Thursday, May 31, 2007

Viewer Discretion is ADVISED!

Warning: If you have a weak stomach, maybe you should not look at this picture (turn back now, turn back now . . . . ):


Such a tragic waste. *CRIES* I am still in shock. M came upstairs to my office this morning and discovered the situation as you see. E had been "playing" and did about $25 worth of damage. I am saddened. I decided her punishment would be that we would not go to the movie that we were planning to go to today. Such a terrible waste.

If you ever wondered if embossing powder feels like sand and gets everywhere -- I assure you it does. Clean up sucked. I will take this moment to tell you about the one thing that was my lifesaver. I had one of those lint sticky paper thingamagigs and it worked perfectly to pick up lots of the powder after I had swept away the large part, so my desk is mostly better. So keep that in mind if this ever happens to you. I am just thankful that E did not open the staz on pad that was close by or any of my other tools that were piled on the desk after a mucho creative weekend.

The casualties were 1/4 iridescent ice embossing powder, full heat and stick powder, 3/4 sterling silver, and a brand spanking new - just got it in my last SU order CRYSTAL clear. *cries* Oh and also a pale pink embossing powder not from SU! I guess that is what I get for just hoarding it eh? Needless to say, I will have to add those to my next SU order -- which probably will not be until the new catalog!

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Summer is HERE! YAY


Sunshine is abundant in Arizona, but today it really felt like summer. It was 85 degrees and bright and sunny and just great weather. The kids and I went to a splash park with some moms and children from church. It was totally fun! I am so glad I went. They just love water! I love watching my children interact with other children. Today they were mostly good, but they like to get their own way and sometimes will gang up on another child so it is two against one, in order for them to get what they want. They were tired and cold after about an hour and were ready to leave, so we packed up the van, went grocery shopping and then went home. It was a long morning/early afternoon and we were all pretty tired.



I just wanted to add that tonight for dinner, in lieu of a recipe because we just barely got a new grill, we decided to have BBQ turkey burgers -- they were great! I love it when M does most of the cooking because before we got the grill, that was like never, and now . . . well, he likes to play with his new toy! I will provide you a yummy recipe next week! Hope you are enjoying life to the fullest!!!

Friday, May 25, 2007

SC 125 - Small Panel

I made this card for the sketch challenge on SCS. I was going to title it, "How to convince your husband you need more ribbon even though you already have a ton" -- but that name was just a little too long. Truly though, if you did show this to your hubby, he would totally understand why you keep "running out" and why you need more! I got this idea to use lots of ribbon from Karen V. (gamblemom) -- she did this on a card not so long ago. It makes the card kind of busy, but I think it is fun. The ladybugs (or ladybirds - for Alli), are watercolored using the red ink pad and my aquapainter, and then glazed over with crystal effects. Sentiment was stamped on the punched ovals and adhered using pop dots. I totally love all the ribbon on this card. I have been hoarding it lately and it was really fun to just let loose and go crazy with the ribbons.

CC 115 - Certainly Vintage

It's FRIDAY! Hooray! And even a long weekend for those of us living in America! YAY! We plan to spend the weekend working on our patio in the back yard because we *still* have not finished it yet and it has been months . . . in fact, the bricks have been residing in my driveway for months. It is so hard to get things done with two little kids underfoot. Basically, it takes one of us to be the babysitter and the other one to do the work. Unfortunately because M is just a tad stronger than I am, he gets to be the worker bee . . . but I will bring him water. I am so excited to have it all done and get a new grill and table to put out there so we can enjoy the summer -- awww, love that summer heat in Arizona.

So I was looking for not only something that would match with the colors of the color challenge (certainly celery, old olive and vintage violet/elegant eggplant), but a stamp set that I had not used often and I came across this set from Sellabration - SU's "Very Punny." I thought this little froggy would work perfectly. The paper was in my folder full of scrap paper and although it was a little lighter than I had intended to use, I think it works. It is by Anna Griffin. I stamped the frogs in elegant eggplant. You can't really see the sparkle, but I colored the frogs in using twinkling H2O's and a aquapainter and when they were dried, I glazed over them with crystal effects. I decided the corner needed something so I added the square purple brads (I found them in my treasure trove of embellishments) -- and they seemed to do it. Finally, I added the popped up frog on pop dots and the sentiment on pop dots and called this finished! Thanks for dropping by to see my work!

