Mytime's Saturday Sketch (on Sunday)

Well, I've stayed up entirely too late tonight, since we're heading out early tomorrow for some family fun time...BUT - I did get some stamping done, and I cleaned up my stamp area a bit also, so it was a productive night.

Here's my take on Lauren's Saturday Sketch for this week. Quite a fun sketch I think. I just adore these owls from Pink Cat Studio's QT Hooty set. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Wise Owl set. I've jumped on the owl bandwagon...but how can you not?

I stamped the owls and then punched them out using my 1 3/8" square punch. The 'dew drops' are vase filler from M's colored with my Copics to match the colors on the owls. Those little sweeties are colored with my Copics too...have I mentioned I'm in LOVE with them??? Can't wait to get some more!

Well, I hope you get to play with Lauren's sketch this week too...have a great Sunday everyone, thanks for stopping by!!

Mmmmmmm....Martinis...

See that one on the right?? That's mine...YUM. A Bluberritini. That was my drink for the night. Delish! Of course, my friends all thought it was weird that I was taking pictures of the martinis, but hey - They're beautiful...in my eyes anyway ;)

We had a great night out, I haven't laughed that much in I don't know HOW long...I laughed until I had tears in my eyes, and my side hurt.

I'm lucky to have such a fun group of friends...

I hope to be back later today with some stampin' eye candy - but here's a few fun pics from dinner last night...

This is Kristie and I

And here's Cathy & Sue (for any of you that saw my Bella coaster book SBK~MBA) this is the Sue that it was for - and yes, I still owe her 10 martini's...

Here's John & Irene, he's the Birthday boy, just in case the balloons didn't give it away (oh, and he was THRILLED about that too ;) )

And last but not least, here's one of me and the hubby...it's not often I get to be in the pictures, it was nice that my camera kept getting passed around the table...

Hope you all have a terrific day - and I hope to be back later with Lauren's Saturday Sketch!

Life...

It has a funny habit of getting in the way sometimes...

We've had a busy week - some family stuff...and friend stuff too - eek! BUT -- tomorrow Hubby and I get to go on a DATE...that's right, you heard it...a DATE. I'm pretty excited...we're going out with some friends for dinner and drinks.

Good friends, good food...can't wait.

We're going to celebrate our friend John's birthday - his '21st' *wink* you believe that, and I've got a bridge in Brooklyn for sale too...

At the risk of being redundant (well, with the punch anyway) I made this card for John's birthday. This awesome little monkey is from CC Designs ( you can find them at http://www.allthatscraps.com/ ) The sentiment was done using my Just-Rite Monogram Stamper, with the little add on letters you can buy (also at All That Scraps!)

The inside says "and again, and again." cute, right?

The balloon was dressed up with a little crystal effects, and the border on the right was done with a Martha Stewart Border Punch that I got at M's a while back. Looks like it's sold out here - http://www.marthastewartcrafts.com/detail.php?p=58602, but they may have it in your local store...

So now, the biggest question is, what kind of martini should I have tomorrow night?? C'mon now - I need your help here!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Proud Aunt (and Mommy)!

Look at these cuties...
The one on the left is mine...the one on the right is my niece. Notice they both have short hair???
Back in April, my daughter cut off her long thick hair, and donated it to Locks of Love. It all stemmed from Lauren Meader's daughter Alexa. My daughter & Alexa have never met, but we talked about her illness often. I explained that sometimes people are so sick, that the medicine they have to take is strong, and can make their hair fall out.
One day, my daughter was complaining about me brushing her hair, so I suggested we cut it off...she agreed. I told her we could donate it to help out sick kids whose hair has fallen out...she was pretty excited to help.
So...what does that have to do with this card you ask??? Well, my sister-in law was so excited when she saw her hair and talked alot to her girls about what my daughter did and why. Her older daughter had often toyed with the idea of cutting her hair, but then got nervous, and decided not to...until now.
My niece cut off her hair last week, and sent it off to Locks of Love...my girl inspired her to do it, I'm just so proud of them both!!! I almost cried when I saw my niece, as I IMMEDIATELY knew what she was going to tell me, and I couldn't be happier. I made this card for my niece, and will be sending it along with a few new fun hair clips for her new 'do!
Thanks for letting me have my pround Auntie (and Mommy) moment!!

Nick's Birthday...

So, yesterday was my honey's birthday...it wasn't the BEST day, as the girls were totally coming down off an exhausting weekend, so everyone was a little crabby :( I did try to make up for it by making a nice dinner, and letting him take a nice afternoon snooze...

