I still have a long way to go in my "recovery". This is the floor in front of my table. This is what it looked like after hours of sorting.

Starting to see that I actually have a stamp table.

Mom saying HEY I organized this paper now don't make a mess of it!! Thanks Mom!

I'm also playing with my doll's again! If any of you scrappy ladies like vintage doll's check out my dolly website.

We've also been doing some swiming. Well now we. Kelsey does the swimming, we do the watching. LOL Anyway my breaststroking baby is turning into quite the backstroker. Check her out!

Happy 2012

2012-01-04T07:44:00.000-05:00

Hello Crafty Friends! It's been awhile. I hope you all had a great Christmas and Happy New Year. I myself had a great holiday season and have lots of crafty plans for the coming year. Now if someone could just lend me some time? LOL

Christmas Morning

Christmas at Grandma's

My nephew. How can you not be hopeful about a new year...looking at that face!!

Catching Up

2011-11-05T15:35:00.000-04:00

Abandoned Blog! Abandoned Blog! Holy Crap! Has it really been a month since I posted? I think I haven't been right since we had a hurricane in New York followed by a foot of snow in October? What in heck is going on with the weather!!
For now I'm just going to post some random photo's until I get caught up!

Pumpkin Picking at Maples Farm with our friend Julianna aka Little Kelsey. At 4 I am amazed how much Julie resembles Kelsey! Makes me sad that my baby is not a baby anymore.

Halloween! I was also a little surprised this year that my girl wanted to ugly herself up to be a Zombie Bride!

The little boy on the left is my friends son. He was really upset about Kelsey's costume and not because he was afraid. He is pointing his finger and yelling at her. "YOU WERE SUPPOSE TO BE PRETTY!! YOU WERE SUPPOSE TO BE A BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS!!" LOL Wishing we had caught that on video.

World Card Making Day PInk Paislee

2011-10-02T20:40:00.000-04:00

Happy World Card Making Day! OK I am a day late but I DID make cards yesterday. Live Pink was hosted some awesome challenges yesterday. I'm happy to say I completed three of them. There were seven challenges in total but HEY don't judge. lol I am a slow scrapper PLUS I had some DT stuff to do for Let's Scrap. I can't post that yet though.
I was super happy to spend the day with my MOM, yup that's right my mom and I scrap together as well as friends, old and new. It was a great way to spend the day. The ladies that ran the crop are fabulous and I will be going again for sure! Polish Lasagna~who knew!! HA Gotta love Koren's cooking and sense of humor.
I also (finally) busted open my Pink Paislee Warehouse Box. Swoon. What an awesome, awesome amount of stuff in that box and NOT JUNK!! I've purchased warehouse boxes before and been disappointed or simply underwhelmed. NOT with this box~GORGEOUS stuff I tell you! I think I spent more time playing with my box than I did crafting!

Almost October?

2011-09-29T15:37:00.001-04:00

Almost October? Really? August and September have been a bit of a blur for me. ENOUGH rain already!! We had a rep from FEMA at our house yesterday and I am hoping we are eligible for something. Actually at this point I wish it would just STOP RAINING long enough for my basement to fully dry. I have never ever seen anything like this in my area.
I realized today while posting my Let's Scrap page for the week (using a 5th grade photo) that I never posted Kelsey's first day of MIDDLE SCHOOL!! How is it that endless rain and a wet basement have put me so far behind.... OH and I'm not even going to be posting it today. Why? Endless rain and a wet basement are not enough. Laptop died and for the moment most of my photo's are "trapped" in it. Hubby is working on it for me so I should get them soon. In the meantime I did get a new laptop for my birthday!
OK enough of my whining already. Check out this weeks sketch at Let's Scrap! I love big photo's so I just adored this sketch. Add some Amy Tangerine from my Scrapbook Circle Kit and I am good to go. I also had an exciting email in my inbox over at Scrapbook.com

Check it out!

Good Evening,

I am hosting a fun little challenge called "Gallery Walk". Each day, I post a gallery of a creative artist, and the participants leave love all over their work.

I am delighted to tell you that our featured gallery today is You! Thank you so much for posting your beautiful work. I love your beautiful style, and I hope you enjoy all the well-deserved love that is about to be heaped all over your gallery!

Sincerely,
Michelle

Awesome to be getting so much gallery love!

New Sketch~Let's Scrap

2011-09-15T07:41:00.000-04:00

The new Let's Scrap Sketch is up! I have to be honest, this sketch was a challenge for me! I don't usually work with "white space". With that being said, the more I played around the more I liked it. Here is the Sketch and here is what I came up with.

I want to give a shout out to my scrapping friend Marie aka Mazz. She left the kindest comment for me during the time of the hurricane and without even knowing it she offered a random act of kindness on my birthday!!! Thanks so much Mazz!! Your kindness really touched me and I will be sending you my snail mail today.

sounds like you need a RAK Marie - to help with your own 'watered' stash !! PLEASE send me your postal addy via pm on facebook and I would LOVE to send you something !!! hugs to all of you xx Mazz xx

Not only is she kind. She is crafty~ check out her blog here.

I've Got No Scrap Space But I've Got My MoJo Back

2011-09-12T19:42:00.000-04:00

To sum it up simply, it's been a crappy couple of weeks. Hurricane Irene came. We lost power for 3 days. We took in a small amount of water in our basement and then the rains came. Again. With the ground already thoroughly saturated there was no place for it to go. So into the basement it came. I'm not going to complain (too much) many others lost so much more than we did. I will say....my scraproom is partially in the trash. I've lived in my home for 10 years and never have we had any water in the house like this. It's unreal. Ton's of paper and stickers had to be thrown out, that's what I get for having it stacked on the floor! Two big cabinets had to be thrown away and the rest is in a big heap in my family room. I'm going to wait another week or two before I put any of it back. Another good rain and I think it will be wet again. It hasn't rained here in a few days now and the ground is still mush! On the upside I will get to do a little shopping. One of those cabinets held my Cricut and I need to replace it.
I had a crop scheduled for Saturday and I almost didn't go, I mean come on! All my stuff is in a heap! I decided to go, packed haphazardly the morning of and ended up finding my MoJo!! I had a great time with some scrappy friends, old and new!
This is a layout I started before the storm. It was my intention to make a bunch of awesome layouts and apply for the Basic Grey Design Team, Hurricane Irene had other plans! Oh well, what were the chances of actually making that team anyway! HA I love Basic Grey and would have been using this paper anyway so it's all good!

I have a few other pages and a card but they are for Let's Scrap and I can't share them yet. Wherever you are I hope you are dry and safe!

Hurricane Irene And A RAK~UPDATED WITH WINNER

2011-08-27T16:29:00.004-04:00

The storm has come and gone. I ended up using many of my storm supplies. We lost power and had some water in the basement. I am still trying to clean up my scrap area and family room. Yes (shudder) I had some water in my scrap area. In comparison to others in our area? I am not going to complain!
The winner of the RAK is WILNA. She came the closest to guessing the number of tea light's in the basket. There were 137! and no I didn't count them. I had purchased a pack of 144 and knew how many I had taken out. Email your addy Willna americangirl0419@hotmail.com

Well friends it's about 4:30 p.m. here in NY and apparently Irene is on her way. I've spent the last couple of days preparing for the storm and I am as ready as I'm going to be.
Water? Check
Snacks? Check
Flash Lights? Check
Batteries? Check
Duct Tape?Check Don't know if I'll need it but it fixes everything right?!
Camp Stove and Propane?Check
Candles?Check, Check, Check
Hubby thinks I might have been a little excessive in my candle planning but hey if we lose power for a few days.....I want to be able to scrap or at least do something besides sit in the dark! This is where my RAK idea came from. I've taken a picture of my "lighting station". Note the basket of tea lights? GUESS HOW MANY TEA LIGHTS ARE IN THE BASKET AND I WILL SEND YOU A RAK FROM MY SCRAP STASH. Just leave me a comment with your guess. I'll choose the winner closest to the number. Let's sayyyy on Wednesday.

Some of our snacks. I even bought some instant cofee. I've heard it tastes terrible but hey,I've got some nervous energy going here. I might just need a jolt of caffeine come tomorrow!

I've got my copics and a bunch of images ready to go. I really need to learn how to use these markers!

Good luck to those who are in the path of the storm~"See" ya soon!

Where Did August Go?

2011-08-25T21:05:00.001-04:00

I dunno~It's been a blur.

Eastern Zone's Championship at Penn State. Now this was a great experience for Kelsey and I hope she makes it again another year. The Peachy Paterno Ice Cream didn't hurt my feelings either. lol Being able to walk to the Berkey Creamery made sitting in the heat all day...just a little easier and tastier!

