FREEBIE ALERT!

Here is a STEAL of a DEAL to start your Friday off right!

The "Hawt Mamas" are celebrating Traci's birthday this week - I fell right off my chair when I saw these templates!

Grab them here...



(Be sure to check out the main page of the blog, as there is another freebie today!)

Check out Traci's store at Sweet Shoppe Designs - she has a TON of cute stuff!

Just Saying Hello...

PHEW! This week is getting away from me!

The kids have been busy with VBS, and that makes for a much shorter work-day for Mom, plus add in some dental visits and just the regular chaos, and I haven't had a moment to spare all week! ZERO creative time, but I hope to get back on track this weekend!

Just a quick share today, and then back to the "salt mines" for me, haha!


Card Credits: Stamps - "Pete" from WhipperSnapper, sentiment from aMuse; DP by Basic Grey; CS & linen thread by Stampin Up! Copic Markers

Thanks for stopping in! I hope your week is fabulous so far!

Monday Monday...

Well it is BACK to the rat race after a relaxing weekend!

I had a chance to meet a friend for some stampin' on Saturday - way fun! I'll be sure to share my finished cards this week! I also snagged the new QuicKutz Epic Six machine - LOVE! I have an old old old Sizzix machine, which has served me very well, but it was time to upgrade to something that could accomodate all of the newer big dies that are out on the market these days!

Card Credits: Flower Frenzy & Polka Dot Basics stamp sets (PaperTrey Ink); CS & inks are from Stampin' Up!

Thanks for stopping by - have a great Monday!

Happy FRIDAY!

WHOHOO! It's FRIDAY!

Just a quick page share today and I am off and running! I am taking the afternoon off to visit a friend, so I have to FOCUS, lol.

This is Mad celebrating her 11th birthday this past March. Just a QP (Quick Page) from the Flower Patch QP Album that I picked up from Melissa Bennett's store at Sweet Shoppe Designs. I like these QPs for quick and easy scrappin' - just drag your photos on, resize, and tuck them behind the photo openings. Slap on your journaling text and you are done! EASY PEASY LEMON SQUEEZY as my friend Bethie would say!


That's all I have for today! Thanks for stopping in, have a FAB FRIDAY!

Remember Me & Dad

We are almost to Friday, people! Man the weeks are just flying by this summer! Yesterday, I picked up a few SCHOOL SUPPLIES on my way home from my lunch date. Usually, I wait until the last minute and everything is picked over! I still have to go back for more, but I got the basics - markers, colored pencils, crayons, folders and notebooks. Don't you just LOVE school supplies? I stocked up on extra markers and etc NOW while everything is so cheap! We always need that stuff, so it's nice to just have it on hand.

It's almost August, and that means almost time for sweet corn! This time of year always reminds me of Dad, because sweet corn was a BIG favorite of his. (Well who doesn't like sweet corn???) I had this snapshot (Mom and I scanned a quite a few photos of Dad, shortly after he died) of us sitting together, eating corn on the cob. Look how teeny I was! I remember being *so excited* that my Daddy was home to play with me, lol. Even though I had already eaten, Mom said I insisted on being RIGHT THERE by Dad.

Happy memories...:)


Page Credits: Happy Go Lucky (free) kit by Shabby Princess, Notepaper from Smell My Feet kit by Shabby Princess, Alpha (recolored) from Bare Essentials kit by Traci Reed, Font is Georgia.

Did you notice my mom's swanky toaster cover? LOL! I need to phone her and tease her abouta that one, haha...

Thanks for stopping by - have a FABULOUS Thursday!

Life's a Beach!

It's Wednesday, and I feel BEACHY! :)

Okay, not really, lol. But I have a fun lunch date today, and totally feel like GOOFING OFF. Unfortunately, work is calling my name...*sigh*

So here is just a quick card - Yes, I am *still* using up this beachy striped paper from BoBunny! (Did I tell you that I bought another whole sheet of it???) I am back to this surfboard mouse (Whipper Snapper) - I needed to move away from the blues and greens, and make a girly PINK surfer mouse, lol.


I have a pile of cards on my stamp table, and need to get rolling with sending out some snail mail! Thanks for stopping by - the week is flying by, it will be FRIDAY before we know it! YAY!