And just in case you are wondering, I am working on something to upload for today's fabulous floral Friday . . . and I promise to get that uploaded just as soon as I possibly can, but hopefully these cards will keep you satiated temporarily.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Amuse Challenge #4 - PUNCHES - A True Friend

Okay, so I lied! SUE ME! I just could not resist stamping just one more card. (Plus, my DH is playing computer games so I had time!) This one I used the oval punch (small size) to create a flower. I have had this one in my head for awhile too and it was nice to get it out. Maybe I can actually start thinking about other card designs now. The flower in the background is from an SU set, but it was in my pile (all the stamps I pulled from sets and have not put away yet -- thus I have no idea where it goes). The sentiment is from Amuse. The colors were chosen randomly by glancing into my scrap bag and picking colors that went together. It is really bright and cheery and I like it. Oh, and you can barely see, but in the background there are some flowers that I stamped with my glue pad (that I got at Hobby Lobby today) and then I adhered white glitter on them. They add some really subtle sparkle to the card. Oh, and I doodled on the petals of the flower just because I felt like it. Ribbon is from a ribbon share Jody did! Thanks!

Amuse Challenge #4 - PUNCHES - A Treat for You

Okay, this is my last one for today, I promise. I bought this stamp the other night at The Creative Quest -- it is by Great Impressions. I just fell in love with it -- it is like "the perfect cupcake." Just so cute! I could not resist!

I watercolored (because I am addicted to watercoloring lately) using my twinkling H2o's and water color pencils. I added stickles (diamond) to the cupcake paper and the candle. I used crystal effects on the actual icing and the flame (glitter free) -- and before I did that -- I colored in some of the sprinkles with white gelly roll pen. I colored it to match this awesome ribbon I picked up at Hobby Lobby. The colors are a combination that I totally would not have chosen otherwise -- brilliant blue, orchid opulence, and a green galore-ish color. The sentiment stamp is by Amuse. Oh, and I learned today while I was reading blogs that the white colored around the poke hole is called a "faux eyelet" -- so I added faux eyelets around the edge of my punched out scalloped ovals. This is a super simple card. I hope you like it!

Amuse Challenge #4 - PUNCHES - From Our House to Yours

This idea came to me when I was looking at my Amuse sentiments (because that is mostly what I have from Amuse -- I am a big collector of sentiment stamps). I wanted to include punches in some way and I thought of making a window looking out across the street. The houses are from SU "Right at Home" set. The background (Creamy caramel) was stamped in creamy caramel ink with SU's "Canvas." The creamy caramel layer is attached with pop dots to the chocolate chip layer, which has a big hole cut in it. Then the white layer with the house is attached to the other side of the chocolate chip layer flush. The houses were colored using my twinkling H2O's and also some watercolor pencils for accents here and there. I outlined the windows and doors on the houses with a chocolate chip marker. After all of the watercoloring was done, I added some crystal effects on the windows to make them look like glass, and some diamond stickles on the heart and the flowers to make them sparkle. Oh and the sentiment, by Amuse, was stamped in chocolate chip.

Amuse Challenge #4 - PUNCHES - Hello Pumpkin

Okay, I know this has been done a bajillion times before and I know that I am not the original creator, however, I also do not know who to credit for the original idea. Basically, I got this adorable amuse stamp with using it with this kind of punch pumpkin in mind, and then this challenge just gave me the push to make the stinking card already, so I did. I used I piece of cuttlebugged card stock that I had generously sent to me in the mail -- it was embossed with the swirls template. I hand stitched the corners of the card stock with some embroidery floss I had on hand and a needle. I stamped the stem from SU's "Carved and Candlelit" to create the pumpkin stem and the rest is done with oval punches. So not entirely original, but it is mine nonetheless.