Photo heavy today~

My mild mannered school girl~Kelsey Kent. Glasses, Gatorade, Power Bar annnd

SHAZAM!! Aqua Girl appears!

Happily she DID NOT have to dive off of this!

Oh I even have a page and a card today. These were my Let's Scrap DT assignments while I was away. I finished them before we left and posted them over at Let's Scrap. Shame on me I never set any blog posts before I left. I absolutely adored this sketch! Sorry that the challenge is over but you are still welcome to use the sketch!

Next stop? Antiquing in Warren County! Or maybe junking~all depends on the way you see it.

Rocket Age With A New Sketch

2011-08-04T07:48:00.002-04:00

Good Morning~So I am a day late with the Let's Scrap WEDNESDAY sketch. Sorry about that. It's been a crazy busy week. My daughter swam in the Junior Olympics last week and I'm still recovering! Sadly I don't have photos but I do have some videos to get posted. Next stop? Eastern Zone Championships at Penn State. I am beyond proud of this girl!

Who knew that this free spirited water loving girl would be swimming

HERE

OK. Back to scrapping! I'm also excited because I made the Let's Scrap Design Team for a second term! Here's this weeks sketch which was the sketch used for the call.

I used the left side of the sketch only and an adorable photo of my nephews. The Rocket Age papers from October Afternoon came from a Scrapbook Circle Kit.

New Sketch Is Up

2011-07-27T20:39:00.001-04:00

The new sketch is up over at Let's Scrap and as usual it's a great one! I used some goodies from a Noel Mignon Kit. I love the way that girl puts a kit together!!

Fancy Pants and Let's Scrap

2011-07-26T09:23:00.000-04:00

Fancy Pants has donated a Beach Babe Kit to Let's Scrap. If you haven't done this challenge already, check it out. All you have to do is.....

1)Scrap a page with some Fancy Pants product using a Let's Scrap Sketch (name the products in the description if possible)

2)Upload it in the Gallery by midnight July 31 (see the main page for the correct time zone)

3)tag your layout fancypants (all one word with no space) comma space and the sketch number

{example: fancypants, 6-22-11 }

Here is my take

Card Sketch And A Tag Sale Find

2011-07-21T09:15:00.000-04:00

This week sketch at Let's Scrap is a Card Sketch. Once again Debby has come up with a fabulous sketch. I used some Crate Paper, Lily Bee and Echo Park from a Noel Mignon Kit. Oh and did you notice? I finally got a spikey flower thingy!! I found 3 of them on Etsy and they arrived just in time to use for my card.

Kelsey and I went to the post office the other day. There was a tag sale practically in the parking lot and look what we found. Cool old tin right? That's what I thought. I'm not sure why but it reminded me of my Aunt Jean. I can only assume she had something similar, maybe my cousin kept some dolls in one? I'm just not sure.
Anyway that is what drew me in. LOL I picked it up thinking I would just check it out and try to place the memory. Well the memory never fully emerged but I did come to another realization. This tin wasn't empty! Hmmmm what's in there? Should we open it? Please don't be old fruitcake.

Nope. Not fruitcake. It's full of vintage buttons. WooHoo. All for a dollar, yes that's right a single green back and the tin, the faded memory of playing at my Aunt's and all the buttons were mine!! There are some other little things in there that I should of zoomed in on. A tiny whistle, a phone.....were these to sew on someones bobby socks?

Have a great day!

Peace Love and Pizza

2011-07-16T16:37:00.001-04:00

It's my turn to host this weeks's challenge over at Let's Scrap. Here is what a came up with.

Here are the details if you would like to play along!

Sewwww Ladies it's Summer here in the United States and it's been hot! Now I don't know about you but for me during the summer I alternate between being Sewwwww busy and Sewwwww lazy. I thought you all might be feeling the same way which is why I decided to make this week's challenge Sewwww simple. In case you haven't guessed yet part of your challenge will be Sewwwwwwing.

The "official" rules.

Use a Let's Scrap Sketch. You may do a layout or even a card as long as it's one of our sketches.
SEW You can hand stitch, machine stitch, use a template, rub on's or even draw them in.
How many stitches you ask? At least TEN (Except for Debby D It's 50 for her! LOL)
Add your project to the gallery and label it challenge104 plus the sketch number.For Example mine would be challenge104, 11-10 -10
Have your project in the gallery by midnight July 22nd
The winner of this challenge will receive a RAK from my stash!

Let's Scrap Wednesday Sketch

2011-07-13T21:35:00.000-04:00

It's that time again for the Let's Scrap Wednesday Sketch. I used a photo that I've actually scrapped with before. When I saw this Crate Paper, I knew I had to scrap it again! This is much cuter than the original.

I used the left side of this week's sketch and as you can see I really deviated! I just HAD to work those cute little embellishments into my page. I also ended up with all of the layers because I thought it needed that POP of green and then I thought it needed some doodling....lol Well I guess that is the fun part about sketches. You just never know where they will take you!

Christmas In July

2011-07-06T09:13:00.015-04:00

It's time again for the Let's Scrap weekly sketch. I'm so happy to be on the DT. I really like having a deadline, it's "forcing" me to scrap AND I'm using up my stash! snort. OK does anyone REALLY need to know about those Noel Mignon Kit's? Don't judge. She's having a sale now.

Now that my little kit confession/obsession is taken care of let's move onto the Let's Scrap Sketch. I got a little sidetracked with that also. The sketch has stars and fireworks and somehow I saw Christmas. Gosh I hope they don't fire me!

Here's the sketch.

Here is what I did with the sketch. No Uncle Sam hat, no firecrackers. I did however manage to incorporate one little star. That's got to count for something.

Random Swim Post

2011-07-01T21:58:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe but my daughter has been with her "new" swim team for an entire year. I guess I have to stop calling it her NEW team now. LOL She has grown so much in the last year and I'm so proud of her.This past year she has qualified for Junior Olympics and the Eastern Zones Qualifier. In her local league championship she came in first place overall in the 50 Breast and 100 IM. She made improvements all around.

I thought I would do a page to honor her achievement's and with 4th of July right around the corner, why not some patriotic paper!

Some photos from the "old" team.

Last summer when she first joined the "new" team. I love this photo, she looks her age for a change.

4th of July party last year,we surprised Kelsey with a cake and the news that she made it to Summer Junior Olympics.

Swimming for the fun of it.

Looking a little nervous at Junior Olympics. I wanted to hop the rail and hug her. It sucks that Mom's are not allowed on the pool deck.

Another blurry picture (we were far away) but I love how "ready" she looks in this photo.

Team photo and believe it or not it's not the whole team!

Cheers to a great swim year.

Oooops, I couldn't end this post without posting this picture. Here she is at her first meet ever. Look how little she is and WHOA check out those goggles!

Dusk

2011-06-29T21:17:00.000-04:00

I think this is the most pictures I have used on a single page layout in.....well in ever! Once again Cheri over at Let's Scrap came up with a great sketch! If you would like to play along check out the sketch here. Let's Scrap is also having a DT call right now. Just do me a favor and leave me a spot huh!

For The Birds

2011-06-22T19:43:00.000-04:00

During the winter months we like to make bagel bird feeders. They are super fun and super easy. All you need are bagels, Crisco, bird seed and twine. Cut your bagels in half. Tie a piece of twine around your bagel for hanging. Spread a generous amount of Crisco on your bagel and then dip it into the seed. Hang them around the yard and the birds will take care of the rest!

I had alot of fun with this sketch. I used this weeks Let's Scrap sketch for this page.

New Let's Scrap Card Sketch

2011-06-15T07:50:00.000-04:00

This weeks sketch from Let's Scrap is a card sketch and I adore it! I think it's one of those sketches that I will use over and over.
I dug out some old Making Memories. I think I bought every drop of this line and uhhhh never used it. I took it out. I looked at it but never used it. Not sure why I feel the need to hoard scrap products but I do. The flowers are from Prima and yeah, I've had them awhile too. It felt good to use up some stash.

Button Challenge

2011-06-12T19:50:00.000-04:00

Let's Scrap has a great group called Let's Scrap Our Stash. This week's challenge was to use buttons and lots of them! Twenty buttons and a die cut. I had no problem with the buttons but struggled with the die cut, I finally got one to work with my page. I also got another page done for my daughter's school album! Thanks for the challenge.
I am on a mission to use up some of my kit stash and used mostly Crate Paper School Spirit which came in a Scrapbook Circle Kit.

