Baby Olivia

Kevin's co-worker and his wife are due to welcome their first baby in March. Her name will be Olivia. Erin was always told she couldn't have children so they are super excited and blessed. I made this card to give them once she is born.
The baby carriage was cut out using the Cricut cartridge Stretch Your Imagination. I used Kraft, Whisper White and Pretty In Pink cardstocks. The Kraft oval was cut out using the Coluzzle, then run through the Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots embossing folder. The Pretty In Pink scalloped oval was punched out with my Marvy punch. I liked how the two ovals layered nicely with the pink one peeking out a bit. I inked the Kraft oval using Whisper White craft ink.

The final details on the front were the Martha Stewart glitter on the heart, some buttons, some sticky bling stones and the flower border from Doodlebug Designs. The patterned paper is a new line from Pink Paislee that I got at my local scrapbook store. I loved the soft tones of pink and blue paired with the brown.

I've seen a lot of buzz online lately about decorating the inside of cards. I tried it for the first time with this card. I added some more patterned paper, a flower from the Doodlebug flower strip, a bling stone and a stamped sentiment. The words truly do fit this family as Olivia is their dream come true! How sweet! I can't wait to meet her!

Hope each of you has a wonderful week! I'll be back as soon as I can. I will be planning/packing for my scrapbook getaway for the next 2 weeks or so and will try to post something before I leave. Of course, the pups are always up to something so it may just be dog antics that I share. Riley will be gone overnight Tuesday as he gets his neuter/hernia surgeries that day. I will be busy with him Wednesday as he recovers. I sure will miss the little guy Tuesday night!

Love you

This is the Valentine I made for Kevin. The base cardstock is Kraft. I also used Chocolate Chip textured, Whisper White, Real Red and Regal Rose cardstocks. The Whisper White frame was cut out using the Cricut cartridge Stretch Your Imagination. I punched out the heart shapes using my Marvy scalloped heart punch. I punched one in each color and simply cut a strip of the pink one to layer over the red one. I then attached a button that was threaded with Linen Thread. The heart is adhered using dimensional foam. The final details are three red brads, my hand-written sentiment and some paper piercing. I used my corner rounder on the bottom edges of the card. See other photos for more details or click any pic for a closer look.

After losing my mojo and having scarce time to create lately, I finally decided to shut myself down in the basement to create two cards. Kevin and the boys napped while I was down there stamping and doing laundry. I was so happy with the two cards I made, so I felt like I really got some RUBBER THERAPY! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by! I'll post the baby girl card I created in tomorrow's post. I used my new Martha Stewart glitter! Ahh, pure crafting bliss!!!

XOXOXO

Joan made this cute card. I love the detail of the ticket corner edges and the Crystal Effects on the stamped heart. Sweet!

Connie made this cute card. She added neat details of the glitter pen, dots around the hearts, a puffy red heart and the heart punched out of the front of the card. Sweet!

Rhonda made this cute and simple card. She and her honey (Tony) actually made a few Valentines together. How cute is that? A GUY stamping with his honey. :) Cute! She said she touched it too soon after stamping onto glossy cardstock, so we have to ignore her smears. That's ok. I was just happy she stamped a card since it's been forever since she did that! :)

She also sent me THIS e-card which is so appropriate for my life right now. Click to view it. You'll probably smile and if you have dogs, you'll probably LAUGH! :) As I type this, the boys are chasing each other, running under the bed to hide and barking at each other. Ah, bliss you say? I just laugh. They are WILD!!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day to you!

xoxo

Cindy's Card

I got this really unique card from my dear friend Cindy today. She always has the neatest cards. With living near New York City, she has access to cool paper stores! I'll have to ask her if she used a Cricut or something to cut out the word birthday as it was all one piece.
This pic is actually a bit blurry. I decided to just take quick pics on the kitchen table instead of running downstairs. It's too chilly willy down there! Brrr....as soon as I finish this post I'm getting under a blanket to get warm!

What is so neat about this card is that the back is given as much detail as the front. Cindy lined the fold with a row of sticky bling stones and the patterned paper wraps around to the back. Ooh....sparkly!

I took this one with no flash so you could see the glitter around each letter. Yum!

Thanks, Cindy, for the beautiful card! :)

February 11th

I wasn't really in the mood for today. I don't know....stress getting the best of me maybe? Or just tired from all the hectic things of everyday life? I'm not sure, but once today came I was showered with love and am now smiling! You may wonder why. Well, today is my birthday. I know that everyone has birthdays, but when I really finally sat down and thought about what today is, I changed my tune. I was reminded of my favorite Psalm in the Bible....Psalm 139. The whole verse is wonderful, but this part really stood out:
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Psalm 139:13-17

So, instead of being glum, I simply say....Thank you Lord for today...my birthday! :)

Yep, that's me 37 years ago today! It's hard to believe that this little person is me. Awww...I really did used to be tiny and skinny! LOL! Here's proof! LOL!