Oh and can I just whine that I am SO sad that Grey's Anatomy will not be all new tonight because the season is over? How in the heck am I gonna make it through until the fall *sigh* Guess I am going to have to stamp a lot to keep myself busy . . .

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

SPOILED ROTTEN!

I just had to post a little thank you to Jody for her sweet package that she sent to me this month. I almost died when I saw what was in it. The mini book is just darling and I love it so much (You can see it in the Dirty Dozen gallery for this month on Splitcoaststampers if you are a Member) -- the glittery flower is to die for. Oh, and I absolutely LOVED the way that she did the closure on it using twill tape and copper twine -- it looked amazing and I am just so excited that I am now the proud owner. Oh and get this -- she sent me a whole box of PRIMAS! (Lisa's drooling I bet). How generous and awesome is my friend! WOW! Thank you Jody!!! I hope you have a wonderful time on your trip to Disneyland and I just wanted you to know that I so don't deserve such awesome friends like you!!! You rock!

Fun at the 10 Card Extravaganza

So every so often, my favorite local stamp shop, THE CREATIVE QUEST (link on sidebar) has a 10 card extravaganza night where you come and stamp as many as 10 cards -- the supplies are all out for you and the card stock is precut etc. Each card is only $1 and you can make multiples of them if there are still supplies for that one. Last time I went I made two cards, but this time, I liked 5 of them, so I got to work because I only had about an hour to shop and complete the five cards. I managed to get them all done in time. A miracle!

This little cars card was originally just the green piece, the blue card and the white card with card colored in with markers. I decided that I would make it my own, so I took it home to do the coloring with my watercolor pencils. Then I added stickles (diamond) for the headlights as had been done at the store. Then I also added stickles (black diamond) for the tires. Two of the four cars are cut out and popped up using pop-dots and I added some doodling along the green piece and the orange gingham for interest. I think it is a fun little card.




This little Penny Black dog was my favorite card of the night by far. When I saw him I just knew I had to do this card. It was really simple. Basically just watercoloring using twinkling H2O's. I did him a little darker than the one they had in the sample and I think he looks cute. Also, the store sample had used a Happy Birthday sentiment but the girls before me told me it was a junky stamp and that it was cut poorly, so I added the sentiment when I got home -- this one is from SU "All Around Argyle" - a current hostess set.


This card was so "not me" so to speak, but I liked it just the same. I think I liked the texture of the green background card stock. It just felt nice to me. Image edges were distressed using burgundy ink. "Simple Pleasures" was stamped in the same color ink and then cut out and popped up using pop dots. I really loved how this turned out. Not sure who I will send it to or for what occasion, but it is a cute card all the same. I adore the colors used on this card and plan to play with them sometime in the future on another "more me" looking card. Still, I am glad I made this one and expanded my horizons so to speak.







This card I really struggled to get a good photo of. I just loved the sentiment and I love the look of the color and black under the vellum. It looks really sharp in person. Not sure who I will send it to or when, but it was lots of fun to stamp. Vellum is just held on by the gold brads in each corner. Soldier is stamped using timber brown staz on on the vellum and the actual soldier image is stamped using black ink on the kraft colored background.






This last card was the last one I chose to make. I did it on a whim, even though it was not my absolute favorite ever. I thought it was cute. The background is stamped with almost what looks like newsprint. Then the black layer was adhered to it. Then the little kraft envelope was distressed and a black car was stamped on it. Then the sentiment was stamped on and then both were adhered to the black piece. The little red papers inside the pocket are coupons. Each coupon was stamped and then cut out. When I got home, I decided to add a little rust color to the car with my twinkling H2o's and I added the black ribbon on the side because it looked like it needed something there. I think it turned out decently!!!

What's For Dinner Wednesday - Cranberry Chicken

This recipe is from my church cookbook that was put together last year. This sounded yummy to me. Credit for this recipe in the book goes to Annie Wilkins -- thank you for sharing.