Go Jump In A Lake

2011-06-08T22:36:00.000-04:00

These are some of my favorite Lake George photo's. Although Kelsey loves the water I thought for sure she would be afraid to jump off the dock. She certainly proved me wrong.
I used the left side of this week's sketch from Let's Scrap and some goodies from this month's Scrapbook Circle Kit, Garden Party. Do you think Pink Paislee will mind that I re-worked this paper? It just needed a few extra swimmers. lol

Let's Scrap New Sketch and A LETTER TO BLOGGER

2011-06-01T15:59:00.000-04:00

Here is Let's Scrap's latest sketch. I actually did both sides!! My first two page layout in....well I don't even know how long it's been!

Dear Blogger,

I have been a very good and loyal blogger. I have cleaned out my cookies and my cache. I have new friends that would like to follow me, please fix my follower gadget. It hasn't worked in weeks and I have no way of contacting you.

Your help center is of no help at all. When I research the problem? The answer to my question is other blogger's......asking the same question!

Sincerely,

Marie

Please repost this if you agree.

Let's Scrap Wednesday Sketch

2011-05-25T15:43:00.000-04:00

I must say I am so happy to have made it onto the Let's Scrap DT. I'm really enjoying myself. The sketches are great and the ladies (and man although we scared him off in a day. lol) there are sweet and friendly!
Here is my take on this week's sketch. Please remember if you do the challenge, make sure you tag your photo 5-25-11.

Lovely From Sunrise Til Sunset

2011-05-22T20:59:00.000-04:00

I am still using up some photo's from last spring and summer!! I haven't quite figured out if I'm THAT far behind in my scrapping or maybe I just take too many pictures!! LOL Either way here are more photo's from Lake George. Once again I see glimpses of what she will look like as an adult.

Wedenesday Let's Scrap Card Sketch

2011-05-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

This week at Let's Scrap the Sketch is a CARD SKETCH and I finally used some of this Glitz Designs paper and the flower ribbon that I HAD to have....last summer lol!

Happy Wednesday!

A Cherry On Top Becky Fleck Sketch Challenge

2011-05-14T16:23:00.000-04:00

Here is my take on the A Cherry On Top Becky Fleck Sketch Challenge. You can check the challenge out at the PageMaps Blog.

I've decided I am going to do an album of my daughters school photo's. It was my plan to start with her pre school photo and then do 2 pages of each grade thereafter. Since she get's pictures done twice a year once in the fall and then again in the spring I will have two pages of each grade. Shockingly I didn't quite stick with the plan and started with Grade 3. I had these papers out on the table when I started going through the photo's and really wanted to use this photo with them....I'm sure it doesn't matter since I am terrible about getting my pages put right into albums!

I used more of my Scrapbook Circle Kit, Hello Sunshine on this page. I think this might be my most used kit of 2011. Love it!

Happy Weekend!

Let's Scrap Wednesday Sketch And A Mess?

2011-05-11T15:32:00.001-04:00

This weeks sketch had alot of white space and although I like white space, I don't often apply it! Today is no exception since I used black and grey paper in my "white" space. Who knew I was such a rebel! LOL Either way I had fun working with the sketch. I happily showed my hubby. He looks at it. Makes a face and says "what is that mess"!!?? Just as I was ready to go for his throat? I realize he was talking about the photo. teehee. He thought it was just a picture of our messy table! I guess you have to be a scrapper to see the beauty in that "mess"! To create my "mess" I used some yummy Echo Park papers from my Scrapbook Circle Kit.

Here is the sketch 5-11-11~Give it a try. I would love to see what you come up with. When you add your page to the Let's Scrap Gallery make sure you tag your it 5-11-11

Happy Hump Day!

Happy Mother's Day And A Page

2011-05-08T22:05:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day~I hope all of my scrappy Mom friends had a great day! It's late and I'm a little tired but wanted to share this photo. Something about it just sums up how I feel about being a Mom. I love this kid!

Howard AND my Rannuculus enjoyed the sun today!

There was even a little scrapping going on today! I am still working on this Cosmo Cricket, Early Bird Collection. Sometimes I will buy a collection, make a page and then in goes into the hoarding pile. Not this one, all the bright colors and cutie embellisments....I never tire of it! I also tryed my hand at some white space.

It's Official~I'm a Happy Girl

2011-05-04T20:56:00.000-04:00

She is a happy girl and so and I. I am now an official DT Member at Let's Scrap! WooHoo If you are not already a member...what are you waiting for? NEW SKETCH CHALLENGE posted today. I can also share my submission page that I made using the sketch.
Here's the sketch. I hope you play along!

I used alot of yummy Crate Paper and other goodies from my Scrapbook Circle Kit~Hello Sunshine.

Making Friends And A Page for Let's Scrap

2011-05-01T21:18:00.000-04:00

Some of you already know that all of my LSS's have closed and I don't really have a regular place to crop anymore. I've posted pictures of my scrap table here....so you know. I really don't have a place/space to crop! lol Well yesterday I went to a crop. My first in over a year? I took an hour to get there but was well worth the ride. Not only did I get to scrap for 12 uninterrupted hours but I got to meet (for the first time) an old friend. What's that you say? MEET an old friend? Yup that's what I said. My scrappy friend Rosey. We've been through thick and thin in the scrappy world for the last three or four years. The rise and fall of Scrapbooking and Crafting Friends..... Pages In Time and now the sweet day's of Bella Creations....we have participated in the same swaps and challenges...we chat on Facebook and all without ever actually meeting!! Well guess what? That all changed yesterday. I finally got to meet her and her awesome friends. She is bubbly, kind and funny...all the things I expected. Oh and she is lucky!! Girl won nearly every prize on the table!! Don't make me stab you was the joke of the day. LOL I can't wait to repeat the day!

Here is one of the pages I worked on yesterday. What better than a friendship page. This doll went everywhere with Kelsey last summer. I called it her mini me since it resembled her so much as an infant. In the photo Kelsey is trying to decide what her baby wanted to eat while on vacation. I'm sad to think that day's of playing with baby doll's are over. She was starting to get funny looks carrying that baby doll around anyway. Hard to believe she is only 9 in this photo.
I used one page of a Let's Scrap Sketch. I used Basic Grey all the way on this one. Even the dotted Bazzill is from the matching Olivia Cardstock Pack. OK almost all Basic Grey. The K, the pom pom trim and pearls are not.

CHEERS TO FRIENDS~OLD AND NEW!

Let's Scrap Card And Some Easter Pic's

2011-04-26T21:59:00.000-04:00

I really wanted to work this card sketch from Let's Scrap. So much so that I whipped up a card on Easter morning. It's pretty simple but I was happy with the results.

The Easter Bunny sure did hook Kelsey up this year and I must say. Mommy is jealous. There is a lovely PINK ATG Gun in her basket and a hot glue gun with flowers on it! Hmmmmm that crafty bunny!

I think she liked it!

Check out the flowers in her hair. Felt flowers, our new addiction. Good thing that bunny brought her own hot glue gun cause let me tell you....two girls and one hot glue gun? Well let's just say my knuckles are scarred. I think every single hair comb and head band in our has has a flower on it and if it doesn't? It will soon.

Ok we'll stop now. That look is telling me she has had enough!

Sadly, I have no egg hunt photo's this year. It has rained almost every day for the last 2 weeks. OK that is only partially true. The ground was too wet so we had a hunt indoors and I didn't get any photo's are you ready for this.......I forgot my camera!!

I HOPE YOU ALL HAD A SAFE AND HAPPY EASTER!

Easter Christmas Bows?

2011-04-24T09:06:00.000-04:00

Good Morning and Happy Easter! No you are not dreaming....I said Christmas bows. Sandi over at Bella Creations posted a fabulous Christmas Bow Challenge. The due date is today and welllll I worked like and ELF to get them done!! Sorry my photo's are not the greatest I should have redone them this morning but this Elf is tired and ready for some Easter fun!
If you missed out on the Bow Challenge there is still time to get in on my Christmas Card Challenge. It doesn't close until the end of the month.
With no further ado here are my bows. I hope they really BOW you over! hahahahahaha!!

Happy Easter!

Let's Scrap~Design Team

2011-04-22T22:07:00.000-04:00

WooooHooooo I found out last night that I have made it onto the Let's Scrap Design Team. I am shocked and super excited to have made it! Thanks again for choosing me.
If you are not already a part of this great scrappy community check it out. There are a ton of great sketches, great challenges annnnddddd great gal's!
I'm not sure if I can use my "application" page so I will just post a little peek for now.

Happy Scrapping!

Vintage Singer Sewing Machine

2011-04-10T11:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday my husband comes home and says I saw a really cool old sewing machine at a yard sale. My first thought is who are you and what did you do with my husband? I love old vintage stuff. He? Uhhhhm NO. Off we go to check it out.

I have no use for it.

I have no space for it....but of coarse I fall in love with it.

Ends up they want fifty dollars for it. I think that is not much for something so old and beautiful. I know. Some of you are looking at it and thinking....junk.
I on the other hand look at it and wonder who owned it. How old is it. Did someone make baby clothes on it or maybe a quilt?