We got him Rockband for the Wii for his birthday...he is REALLY tough to buy for, and always asks for practical stuff, so I thought this might be fun...it will be interesting, that's for sure!

So, inspired by Rockstar-ness...I made his card, to give him a little hint. I used this GREAT paper from Piggy Tales - Wonder Years from the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Collection. I used the smaller pattern for my cardfront, and then I cut a larger guitar out from a scrap piece.

I punched a star from my DCWV Glitter Cardstock Stack using my SU! Star punch, and used dimensionals to pop the star off the card, and the guitar of the star...nice effect.

The sentiment...I used my Big Deal Alpha from SU! for the 'h' and 'b' and PTI's Simple Alphabet for the rest. The stars around the sentiment were hand drawn with my sakura stardust pen.

I think my favorite birthday present had to have been the year I got my 10 speed bicycle...I had this dinky little red and white radio flyer bike that my knees would hit the handle bars when I peddled if I didn't sit just right or stand. Other kids would be like...'nice bike'. I begged for a 10 speed...and Mom and Dad came through, it was a Huffy - black with pink handlebars...I was *hot stuff* ;)

What was YOUR favorite birthday present??

Thanks for stopping by!

A Muster...What's a muster???

This has been a few BUSY days here...you already saw the run up to the weekend, and yesterday we spent the entire day at a muster...what's a muster?? Well, it's a music festival of sorts...for Fife & Drum Corps, that is. Every summer, our calendar is packed with parades and musters to go to...it can be a lot of work, but it's a ton of fun too. I've even met people from Switzerland who have come to the states to perform.

It's a bit different now that we have kids, but it's a great day for them to be outside enjoying the music, and fresh air. There's a great variety in the styles of music and uniforms that you see throughout the day, and it can be a great history lesson...well, if you want it to be.

The musters usually start out on Friday night, when they hold a mini-version of what's to come the next day...they call this a 'tatoo'. Everyone gathers around the muster field, and watches the performances of the host corps and perhaps a few others...then everyone jams. Anyone and everyone heads out to the field, and they play common songs that everyone knows...WHAT a feeling...the drums just pounding in your chest...there's nothing like it.

People bring campers and pitch tents (we haven't camped since before we had kids) and the jam lasts well into the night, until the local law 'quiet hour' and then people head back to their camps, and hang out before going to bed. The next morning starts off with a parade through town...drum coprs only, not your usual fire trucks and girls scouts kind of parade. Then back to the field for more. Each corps comes out and does a performance for the audience. Some corps have great showmanship - The Ancient Mariners being one...they are pirates, and they have a big cannon and a 'prisoner' (usually a newbie that wants in) and they drag him around the field... here's a clip of them marching on stand yesterday...

Here's a few shots of some of my corps mates...

This is a good portion of our drum line...and that guy in the different uniform? He's my Brother-in-law who plays with another group...

This is Eileen, she's in our colorguard, and will drum major for us when my brother-in-law Joe isn't around...

And this is Leslie - she's our newest addition to our drum line, and she's awesome...she fits right in with our crowd of misfits ;)

Well - I think I've bored you enough for one day...today is my hubby's birthday - so we'll be celebrating later...and hopefully I'll get some 'stamping candy' up either later tonight or tomorrow...

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Family Time...Staycation

We took a few days off for a 'Staycation'. We didn't make plans to go away, but we ALL needed a little break from the norm. It was nice to have some time away from work to play with the girls.
Yesterday we started with the county fair...

Here we are waiting for a ride...this look was...'do you actually think I'm going to fit in there???'

The answer was.....Barely.

I think there was more entertainment value in watching me try to get in and out of this thing than the ride itself!!

Then we were on to the animals...now my Shannon, she's kind of like me, not all that into the whole 'farm animal' thing...she thinks they're cool, until she can smell them *wink*

She wanted to see the pigs, and I have to say, I was awfully proud of her, she didn't make a big deal about the smell, not at all...she did wonder why they are numbered...

The day was long, but we had a GREAT time!

Today, onto the water park!!! YAHOOOOOOO!

Alexandra had a little more freedom today, so she was a happy girl :) Here she is with Daddy, in one of the kiddie pools...

Then Nick and Shannon were off for some 'big kid' fun...well, at almost 5, Shannon is fairly adventurous...they decided to go on this ride called 'the halfpipe'...I don't know that I'd even want to go on it, but hey - who am I to discourage her...here's a picture of them on the ride...

