Merry Christmas!

... and a Happy New Year!

I hope to get to post more in 2011.  We will see how it goes...

May your family be safe and may the coming year be filled with love and joy!

:)

My banana has a bowtie! (or something similar)

BOWTIE!!!! :)

And also my Scrappy Jak pumpkin challenge cards (I won't be around on the 25th - FL woohoo!)

Does anyone know how to flip the pictures??  They aren't supposed to be sideways....

Lots of good things...

Life seems to be rolling right along in this household.  Hubby got a job working for his favorite team ever - THE YANKEES!  I survived my first day as Supervisor to a very quirky and unpredictable group of employees.  And I think the card I posted below is my favorite card ever that I have made.  The second card is the get well soon card we gave to my boss yesterday before she left, which was mostly Susan's doing.  Isn't chickie so cute???  I just put the Create A Critter cartridge on my Christmas list.  It has so many great things in it that I think I have to have my own copy...

PS) My boss' surgery went well and she is home (it was outpatient), recovering nicely.

Sunday Night Downtime

My idea of a perfect Sunday night: a fruity wine cooler, a husband occupied by RedZone, and a whole scrapbook table full of possibilities.

I have been pulling 60 hour weeks for the past three months and I am exhausted.  All my free time has been taken up by housework and spending some well-deserved time with loved ones (that last one is NOT a bad thing).  But a lot of personal things have gone unattended.  I have been proud of myself lately tho - between last weekend and tonight, I have gotten 14 scrapbook pages done and three cards.  The cards I have displayed below.  50% of materials for these cards was provided by you, Susan, so thank you!

I finished my OT work early today and decided I needed to unwind.  My boss's last day is Tuesday, since she will be having surgery.  Guess who gets left in charge?  Moi!  I am excited and nervous at the same time.  But the wine cooler did some good, and I am very happy with my little sweeties below....

Why I first started scrapbooking...

I realize today why I started scrapbooking.  It wasn't because I could be creative, it wasn't because I needed something to do with all those old pictures lying around, it wasn't because I wanted to start a business with a good friend doing something I loved.  Don't get me wrong - scrapbooking has become ALL these things to me and more.  But that's not why I started.

I started because I have a bad memory.  Don't laugh, I'm being serious!  Just let me explain...

I met my husband in 2005.  Up until this point, my life had been pretty run-of-the-mill.  And there was nothing that I really wanted to make an effort to remember.  Yes, I will always remember the milestones - my sweet 16, my first kiss, graduating high school, graduating college, my first full-time job, etc.  But I was very nonchalant about remembering the four years leading up to high school graduation, or my old friends, or family vacations, etc etc.  The everyday stuff wasn't too thrilling for me.  I don't really care to remember the name of my band teacher, or what year we went to Lake George with Grandma, or what my Halloween costume was when I was 12.  I never took pictures of anything, or kept a journal, or held on to ticket stubs...

Then came David.  When you find the person you were meant to be with, your life really does change for the better in every way.  Now I find myself holding on to everything - every reciept from a new restaurant, every movie ticket stub, every piece of evidence of a new adventure with him.  And I take TONS of pictures.  I just printed out 50 on Shutterfly, and that was only the ones I took in the last 3 months.

If I don't do all this, I will forget.  Hubby tells me all the time and I know it's true - I am forgetful.  If I don't write things down or take care of them right away, most of the time they lay forgotten until much later, if ever.  But I don't want to forget.  I don't want to forget any second of this journey with him.

And that is why I started scrapbooking.  Now I have many, many more reasons to KEEP scrapbooking.

I am probably writing this whole mushy post because David is in CT right now, visiting friends, and won't be home til noon tomorrow and I miss him horribly.  Or it could be because I have a whole pile of work I brought home on Friday that I am about to tackle and I will use any excuse to procrastinate.  Either way, there it is.

Why did YOU start scrapbooking?

Somerset NJ Scrapbook Expo Part 2

Check out the nice make & takes I made at the Expo.  One is by Hubby, let's see if you can guess which one!

PS) It's black & blue...

Somerset NJ Scrapbook Expo Part 1

The Somerset NJ Scrapbooking Expo was the most fun I have had in a long time.  Surrounded by people who are as excited about scrapbooking as I am, taught new techniques by people who are amazingly creative, getting ideas from what others have created, it is an amazing feeling.  I bought so many buttons (it is my husband's nickname for me!) that I started to count them and gave up half way through.  I got my first set of stamp pads, so now I can use all the awesome stamps I have been buying.  Check out my new profile pic!  I picked this cute little guy out at the Expo (Stamps by Judith booth) to be my mascot.  He will appear on all my projects.  I can't wait to keep stamping him!  I bought paper, embelishments and some basic supplies I needed to stock up on.  PS) To anyone who will be attending the Expo in the future, try to go on Friday, it is much less crowded and hectic.

The first picture is me and Hubby, David.  My cousin Kim was supposed to go with me the first day of tthe Expo, but wasn't feeling well.  So, instead of being depressed all day and maybe even going in late to work (I had taken a personal day), my Knight in Shining Armor put aside his pride and came with me.  He even did a Make & Take (to be revealed next post).  He carried my stuff, kept checking the map to make sure I hit all the booths, and then took me out for dinner and a movie afterwards.  I HEART him!

