The Proud Mom!

No time for scrappiness this week - been preparing for this big day! My "baby", Chris, graduated from high school today with honors. He's heading off to Virginia Tech in less than two months, and I am so excited for him. The world is his oyster! A lot of my paper crafting friends have followed Chris' progression over the years, and have always been so supportive of both Chris and my daughter Michelle, who is now a doctor, just finishing her first year of residency. Eighteen years ago I fell in love with this little baby, and now here he is all of a sudden a man. Just to say I am proud of him doesn't even begin to describe the feelings I have for this handsome, smart, sweet, lovable guy! This is a picture of Chris and me following the graduation ceremony: I'll be back next week with a new creation, but this little (big) guy is by far my great creation ever! Thanks for stopping by! Big hugs to you!

Anything but a card!

Happy Saturday! It sure is a lot more peaceful around here that it was this time last week. Lots to be thankful for in life! This week our Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge at The Outlawz is to make anything but a card. A few years ago, I NEVER made cards - for some reason I found it quite intimidating. I spent all of my creativity making mini albums and scrapbook pages. Now, I make cards most all of the time, and occasionally I venture to something else, like a banner. So what to do? What to do? I decided to make one of these cute little corner bookmarks. I learned how to make these a couple of years ago, and I think they are just darling, and make a great little extra to a book you might give someone as a gift. I used some darling papers and embellishments from Basic Grey, with a few other things thrown in for good measure like the little Tiny Type sticker alphabets from Cosmo Cricket - I own those in every color they have! I also did a little edge stitching. As an avid reader, and with two sisters and a daughter who read as much or more than I do, the book as a gift was always a great option. Now, we have almost exclusively gone to e-readers - Michelle and I both have iPads, and both of my sisters have Kindle Fires. I have to say that I never thought I would enjoy using an e-reader, but now I can't imagine it otherwise. I still like my magazines and catalogs in paper format, but love having my books in electronic format. But I do sometimes miss the smell and feel of a good book! Hope you like my bookmark - I made it for my sister Liz, who we call the Crazy Cat Lady. Thanks for stopping by, and big hugs to you!

A Tornado and a Recipe??? Eek!

Happy Saturday everybody! I'm happy to report that we made is just fine through a tornado yesterday evening - that was quite an experience. Had (thankfully) about 5 minutes advance warning. Michelle and Chris hid in the closet, Boo Kitty hid under the bed, and I gave a running commentary of what was going on to try to keep the kids from being too frightened. Thankfully we only sustained minor damage because we don't have any big trees in our yard, but a lot of my neighbors weren't so fortunate. Been cleaning up debris all morning, so am taking a break to post this. Here's a shot of some of the aftermath - that's my house in the background:

Our Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge over at The Outlawz this week is a recipe from Rona - use 1 image, 2 words, 3 patterned papers, 4 embellishments, and 5 colors. A couple of weekends ago I was fortunate enough to take a couple of Suzanne Dean's Copic classes, so I have been trying to put them to good use. This cute little clown is from A Day for Daisies, and I just couldn't resist getting all bright and cheery with it!

I'm heading back out to clean up some more stuff - say a few prayers for all of us, and especially prayers of thanksgiving that nobody was hurt! Love and hugs to you all!

I Love ... ???

The Outlawz Sunday CAS challenge this week is to make a CAS-style card focusing on something you love. I am most definitely CAS-challenged - I think everything has to be multiple layers and the more ribbons and embellies, the better, so trying to "do" CAS is always a stretch for me. Oozak is also having a challenge at their blog that is to make a project with Spring colors. I recently took some Copics classes with Suzanne Dean and have been trying to practice my new-found skills, so decided to give this a try with a digi that has BUNNIES on it! Yes, the thing that I love is BUNNIES! Right now I have a yard full of them because I need to mow the green stuff in my yard - I can't say "grass", because it's mostly clover right now, and the bunnies are having a feast out there! They are so sweet crouching around in the green stuff nibbling away. The bunny digi is from A Day for Daisies - love, love, love Tammy's artistry. That pretty pastel background paper is from Webster's Pages. And all the other stuff is from my stash (I think that's just a few buttons and a piece of Queen & Company baker's twine). I also love to have a bit of black on any project I make - colors just seem to "pop" and be much brighter with a bit of black trimming up things, so I put a peekaboo piece of black cardstock behind the digi. So here's my CAS/love card that I made - probably a few more embellishments that a "true" CAS-er would have, but I minimized the best I could.

Thanks for stopping by! Big hugs to you!

Remembering ...

Hi everybody! It's a long weekend for many this week, and I hope that you are able to enjoy it with loved ones! I do not have any special plans - a bit of housework, buying groceries, finish cutting the grass (because I ran out of gas yesterday in the middle - I thought I had enough and was too lazy to run down to the gas station), and maybe do a bit of cooking on the grill. Whatever you decide to do, stay safe and have lots of fun! This week at The Outlawz, our Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge is about REMEMBERING. It's Memorial Day weekend here in the States, so we thought that MEMORIES were in order for this week. The project does not have to be for someone as a memorial, but rather anybody or anything you want to remember. It could be a friend that you have been out of touch with, someone special who is no longer with us, or like me, a furry family member. My first project is about my Grandma's house. That's the place that fills my heart with the happiest memories of my growing up years. My Grandma actually moved to a new house when I was very small, but I love this old picture and the sense of long ago memories that it evokes.

This next project is a little mini album that I made with photos of some of my furry family members. That's Boo Kitty on the front - she's the queen of the house. I made this using some K&Co tags and added photos and embellishments.

Thanks for stopping by to visit. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and stop by The Outlawz and play along with us - everybody is welcome! Love and hugs to you!

Just a Pretty Little Box

Hi everybody! This week's challenge over at The Outlawz Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge is to decorate a small box. After searching around the house for something to use, I realized that I keep several used business card boxes at my office, and I use them for holding all the various business cards I collect from vendors and clients and all the assorted people I meet as a businesswoman. I keep them tucked away in a drawer, because quite frankly they are ugly. So I decided I could pretty one of them up a bit and actually leave it out on my desk to hold some of the business cards that a refer to most often. So I added some pretty paper and a gorgeous trim and a few flowers and pearls, and this is what I came up with:

In a business world of wood, glass, and contemporary shapes, this ought to add a bit of zing to the place where I spend most of my time! Thanks so much for stopping by to visit - big hugs!

To "Die" For

This week's challenge over at The Outlawz for our Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge is to make a project using at least one die. My project is a card for a baby girl - my friend Christina's baby - and I used two dies. The larger shape is made using my Top Note die from Stampin' Up, and the smaller sentiment frame is a die from Papertrey Ink with matching stamps. To make the large shape, I cut out several layers using the Top Note die, cut off edges adding about 1/2 inch each time, then punch the edges using my various edge punches. Then I adhere the layers all together and use it as the base. In this case I added a pretty ribbon and a beaded stickpin that I made too.

I've got another friend with another little girl due next month, so now I have to get my creative juices together for that one too! Thanks for stopping by to visit - love and hugs!