We Got Stoned

I used this week's Sketchy Thursday sketch for this layout of the installation of our landscape stone. I flipped the sketch to accomodate my horizontal photos. My husband was so glad to finally get our landscape to look more finished. We got the curbing installed last summer and had to wait until this February to buy the stone. We pay as we go without using credit and let me tell you those little stones are more expensive than I thought they would be! I am also using this page for the Sketches in Thyme this week as well as the Scrappin'-n-Chattin' color challenge. I had a good productive weekend and after I came back from sales meetings in Tampa for the next few days I will share some more with you along with some pictures of our newest family member....Lola the baby cockatiel.

A Couple of Completed Projects

I have big plans this weekend....several crafty projects have been awaiting completion in my scraproom. I'm hoping to get to many of them this weekend so hopefully this is the first of a few posts highlighting my finished projects. First is a special layout featuring our beloved cockatiel Sonny who recently passed away. In the photo he had escaped his cage and we found him in a mail bucket with my ebay packages that were ready to go postal. He was chirping to be rescued. When Dave found him and picked him up, Sonny kissed him and I snapped this photo. Now that he's gone we sadly realized that we do not have many photos of him making this one even more special. I used Little Yellow Bicycle's Fresh Print Clothesline collection which I recently won and I LOVE it. The cardstock is my favorite color -- Baja Breeze from Stampin' Up. My bedroom is painted almost exactly the same shade as this cardstock. I did this layout for the Scrappin'-n-Chattin' 24 hour challenge and Abby chose which sketch and what collection I was to use...great choices Abby! This page came together very quickly. I am also using it for The Paper Variety Tic-Tac-Toe challenge and Wee Memories "Anything Goes" Challenge. I did the horizontal line that included Bird--Layout--Scallops

Then I did a card last Thursday night for a friend that I sent a gift to....it's a secret so I can't say who it is but she is a special online friend who ALWAYS encourages and lifts me up with her sweet comments and care and concern. I used my Cuttlebug which was a gift for my birthday last year. I love the embossing and really need to remember to use it more. The striped paper is from Cosmo Cricket Delovely. I recently won the 6x6 paper pack from my good friend Kim's blog which you can see here....check her out, she is offering up some blog candy. Thanks Kim! The yellow cardstock is from Stampin' Up....I recently found a SU demonstrator in my neighborhood and this can be a DANGEROUS thing. They have awesome cardstock, stamps, ink and everything else for cardmaking and scrapbooking. I love the high quality products and personal service too. The sentiment is a Basic Gray stamp and the twine is from my friend Ann. I just love working with twine and I am quickly using up my supply.

Well I am off to take a bubble bath and out grocery shopping and then right back to working on my projects. Hope to have more to share soon....

Sketchy Thursday sketch

I am playing along with Sketchy Thursday this week because I love this sketch and they are offering a great (as usual) prize. I used pictures from one of our favorite places in South Carolina....the Independent Seafood Market in Georgetown, South Carolina. The shrimp boats pull in right there and we could buy shrimp that is still wiggling! And good???? There is nothing like fresh South Carolina shrimp. Now that we live in Florida we really miss our big plump sweet low country shrimp. Maybe it is getting to be time for a field trip to stock the freezer!

Standing at the Dock of the Bay

I can't believe that it has been nearly 2 weeks since I last posted on my blog. It has been a rough couple of weeks....very busy and being short handed at work makes for coming home exhausted and lacking any spark of creativity. Throw into the mix the sudden, unexpected death of one of our sweet little birdies and I just haven't been in the mood to do much in my scraproom or on my blog for awhile. However this past Wednesday morning I saw the new challenge over at The Paper Variety and I was instantly excited again about scrapping. It is a beautiful sketch from one of my favorites sketch artists out there...Jana Eubank. I finally got a chance to spend some time today in my scraproom and play with my Little Boy collection from Echo Park. I used a picture of my boys and their dad from 1989 on our one and only trip to Florida and Disney. Matt (age 9) and Adam (nearly 8) had gotten terribly sunburn earlier in the day which might account for the reason no one is smiling in this picture! I went shopping for a few hours and asked Ed to make sure to put sun screen on the boys and he did....once. And it was right before swimming. This was 1989 when the sunscreens were not as good (or as waterproof) as they are now and the boys got terrible burns. A couple of days later at Epcot, Matt was especially miserable as his burn blistered. That was the only bad part of an otherwise fun trip. I am working on my sons' childhood books and will do another layout of this same picture but I will probably change it up a bit just to keep the two books different. I really love working with old pictures and new collections. I feel like my creative spark has returned so hopefully I will have more new projects to share soon.