The second picture is of me again and my buddy Sue.  Some of you may know her from my previous posts.  We did (some of) the National Scrapbooking Day challenges together, and she is part of the Saturday Card Club.  She is my ultimate scrapbooking buddy!  She has great ideas that really inspire me.  She is so much fun to be around and we had a blast running around the Expo all day on day 2.

There were plenty of Make & Takes, which I will show you in my next post.  Stay Tuned!

Monthly Card Club

Good evening y'all,
One Saturday morning a month, I get together with some lovely ladies to make cards.  The cards below are the ones we made earlier today (minus the third card).  I think the first one is my favorite out of all the cards I have made.

1) Made with a two-step stamp set from StampingUp!.  You stamp the bottom, bulkier stamp in a light color first, then stamp the more detailed top stamp in a darker or bolder color over it to make a shadow effect.

2) This card was made using a tropical stamp set - also from StampingUp! - but using bleach instead of ink.  The bleach slowly takes the color out of the paper.

3)I didn't make this card at the card club, but I was waiting until my pastel brads came in to finish it.  I picked them up this morning, so tada!  I made this card with brads, birthday themed ribbon and a birthday present embellishment I made when I borrowed Susan's Cricut.  Thanks Susan!

My next post will probably be all about my experience at the Somerset NJ Scrapbooking Expo, next Friday and Saturday.  I am going both days, once with cousin Kim and the other day with Partner-In-Crime Susan, and I am SOOOOOO excited!!!!

Til then, xoxo....

Happy Birthday.....

....to me! :)

My wonderful husband made me stay up last night until midnight so he could give me a birthday kiss.  And as I was falling off to sleep, he said happy birthday 8 more times.  He is so sweet (sometimes lol!)

Life is hectic, but I have a few scrapbooking events coming up, so maybe more posts closer to the end of May.  I have my card club next week and then I am going to the Somerset Expo both days, once with my cousin/friend Kim and the other with scrapbooking soulmate Susan.  Should be loads of fun!

MPS Challenge #12 - Meet Porcupine

Meet my porcupine!  This is my little critter.  I don't have a Cricut at home, so I had to go with the one critter stamp I have.

I hope you had as much fun on National Scrapbooking Day as I did - actually, I hope you had more fun, because for a while there, it was touch and go lol!

Don't forget to check over on Susan's site.  There a whole nother set of projects over there:  http://susanascorner.blogspot.com/

MPS Challenge #11 - Somewhere Over The Rainbow

ROY G BIV, anyone?  I don't actually like the way this card came out, but maybe later I can remake it.

MPS Challenge #10 - May Day Flowers

Susan helped me stamp the edges of the flowers because I don't have much experience with ink and was making a mess.  And because she is awesome.  The background paper is some Stamping Up card stock I really like.  Happy May Day!

MPS Challenge #9 - Singing

A shaped piece is what I made for challenge #9.  I haven't decided whether it will be a card, or part of a scrapbooking page.  We shall see....

MPS Challenge #8 - Orange you glad

This challenge was to use one color (and a neutral color) with a flower.  I think this is my favorite challenge so far.  I had a lot of fun with it.

MPS Challenge #7 - Hi Dad!

This challenge was a project for Dad.  My Dad can fix anything!

MPS Challenge #6 - For Casey

The challenge was to make something with or for a child. This card is for my 2nd cousin Casey. He will be 1 year old this month - he is a May baby too! The strip down the side is colored pipe cleaner that I twisted together and sewed onto the card.

This is Casey with his parents (my cousins) Kevin & Kim. Kim is also an avid scrapbooker and we (me and hubby) are very close to the whole bunch. Happy 1st birthday, Casey!

National Scrapbooking Day: Take 2

Since my tummy decided it HATED me yesterday, I only made it through 5 challenges. Today I hope to complete the rest and enter the remaining contests on My Pink Stamper. Visit the site, it is awesome: http://www.mypinkstamper.com/

While you are poking around on the web, check out Susan's Blog here: http://susanascorner.blogspot.com/ She kept me motivated yesterday. I am sorry she had to put up with my maladies, but I thank her because she tried her best to take care of me and distract me. She's the greatest! She has wonderful ideas and a crafty eye - no pun intended.

I guess I am officially a blogger now. Hope I can keep up with it.

Here goes nothing - National Scrapbooking Day: Take 2!!!

Challenge #5 - Tag for Teacher

This a tag for a teacher aka my Mom, who is a Speech Pathologist.

Challenge #4 - Butterfly Box

Challenge #4 - Butterfly Box

We had to use a Cricut cartridge we liked the least - can you say "Tags, Bags, Boxes & Bows"?????

Challenge #3 - Sparkle!

Susan - my scrapbooking buddy - and I are having sooo much fun! I love Susan because she has such great ideas and is my sounding board.

Challenge #3 was to think outside the box, do something you have never done before or wouldn't normally do. So, I used glitter! I have had the bottle of glitter forever and it was collecting dust. I dusted it off and this is the result. Only 9 more challenges to go!!!

My Pink Stamper.Com Challenge #2 - December

Fun with Scraps! This was made out of scraps from my enormous pile of odd shaped paper, discarded after projects passed. It's so hot out today, but I am thinking about snow! Challenge #2 - December.

National Scrapbooking Day - Challenge #1

National Scrapbooking Day is off to a wonderful start! My Pink Stamper.Com Challenge #1 - Hoot!