Happy Happy Birthday

For a friend's 2nd birthday party this afternoon.

How to: barely banana, old olive, & whisper white cs; SEI ptn paper & epoxy stickers; MM number stamp; All Year Cheer II (SU) sentiment

PHS '94

Holly posted this challenge on Myspace so of course I had to respond & share it here:

Body: Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be.

1. Who was your best friend?
Elizabeth Smith, Karen Erickson

2.What sports did you play?
nope

3. What kind of car did you drive?
'86 5 speed iridiscent mint green Ford Escort, hatchback (& my parent's car)

4. It's Friday nite...where r u?
Dennys

5. Were you a party animal?
nope

6. Were you considered a flirt?
was voted "Ms. Hey Baby What's Your Sign?"

7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
band freshman year

8. Were you a nerd?
I hope not

9. Did you get suspended/expelled?
nope

10. Can you sing the fight song?
umm, no..

11. Who were your favorite teachers??
Ms. Victoreen, Mr. Foletta (yummy!)

12. Where did you sit during lunch?
the quad, senior bench in senior year

13.What was your school's full name?
Pioneer High School

14. School mascot?
Mustangs

15. Did you go to Prom?
of course!

16. If you could go back and do it again, would you?
hmmmm....probably

17. What do you remember most about graduation?
senior cruise on the Bay

18. Where did you go senior skip day?
I have no idea!

20. Were you in any clubs?
Interact, CSF, NHS, Journalism (not a club, but), & others

21. Where did you go most often for lunch?
the quad (closed campus, though we did buy the "narcs" Togos so we could go there too!)

22. Have you gained some weight since then?
yes

25. Who was your Senior prom date?
MIke Stone

26. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion?
We didn't have one :( But we're hoping for a 15th

27. Who was your home room teacher
didn't have one

28. Who will repost this after you?
???

29. Who was your high school sweetheart
no sweetheart, but David Quesada was my big crush & heartbreak

30. Do you still talk to people from high school?
a few on myspace

31. Did you win prom queen or king?
No

POST THIS WITH YOUR SCHOOL'S NAME AND YOUR GRADUATION YEAR

beautiful nail

Kathy sent me this video a while back & it is HILARIOUS! Anyone's who's gotten their nails done...anyhow, just had to put it on here for the few of you who check it out!

tomster's survey challenge

My friend Audrey posted this on myspace, & of course I had to take her up on it. I love how with email & now myspace you are never at a loss for these silly surveys!

I'll take you up on this Audrey!

1. I've come to realize...
that you don't get a rewind button, so do it right the first time.

2. I am listening to...
a humming sound in the distance...power lines?

3. I talk...
too much!

4. I love...
my kids

5. My best friends...
are few

6. My Car...
is full of cookie crumbs

7. My love life...
could use a pick-me-up

8. I hate it when people ask...
if my kids are twins

9. Love is...
undescrible

10. Marriage is..
frustrating!!!!

11. Somewhere, someone is thinking...
hey, there's a rock in my tire...oh, wait! Score! It's a diamond in my tire!

12. I'm always...
up WAYYYY past my bedtime

13. I have a secret crush on...
Boo from Survivor :) love the eye candy on that show!

14. I love to eat...
sushi

15. My cell phone...
would be prettier in pink

16. When I wake up in the morning...
I tell Olivia to shut up & go back to sleep (in my head)

17. Before I go to bed...
I take a shower, no time in the morning

18. Right now I am thinking about...
what to answer to these silly (but fun) questions & whether I should post this on my blog too

19. Babies are...
a gift from God, but a LOT of work

20. I get on MySpace...
more often now than before

21. Today I...
went to the grocery store...yes, I was THAT lady with the 2 screaming kids that should've been at home

23. Tomorrow I will...
have to go to work :(

24. I really want...
a new big diamond :) Hello insurance!

25. Someone that will most likely repost this...
Audrey sent it, Holly replied....hmmmm....

choo-choo

These aren't exactly the photos of me that I want to share, but....Brandon learned how to be the choo-choo train (we're guessing at church?) recently. He had my mom "choo-choo"ing around the house while I was at the dentist on Monday, and then all 3 of us once I got home. Too cute!

new slideshow...will it work?

bummer

I can't believe it. Olivia went to grab my ring this afternoon (she likes sparkly things) and as I said "diamond" I realized it wasn't there. It came out of its setting. Lord only knows when. I think it was there when I picked it up this morning, since the prongs are quite sharp. And when I changed her diaper after getting home from Trader Joes (right before when I noticed it was gone) I think it was gone since my ring caught on the changing pad (unusual).