Cranberry Chicken

6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breasts
3/4 cup french or Catalina dressing
1 can whole berry cranberries with sauce
2 tbsp dried onion
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

Mix ingredients and pour over frozen chicken. Bake covered at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes. Then uncover and bake another 30-45 minutes.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

TLC 117 - Crayon Resist

I absolutely LOVE crayon resist. It is just so easy and the results are always pleasing. I had a blast playing with it again yesterday. Let me know what you think of my cards. I love to hear your comments.

This first card was made using SU's Springtime Stems. I also used a quarter sheet of card stock that was cuttlebugged. The colors are only orange, pixie pink and yo yo yellow. The sentiment is by Amuse Artstamps and for those of you who do not understand French at all (even though it is the most basic phrase out there and I am pretty sure most of you do know what it means) -- it means Thank you!

The ribbon is actually more true to the pixie pink color in real life (aka, it matches, and does not clash like it does in the picture. I adhered the orange gingham to the sheer part on the yellow ribbon (in the center) which made it "work" better with the way I tied it. I sponged in circles just over the flowers that were resisted. I like this better sometimes than blending/rubbing the ink over the resist. I like how it looks sponged still. Both are techniques that work well for crayon resist though. It is just a preference thing. Also, when you do it this way, you have a lot more white space still showing, which I like.

This second card was done late last night. I stamped the butterflies from SU "Love Without End" in timber brown staz on. I find that staz on works best when you are using glossy card stock. I sponged over the butterflies using taken with teal and elegant eggplant. I was trying to use a combination of colors that is not typical to me. I think it works. I used my gelly roll pen to put dots on the butterflies in white. I used my paper trimmer to make a light score line and dotted along the score line with my white gelly roll pen. You cannot see the score line now that it is finished (it was that light). Then I adhered the sentiment oval on and dotted around it to make it work with the card. Finally, I tied brown polka dot ribbon across the whole card. Hope you take some time to try out this technique. It is really easy to do and the results are fun. If you are using glossy card stock, you can use any light colored crayon (I used yellow) and you can see more easily where you have colored. If you use normal SU Whisper White card stock, it is best to use a white crayon. Have fun raiding your kids crayon box and I will see you tomorrow with dinner.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Manda's Mailbox Monday - Gorgeous Papertrey RAKS!

Hooray, I love it when my mailbox over flow-eth . . . I have been so spoiled by fellow bloggers and friends! It is just so fun to get mail. I really need to start sending out more Random Acts of Kindness (RAK's). I think that will be on my to do list for the week. I will plan to send out one a day. It sure does brighten my day to receive them.

This first card is a pretty Papertrey butterfly one. I am such a sucker for butterflies and it is just too cute. The background is cuttlebugged, I think, using a swirl background. Thank you so much for this RAK Heather S in Hyde Park, UT -- it was really sweet of you to think of me. Like what you see? Check out Heather's blog. It is just too cute and I just love all her work! Oh and her kids are too freaking adorable!!!

The second RAK I got in the mail was one from Lori T in Gaithersburg, MD -- she sent me a gorgeous polished stone/alcohol ink looking card using the Papertrey butterflies set. It was SO super hard to get a good picture of, so I hope you will forgive me for my weak attempt to show off your gorgeous work, but I truly love it and appreciate you taking the time to send it to me. It made me smile!!! Lori was one of my prize winners not so long ago and she sent this gorgeous card to thank me for her prize. Lori has a blog also, you can check it out and leave her some blog love -- I bet she'd love that: Inking Aloud.

