Merry Christmas

From our home to yours.

A is for ADORABLE!

So, I went and did something very impulsive today, but I have nary a regret. I now am the owner of a beautiful registered little Maltese Terrier puppy (all 5 pounds of her). The breeder has been calling her Lilac, but I may change it. She answers to "pup-pup-pup" spoken in quasi-falsetto/baby talk tones and she is about the sweetest, cutest little pup I've ever seen! My hubby is due back from a business trip to Texas tomorrow night. Will he ever be surprised!

Dylan turns 9!

I love that hubby shares his grandkids so generously with me, but hate that they're all in Texas and we hardly ever get to see them, unlike my own little Lily and Rowan who live less than an hour away.

I remember holding Dylan when he was only a few days old and thinking he was the most cherubic little thing I'd ever seen. Now he'll be nine and becoming quite the little man. Happy Birthday Dylan!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

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CHRISTMAS! Now that leftovers are a memory and all our thankfulness has been celebrated and honored, it's time to move forward. This embossed image is compliments of Cuttlebug all dressed up with jewels and glitter. This is one of my favorite Cuttlebug folders. It's just so...uhm...Christmasy.

Happy Birthday to ME!

So today is my birthday.

Balloons, banners, gifts, cards, grandkids, my beautiful daughters and a husband who hasn't quite got around to wrapping my gift yet. Surprise, surprise. I'm looking forward to a delicious home cooked dinner, not made by my hand and a sugar free cheesecake also not made by me.

Lovely granddaughter Lily could not wait to show me the tiara with flashing lights intended for me which somehow ended up on HER head. Surprise, surprise, yet again.

Sigh. Heaven.

My Birthday Cruise!

So my husband surprised me with the news a week or so ago that for my birthday, we're taking our first CRUISE! I'm so excited because it's something I've wanted to do for a long time. It's just a short one, which I hope will be a rehearsal for more in the future. We're driving to San Diego on the 30th and will be cruisin' down Mexico way for 4 lovely days of leisure and fun. I definitely see a mini memory album to come.

Another Awesome Prize!

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I couldn't believe it, but I won another goodie last week. The Creative Cuts and More sponsored a blog hop, and I was one of three winners. My prize? This darling little Halloween Mini Accordian album kit designed by Pam Smerker on their design team. It came in the mail yesterday and I just happened to have some adorable Halloween photos of Lily and Rowan so I put this little album together in less than 3 hours! The kit had everything from die cut spooks and pumpkins to gorgeous Doodlebug Halloween jewels. I painted the Creative Imaginations Castle album black and adhered all the perfectly cut layers. Just add photos and voila! Instant album.

Give Thanks

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When I saw Donna's gorgeous Thanksgiving card design on her blog, Popsicle Toes, I just had to set aside my current projects and try one of my own. I wouldn't want to mass produce this card--took a long time with all the inking, embossing and popping, but it's perfect to send to my dear mother who always made sure our Thanksgivings were extra special. Her table was always beautifully set with linens, china and silver and usually a colorful cornucopia centerpiece surrounded by a delicious feast. More importantly, there were always two or three guests who were invited to share this bounty because they had nowhere else to go. She taught us by example that it is truly a blessing to share. Happy Thanksgiving Mom.

Donna generously shares many Cricut DS cut files, including this one. Check out her amazing work here.

Sneak Preview

So I decided I wanted to do a little memory book of our last home in beautiful Placerville. We had 3 acres of lovely mature oak trees, a 3-stall barn for the horses and a sweet little two story house at the end of a secluded gravel road. Here's one of two pages I completed about the kitchen. The glossy letters are BG microchip alphas which I've inked and embossed for a page title. Loving those little letters! Pardon the quickie webcam photo. Paper is Teresa Collins Haute Cuisine.

P.S. I decided to use a cool Jolie's toaster sticker I've had in my stash for-evah for the journaling pull. It's shiny chrome which doesn't scan well, but I think I like it better. What d'ya think?

Lucky me!

I just learned I am a lucky winner of one of Teresa Collins very cool Friendship Accordian album kits. I actually won just by commenting on her blog and was one of 3 lucky winners. I just LOVE her Friendship paper line--that cool aqua color and black and white. So classy and fun. Anyway, when I make up the kit, I'll post it so you all can ooooh and aaaaah over it.

Rowan is One!

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Pretty easy to catch up on Rowan's birthday layouts (he's only had one!) What a little sweetie he is. I am loving having a boy-type grandbaby.

Lily's Third Birthday Layout

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Finally finished and am now caught up with Lily birthdays (she's only had 3!) LOL

Happy Halloween!

Wishing you all a spooooky treat-filled evening!

I LOVED making this project so much, I actually made two of them. This design was created as an 8" hanging decoration by Donna at Custom Crops and it uses A Child's Year and Plantain Cricut cartridges. The witch is cut 3X and popped, the stars are folded for dimension and popped and I embossed the top layer in shiny black. Lovely vintage feel , don'tcha think? (Click photo for larger view)

Boo 2009 Style

Made cards for Rowan and Lily (inspired by some I saw at Splitcoast Stampers. I used the shield cut on SB Cricut cartridge. Simple but cute. The third one is all stamping and cuttlebug. I love the little bat stamps that came in 3 sizes. Reminds me of all the bats that live under the Congress Avenue bridge in Austin. The first time I stayed at the Four Seasons in Austin on a business trip, one of the locals insisted I come down to sit on the river side patio at sunset to watch the nightly scene of thousands (millions maybe) of the little black critters swoop out from their daytime resting place to begin their nightly hunt. Spoooooooky!