Why did this happen now? We're trying to sell the house, get our finances in shape, & hopefully buy a new (to us) house in the near future. And of course the little diamonds in my wedding band & engagement ring are chipped, so it's not like I want to just replace the diamond.

Ugh.

reading

washing the car with daddy

The other day at Target we found some cool (aka, cheap!) paintbrushes (5 for $2.50) & thought they'd be perfect for the kids to paint in the water outside. Mostly Brandon has been dusting the house for me with a big one (oh darn!), but last night I decided to show him how to wash the car with them.

David wanted to wash the car anyhow, & was getting everything ready, so I pulled out the brushes & let the kids go for it!

happy kids

Brandon & Olivia love to sit at their little table on the patio. I think it's so cute how Brandon has to sit right next to his sister.

new stuff!

Oh I can't wait for the new SU catty! I keep seeing all these fun new things on Beate's blog (fresh & fun) and SCS....I can hold out until July, but can I hold out until Jenn's party? Time to start saving...I could spend a bit on paper alone (at least I can "say" that I'll use it for scrapping too).

jump!

Finally!

I went out yesterday & used the last of my birthday gift cards at Scrapbook Station...unfortunately most of it had to go for a new album. But I did manage to pick up some fun paper for this layout & another one for Olivia's album.

I just counted & I've only got 20 layouts to go to catch up...then only problem? One of them is from 2005! Christmas card pics...and I'm so not in the mood for holiday layouts right now. I think I've got about 5.

Anyhow...I used BG Phoebe paper here, 2 Peas Island Style font, and KI Memories chipboard for letters & embellishments. But here's the cool part: I painted the letters white & then versamarked them (they were too streaky) & added glitter emobssing powder. Wow! Even my dh was excited! And of course I had to make the embellishments match. They were already solid colored & matched, so I only did the embossing. I think it really added that special touch.

[got margaritas?]

Yummy! Gotta get me some of those stamps!

That's what I said when I first saw this combo of stamps.

So I headed on over to Stephanie Nishikawa's Paper Garden at Town & Country. She's such a doll! I love--wait, no *LOVE*--her shop! Full of fun stamps & punches & embellishments...it's a stamper's dream come true! Send me in there with a blank check, and well, I'd be able to open up my own shop.

Anyhow...My first visit was a couple of weeks ago when I got the cool flip flop stamp with matching flower & "happy summer". I also got the [got margaritas?] stamp because it's so "me". And so I decided that with all the crap going on right now that I needed a margarita (well, I real one would've been better, but a stamp is safer, no?). I also got some cool liquid shimmery stuff (don't know the name) to make the glasses look real & shiny. And I treated myself to the giga scallop circle. Unfortunately I couldn't use it on these cards, but that's okay.

So this evening I sat down to play & realized I still had Olivia's birthday scrapbook page to finish (couldn't scan it b/c it's too bulky with all her cards in it, and it's almost identical to the one for our album that I already posted). So I did that (yay!), and realized that I had some pretty cool paper left over that was meant to go on a margarita card. So I made 5! Then I made one more when I was playing around waiting for the stickles & liquid shimmers to dry. Six cards in one evening...I'm good!

Now I just need to decide who I'm going to share them with! If I had the addresses for everyone in our new stampers club I could do that. But I'm not hosting the next party. Hmmmm...I may send them out as reminders when I host in Sept. If I can wait that long!

Until then...got margaritas?

a few more cards

I have been stampin' up a storm today (ha, pun not intended but perfect!). I made three cards this afternoon, & could've done more if my son had cooperated & napped. But, he's 2 so it's not like he's got "cooperate" in his vocabulary!

The first card I made I posted earlier for Beate's challenge (my #3 for her #4).

Then I saw some leftover paper I got to do Olivia's first birthday scrapbook pages with (but didn't). I thought it would work with certainly celery, which it did. And not much else! But I got a card done with scraps & a little ribbon. So I can't really complain. I used my Fun Filled stamp set, which I haven't used except for Olivia's birthday invitations.