The drawers are beautiful and full of little treasures. There is a manual with the machine dated 1915. I'm not sure the manual is original to the machine. The attachment case shown in the manual is metal and mine is not although there is half of a metal case in one of the drawers. The attachment case is an amazing little wooden box that opens and closes like a star. I hope the pictures do it justice. It appears most or all of the parts are there. Even the oil can which I forgot to photograph. I am on a mission to find a belt and see if I can get this baby sewing!!

My other mission is to find out more about the machine. I went to the Singer Site and I just cannot find my model. L963505. I found L models but not mine. If anyone knows anything about these machines I would love to hear from you!

Sunny Day

2011-04-04T20:47:00.000-04:00

OK So all I can say isssss maybe I should stop making sun related pages!! The more I daydream about sunshine....the more foul weather we get! LOL Last couple of pages...snow. This week? Rain predicted for nearly every day. humph. Maybe I should do some snow pages!!

I used yet another Inspired Blueprint for this page. This was the sketch they used for their Design Team call. I didn't make the team but I sure did enjoy this sketch. I'll keep trying.

Jingle Bella Say What?

2011-04-01T20:39:00.000-04:00

That's right. Jingle Bella. What is that you ask? Well it's a group over at Bella Creations. It's a Crafty Christmas Club to be exact!

Sandi from the Bella Creations Design Team created this fabulous group. It's all about putting together a basic holiday stash.....a little at a time. She kindly asked me to head up the CARD section of this group which started in January, although you can join at anytime. So far the group has created just over ONE HUNDRED CARDS! This months card challenge is posted as well as a fabulous bow project from Sandi.

Anyone remember my pup page? Well look where it is featured! Yes. Jenni Bowlin's featured page of the week is none other than my pup Stanley! Isn't he so handsome! I am dang excited.

More Sunshine Please

2011-03-21T08:45:00.000-04:00

With yesterday being the first official day of Spring I thought I would continue with my blue skies and sunshine theme. Of course it's snowing here right now...but hey a girl can dream right!

I used another Inspired Blueprint. I was excited to finally use these pictures and this Sassafras Lass. I was sitting on the ground (because no way was momma gonna touch the sky!) looking straight up at Jim and Kelsey. What is it about the sky in Lake George? Love it there.
This sketch is fabulous and I think I might use it again. Check it out.

Bring On The Sunshine!

2011-03-19T12:17:00.000-04:00

I know I should be scrapping all of those Christmas pictures I've been neglecting but seriously....I am so ready for spring AND sunshine!! It might also be a good time to use some of the SUMMER photo's I've been neglecting. I finally used my header photo. It's a favorite of mine.

I used a Becky Fleck Sketch for this page. There is an awesome prize from Webster's Pages this month. Here is the sketch if you are interested in playing along. If you win though...remember me. I want a piece of that prize!!! lol

Redoing Old Pages?

2011-03-17T19:13:00.000-04:00

While attempting to clean my scraproom (see shameful mess post lol sadly it is messier now than it was but that will have to be saved for another post) I came across a few old layouts that I never photographed. Here is one of them. I'm not even sure how old this is! Two years, maybe three? I know it's my daughter HA HA I'm a genius huh and I knows it's Basic Grey and that's about it.
I love the picture. I thought about ripping it off and starting over. Something about the page doesn't say ME. I'm not exactly sure WHAT doesn't say ME but I look at this page and say hmmmmm? That could use some inked edges and I'm sure I could have done some punching and sewing on that somewhere and so on.....
Have any of you ever redone a page? I'm seriously thinking about redoing this one but I wonder?? If I do it once? Would I stop there or would I start ripping apart my albums and tweaking all of my pages? Would love to hear some thoughts on this.

Kelsey's Swim Championship

2011-03-13T16:28:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Kelsey's League Swim Championship. She swam a 100 IM, 50 Breast and was in two relays. One of which is the Presidential Relay. For that race they only use four kids from each team. There are over 100 kids on her new team! She was over the moon to be chosen and I was beyond proud.
Here she is swimming against her biggest nemesis! Kelsey is in the 4th lane from the bottom (blue cap and suit)and her rival is in the lane right above her. Usually this girl wins and my daughter fears swimming against her!! Watch the video and see what happens.
I have to also say how impressed I am with swim kids on a whole. Even though these kids put it all out there to win? When the race is over, win or lose they still end up laughing with each other on the pool deck. In fact Kelsey and her nemesis were seen fist pumping each other right before their relays! Gotta love that.
Next stop. Junior Olympics!

Stanley

2011-03-08T07:36:00.001-05:00

So how cute is my dog? Can you believe we got him third hand? That's right third hand. First he was in a shopping cart in front of Shop Rite and quickly adopted by a man who wanted him for his grandchildren.
When his wife got done with her shopping and came out and saw the pup? Well lets just say she didn't feel the same way and DEMANDED that he get that bleeping dog out of her car.
We went from admiring a pack of pups in a shopping cart to rescuing one. It wasn't even our plan to keep him....Of course that was a year ago! lol

Once again I used and Inspired Blueprint Sketch. This one is Sketch Number 67.

Whew

2011-03-01T07:57:00.000-05:00

I got this page done just in time to enter it over at Inspired Blueprints. I used some K & Co. paper and embellies that I have had for some time now! I'm not even sure which collection they are from.
Here is the sketch. I couldn't quite get my bow set right in the center so I had to do a little rearranging

Have a great day!

Together Page

2011-02-26T19:47:00.001-05:00

I used two of my favorites for this page. Well actual three of my favorite things. Kelsey, James and Nicholas. For the page I used some of my Scrapbook Circle Kit and an Inspired Blueprint Sketch. The patterned paper is Basic Grey, Hopscotch. The chipboard piece is also Basic Grey from the Kioshi Collection. The Inspired Blueprint Sketch is Sketch Number 66.

If you are interested here is the sketch.

Swimming, Swimming and More Swimming

2011-02-21T21:05:00.000-05:00

My daughter was sidelined for awhile with a knee injury. A sprained MCL to be exact.For a couple of weeks she didn't swim at all and then when she did swim? She swam without her legs using a pull buoy. For any of you that know her, swimming is "her thing". She loves it and works really hard at it.
She even qualified for the Metropolitan Zone's Team Qualifier. A week and a half before the meet she got the all clear from the Orthopedist to swim. We thought about not letting her go. I was worried about her knee and we all questioned if she was actually in good enough shape to swim in such a meet.
To make matter's worse? Day's before the meet? She got sick. Sick enough that her coach tossed her out of the pool and said her best bet was rest. This being the same coach that said she needed all the practice she could get before this meet.
The night before the meet she coughed half the night. When I suggested we call her coach and scratch I was adamantly told NO! Hmmm is it possible that my baby is actually becoming competitive? So off to the Bronx we headed and swim she did!
Now it doesn't have a grand slam ending she didn't actually make the team but in my mind? Yeah. She did. My coughing, sniffing, out of shape kid swam her @ss off and came home with 3 medals. I couldn't be prouder.
Check her out.
Zone's Team Qualifier February 19th 2011 Lehman College, Bronx NY

Becky Fleck Sketch Challenge

2011-01-29T15:00:00.000-05:00

Becky Fleck hosting one of her great Sketch Challenges. I did something crazy this month and actually did it! lol I finished it just in time too, today is the cut off date! Here is a link to Becky's Blog.
My Naughty Elf Page
I used some October Afternoon and Jillibean Soup patterned paper, Bazzill and a Prima flower.

The Sketch

Happy Sunday!

Snow Day Notebooks

2011-01-19T10:46:00.000-05:00

Here in New York we have been getting alot of snow days! Three in less than 2 weeks and a delay this morning! Yesterday Kelsey and I decided to take advantage of the day off and recover some of her marble notebooks. We had never done it before and wellllll it just seemed like a fun thing to do on a snowy day!

Of course I never finished cleaning my scrap space so yes, we crafted at the kitchen table. That's ok though. Closer to the snowy day snacks. Kelsey baked chocolate chip cookies. At 7:30 A.M. Sorry no pics of them, I just wasn't ready. LOL Plus we ate most of them already. I also don't have photo's of all the notebooks. As I was trying to take pic's she was stuffing them in her backpack. humph.

