Celebrate

I completed this two-page layout this evening.  This is a picture of Brooke, Jay, and AngelCakes when we took them to dinner to celebrate Brooke's 30th birthday.  I used my new Teresa Collins Sophisticated cartridge for all of the embellisments and titles on this layout.  I'm really LOVING this cartridge.  There are some really pretty borders and I just love the frame font (used on the "30). 

A Long Weekend Ahead.....YAY!!!!

I'm so excited to have a 4-day weekend ahead.  It has been a long time since I've had one of these.

So what is everyone planning to do for your Holiday weekend?  Crafting?
I'm hoping to sew a little outfit for AngelCakes.  I purchased the material and cut it out a while back, but it requires elastic in the little diaper cover, and I've been putting it off because those precious chunky little legs just keep on growing!   But if I don't make it soon, she will outgrow it before I sew the first stitch.  I'll post a picture if I manage to finish it.

We are also going to have the kids over for a cookout on Sunday.  On Monday we will have our traditional
"Boxer Popsicle Fest" to celebrate the 4th.  Every year on the 4th, we give each of the Boxers a popsicle.  They love it; however sometimes the popsicles don't sit too well on their tummies.  So we only have this very special treat once each year. 

Other than that, I'm hoping to sleep and work on my scrapbooks and just enjoy a 4-day weekend without having to think about work!  

Latest Cartridges

I had ordered the above two cartridges last week and they arrived yesterday.  I was so excited to get them.  I'm so loving Teresa Collins and I really like her two cartridges.  I also HAD to have the Love you a Latte cartridge.  For those of you that know me well.......well you know this cartridge had my name written all over it!   I can't wait to find a little time to play with these.  Also, I made a promise to myself that I won't purchase any more cartridges for a while (unless I just HAVE to!) :-)

Below is a new picture of AngelCakes.  You could call her "Sweet Potato Cakes" in this photo!  She is loving the Sweet Potato baby food. 

Sweet Features

This is a two-page layout I did last night entitled "Sweet Features".  I'm sort of the original slash-n-dash scrapbooker, meaning I don't spend a lot of time on most of my pages.  I just get the photos on, do a little embellishing, usually (but not always) journal, and call it a page.  On these pages I cut the word "Sweet" from the new Nine Months cartridge and the word "Features" from the new CM Traveler cartridge.  I used the Bazil Stitches template for the flowers and then stitched with Making Memories purple floss.  I added a little purple bling and that is it. 

Sugar and Spice

My project of the day (which I actually did last night) is entitled, "Sugar and Spice".  I cut the title using Cricut Rock Princess cartridge.  I had a piece of Core'dinations cardstock which was pink one one side and black on the other so I used the black side for the shadow and the pink for the phrase.  After cutting, I sanded the black shadow piece so just a smidge of the pink is coming through.  Then after I put the phrase on top of the shadow, I decorated with Stickles and a little color on the ends.  I used some black bling along the top and bottom of the page and three large pieces of pink bling on the black mat.  Yay - another page for the book!   Eventually I'll get caught up - maybe when I retire.  Regardless, it is FUN!!!!

Card for AngelCakes

AngelCakes will be six months old on Thursday.  I wanted to make a special card for my special girl.  In cleaning my craft room yesterday, I came across the little girl stamp by Unity.  I colored her with Crayola pencils and blended with Gamsol.  In my mind's eye, this is what AngleCakes might look like when she is about three years old.

I used the following supplies on this card

     Paper - scraps from Creative Memories and Archivers

     Little Girl Stamp - Unity

     Sentiment Stamp - Hero Arts

     Inking on edges - Stampin Up Lovely Lilac stamp spot

     Ribbon - from my stash

Time has certainly flown by and I cannot believe that she is already six-months-old.  There will be many changes in her over the next six months and I look forward to watching her grow and learn. 



7Gypsies Artist Printer's Tray

Today I stayed at home all day.  Miss Baylee did great with her surgery yesterday and I didn't want to go anywhere and leave her at home alone.  Well - she wouldn't actually be alone - Crazy Boy Carson, our white Boxer, would be here with her, but he can drive her crazy in a flat second.  Sooooooo I did a little house work and then some serious cleaning in my craft room.  I finally decided that I wanted to work on my 7Gypsies Tray.  I've had it for several months but could never decide how I wanted it to look.  I am very happy with the results.  I used several pictures of AngelCakes when she was a newborn and made sure to include pictures of her with me, Grampy, Uncle CritterBug, and her Mommy and Daddy.  I used the following supplies (all of which I had on hand, thank goodness!):
7 Gypsies Artist Tray
Watermelon Paint Dabber
Tim Holtz Metal Embellishments
Jenni Bowlin Bingo Card
Creative Memories Heart Punch
K & Company Butterflies
Clear Rock Candy Crackle Paint
Flower from Michaels
Scrap paper
Misc. fiber and ribbon
Once I landed on the photos, the rest was fairly easy.  The packaging for the tray gives the exact dimensions for the photos, so cutting was a breeze.  I attached almost everything with a wet adhesive except for the key which I attached with hot glue. 
Now I just have to figure out where I'm going to put it!!! :-)
BTW - the "thing" I am using as my display is FRED which stands for "For Real Easy Design".  It is a magnetic board that I use when designing layouts.  I purchased it from the website www.myscrappinbuddy.com.  I used one when I went to a crop in Texas (Rockin Reality -Melissa, are you familiar with this place?  It is about 2 hours south of Dallas).