More from the Big Kahuna

I know I know, you are sick of the Big Kahuna!

Well TOUGH, because I love this little surfin' mouse, lol...and of course, I am still in my coloring mode too. :)

I feel like I am *finally* getting the hang of these Copic markers. The trick is to buy LOTS of markers! *snort* Seriously though, you do need at least 2 shades of each color for any detailed blending. I am just learning by trial and error basically. (I just took the trash out, otherwise I would show you all my errors crumpled up in the waste basket, lol.) I have gotten pretty good results with layering single color markers ON TOP of themselves (does that make sense? I mean by applying a SECOND layer on top of the first...) but I feel like I have much more freedom by having a few varying shades to work with. I also am getting the hang of the blending pen, for moving the color around and, well, blending!

Blah blah blah - what I mean is: GO OUT AND BUY MORE COPICS! You *need* a variety!


I coordinated these surfers with papers from Basic Grey Lime Rickey collection. I think Basic Grey is my favorite paper line EVER, lol. I always say NO. I DO NOT NEED any more papers from Basic Grey. But I end up buying them anyway. Don't judge me!

Thanks for stopping by (I think I am breaking a record for blogging this month!) - I hope your week is turning out fabulous so far!

Making Faces!

Ha ha!

I *am* making faces this morning, because it is MONDAY, and that means BACK TO WORK!

BLAH!

I did get some scrapping done on the weekend (it feels so good to be making time for creativity!) and have another page to share. These photos of my nephew Noah really make me smile. He has SUCH a personality already! These were snapped all in succession at the park while visiting "Grandma Shoes" (lol, that is how he says Grandma Sue haha). We were wondering how we would get him to come down from the slides, when he suddenly hopped in the stroller and was ready to go. Well, we figured out as we were walking home that he heard the TRAIN coming, and wanted to see it, lol. I snapped these pics of his funny faces while we were getting organized to head back to Grandma's house.


Page Credits: QP by Ellie Lash, Deconstructed Alpha from Robin Carlton of Sweet Shoppe Designs, Font is Georgia

I hope your week is starting off on a good note! Thanks for stopping by!

Summer Fun...

Just a quick page share today...

Right before the 4th, we were able to spend a few days at Grandma's and enjoy some "cousin time". These girls have such a good time - it's a shame they are seperated by so many miles! BUT, luckily, this is the electronic age, and they can keep up via email, lol! I wanted to scrap these fun pictures from the park, the girls were just having a good time and hanging out together - lots of girly chit-chat and giggles!

Page Credits: Candy Sunshine kit and template by Sugar Plum Paperie of The Digi Chick, font is Love Ya Like a Sister

Thanks for stopping by, have a FAB Sunday!

Rest. Relax. Renew.

Ahhh...I just *love* the weekend, don't you?

My company is gone, and it is way too chilly here in MN to float on an innertube, so I spent some time messy-ing up the stamp table again. As you can see, I am still into the chicks (from WhipperSnapper) and the beachy striped paper (from BoBunny)! LOL! It is so good to be stamping again!

I think it will be a pretty quiet weekend, I plan to just relax and enjoy it! Thanks for stopping by!

The Big Kahuna...

Well, COMPANY is coming, so I had to clear a path thru my messy stamp space! I had to color this li'l surfin' mouse just one more time before I put the markers away. Isn't he just your favorite?

This is another tabbed card - I found *another* beachy striped paper that I like! (And I also bought another sheet of the one I was using last week, lol...don't judge me!) Both of these lines are from BoBunny and have several coordinating patterns, all double sided, so more bang for your buck!

They are *practically free*!!!

This project did not begin as a tabbed card, it began as just a regular card, HOWEVER, I dropped the inky sentiment stamp and SMUDGED the front of the card. GRRRR! After some PG-13 language, I regrouped, cut the end off, and added a tab, lol...

Crisis averted!



That's it for today! Thanks for stopping by, I hope you are having a FAB week!

Mmmm...Fresh berries!

Don't they just make your mouth water?

We were planning to go to the beach after Church yesterday, but it wasn't as warm as we hoped, so we moved on to "Plan B" and zipped over to a local orchard/farm and picked berries instead! (What a FAB idea that was!) It did turn out to be a pretty nice day, and it was perfect for berry pickin'! We came home happy, with berry stained fingers and *maybe* a smidge of a tummy ache from eating too many berries, lol.