Happy Snow Day my friends! If you are in a place where you are not getting snow? You can have some of ours. It's actually snowing. Again

Shameful Mess~Formerly My Scrap Table And Some 2011 Goals

2011-01-09T14:16:00.000-05:00

Photo Heavy
Friday was a snow day for us and I took the opportunity to start cleaning my scrap area. I say start because well....I knew it was going to take more than a day. Prepare to shield your eyes cuz it aint pretty!! Believe it or not I actually moved quite a bit of stuff before I took these pictures. Yeah I know it's hard to believe. You might next see me on an episode of Hoarders. It could be worse though. I least I don't collect dead animals or eat toilet paper. Anyway here it is in all it's shameful glory.
My Scrap Table

I have another small hard surfaced table in my scrap area. Perfect for stamping. I'll let you know how that works out for me when I find the surface. Again, I had moved some stuff before photo's. The rest of the area is going to have to remain unseen. Yeah it's that bad. I'm sure if you look close you can see scrap supplies taking up floor space too. I now have a collection of storage bags and containers. Oh boy do I have my work cut out for me but this year....I WILL GET MY SCRAP ACT TOGETHER! I will buy LESS and SCRAP MORE I promise. Except for my Scrapbook Circle and Noel Mignon Kits. Sorry. I just can't live without them

I leave you for now. Back to the Scrap Purge of 2011! Happy New Year to you, late of course because that is how I roll these days but happy anyway! If you would like to start your year off with some well loved and slightly out of fashion scrap products? Please let me know. I am ready to part with some stuff and turn over a new leaf.

and yes. I still have my Christmas tree up.

Card Challenge Relocated Due to PIT Closing

2011-01-08T06:32:00.000-05:00

Good Morning Friends. As some of you already know, Pages In Time was abruptly shut down the other day! For those of you that didn't know, well now you do. giggle. Anyway I had already posted the January Challenge. There were some entries already and questions about what would happen with the challenge. Since I was providing the RAK personally I decided to just to it to blogger. Below is the challenge. All are welcome to join in. It's a fun and simple challenge. The only change will be TO ENTER PLEASE SEND YOUR PHOTO to americangirl0419@hotmail. Then I will post it here to the blog. Below is a copy of the original post. I'm sorry I wasn't able to save the photo's, I went back for them and they were gone too. ugh.

Hello Ladies and Happy 2011!! I hope you are all well and excited about a New Year. Although I am no longer officially on the DT I will still be a part of the Card Group and hosting some challenges. Now that I am starting to feel better I plan on being around more.
Sooo here is your January Card Challenge. BLUE! Make a card using the color blue. You can use black, brown, white, cream...basic colors just make sure your most prominent color is BLUE! You have until the end of the month to enter and as always you will receive a RAK from my stash.

If you enjoyed the ladies at Pages In Time and are looking for your scrappy friends...well many of us have relocated to Bella Creations! Lacee from Pages In Time has created this fabulous new site. Check it out!

Visit Bella Creations

Here are the first two entries for the Card Challenge~Remember you have until the end of the month to enter and the winner will get a RAK from my stash!
Sandy Ang Card One

Sandy Ang Card Two

Goodbye 2010 Hello 2011

2010-12-31T12:22:00.000-05:00

OMG I have not blogged in over two months!! Where have I been? Well I spent about SEVEN WEEKS with a headache!! It started with an optical migraine where I lost my vision for about an hour and things just went downhill from there. I've been to the Neurologist, Cardiologist, ENT...well you get the picture. Apparently I had/have Sinusitis and that may have been triggering the migraines. The Dr's don't really seem sure. Either way I'm happy to say I have not had a headache for 5 days. That really puts me in the mood to celebrate the coming year!!! I'm sorry I don't have any scrappy goodness, cards or homemade decorations this year.I thought I would just share some photo's from the last few months. I can't wait to dive back into some crafting!! I guess I'll start where I left off. Fall. Kelsey fought it tooth and nail. I finally had to hide all her shorts! Here she is with her first big project for school. It's an all about me board. As some of you might already know. Halloween? For me it's right up there with Christmas. Not having carved pumpkins and a house full of company? Well it would be like Santa not showing up! I managed to get my pumpkins carved and I won't lie. It took a whole lotta pills to them done! That and Kelsey's help. She is actually able to carve now. That makes me both happy and sad. She is growing way too fast! Wait until you see birthday pictures! Goodbye October, hello November and try as I might,I just couldn't stop her from turning TEN!! We celebrated with a Swim Party at the YMCA. Can you even recognize her? She is in the center..and no she is not standing on a box. I think she grew a foot in the last two months!! Christmas Eve at our house...all set for Santa to come! Ahhhh Santa made it...this little girl was pretty relieved. She was not the best behaved girl right before Christmas!!
Of course swimming did not wait on my headaches either. I missed a few swim meets and that made me pretty sad. I had not missed a meet since she started. She has qualified for Winter Jr. Olympics and Zones. I'm both proud and amazed by her. Here she is at her first swim meet as an Aqua Gem (that is the new team). I think it's safe to say she made a great first impression!I love that her new team mates are cheering her on. Cheering for her on the other end (while he is suppose to be timing!) in the orange shirt is my hubby. er

Soooo I say goodbye to 2010 and welcome a warm, happy and healthy 2011!!! I hope you all have a an amazing year!!

Thursday

2010-10-21T20:39:00.000-04:00

WOW the Thursday Sketch is up over at the Pages In Time Blog and it is smokin hot!! Check it out.

Cards, Cards, Cards

2010-10-11T19:42:00.000-04:00

So I am still on my orange and brown color kick and why not!? The color challenge I am hosting over at Pages In Time is running all month.
I am lovin these Pink Paislee goodies too!

CARD Challenge And A Sketch

2010-10-01T20:46:00.000-04:00

Wow October already and time for another CARD CHALLENGE over at Pages In Time. Since it's officially FALL I thought this month it would be fun to make a card with some FALL COLORS. The colors I chose are BROWN and ORANGE. You can combine them with whatever other color you want as long as BROWN and ORANGE are prominent. I mixed mine up with a Summery blue~What can I say I am still mourning Summer!

You have until the end of the month to enter and as always the winner will get a RAK from my stash!

The PIT Sketch is also up over at the blog. I love the little spider!

The Color Room

2010-09-17T20:34:00.000-04:00

The Color Room! Have you been there? Well if you haven't you should! I stumbled onto this site and now it's a new favorite!! They offer a weekly Sketch AND Color Palette!
Here is last weeks Color Palette Number 23.

Here is what I came up with. Although she looks way too old for her age, I love this photo of my daughter. It gives me a glimpse of what she will look like when she's grown up. Big sigh.

Here is this weeks Color Palette Number 24. I'm going to have to go through my paper and see what I can come up with for this one!

Thursday PIT Sketch

2010-09-17T07:44:00.000-04:00

Here is the Pages In Time Thursday Sketch. I've already got my wheels turning on this one! Check it out.

Two Pages In One Weekend! WooHooo

2010-09-12T16:38:00.001-04:00

Today is the last day to get your entries in for the Pages In Time Online Crop. So far it's been a great crop. I didn't get as many pages done but had fun anyway. I actually worked on cleaning my scrap space and before I even finished it...I messed it up making this!

My page covered THREE Challenges. That's right THREE. Many of the DT allowed combining the challenges. I did Maggie's It's All Relative Challenge, which was to scrap someone going back to school. Well easy enough aaayyyy....I just sent Kelsey back to school. My second challenge was Victoria's and I REALLY had fun with this!! Her challenge was to create a page using actual school supplies! Fun, fun. I used a pencil, paper, staples, an old dictionary page, cork and staples. My third challenge was Carla's Ribbon Challenge and that little purple ribbon finished the page. Speaking of purple??? Get a load of that purple on my page...I barely ever use purple!!

I continued my purple trend with another Ribbon Challenge. I'm not super happy with the photograph for this. It's so much softer and prettier in person, don't ya just hate when that happens!! Oh well I wanted to take a pic before the sun went down but it didn't really matter since it's gloomy. Anyway WootWoot!! Scrap on people!! I'll try again another day for a better pic. I also have a third page to share with you but I don't have that pic in photobucket yet. Will save that for another day since it's not a crop page anyway. I hope all that cropped with us had a good time!

ONLINE CROP STARTS NOW!

2010-09-10T21:00:00.000-04:00

Ok Ladies the CROP starts now!! That's right Friday 6PM EST until Sunday September 12at midnight! The Pages In Time DT has been working hard on challenges and games so head on over and start cropping!

I have two challenges for you. My first challenge is a card challenge. Since it's back to school time I chose a PRIMARY COLOR, COLOR CHALLENGE. Make a card using all three primary colors, red, yellow and blue. I used this as my inspiration.

Here is the card I came up with. Post your card over at Pages In Time in the CARD CHALLENGE section and your name will entered to win a RAK from my stash.