Thank you so much to my sweet blogger RAK group friends who share their beautiful work with me. I hope you all have a splendid week. I am off to get some laundry done and catch up on some neglected chores . . . it's spring cleaning time again *sigh*

Sunday, May 20, 2007

AMUSE Challenge 3

I am loving all the AMUSE challenges. It felt so good to be home this morning when I woke up. You never appreciate your own bed until you try to sleep in a hotel one. My sheets for sure have higher thread count and feel so much nicer on my cheeks *grins* Anyway, I decided that I felt like stamping a bit and decided that the challenge sketch on AMUSE would get me back into the swing of it. I changed it up a little bit, instead of using a rectangle, I used a scalloped square. I think it works on the square card really well. Both of the stamps on the card are by AMUSE artstamps. I just loved this little lemonade stand and just had to have it! I used frosted lace stickles on the lemonade pitcher. It is hard to see in this picture, but it adds just the perfect amount of "bling" in real life.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Huntington Beach - A Day in the Chilly Sunshine

We wanted our beach day to be really relaxed, so we woke up late, picked up lunch on the way to the beach, and then drove down the coast until we found we felt like stopping. We ended up stopping at Huntington Beach. M said that his family used to take him there to play as a kid. It was really empty on the beach. We think it was because it was kind of chilly. (We got there at 12:30-ish) It did warm up as the day wore on. I made sure to sunscreen up the kids super well before they left, and we sunscreened M a lot too. I did not sunscreen myself, I planned to do it later in the day, but totally neglected to, and I got a little tiny bit burned on the top of my head, the tip of my nose and on my chest. Not a bad burn though, it is not stinging or hot and aloe is clearing it right up. Basically, it will probably fade into a tan soon!

The children enjoyed going in towards the water and then running away when the waves crashed on their feet. We all worked as a family on building a big sand castle, and then we dug a hole and buried M in the sand and made his sand body look like a pregnant woman. *grins* M played in the water a bit. The kids played Shrek and Fiona on the castle and Emma drew pictures in the sand after I showed her how to write her name in the sand. We played for about 4 hours and then we packed up and headed back to the hotel. We stopped at Jamba juice on the way back (because I have Jamba radar) and when we got back to the hotel, I showered, and then M bathed both the kids while I drove to Tall Mouse craft store in Yorba Linda. I had wanted to go to one and since it was not all that far away - I went. I picked up pizza and rootbeer on the way back to the hotel room, and we had a picnic of pizza and rootbeer for dinner. It was nice and relaxing. Then we tucked the kids into bed (no small feat with them -- they want to stay up and party all night. It was a really good day. Tomorrow, we plan to do some tourist things, and then maybe meet up with M's brother and visit a bit, and then head home to AZ. It should be a fun day!


Thursday, May 17, 2007

A Day at Disneyland

Disneyland was a lot of fun. E was just so excited to go and both the children were excited over the simplest of things (like the tram from the parking garage to Downtown Disney District - YAY!) We bought our tickets and were pleasantly surprised to find that since J is only 2 1/2 - he was free! YAY! He turns 3 in July, so we just barely caught that deal. We took so many pictures. The first thing we went on was the Carousel, and the Dumbo Flying Elephants and Casey Jr. train. When I was little and went to Disneyland, the things I remember most were the Dumbo flying elephants and It's a Small World, so I wanted to ensure we would get on both of those nice and early!!!

We took poor E on some scary rides that I did not realize were so scary -- like for example, Snow White and Pinnochio -- wow, those were both pretty scary stuff. E just put her hands over her eyes and tried to hide down as much as she could on those ones. She was also terrified on Pirates of the Carribean, and when we went in the haunted mansion we had a group of teen girls with us that just screamed their heads off, so that frightened her pretty bad too. I felt like such a bad mommy, but I love the haunted mansion and just HAD to go. Oh, and even when we went on Buzz Lightyear, she was scared for the first minute. Of course, after the first minute, the ride broke down and we had to wait for a disney cast member to come escort us off the ride. It was okay though because they gave us a fast pass for later, and it gave us ample opportunity to take some pictures which we never would have normally gotten on the ride because we were just sitting there waiting. FAST PASS is really cool. If you are headed to Disneyland soon, and especially if you want to go on the more popular rides that get really crowded, be sure to use fast pass. We went Buzz twice more. The cool thing about that ride is that when you get off of it, down by the store, there are computers where you can email your picture to yourself for free. It's such a cool idea and we did it! Oh, and we bought J a Buzz Lightyear blaster gun and he LOVES it. It is kind of noisy and I cannot believe I actually agreed to getting it since I usually avoid noisy toys, but it was perfect for him and he was so excited.

