Friday, July 22, 2011

Quick Update

AngelCakes other grandmother, Mimi, came to relieve me for a couple of days so I got to come home last night.  Brooke did very well with her surgery and recovery is going well, too.  She is still in pain, but the doctor said that is to be expected because a nerve can't heal itself that quickly.  She is still taking pain meds and is not allowed to pickup anything that weighs over 10 - 12 pounds.  (AngelCakes weighs 16 1/2 pounds.) 

Until last night, I have been with her since the surgery.  I know why women my age should not have babies - we are too old and tired to keep up!!! :)  AngelCakes is almost crawling.  She is "scooching" and can get around; of course she heads straight for any electrical cord she sees.  I will be stopping by Babies R Us to get a buggy full of child-proofing supplies. 

I'm headed back to her house tomorrow and will probably be there all week.  Until then - I'll be trying to clean my own house where my 4-legged children have tromped in all kinds of fun stuff!

Hope to get back to crafting in a few more weeks.  I'm trying to look at blogs whenever possible although intrnet connection at her house is not good.  She really does live in the middle of nowhere! 

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

At 79

This is a layout I did of my Mom, aka Maw Maw, holding AngelCakes' little foot when she was just over two months old.  This picture really speaks to me because you can see the 79 years in my Mom's hands, and you can see the newness of it all in AngelCakes' foot.  It is a very sweet picture to me.


I used black paper as the background and then about 1/3 piece of black and pink patterned paper for the bottom.  I used a beige lace trim and a black trim, both from Joann's.  The embellishment beside the picture is a flower design cut from Cricut and then a Teresa Collins Blingage clock on top of it.

This may be my last post for a few weeks.  I'm headed out of town for a few days on business and when I return my daughter will be having back surgery to repair one herniated disc and one bulging disc.  I'm planing to totally devote my time and energy to taking care of her and AngelCakes.  So I'll catch up in a few!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Purple "Bug" Head

A HUGE thanks to Michelle at Scrappin With My Bug!   I won a hand-made Bug Head from her blog.  We were even able to choose a size and the color - how cool is that!  Naturally I chose purple.  I told her that I would be putting it on my "baby bug", which is now known as my "Grandbaby Bug" because I'm going to hold onto it until AngelCakes is old enough to start crafting with me, then it will become her Bug. 

Isn't it just adorable??? :)

Sunday, July 10, 2011

My Big Purchase from Expo

So yesterday I posted about my purchases at Scrapbook Expo; however I didn't show my biggest purchase.  I've been looking on-line at the new ArtBin Cricut Storage system.  I almost ordered several a few weeks ago, but found out that they would be available at Expo so I decided to wait.  I love these boxes.
Each box neatly holds 16 cartridges and 16 books and overlays.  I especially like them because they are low profile and take up very little space on the shelf.  They had a deal if you purchased five, you got a sixth for free. 

I came home and enjoyed getting my cartridges, books, and overlays all organized.  Well........at least part of them.  I knew I wasn't buying enough but decided to wait on purchasing more until I took them for a test drive.  Now I'm wishing I had purchased another set on this deal because I could use four more boxes.

Below is a picture of one box, opened.  I like the way the cartridges lay neatly in their little slot.

Below is a picture of the six boxes on my shelf.  I think you are probably supposed to store them one on top of the other, but then you would always have to be taking all of the boxes out to get to the bottom box.  I'll eventually label the boxes - with something that can be changed as new cartridges are added to the collection.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

We Went; We Saw; We SHOPPED!!!

Today Susan and I went to Scrapbook Expo.  We had such a good time!  Some years we tend to see the same stuff that has been there forever, but there were some neat new products this year.  And some of the vendors had some good deals to offer.  Above is a picture of my haul with the exception of one item (which I'll post tomorrow).  I got a really pretty page kit, two sets of stamps, three big flower headbands for AngelCakes, a Stickles container, a punch,  three spools of ribbon, a dabber container (I like containers!), three new Sew Easy heads, and some embossing paste.  I went with a set budget in mind and with the exception of the item I'm going to post tomorrow, I came in under budget. (I'm not counting my big item against my budget because I was going to order it on-line anyway, but I got a deal on it at Expo.  Don't you like the way I justified this purchase? :).  

I like all of my new items and think I will get use from them.    My favorite vendor is Dan the Cicut Man - he is just so darn cute!!!

Oh.....after the Expo we HAD to go to Archivers because they were at Expo handing out 30% off coupons.  So I purchased a bottle of Tim Holtz stain there!  

What a FUN day!!!!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Shots

I went with AngelCakes and her Mommy to her 2-month well baby visit.  Of course she had to get shots at this visit.  It was very sweet to watch Brooke comfort her baby. 

Monday, July 4, 2011

July 4 Fun

We did part of our celebration on the 3rd.  AngelCakes came and spent the night with us so we got in our "pool" for a while.  We had so much fun having her; I just love each and every single minute that I get with her.



Then today we had our annual "Boxer Popsicle" treat day.  I don't know why we do this; we just do.  We started a few years ago when we had our precious Boxer, Jake.  He enjoyed those Popsicles better than any human. But they made his tummy upset so we only gave him one on this special day.  We still miss our Jakers.  But Carson and Miss Baylee enjoy them to.  Carson is such a clown and Baylee is just .... well  ...just getting old so not too much excites her these days, but she did enjoy her orange Popsicle.


And finally, I did this "Photo Op" layout.  I used the CM Traveler Cricut cartridge for the camera and title.  All very simple, which is totally in line with my scrapbooking style - slash and dash!


Little Jumper


This weekend I had the time to make a little criss-cross strap jumper for AngelCakes.  I am showing the back view because I like the way the straps criss-cross and I also like that you can see the polka dot contrast lining.  It was relatively simple to make.  One of my biggest sewing nemesis is the button hole.  I have never been able to make them the correct size.  Well, this past Spring I purchased a new Singer sewing machine and the button hole attachment makes it so easy it is ridiculous!  (It also helps if you read the instructions :-).  All you do is put on the button hole attachment, lay the button in the handy dandy slot on the attachment and the machine then knows how large to make the hole.  Who knew???!!!!!  

I haven't tried the jumper on her yet, but I'm thinking it is going to be too big right now.  The pattern is for "infant" and one size fits all.  Hmmmmmm - not too sure about that!  But at least we still have probably three months of hot weather, so she will probably grow into it before the Fall gets here. 

I haven't been sewing too much over the past several years, but with this new machine I hope to get back into it.  I found Simplicity patterns at Hobby Lobby last week for 99 cents each.  These patterns are normally $15 - $17 each (which is crazy).  I bought a pattern for tote bags and one for a shopping cart seat cover (the thing you put in the child seat part of the cart).  I wanted to finish the jumper before purchasing fabric for these projects.  Now I can go get my fabric!!!!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Road Trip

I dd this layout last night.  It is entitled, "Road Trip".  It is AngelCakes' first well-baby visit to her pediatrician.  She was actually two months and a few days old at this point.  It was early March and still cold; hence the fleece hoodie. 
I used Bazzil and Core d'nations paper and a few misc. metal embellishments.  I did computer journaling as well.  The title is from the Baby Steps cartridge.   I cut out the phrase, then the phrase layer, and finally the phrase shadow.  I pen-stitched around the phrase layer letters. 
(Sorry about the glare on the photos - I just could NOT get a photo without glare.  I had the flash on, I had the flash off.  I was in different rooms, etc.  Just not meant to be I guess! :-).