For my page challenge I'd like to play teacher for a moment. Remember the first day of school when you were a kid? The teacher almost always had you write a story about what you did on summer vacation. For my challenge I'd like you to scrap your favorite summer moment. Mine was easy. My daughter and something to do with swimming. I used the PIT August Kit for this page. Those Crate Papers are just delicious!! Post your card in the SUMMER MEMORY CHALLENGE by midnight on Sunday for a chance to win another RAK from my stash.

Happy Cropping!!

Fifth Grade And Pages In Time Online Crop

2010-09-09T16:16:00.000-04:00

Fifth Grade. I woke up Tuesday and realized just how big my daughter is getting. I must have been dreaming about the first day of Kindergarten.I woke up thinking she was five. Once I got awake the reality of nooooo she's not five, she's going into grade five....let's just say I had to hold back tears all morning. I'm simply going to post some pics. For those of you have been following my blog, you'll see what I mean about how grown up she looks!!!

and there she goes!! I was told to leave my camera at home cuz your not taking pictures of me at the bus stop!!! NOOOO SAY IT ISN'T SOOOOO!!!! Next year I bet I am not even ALLOWED to take pictures!! Can anyone tell me where this little girl went from last year? What a difference a year makes! Goodbye 4th grade, hello 5th. Ughhh.

On a scrappy note I just wanted to remind everyone that Pages In Time is having and online crop! It's starts tomorrow night. It's my first online crop as a DT member and I'm super excited. I have a card challenge, page challenge and I'll be hosting a game. Hope to see you there, oh and RAK's I'll be offering a RAK to the winner of each of my challenges and the game. Go to Pages In Time, from the home page go to groups~ Please join the Crop Group for details.

40 Favorite Things

2010-09-06T20:05:00.000-04:00

40. Yes that's right, 40. I woke up this morning and no longer had thirty in my age. 40. Sigh. I know. It's just a number but really 40? I mean seriously. I'm not ready for 40. So to distract myself today I thought about 40 things I really like. I'm going to list them....no particular order. Just 40 things I thought about just to get me through the day.
1.My family~Of course...I love them more than they even know.
2.My friends~Ditto
3.Ulta~In fact I went there to day and bought some wrinkle cream. Figure since I'm 40 I better start thinking about that
4.Philosophy products~Amazing Grace, Pure Grace....any of the graces. giggle.
5.Lake George
6.Panera
7.Scrapbooking~Duh
8.Card making
9.Quilting~OK this I have never done before but I start on September 15th. Right now it's my favorite thing to daydream about.
10.Breyers Vanilla~Just plain all natural vanilla

11.Bakery Plus Cookies
12.Christmas
13.Vanilla Milkshakes
14.Making Cards
15.Watching my daughter swim
15.Jewelry
16.Reading
17.Shopping
18.Halloween~I make a big pot of Chili, hot spiced apple cider and about 20 family/friends. I'll be majorly sad when my daughter is too old/cool to trick or treat.

19.Disney
20.Shoes
21.Dawn Dolls
22.Summer BBQ's
23.Purses and bags~I love tote bags!
25.The way the air smells in fall
26.Cuddling
27.Laundry~I know it sounds sick but there is something about doing laundry that makes me feel good

28.Housewives of any county.....I watch them all. Not sure what it is about those crazy beochs but they are my guilty TV pleasure. lol
29.Being a wife
30. Being a mom
31.Thunder and lightening storms~as long as we are all indoors and safe!
32.4th of July~We have a big party every year. I get to see family and friends that I only get to see once or twice a year!
33.Hand lotion and chap stick/lip gloss~I am addicted to both.
34.My husbands cooking
35.Bath and Body works hand soap

36.Yobo~A local Japanese restaurant that has the best Tempura ever!
37.Surfing the net
38.Magazines~Mostly scrapbooking, cooking, beauty tips..
39.Music~I listen to just about anything!
40.My birthday~Even if it's my 40th!!
Soooo that is how I made it through the day. Day one of my 40th year! Not so bad after all.

September Card Challenge For A RAK~Pages In Time

2010-08-31T17:39:00.000-04:00

Hello Ladies~Wow a new month already! Your challenge this month is to make a card WITHOUT patterned paper. That's right NO patterned paper!! Any of you that know me know that I loveeeee me some patterned paper. The more patterns the better so this was a BIG challenge for me!! Once I got going though I didn't want to stop. I have three examples for you this month. You have until the end of the month to enter this challenge and as always the winner will get a little RAK from my stash! Please post your entries here.

Pages In Time CREATE Blog Hop Winner

2010-08-31T01:02:00.000-04:00

First I would like to thank everyone who participated in the BLOG HOP. It was my first ever and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! I didn't expect such a big response I truly appreciate all of the kind words!! Really, I am amazed at how many people participated. It kinda makes me sad that I only have one banner to give away!! Sooo without any further ado MARTICA you are the winner of my banner. Please email your snail mail and I'll get it out to you ASAP. My email addy is americangirl0419@hotmail.com
Thanks again to all that stopped in. I hope to "see" you all soon! Don't forget to check back for details on our September online crop!

Pages In Time CREATE Blog Hop

2010-08-28T02:59:00.000-04:00

Hellllooooo Marie here....welcome to the first ever Pages In Time Blog Hop! You are at PIT stop number FIVE!! If you have made it this far you have already been to Barbara's Blog, Helene's Blog, Lacee's Blog and Victoria's Blog butttt don't stop now!! If you have been to those blogs you have already seen four fabulous banners. Everyone worked really hard to create them and I hope you are as excited as I am about the hop!
If this is your first stop, please remember to go back and start with Barbara. In order to win one of our banners or a prize you must leave a comment and become a follower of each of us. Each DT member is offering either a banner or a prize plus Pages In Time is offering a prize as well. Your prize from me will be my banner. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced Tuesday. There are NINE stops in all. You are more than half way there so don't stop now!! You will end your blog hop journey at the Pages In Time Forum.
I have posted the order of the hop below with links to each stop of the hop. CARLA is your next stop and wait until you see her banner! Thanks so much for stopping by. Happy Hopping!!

BLOG HOP ORDER

Barbara

Helene

Lacee

Victoria

Marie~You are here

Carla

Maggie

Karen

PIT

If you have enjoyed our hop, mark your calendars for our September 10th crop!! That's right Pages In Time is hosting an online crop!!

Please note I made a change to this post today (Sunday). I stated that the winner of my banner would be announced on Monday. It will be announced on Tuesday. Sorry for the incorrect date.

PIT Thursday Sketch And A Layout

2010-08-26T17:34:00.000-04:00

The Thursday Sketch is up and as usual it's a beauty!! Since I've just recently signed up for my first ever quilting class, I especially love the stitching on this one.

Speaking Of Pages In Time. Don't forget our blog starts Saturday!! Here is a little sneak.

I also found another sketch site with some great sketches as well, Scrapbook Challenges. I really liked this sketch because it used multiple photo's. During the holidays my family went to a local house that decorates from top to bottom, inside and out!! I took skads of photos and was glad to finally scrap them!! The story behind it is actually quite sad. Christopher's Christmas Dream is in memory of the owners son.

Here is the Sketch if you are interested it is Sketch 213

Blog Hop!

2010-08-22T09:10:00.001-04:00

Ready for some blog hopping fun? Pages In Time is having a blog hop. It will be my first ever and I couldn't be more excited! The Design Team has been working away and we have some great prizes lined up.
On your mark, get seeetttttt, mark your calendars for August 28th and August 29th!

PIT Card Challenge

2010-08-16T09:34:00.000-04:00

Hey There~I'm hosting a mid month CARD challenge over at Pages In Time. The challenge is a two parter this time.

Part One~Do any August Challenge at PIT

Part Two~Use your scraps and make a card

You have until the end of the month to play along.

This is the card I made...very simple with just the scraps frommmmmm

the page I did for Barbara's August PUNCH Challenge. Don't forget the winner will get a little RAK from my stash.

Speaking of my stash I was web surfing last night and I just have to post what I found in Jenni Bowlins Mercantile. I SOOOO HAD to have one!!!!

I can't wait until it arrives. The only problem is, I am already regretting that I only ordered ONE!!! I see THREE in the corner of my dresser, not one!! That Jenni is a marketing genius huh!!

Thursday PIT Sketch

2010-08-12T07:20:00.001-04:00

Hi there!! I just returned from vacation on Sunday and dove right into last weeks Pages In Time Sketch. I even used a photo from Lake George, of which I'll be posting more of later. Hope you are all having a fabulous summer!!
Here is the sketch

Here is my take. I used mostly all Fancy Pants on this. The ribbon is Pink Paislee and the butterfly sticker is Jenni Bowlin.