I was just a day old when this picture was taken. I am so pink and healthy! I was also doing what I wish I could do each night....sleep soundly. These pups still think they need nighttime potty breaks. LOL!

We have a birthday box at work full of gift cards and certificates worth $10. They are all in white envelopes and you shuffle them around and pick one. I got Wal-Mart. Hmm...I immediately thought of the Martha Stewart glitter set that I look at LITERALLY EVERY TIME I AM AT WAL-MART! So, I got it today! Mmmmm....yummo-licious! Mwah! Kiss it!

I now have 18 colors of fine, sparkly, luscious, delicious, yummy, splendiferous, appetizing, scrumptious,....well, you get the picture....GLITTER! Ah, I think I'll faint!

My manager at work made this card for everyone to sign. I kept looking at it since it is so unique and then she told me it was the spotlighting technique. The presents at the bottom are stamped on the background piece, then she punched two circles out. She then stamped the presents again, cut them out and adhered them just under the edge of the cut out. It gives the images dimension. Neat, huh? You may have to click the picture for a better look.

It is always fun to read what everyone writes! I felt so special when I read my card. :) Dr. Raber cracked me up because he also wrote Happy Birthday in German. For some reason, he always says "Good Morning" to me in German. He says it's from watching too many reruns of Hogan's Heroes. It's sort of our joke. He told me he wrote something and I just laughed when I read it!

The funny one is from Sara. She wrote: "Happy Birthday! I love making noises and acting 5-yrs old with you." LOL! Yep, I am a kid at heart and so is she. We act goofy together. No matter how old I become, I'll still be giggling I hope.

When the mailman came today, I had some GOOD mail! I got this card from Joan. She used her Spica glitter pen to add some bling to the polka dots on the patterned paper. She's known in Zaneyland as Bambi Bling! Thanks, Bambi! *wink*

I got his card from Connie (aka Lolita). Funny how she used her Spica glitter pens, too! Did you "girlz" plan that? LOL! You both must have known to add a bit of spunk to my day. Thanks, Lolita!

And....I got my first issue of Memory Makers magazine. My sweet mom had ordered a gift subscription for me and how fun that I got it today! Thanks, Mom!

So, yep, I am thankful for today. I am thankful God loved me enough to give me life! Happy Birthday to me! LOL!

Monday Mail!

I got some good mail today! Valerie sent me this super cute thank you card. She was my blog candy winner and how nice that I got a card in return! Love it!
It is so glitterlicious! Yes, that is a word. It means super sparkly and yummy!

Then, I got the new Magalogue from The Angel Company from Lisa! If you want to see the latest products just released from TAC, then click HERE to see them. She has an online ordering website or you can e-mail your orders to her. I am getting two sets (Edge Designs and Want to Fly) and can't wait to have some new RUBBAH! Now, if I can just get these rowdy boys to settle long enough for Momma to stamp, then we'll be in business! LOL!

Thanks to Valerie and Lisa for some good mail today!

Saturday Bath Time

I wish I could add Smell-O-Vision to this post. These pooches sure do smell good! For now at least! Pretty soon they'll smell like wet dog or dog slobber or dog burps or dog gas!

Riley's expression in this one just cracks me up! He knows he's cute, huh? LOL! Jack was all hunkered down like he was ready to pounce. Makes his legs look squatty, but really they're long! He's got those yummy pink ears that make him look like the Easter Bunny!

Uh, mom....could you do something about the Alphalfa look? geesh! Oops, must be the way I dried it! LOL!

Uh yes, the cute poses only lasted as long as I made goofy "dog-attention-getting" noises, then it was time to mess up their nice hairdos. Boys! They are so rough-n-tumble. Macy was so calm compared to these rascals! Plus, with two pups it's twice the rambunctiousness! Is that a word?

Riley was so tired after 3.8 minutes of fighting that he snuggled right up to Jack and passed out. Baths make him sleepy...Oh and the fact that they were up at 3am and 5:15am and never went back to sleep despite the fact that I went back to bed. Can you say "jump all over mom in bed?!" Yep, this Momma missed out on "sleep in on Saturday" and at 11am is still in her jammies (wet ones, mind you!) and now that Kevin has risen from the dead....well, he gets to do a few things for Momma. Can you say poop patrol? LOL!

I did at least get to enjoy this peace for about a half hour after they gave in to being super sleepy. Oh, aren't they cute?!

Hmmm...am I supposed to be doing my taxes today? Ah, maybe! Better get the wet towels picked up and the tub rinsed. Oh, the that means washing the towels and bath rug, then drying them, then folding them, then putting them away..........Maybe I should have a bath.....CALGON anyone? TAKE ME AWAY!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, speaking of going away.....I am in 27 days! I am going to the Funny Farm....uh, I mean the Craft Farm. Check it out! The Zaney Girls will be on the loose again (Mom, Connie, Joan and I).