Jennifer's Birthday card

Three birthdays in October--lots of fun cardmaking. Graphic45 paper really was the inspiration with the threading water border punch, Prima flowers and marching Liquid Pearls. The ribbon is a beautiful suede-type that was the perfect color. Simple but I like it.

Happy 14th Birthday!

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Paige turned 14 this month, so here's what I came up with for her card. She's growing up so fast and I thought something a little more sophisticated this year would be better but still fun and glitzy! This is a graduated tri-fold card with more than a little sparkle and shine for a very special teenager. Lots of orange stickling and some fun felt embellies and buttons.

Fit for a Princess

Meleea is six years old next week and the sweetest little princess you'd ever want to meet. She deserved a very special card, so here's her Birthday castle. It's a zig zag fold card (tricky to photograph) but it's covered with bling and texture. It was one of the most fun cards I've created in a long while. The template for this card was very generously shared by Deneen at her blog A Path of Paper. Check out her beautiful work.

Queen of our Hearts

My mom-in-law is a treasure but birthday gifting for her is a challenge. She has 7 living children who over the years have bestowed upon her every conceivably imaginable gift. Hers is a game-loving family and the poker games at her dining room table are beyond memorable which is a long prelude to the idea for my gift this year. I'm sending her off a framed layout which I hope will tickle her fancy. So, Happy Birthday Mama Jean. We love you so!

Make a Wish

So a very special lady in the family is having a birthday this week. I wanted to use some of my precious Graphic 45 paper for my greeting and this is the card I came up with. Here's to birthday wishes all coming true!

Pink 'n Bling with Caardvarks

Sometimes when I finish a card, I'll do a duplicate for future cardgiving which I did with this card except added a black prima. Couldn't decide which one to post, so here they both are. Very simple design but pleasing to my eye.

Anyway....Caardvarks current challenge is to create a card using black, white and pink, so I'm tossing my hat (well, card) into the mix. Birthday card for my dear friend, the very lovely Mrs. B, designer extraordinaire, teacher, and all around beautiful person who got me hooked...errr...introduced me to scrapbooking back in 2002.

Sentiment-- embossed, panels--popped, bazzill--cuttlebugged in swiss dots.

Happy 1st Birthday Rowan!

KWerner Color Challenge

Nature and Nurture

Layout I finished recently of April and the grandkids on Mother's Day. I was experimenting with some new techniques, including Scrapperlicious' extreme punch distressing on lower left hand corner of the photo. I also used some Perfect Pearls to gild a little Prima bird. I pulled out some old Heidi S. masks and added a little subtle shading.

I also looped some thin ribbon for the floral acccent and I'm liking how it all turned out. You can click on photos for larger view. :)

Tiny handprints for Great Grandma

April's plaques for the little ones to send Great Grandma on her 84th birthday. Little wood tags are for Lily and Rowan! Adorable!

I hear they're already hanging on Great Grandma's wall.

Lily and Rowan because I love looking at them...

Lily is almost 3-1/2.

Rowan will be 1 in August.

Grandbabies are life's desert.

Countdown to CHA with the Stars Folder

Wooohooo! New embossing folders for my sweet Cuttlebug. I adore my Cuttlebug and use it all the time. Even little Lily, my precious 3 year old granddaughter, loves it. She begs me to let her turn the handle when I'm creating.

Sorry...just excited about NEW folders. A girl can never have too many, right. Please go on about your business. :)

The next 50 goes fast...

My brother Don turns 51 on July 2nd, so I sat down to make him a very cheerful card. It's hard for me to do "cheerful" without any ribbon or flowers or glitter, so I just went dotty on him. I used DT cartridge and welded his name to a rectangle shape. Three letters--easy peasy. Folded it over and with a few buttons and embellishments it was done. Happy Birthday Don!

Okay...quick someone take me to Vegas...

...cause every one of my lucky stars must be aligned for maximum luck potential. I just found out my card was one of two winners on BBTB's ShortCuts Contest. I've won a $20 gift certificate at ShortCuts online store. Check them out--amazing stuff there! Now...excuse me. I need to quick run out and buy a lottery ticket.

I won something!

Omigoodness!!! I just found out I won Paper Askew Studio's ginormous blogcandy giveaway! Thank you so much Pam for entrusting me with your giant pile o'goodies. I promise they will have a loving home! Just look at the loot!

BBTB Contest

So Regina and the gals over at Bitten by the Bug have a new challenge/contest this month. I haven't ever participated in a BBTB challenge but sure have enjoyed looking at all the gorgeous entries by the Design Team and extremely talented paper artists. I first became aware of Regina's beautiful work in Hallmark Scrapbook's gallery and she continues to amaze.



Anyway, I thought I'd give this one a try, so here's my humble entry. Photos are clickable for more detail and pardon my poor photos. The challenge was to use this sketch by Shortcuts and a Cricut cartridge floral cut.