WOW. Of course, the ride wasn't without incident though...unfortunately Shannon slipped a little too far inside the tube, and she got a scrape on her back...like tore holes in her bathing suit scrape, but I have to say...she rebounded pretty well...here she is a few moments later, in my FAVORITE picture of the day...here she is with her favorite guy...

And yes - now and then I get to play too...

What did YOU do for vacation, or staycation this summer???

Thanks for letting my share our 'Staycation' with you!

mmmmmm....FOOD....

So, I'm a Tastefully Simple Consultant...did you know that? Most of the time my PSFs (Pretend Stamping Friends) keep me afloat, but I do parties here and there as well.

We just got word of the new product available in Spetember, and HOOO-BOY I'm lookin' forward to it!

Heavenly Hot Fudge Sauce...c'mon, with a name like that, do you really need to know more???

How about Chocolatini Drink Mix??? Yum- o

Artichoke and Spinach Warm dip...mmmmmmmm

and Berry Tempting topper...

I don't know what I'll want to try first! These are a few among other items that will be available September 7th...which reminds me...if there's anything from the current Spring/Summer catalog, you'll want to get it before it's gone!

I'm have to go get something to wipe the drool off my keyboard...

Some of my favorites...

Well, I haven't had a whole lot of time to stamp this week, so I decided that for today, I'm going to pull out a few of my favorites from my 'archives' *wink*

So, here goes...

This one I made for my hubby for our anniversary in 2006 (I told you I was in the archives!!) This was my first time using watercolorpaper, and I just LOVE it! I used a combination of SU!s watercolor crayons (for the focal image) and the background was done with re-inkers...

Next up...'P is for Princess'

Back when Lauren started blogging, she held a contest to use Alexa's set from Missy B Designs (you can find her store in my 'Where I shop links on the left...I still haven't figured out how to link in my posts! *blush*) Here was my submission, that was eventually delivered to Miss Alexa herself!

The set consists of a cute lunch box tin, a journal, a tiara (of course!) and a matching fuzzy maribou pen :)

Now...onto just a few months ago...can you believe *I* got an honorable mention from THE Nichole Heady?!?!?! WOWZA did THAT make my day! I just *love* PTI, and when the Out on a Limb set came out...I couldn't WAIT to get my hands on it, to make this very card...

This is a photo of my 2nd daughter's hand in mine a week or so after she was born...she's almost 11 mos old now, her hand looks so tiny! This card was eventually sent off to a new Mommy, as I think the saying is just perfect!

I think that's it for today...if I actually get to stamp, maybe I'll have something fresh for tomorrow!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Playing with Pink Cat...

So, I just LOVE Pink Cat Studio's stamps...in particular the adorable Owls, and Billy & Lily...I need to add to my collection of some of her other images, she's got lots of great ones to choose from!

This first card is one I made for a friend who I am in a birthday swap with...it's using QT Hooty. I went kind of simple on this, as I really wanted that cute little owl to be the main focus of the card...he's colored with my copics, and the balloon has some crystal effects on it, for a little extra texture and dimension.














Now onto card number 2...This is for Lauren Meader's daughter Amber. She just had a birthday, and I know she loves this set...





I used my craft knife (I have the newer one from Fiskars, I LOVE it!) to cut out her arms, so that I could glue in behind her shoulders the fairy wings I made from vellum. The wings were stamped in Brilliance White ink on Vellum CS, and colored on the reverse side. Then I colored on the front with my sakura stardust pen...VERY sparkly :)


The paper is from My Mind's Eye, and the image was colored with my Copics...I think I'm in love...I say that alot when it comes to my paper crafting materials...



Here's a close up of her wings...
So do YOU love Pink Cat?? And what have you done with your stamps???

Mytime's Saturday Sketch...and my first attempt with my Copics

So...my friend Lauren (mytime on SCS) posts a Sketch every Saturday for everyone to try...here's this week's sketch:















Well, I took some creative liberty....alright...a LOT of creative liberty, but only because I got to use my Copics for the first time, and I was pretty pleased with my coloring job, and wanted to use it... so I made it 'fit' the sketch!

I had gotten my new 'Totally Witchin'' stamps from My Favorite Things the same day.

No, I'm not ready for Halloween, but it's fun...and psst...this is actually a birthday card for a friend of mine...the original sentiment from MFT says "Hope your Halloween is..." I changed it to Day, by using a sentiment from the 'Essential Sentiments' set.

oh, right...onto the card...