If it's not one thing.....it' your Boxer

My goodness, that crazy dark cloud over my head won't seem to move right now!   It has just been the most unique year so far for me.  Of course, the most amazingly wonderful thing happened - AngelCakes.  But there has been a lot of not so great stuff going on as well.  Nothing horrible, just stuff that makes you NOT smile.    The latest is my Boxer, Miss Baylee.  She is getting really old - not sure of her age since she came to use as a rescue, but we are guessing nine or ten years old at least.  She has some "old lady disorders" such as incontinence and arthritis which we we have been dealing with.  I will say that the incontinence is getting really, really bad.  Then last week she came in and was tracking a little blood on her paw.  It looked like she had a little cut on the pad of her foot. So we have been soaking it in peroxide and keeping it bandaged for a week because every time we take the bandage off, it starts bleeding again.  It looked bad last night and really weird, so I decided to take her to the vet right after work today.  Unfortunately it isn't a cut; it is a tumor that is rupturing.  Boxers are very prone to tumors with many being cancerous.  She will undergo surgery tomorrow to remove it.  Hopefully it will be benign.  The vet is also going to run some more tests to see if there is a medical reason for the incontinence (we've already had many tests run) and if everything looks good, she will be placed on medication.  But, I love, love, LOVE my Miss Baylee.  She has been my good friend for many years now and we will do whatever we can for her.    Needless to say, I'm not getting much crafting done around here there days.  Like I said, if it's not one thing (or ten things), it's your Boxer!

Sew Easy

Today I went to Archivers (me and Susan took a little trip) and they were featuring the WeRMemory Keepers Sew Easy.  I actually had purchased the tool and three of the heads several months ago, but they had the cutest case for all of it today!  Anyway, I got the case and when I got home I organized my Sew Easy supplies and decided to use it on a layout.  This layout is of AngelCakes and her Grampy.  I used Cricut Rock Princess cartridge for the butterfly, Cricut Elegant Edges for the border, and then the Sew Easy scallop pattern for the needlework design.

Ditto Binder

My project for today (which I actually did last night) is the Ditto 8 1/2 x 11 binder.  I used the Teresa Collins Baby Boutique font to make the initial.  I already had the black and white ribbon on hand and I like the way it coordinates with the initial.  This was super easy - the whole thing took about 5 minutes.  The inside of the binder contains paper, calendar, post-it notes, etc.  It is a cool binder - sort of like the new Smash binders, which I also really like. 

Baby Boutique Cartridge

I had a little time this evening to play with my new cartridge.  So far I'm totally loving it.  I made two calendar pages.  If you are familiar with the Imagine you know that it can cut and print or print only.  Each cartridge, even the full art cartridges, have patterned paper on them.  The papers are print only.  The calendar page is considered a patterned paper; therefore it is print only.  On the first one, I actually decided to hand-cut around the scroll design.  I like the effect.  On the second, I am showing just exactly how the Imagine prints it.  Of course I like the hand-cut one best, but as they say, "the juice ain't worth the squeeze" on this.  It took a long time to cut. 

And just for fun, I'm throwin in a picture of AngelCakes.  We were in our hot tub, only we turned the heater way down so it feels like a nice warm swimming pool.  This is a great place for her to learn the joys of the water. 

New Cartridges

So last week I did a little on-line shopping.  I found a good deal on some Imagine cartridges.  I purchased Ancestry which is just colors and patterns.  I purchased Better Together which is a full art cartridge with some really cute graphics of things that "go together".  But my MOST favorite purchase is the Teresa Collins Baby Boutique cartridge.  We have been teased with this cartridge since April and I have been SO anxious for it to hit the market.  I haven't played with it yet because AngelCakes is visiting for a few days, but I plan to have some serious fun with this one.

The Importance of Scrapbooking (to me)

I've always appreciated the importance of memory keeping.  However, something kind of unusual happened recently that was a good reminder for me.  My sister-in-law Carol is a widow.  She is dating a man named Michael who is a widower.  Michael puts on science shows at schools, parties, etc.  So.....a few weeks ago they were at my husband's grandmother's house looking through a scrapbook that I had made for the grandmother.  In this book is a photo of my son (we call him CritterBug) at his 5th birthday party.   We had hired a magician named Mr. Fun for the party.  When Michael saw the pictures of Mr. Fun he was amazed.  Mr. Fun had been one of his best friends.  Unfortunately he had died just a few months after Michael lost his wife.  Michael was so touched by seeing a photo of his friend that he teared up and called the widow of Mr. Fun.  "Where is this going"?, you ask.  Well, Carol contacted me earlier this week to tell me the story and asked if I could possibly find any more photos of that party.  She said she knew it would be difficult since I probably have thousands of photos.  Five minutes later I let her know that I had two pages of additional photos from the party.  She was amazed that I was able to find them; but it was simple because they were right there in the scrapbooks I have of the CritterBug.  So keeping those photos organized and in books (if at all possible) is important for so many reasons.  And another bonus to this story......CritterBug turned 28 yesterday and we enjoyed looking through this volume of his childhood albums!

I've Been Googlefied!

I haven't been able to post to my blog or comment on other blogs for over a week now.  Not sure what happened with Google, but I guess I was just "googlefied". 
First, a BIG congratulations to TensGal on the birth of her granddaughter!   How wonderful.  First a grandson and now a granddaughter - it's perfect!

I've finally been back in my craft room this past week.  I've done seveal scapbook pages and made a card.  Hmmmmmm - wonder who this card is for? :) 
I did spend a lot of time doing "power layouts" of pages for an upcoming crop at Archivers.  I have about 30 pages ready to go and I'm looking forward to cropping the day away.  I'm on my third - yes THIRD album of AngelCakes and I'm still just in January - her first month of life.  I need to catch up!