This next card I used more of the "birthday" paper. This time the polka-dot. I mounted it on white & then on a celery card (that is a scrap itself; I punched a flower out of it for something else but it's covered up now...at least on the outside!). Then I stamped from Baby Talk in cameo coral on white, mounted it on cameo coral, added a bit of celery grosgrain, and voila. Not my favorite, but it came out okay. And I leared that some paper just doesn't go with anything but the paper it came with, so I tossed the rest of the "birthday" paper. Hey, I got a 2-page layout & 2 cards out of it. So not too bad.

I hate this!

I hate trying to make my text line up with my photos!!!!! Why won't it do what I want it too!!!!

Okay, vent over.

Happy Birthday to me (a couple weeks late!)

Yes, my birthday was over 2 weeks ago. But it just dawned on me to upload the cards I got from my mom & sister.

The first card here is from my mom. I thought she did an amazing job, even though she compares card making to dental work. Oh well. She does better than she gives herself credit for!

This next card is from my sister...great job Kathy! She's the reason I got into stamping in the first place!

And lastly, well, this wasn't for my birthday. Heck, it wasn't even for me. Kathy made this EASTER card for my kids. But she did such a great job I had to share.

#3 for Beate's challenge #4

I had some more fun! This card I made with "my" Blooming with Happiness set (I used my sister's before). Colored the dress in w/ rose red (I love this color), and punched it out with my mom's 3" circle punch (do I have to give it back?). Then I carefully cut around it with rose red...I must say, cutting a circle around a circle is much easier than just cutting a circle! I got to use more of my striped paper stash, and I layered that on barely banana. The flowers are prima & have rhinestone brad centers. The card itself is old olive.

**ETA: looking at this post, I think I like my cards better when I scan them, at least so far. I'll have to see if I can find some info somewhere on how to photograph the cards better.**

Time to show off my kids!

I post all my creations on here, but I seem to neglect pictures of my best creations! Brandon is my oldest, he's 27 months, and Olivia is 13 months. These are some photos from this last month. Enjoy!

another one for Beate's weekend sketch #4

I've been having so much fun with these sketches...and these stamps too! I definitely get more inspired to actually do something with my stamps when I have a reason.

So for this card I stuck true to the sketch, & used a 4 1/4" square. I love that size since you can still fit it in an envelope without extra postage. I used rose red for my card & barely banana for the flower behind the flip flops. The stamps are all A Muse (such cute stuff from them!), and the striped paper & snaps are from my stash (yay!). The images are black stazon on confetti white. The yellow flower is from the Big Blooms set I just got. I think it worked out really nice behind the flip-flop stamp...perfect since I don't have a scallop punch or a circle that would work behind it & it needed "something".

Father's Day

I used Beate's sketch challenge...again! Thank you so much for your wonderful sketches! Perfect for when I'm having stamper's block...and I need to get some cards done for Father's Day. Now that I'm making cards, I really try to get them out as early as possible so people can enjoy them for a bit.

I was planning on using my "Happy Father's Day" stamp from AYC II, but Kathy has that. I'll probaly stamp that inside. And I wasn't sure that it would work with this sketch anyhow.
I went ahead & used the hanging monkey & "love ya bunches" from Monkey Business. I *love* this set! The monkey is choc chip & I colored him w/ close to cocoa. I stamped him on confetti white & used my mom's 3" circle punch to cut him out. He's mounted on caribbean cool (so glad I have more of that! I love this color.) on a choc chip card. The first one I made has 1/2" old olive circle details on the left. Originally I punched 1/8" in the center but I didn't like that. And after I made the first one I realized I had a strip of barely banana on my desk waiting to be used...I got 9 circles punched out of it (barely!). And I think I like the yellow on the card better anyways

Polka Dots & Paisley

Take one. I saw something similar to this on SCS, so of couse I had to copy it! I'm still learning in the creativity dept--although, is it learning if I've been scrapping for 8+ years & still lift ideas?

Anyhow, I *love* the POP paper from SU & can't wait to see what colors it comes in! I've already used a couple of sheets & although I like solid cardstock, I *love* this!

Details: certainly celery ink & paper, rose red ink & POP, celery grosgrain, staple, & distresser.