Whaddya think? not SO bad, eh?? I still have LOTS to practice, but I thought it came out kinda cute...



Thanks for stopping by!!!

Gen's Letters...

My dear friend Gen is a bit old fashioned...can you imagine, she'd rather write a letter or make a phone call to communicate with someone?!?!? *GASP*

Well - for me, this was a good thing...I had all these stationary sets from Papertrey sitting around because I *had* to have them, so I put one to use.

Gen's favorite color is blue, as she says it "Reminds me of the Blessed Mother" in her words, so I made sure to incorporate blue...she also LOVES sparkles...so there HAD to be bling involved...she's classy, so it had to be elegant, but not too busy...and she's proud of her family, so I wanted to incorporate that as well...and here's what we've got...

All tied up with a little black organdy...I made my own box, but since it was my first attempt, it didn't turn out EXACTLY how I had hoped, so once I perfect it, I will share it.

The top of the box is vellum CS, and the flourish is accented with some bling from Doodlebug...take a closer look

Now the last photo I'll share is the actual paper itself...it's monogrammed with her inital, and I used the same flourish as the box...perfect.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Mike Cody...

A little boy I never knew...and it affected me...A LOT.



Mike was the nephew of a friend of ours...he was 11...actually his 12th birthday would have been this past Friday. UGH.



Mike was at a Yankees game with his Uncle (our friend), his mom and a cousin...and on the way home from the game they were involved in a terrible accident. Mike's injuries were such that he was in a coma for a week, and despite all efforts, there was nothing more that could be done, and Mike passed away.



I didn't know this boy...never met him in my life, but as a Mom, I put myself in his mother's shoes, and I wept...and wept. How awful, to lose something so wonderful, and beautiful that has brought you so much joy, because of the error of someone else...



We went to the wake - *gulp* - now this is not the first time I've been to a wake for someone this young, unfortunately, though I was still a teenager the last time, and now the kids that were at the wake seem so young.



We saw John (his uncle) and paid our respects, and then I met his parents...wow...what amazing people...I don't know that I could be that 'put together' if it were my child. I was in awe of them...really.



Then to visit Mike...again, a boy I never met, and never would, but he made such an impression on me. NEVER take life for granted, because you just never know what the next minute will bring...NEVER hesitate to take a chance, or do something you've been thinking of doing, but just keep putting it off...DON'T FORGET to tell those that you love that you love them... LOVE life, be GRATEFUL for what gifts you are given on a daily basis...



*sigh* - Mike...may he rest in peace...



This was the card I made for his Uncle:

This card was made using a few simple techniques. The poem was printed on Cardstock Vellum on my inkjet printer...the beauty of this, is that the ink stays wet enough that if you immediately sprinkle some embossing powder over it, it sticks! I heat embossed the poem with clear EP. The image in the background was done by reverse masking the oval...the images are from Pink Cat Studio's 'Dress Up Billy' set, I used the baseball accessories, as that was Mike's favorite sport...

Heeeeeellllllooooooo!

So, I'm probably the LAST person to start a blog on the face of this planet we call Earth...



Why now? I don't know...just seemed like something fun I suppose...will I blog daily? doubt it, I can barely find time to check my e-mail nowadays, but I'll try to stay current anyway...



Let's seee....about me. Mom of 2 wife of 1, interests, stamping and drum corps...



drum corps, what's that you say? here's a taste: http://theregulatorsfifeanddrum.com/Regulator%20Clip%201.wmv


This is my corps...I've been doing this for about 14 years now...it's how I met my hubby *swoon*



So...I'm in drum corps, I meet my hubby, we get married...a few years later we buy a house, and decide to give this parenting thing a shot...our first little girl arrives in December 2003 - on my sister's birthday...I told her to never expect another present from me, I can't out-do a niece for a birthday present!! We finally decided to give it another go in 2006 - and our second daughter was born in September 2007...poor Daddy will be running for the hills in a few years!



I found stamping in the middle of all of this, and I'm in love...



Now I have two girls, and a WONDERFUL hubby, who is a GREAT Dad...and he's supportive of my addiction, uh, I mean, Hobby...what a lucky girl I am!



Stamping is my time to decompress - work out the stress, forget about my day, and since when I stamp, it's usually for someone, so I get to focus on that person, and how lucky I am to have them in my life. I'm blessed beyond words with all of the wonderful people in my life, and will share them along the way, as well as projects that I have made...



Hope you come back and visit!