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

It's my granddaughter Abby's birthday today. The precious princess is 3 years old. She spent a quiet day at home with Dad and when Mom got home from work they had ice cream cake, opened presents and hopefully took lots of pictures for grandma! It is hard to miss the celebrations in my family's life but thank goodness for web cams, Facebook, and all the modern technology that connect us even though distance keeps us apart.

I wanted to share the card I made for Abby's birthday. I used Imaginisce's Birthday Bash collection which I had been saving (well hoarding actually) for this special occasion. I love how versatile it is....perfect for all birthday layouts and cards.....young and old; boy and girl. I can see that I am really going to need to get more of this collection.

All Star Boys

I just love this layout that I created today....the photo of my grandsons Jacob and Cole is one of my favorites and I just love using red for boy pages. The stitched and felt stars are from my favorite Etsy shop Precocious Paper. I have been using my stash from there up all weekend in anticipation of receiving an order of new stuff. She has the most awesome embellishments and these stars worked out perfectly on this page. I used sketch #210 from Sketch Inspiration as well. the page came together very quickly....don't you love when that happens? I will also be entering this over at Lasting Memories "You're the Boss" challenge. The journaling reads "Family means putting your arms around each other and being there"....so true isn't it? Sometimes just being with our family is enough. In my case since I am 1000 miles away from my family in the midwest scrapping their pictures is the next best thing to being there. I love my family!

St Patrick's Day cards

I worked on my St. Patrick's Day cards this weekend. Being that my sons and grandchildren have good ol' Irish last names St. Paddy's Day cards are a necessity and I like the way they turned out.

Jacob and Halie

Recently I found this beautiful picture posted on my grandson Jacob's Facebook page by his aunt. It is a photo from 2.5 years ago with a little girl named Halie who I presume is Jacob's cousin on his mom's side of the family. Isn't it a gorgeous picture???? I knew as soon as I saw it I had to scrap it. Another special thing is the shirt that Jake is wearing. I am pretty sure that is a shirt that Dave and I found while out shopping the summer of 2008. It is the same shirt (in a much smaller version) of a shirt that Dave has so we bought it and sent it to Jacob. I never saw him wear it until I saw this picture and it warmed my heart. Boy I miss my family tonight.

Aren't those flowers made from recycled corrugated cardboard gorgeous? I ordered them from my favorite Etsy shop.....Precocious Paper which you can check out HERE. Tessa is the sweetest and one of the most talented ladies around and her stuff is gorgeous! (and reasonable) And NO she did not pay me to say that I just feel that it is right to recognize someone's talents and workmanship.

I have been working alot with paper and glue this weekend so I will be back with more posts throughout the next few days. Hope everyone is enjoying a good weekend.

Also entered at: http://doyoustackup.blogspot.com/2011/03/dysu-9-just-green-it.html

http://ecpchallenges.blogspot.com/2011/03/challenge-33.html

Sweet Child O' Mine

I still remember what it felt like to hold my firstborn son in my arms for the first time after holding him under my heart for nine months. Nearly 31 years ago and it feels like yesterday. I recently created this page for a song title challenge. The photo was originally a Polaroid instant photo that I scanned and used on the page....thus preserving this picture and this memory. Now my son Matt pictured in this photo is expecting his second child with his wife Amy (whom I adore!) and I am thrilled. There is just nothing like having babies in the family....especially when someone else has to walk the floors with them at night!