Scrap Jazz News

2010-07-25T19:29:00.000-04:00

I've been holding onto this news and couldn't wait to share. Stacy Milford who writes articles for Scrapjazz contacted me a few months back to ask if I would be interested in creating a page for an article she was writing. Hmmmm Stacy let me think about that? Uhhhh YES!!!!! She provided the sketch which she created and I provided the cute kids. Well at least one of them. I should have let Stacy know that only one of them was my child and I was credited with all 3 kids. lol OK with me, they are my nephews and as you can see, my daughter loves them like they were her siblings. I was honored to be asked, thank you Stacy! Here is a link to the article over at Scrapjazz, go check it out and take a walk through their great gallery. Lot's of talented lovely ladies over there. Don't forget to add me as a friend while you are there.

My Daughter Swimming Butterfly

2010-07-25T09:01:00.000-04:00

Kelsey is 3rd from the top in the blue suit and american flag cap. She came in 1st but was lucky to not get dq'd. Her first stroke was wrong and luckily the judges couldn't hear my hubby!! lol

Freestyle

2010-07-25T09:00:00.001-04:00

Kelsey is third from the top and finishes first in her heat.

Backstroke

2010-07-25T09:00:00.000-04:00

This time she is 5th from the top. I was following the wrong girl for awhile and when I looked to see who was winning I realized I was watching the wrong girl! Ooops Mommy.

Exciting News and Some Scrapping

2010-07-23T16:57:00.000-04:00

Well once again I've neglected my blog. Not too bad this time...and with good reason. We've had lot's of change in the last month. After almost 2 years with her swim team my daughter has moved on. She continues to swim however she is no longer with the Cuda's. She is now an Aqua Gem and....drum roll please....a Junior Olympian!! Needless to say I am super excited and proud of her!! Since she didn't know that she qualified we surprised her on the 4th of July with an Olympic cake. I also bought her a new suit and cap for the occasion. As of right now she is qualified for 2 events,100 LCM Breaststroke and 50CLM Backstroke. She has one more meet this weekend to qualify in other events. Me? I'm ecstatic with one!!
Here she is right after finding out. I love that she actually looks like a 9 year old, young and sweet!

Now are you ready for this transformation? I keep looking at this picture and saying is that really the same girl? Game on!

Future swimsuit model?

Sooo I have been spending alot of time hanging aroung the pool deck. Oh and how about some scrapping? I've done some of that too! I am loving all the great sketches from the Pages In Time blog and although I don't always get them done on a weekly basis I do what I can.

and one more

My Girl Loves America

2010-07-07T14:40:00.000-04:00

Well I am a few days late but wanted to get this page posted! We have a big 4th of July party every year and I think I am just now starting to recover from all the cooking and cleaning! I still have a few things around the house to put away but that's ok. We have a great time! Our local golf course host's the fireworks and we can walk through the woods and watch them. We started out a few years ago with a couple of people and I think we may have had 30-40 this year. We are already talking about next year!! Hope you all had a safe and happy holiday!

Over at Pages In Time we have a new artist of the month, Lisa (Kaye222) and our Guest DT for the Month of July is Carla Oliveira. You can check them out over at the PIT Blog. Welcome Ladies! I look forward to working with you.

July Card Challenge-Pages In Time

2010-07-01T07:20:00.000-04:00

Good Morning July! I am up with the birds this morning and how fitting for my animal Card Challenge. I have started a card group over at Pages In Time and I will be hosting a monthly CARD CHALLENGE. To kick things off I will make the first challenge easy peasy. MAKE A CARD, lol OK not that easy. The challenge part is to make a card and incorporate and animal into your design. You can use a stamped image, animal paper...up to you as long as there is an animal. The Challenge starts now and will run until the end of the month. The winner will get a RAK from my stash and you all know how I love to shop!!

Pages In Time-Literally

2010-06-28T16:59:00.000-04:00

I waited and waited on scrapping the photo of my Aunt that I posted awhile back. It was such a meaningful picture for me, I wanted to make sure I got it just right. Since it's a "vintage" photo my first thought was Graphic 45 or Webster's but then the more I looked at the photo I thought about how young she was and thought of something vibrant and playful! I really love this October Afternoon line. I'll say no more about my Aunt Alice for the moment, no tears, no wishes for more time with her...just a page with a beautiful girl caught in a moment of peace.

For my Pages In Time project this week I chose to use the June Kit Sketch Of The Month.
Here's my take on the sketch.

Scrapbook Circle

2010-06-22T16:44:00.000-04:00

So you all know that I love me some product and kit's are my favorites! Scrapbook Circle is one that I've been getting on and off for the last couple of years. I will say that the way these kit's having been looking the last few months? Well I will be on! lol
With so many sites affected by ning I thought I would share their new site addy and a peek of July's Kit. Lisa Andrews is the owner and I can tell you, the kit always comes loaded with goodies and in a timely manner. I can't wait to get July's!

Challenge Time

2010-06-20T07:42:00.001-04:00

This weeks Thursday Sketch Challenge over at Pages In Time, offered yet another fabulous sketch! I used an "old" pic of my daughter, someday I will catch up right? lol Anyway here's my take on this weeks sketch. I am continuing with my Jenni Bowlin binge and added some Basic Grey as well.

As one of our first Design Team projects we were challenged to use the site's new logo. This is what I came up with. It is mostly all Prima except for the lace. That's a vintage piece my scrappy friend Gayle shared with me. Thanks Gayle!

Pages In Time Sketch Blog

2010-06-13T19:01:00.000-04:00

Here is my first DT project for Pages In Time. They also have their own Thursday Sketch Blog. If you like sketches check it out. I spent most of my weekend finding the surface of my scrap table but managed to get this page done. Funny that I spent half of Saturday cleaning my space and by cleaning I really mean moving massive piles of scrap stuff from one spot to the other. Speaking of which JESS, if I ever get it all together I have a nice little box of goodies for you! Anyway, after all the work I did to find the surface of my craft table? I brought my paper, picture, cutter, scissors and adhesive into the family room and sat on the floor and scrapped! I guess I don't need all that crap after all. Shhhhh though. Don't tell my hubby! The only thing I had to go back to the scrap room for were the letters, crepe paper and a single button. I worked on another page this morning but that is not photographed yet. Can I tell you?? NY is the new London. Rain, rain, rain!!!

I had to reverse the sketch it to make the sun work as a circle element but I think I stayed pretty true to the sketch this time. The dress my daughter is wearing is not a favorite of mine but I changed my thinking on that when I saw that it matched this paper. giggle. I used mostly all Jenni Bowling for this page and that makes me happy. I love her stuff but don't always have photo's to go with her paper or maybe I like it so much I just hoard it!!

Exciting News!!!!

2010-06-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

I am sooooo excited to announce that I am now designing for PAGES IN TIME!!! That's right, I'm on a design team!! Someone pinch me because I can't believe I made it! Wooooo Hoooooo Come on over and check it out. There is a great gallery full of inspiration, forums to chat, a kit of the month and great challenges!!

Pages In Time Sketch Of The Week

2010-06-02T08:47:00.000-04:00

I'm always up for a good sketch and Pages In Time has been offering some hot one's!! I tweaked this one a bit to make my picture's work but I think it came out ok and not too far from the sketch. You can check out Pages In Time here.

Here's the Sketch

and here's my take

Facebook, Old Photo's and Memories

2010-05-23T11:30:00.000-04:00

So lately I have been neglecting some of my scrap sites and my blog. Yes, I have become a Facebook addict!!! Don't worry though scrapping is still my main addiction. lol I am really loving Facebook though, I have a farm and I'm in the Mafia now! I've also reconnected with some old friends and family.
Now my family? I am an only child. My Mother? She is the baby of 14, YES 14. She was also a change of life baby so most of her brothers and sisters have passed on. Kinda weird that many of my aunts and uncles were the ages of most people's grandparents and kinda sad that I didn't get to know them all that well. With such a large family it's a little hard to remain close. We can't all get together at the same time and many of us have lost contact completely. There is also an age difference for me.Some of my first cousins are very close to my Mom's age, again a little weird but I have many cousins that I refer to as Aunt or Uncle.
Through Facebook I have recently reconnected to my cousin Lisa. She is my Aunt Alice's daughter whom I loved dearly. Sadly the one Aunt I spent the most time with and was very close too, passed when I was in my late teens. She was only in her 40's. I still have some issue with this. I spent every possible minute with her while she was sick and was with her when she passed. It haunts me still. She had an inoperable brain tumor and I will just say I have never seen anyone suffer the way she did and prey that I never do again.
Reconnecting with my cousin has brought back so many memories. Some good and some bad. I am so thankful to have reconnected with her though. It's like getting back a piece of myself that I didn't fully realize I lost. Lisa recently posted some old photo's and I wanted to share some of them.
This is my favorite. I love it. I of course never knew my aunt at this age and I think maybe she is about the age I was when I lost her. She looks so beautiful and at peace....I'm not sure what it is but this photo has brought me such comfort.