E's favorite part was meeting some Disney Princesses. I swear we waited like 45 minutes to do that -- perhaps the only wait we had the whole day -- but it was worth it because E was so excited. She got to meet Pocohontas, Aurora, and Snow White and then when we were leaving, Belle was coming in to replace Pocahontas, so E ran and gave her a big hug and we took a picture with her and then she took E back into the princess area to tell Pocohontas she could go. It was cute!!! J and M went on Peter Pan while we did that and got back to meet us just in time! J really enjoyed driving a car. He is really into cars. We all enjoyed Pooh Bear and the Tiki Room. Oooh, and after Pooh Bear, I got our kids some Mickey mouse Lollipops (big ones) and they loved that!!! I found that we went on a lot of things that I have never really been on because we were with the children and I really liked it. It made Disney a whole new experience. Oh, and E absolutely loved the Hula girls on It's a Small World. That is probably my favorite thing in Disneyland, and E really really liked it too! It wasn't scary for her!!!

I really wanted to catch the Main St. parade, so we made sure that we made it back in time to see it. E and I went shopping in the Disney Princess store and she picked out a big headed Aurora doll to take home. Then we went back and found M and he had found a bench to sit and watch the parade, so we sat and relaxed until the parade began. After the parade was done, we went on Buzz once more, and then began to walk down Main St. and look through the shops. We stopped at the Mickey Mouse theater for a few minutes and watched the old Mickey cartoons, and then continued to shop. We picked up a few postcards to add to our photos that we took. Then we left and waited for the tram to the parking garage. J was so tired, M put him on his shoulders. He crashed about 5 minutes after we left the park. E was a little more awake, but very drowsy. We had such a wonderful day and plan to come back like every other year to do it again (or so.) Also, we did not do the California Adventure part at all, so we will come back to do that another time. I think perhaps when the kids are a bit older they will enjoy that.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

What's For Dinner Wednesday - Medieval Times

We're HERE! The weather here in California is just lovely. I remember as a child thinking it was HOT here, but after living awhile in AZ, it is just beautiful!!! Goodbye 100's, hellow 78 degrees and breezy!!! We arrived in Fullerton, CA nice and early in the evening due to M's awesome directing. Seriously, I always get lost when I get on the 215, but this time we managed to reach the 91W! Anyway, we got to our hotel and found out that Medieval Times was really close to us -- so we decided on a whim to go. I had never been before but always wanted to and M went last when he was 10. We had a lot of fun. We were cheering for the red knight. We bought the kids red ribbons to wave and they just loved that. The kids just loved it and sadly our knight did not win the tournament, but hey, maybe next time.

We got back to the hotel at about 9:30-ish and the kids were just so wound up. We ended up getting them to sleep or close to it about a half hour later. They were just laying in bed giggling. It was so cute I started to giggle with them and M just thought we were all too weird. So far no major problems. We discovered that our room is made for the handicap, so the shower head is lower than normal, but M and I aren't tall people and if we tip it up, we can make it work *giggles* -- okay, the truth is I am just too tired and lazy to move rooms!! Looking forward to a long day at Disneyland tomorrow. Check back tomorrow for some pictures of that adventure!



P.S. Enjoy that action shot of my son! Too funny! Apparently he thought it was the pirate adventure and he was digging for some treasure. It still makes me laugh when I look at it!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

New Stamps are here . . .

I got my new stamps from Jody in the mail yesterday! YAY! All the stamps I got are Amuse and I *may* have gone to Hobby Lobby and picked up a stamp yesterday too. SO, instead of packing like a good little Manda, I decided to stamp *shocking*

This first card is my version of SC123 -- using squares. This is also the new Penny Black stamp I acquired yesterday. I thought he was a cute snowman and happened to have a 40% off coupon burning a hole in my pocket, so I got him. I know Christmas is a long time away still, but hey, it is fun to stamp him anyway. This was also my first time using liquid applique. I just love how it makes him puffy and snowy and I love the snowflakes. Sentiment is from Stampin' Up! "It's Snow Time" set. Oh, and I watercolored the snowman in using my watercolor pencils which have not seen the light of day since I got my watercolor wonder crayons.