Can you believe I only snapped THREE photos? I didn't even bring the big camera, and I'm glad, because berry picking is back breaking labor, lol. Anyhow, since I only snapped three, I figured I could get them scrapped right away!

Page Credits: Strawberry Kisses kit by Tracie Stroud of Scrap Matters, template (no longer available) by Janet Phillips, Font is Love Ya Like a Sister.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a great day!

Her favorite perch...

...awww! Isn't this the cutest dog ever? LOL!

I had this snapshot of her (well, I have about *NINE HUNDRED* snapshots like this, snort), and I thought I should really journal about how we often find our dog perched on the back of this recliner. It's an excellent vantage point, she can see nearly the entire 1st floor, has a good view of the front door, and she can easily see what's happening in the neighborhood through the large bay of windows in the family room. If she doesn't greet us at the door, this is where we find her - usually with a guilty look for *not* greeting us at the door, haha!


Page Credits: Blossom kit from Kristin Cronin-Barrow of Sweet Shoppe Designs, Font is Lesli Thick Not Fat.

I hope you had a fabulous weekend! We were busy, so I managed to neglect all of my Saturday chores, hehe...I will have to fit that into my busy work-week, but that's okay! Summer is flying by, and I can do housework when it's cold out, right??? I know you are with me on this one!

Some recent photography...

Right before the 4th, I took the opportunity to take a few days off from the ol' work grind and the kids and I headed up to hang with Grandma. My brother and 2 of his 3 kiddos were able to join us, and the cousins had a good ol' time playing and hanging out. My goal was to get some (what I call) "frame-worthy" portraits of the kids. I need the camera practice, and Grandma loves prints of the Grandkids, so it is win/win!

Well...it has been awhile since I had a 2 year old, lol. I managed to capture a BUNCH of frame-worthy shots of the BACK of Noah's head, lol. Something about me and my camera, he just ran the other way, haha! I do love this photo anyway, and it is totally frame-worthy, even though it was captured with my li'l ol' point & shoot camera.

When you are 2, you are in charge, haha! I did manage to capture his happy smile and sparkly blue eyes!



I did catch this pretty one of Brianna...this was taken at Phelps Mill, on the bridge.



And a few more from Phelps Mill.

Brianna with Daddy...



I call this one, "Noah being Noah" - lol. If it weren't for Dad's tight grip, he wouldn't even be in the shot, haha...



Grandma with the kids, on the bridge...



And the Mill...





Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a FAB weekend!

Chicks in green innertubes!

...for lack of a better title, lol...

I am still in stamping (and coloring!) mode. And I have all these bright paper scraps laying on my table, so I figured I may as well use 'em up!

This is another folder card...I rounded the corners for a different look.



...and here is the inside...bright and stripey!



And lastly, here is just a tabbed card. Would you believe I still have *more* of this striped paper left? 1 12x12 sheet goes a long way, lol...

This was a double-sided heavier weight paper, stripes on one side and the polka dots on the other. I like the coordinated look of them together!



Thanks for checking in!

More creative time for me...

...it's summer and I am taking the time to be creative! I'd love to make time for it every day, we'll see how that goes - usually work and life get in the way!

I am really enjoying getting inky again these last few days! There is something theraputic about coloring in line images - I guess I always liked to color. Was there ever anything better than a fresh box of crayons?

I've been playing with some bright and summery papers that have been out on my table - I love how bright and fun these papers are! I'm pairing them up with some images from Whipper Snapper, colored in with Copic markers.


This surfboard mouse is fast becoming a favorite! Don't you want to drop everything and race to the beach???



I hope to get some scrapping in this week too, my photos are calling to me - they need some attention, lol!

Thanks for stopping by!

Project of the Day

YIPPEE LEPINSKI I stamped!

So I am in this online group, and we have been featuring a "Project of the Day Classroom" - I haven't had much time to play, but this project was just too cute to pass up!

Detailed instructions can be found at my friend Lana's blog (click here).

I love these cute little folders - just perfect for tucking a little note and a treat inside! Super easy to whip out a handful of these, and you are all set for sending out some snail mail smiles, or dropping on a friend's desk at work...










Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!