I have other photo's to share however today? I think I just want the spotlight to be on my dear Aunt Alice. She was a beautiful woman, inside and out.

October Afternoon

2010-05-10T17:16:00.000-04:00

First off Happy Belated Mother's Day. I hope all you Mom's out there had a great day! Me? I lost power on Saturday night and didn't get it back until Sunday around dinner time. My plans of hubby making his penne alla vodka for dinner went down the tubes. My mom offered to cook but instead we got our scrap on and ordered from Poppa John's. Not the Mother's Day I had planned...but the most relaxing I've ever had.

I Got a page and some cards done this weekend. I finally scrapped this picture of my daughter from last summer. With her suit being a dead ringer for October Afternoon it made choosing paper really easy! lol I have some finishing touches on the cards so I'll post them another day.

Nook & Pantry

2010-04-30T17:24:00.000-04:00

If you haven't figured it out yet...I'm addicted to Basic Grey. Yes. I admit it. Occasionally though they come out with a line that I hesitate on and I must say Nook and Pantry was one of them. I'm not sure what made me cave in and buy it. Maybe it was the cute names like Tea Cakes and Rolling Pin...but I think the whole tea thing is what really made me hesitate. I mean really...I love tea, I drink it every day but did I need an entire pack of tea themed paper? No, no I didn't and Basic Grey knew that I didn't which I why all the paper IS NOT tea themed. I made this page without using a single teapot and every stitch of patterned paper is from Nook & Pantry. So Basic Grey I apologize. You knew all along just what I needed. Sigh.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

2010-04-21T18:08:00.001-04:00

My Sleepy Head layout that I posted in the beginning of the month? I submitted it to Cosmo Cricket aaannnnnnnnddddd holy crap! They posted on their site. I'm so excited! Go check it out!!!

Early Bird

2010-04-03T15:01:00.000-04:00

Cosmo Cricket's Early Bird line? I love, love, loveeeeeee this line. What is it about the color saturation of Cosmo Cricket? I swear it makes me melt and those little chipboard pieces? Sooo cute.

I did a little scrap shopping yesterday (ok ALOT of scrap shopping but we really don't need to talk about that) sooo as I was saying I did a little scrap shopping yesterday and here are a few things a came home with.

Unfortunately the scrap store I was at did not have this is in stock. I'm going to have to order this!!

and of course I couldn't leave without some Basic Grey!! Ohhh now...before you think I am a total shopaholic I must tell you. Both of my LSS's have closed in the last couple of years. I now have to drive an hour to get to my closest NOT so local Scrap Store. It was well worth the trip though and I had a great time. I went with friends and we made a day of it.

Now I need to place a major picture order and get to scrapping!!!!! My how I wish Spring Break were just starting and not ending. Ho Hum.

Have a Happy Easter all!

Pink Paislee

2010-03-27T09:51:00.000-04:00

Love me some Pink Paislee AND I'm loving this sketch from the Pink Paislee Community, Live Pink. Now granted I did not get this done in time for the contest but the sketch was so nice I decided to go ahead and do it anyway. I'm not sure how many Pink Paislee lines I used on this but hey...I used those scraps!! lol The orange flower is a plain Prima that I airbrushed with my Copics.

So, as I said the contest is over but here is the sketch if you would like to use it anyway. The Live Pink site has some great eye candy!!!

Sweet Dreams

2010-03-17T15:47:00.000-04:00

Never too old for her baby doll! I used some Collage Press (Christmas paper) for this one. I really loved all the yummy pink and red in this pack and decided it didn't HAVE to be a typical Christmas LO.

Silly me, forgot to say Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Meet Stanley

2010-03-14T13:36:00.000-04:00

Meet Stanley, our third hand puppy! This adorable puppy went through 3 owners in less than hour!! In our case....fourth time was a charm. lol Walking into Shop Rite last weekend, there it was. The dreaded box of cute puppies. As my mother (yes my mother not my daughter) said awwww lets look at them I pulled her by the arm and said "I don't want a dog and you don't need one. Keep walking!!". When we came out of Shop Rite I saw a man in a little car with one of the puppies. The puppy looked at me with the saddest face and what pops into my head? That's my puppy!! I have no idea what made me think that. As I said earlier. I don't want a dog. I'm a cat person, not a dog person. None the less I felt like he should be mine. As I was gazing at the most adorable puppy I've ever seen? The man's wife comes out of Shop Rite. Took one look at MY puppy and said OH HELL NO GET THAT PUPPY OUTTA MY DAMN CAR and a few other things I won't repeat here. On that note I high tailed my cart to the car. Told my husband and daughter that there was a puppy we had to go see. We pull up, I roll my window down and in my sweetest voice say ohhhhh can I see your puppy and surprise surprise the man says "lady you can have my puppy". Thank you very much, don't mind if I do!! So I am the proud owner of Stanley a 7 (almost 8) week old Cocker Spaniel who went through 3 owners in one day. That's right 3. Before the man took him a women took him. Shortly after she took him she changed her mind and talked the man into taking him....I guess he was destined to be ours. Since he was third hand I wanted to name him Thrift Shop but Stanley suited him better.

This weekend we had some swim excitement. My daughter had an ESSL Championship Meet. It's her end of the season league meet. Out of around 16 teams she finished FIRST overall in Breast Stroke and third in Freestyle. She will be getting 2 medals and a ribbon. I'm so excited for her and just a little proud. lol Here she is in the orange cap swimming a 25 yard Breast Stroke. Her coach who is leaving this season is at the end waiting to high five her. It's one of those happy/sad moments to have that on video.

Sunshine Anyone?

2010-03-05T21:19:00.000-05:00

Found these pictures from our yearly trip to Lake George. Well the Gem Mine wasn't in Lake George....I'm not exactly sure where we were!! It was SOMEWHERE in Warren County NY. Anyway I was happy to see pictures of a time when the sun was shining and there was no snow on the ground. For the most part we had a mild winter...but the month of February. OMG we got dumped on. School was closed three days straight!

Happy Weekend!

Game On

2010-02-23T20:38:00.001-05:00

I'm on a crafty roll now and I got a page done!! Woo Hoo. This is actually a page I started awhile ago and it wasn't coming together the way I wanted. Finally finished it up. Good thing blue and orange are two of my favorite colors...it looks like swimming is my new life. My little aqua girl qualified for a couple of different championships this year. Do you think if I emailed Basic Grey that maybe they would come out with a blue and orange line just for me? lol
On the home front it is snowing here. Again. We don't seem to ever get enough for a snow day but enough to make a mess AND cancel after school activities. No swim practice tonight and since she was suppose to move up to Silver II tonight??? Well it was nearly a night full of tears. I'm glad I can still pacify her with hot cocoa and muffins!

Inspired Blueprints

2010-02-21T16:00:00.000-05:00

Although I haven't had alot of time lately to craft...I LOVE THIS SITE!! Great sketches and great inspiration in the gallery. If you haven't found this site already check it out! They are also offering Card Sketches now and I'm delighted about that. I was actually able to get some crafting done this weekend and it felt great to get my hands on some product. Here's a card I made using Card Sketch Number 41.

I used a whole bunch of yummy goodness from a Noel Mignon Kit., Paper Doll's. That girl just cranks out one delicious kit after another. The Paper Doll's Kit is sold out. The current Kit, Seaside Cottage is gorgeous and it looks like she has one left!

Swimming In the New Year

2010-01-17T18:23:00.000-05:00

Wow. Once again I have been MIA here on my blog. If I have any blog buddies left, I'm so sorry. We have been swimming in the new year!!! I think we have been to 4 Meets since my last post. At least I have tons of pic's to scrap and have even signed up for a crop!! WoooooHooooo!!!! I can't wait. If I ever get around to cleaning my scrap room I may even craft at home. Now there's a concept. If only I could find the table!!

Since I don't have any crafty projects I thought I would share some swim video's today. Here's my girl in her leg of a relay, here she is swimming a 25 Yard Breast and for a photo finish a 25 Yard Butterfly.

I hope everyone is having a happy and prosperous new year so far!! Cheers. 2010 May it be happy and crafty!!

Merry and Bright

2009-12-27T10:36:00.000-05:00

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!

2009-12-12T17:52:00.000-05:00

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???

2009-11-24T14:04:00.001-05:00

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

2009-11-04T08:26:00.000-05:00

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

2009-11-01T22:17:00.000-05:00

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

Pink Paislee Friend Card

2009-10-30T08:50:00.001-04:00

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

2009-10-25T18:11:00.000-04:00

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

2009-10-12T13:58:00.000-04:00

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

2009-10-10T09:43:00.000-04:00

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.