This second card is one that came together while I was venting on the phone to my friend. We just chattered away and I just kept stamping and watercoloring and this is what happened. I think it is cute. I love the dimension that the red watercolor pencil added on the edges of the pink watercolored flowers. The dots were just me doodling. Oh, and the stamp is one of my new Amuse ones -- "Gerber Daisy". I love the ribbons -- I used some black with white polka dots, some thin red grosgrain and some pink gingham. The sentiment is a rub on by Karen Foster Designs that I *may* have also purchased at Hobby Lobby when I was there (who could resist, they were 50% off all rub-ons). This is starting to sound surprising like one of those confessions of a shopaholic books. Ooops!

This third card is something I whipped up this morning. I used Autumn Leaves "Hearts & Stars" set by Rhonna Farrer. I watercolored a few of the hearts in randomly using my watercolor pencils, and then doodled a couple of little hearts in using my black gelly roll. Then to add dimension, I cut out a few hearts and put them on pop dots. I think it adds something. I then attached the panel to whisper white card stock. I wrapped the rick rack around the white panel and then attached that to the basic black card. Finally, I stamped my new Amuse sentiment "je t'aime" on the bottom to complete the card. I kind of fudged that up a bit since I over-inked it a bit and it looks extra dark on top . . . but we are our own worst critic right? This was a really simple card and I did it as part of Valerie's TLC 116 (Warm Up Challenge) on Splitcoaststampers. I am so sad that I have to stop stamping now, but the clothes are not going to pack themselves, so I must go get us prepared for the trip. I promise to post pictures. Hope you have a great rest of the week, I know we will *grins*

Monday, May 14, 2007

Manda's Mailbox Monday - RAK from MamaKim

I got this cute RAK from MamaKim, who I got to meet at So Cal Stamp Mania. She was such a sweetie and it was so sweet of her to send this cute Bella card to me. Thanks for the beautiful RAK.

The barely banana background is stamped tone on tone with paisleys and then half of it is cuttlebugged using the bubbles template.
Bella is colored in using SU markers and is on glossy paper, so she looks AWESOME! I am sure going to miss the french script background -- it looks wonderful with this chef Bella.

Thank you again for being such a sweetie Kim and sending this RAK love my way *grins* I will treasure it!!!

Sunday, May 13, 2007

What a fun day . . . Happy Mothers Day

Today has been a great day. I started it off weirdly, I woke up to my son shrieking, but as the day went on, it has gotten better and better. I made the most delicious French toast for breakfast. It was really simple to make and I will totally make it again -- it was a treat (I listed the recipe in Friday's post). M was supposed to make it for me, but I figured since I was up I might as well go for it. Also, M looked after the kids while I made it, so that was nice.

After breakfast, M and I took the kids to the park for about 20 minutes. We have to go for really small amounts of time because my daughter has reddish hair and the redheaded skin to go along with it and is super sensitive to the sun. I took some really fun pictures and it made me feel so happy to be a mom of two wonderful little munchkins. They may be a lot of work, but when they smile at me, my heart just melts! I mean, how could anyone not love their precious little grins! What a blessing they are.



After the park, M and I decided that we needed to groom the dog. YAY! Doggy haircut time. Poor Dobby was in desperate need of one. SO, we worked on trimming him for about 2 -3 hours. He looks so much happier and so much better. Since I have not posted a picture of him on here since he was a puppy, I thought I would share one with you!


Happy Mothers Day to all of you who are mothers, grandmothers, who will one day be a mother, and most importantly, to my cute mother who loves me so very much. I love you mom! I hope you enjoy this pictures of your sweet grand babies today -- they are for you!!!