Happy Birthday Part II

We had Cheryl's family party at Grandma and Papa's house. We cooked eggplant parmesean, balsamic roasted veggies, pesto pasta salad, chocolate cake and we picked up a Trader Joe's spinach salad. We also had, from my mom, brocolli salad, fruits, veggies. And Papa picked up FIVE pizzas.

And she had THREE desserts: the cake, blueberry pie AND apple pie!



... AND CHRIS IS BACK!!!



Welcome Home, Bud! Love you! Missed you!

It's a baby (card)!

My friend is expecting a grand-baby. So, I want to be ready with a little boy card.

Here is the boy card. I used a freebie from All Dressed Up. So, I'm entering it in the All Dressed Up Clean and Simple Challenge.



Thanks for stopping by!
Have a great weekend!

Happy Happy Happy

Here is a happy card that I wanted to share using Diana's cute December card kig:





I used a cute Dilly Beans digital stamp called Amalia's Daisy. I just adore her cute digital girls. This is being entered in the Dilly Beans Celebration Challenge this week.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

One Little Word 2014

My goal for 2014 is to live healthier and make better choices. When I eat better and workout diligently everything seems to work better. Better sleep. Less weird aches and pains. Clearer thought processes. More confidence.

Turns out it is true what they say... being healthy makes you feel better on multiple levels.

So my word for 2014 is IMPROVE. This year I want to feel better and be a better person.



I'm taking charge and improving my life this year!

The stamp used on this card is from an old Unity KOTM. In fact, I bought this kit just for the sun and cute clouds. So, I'm sharing this in the Unity Friends with Flair Friday. Welcome Unity Friends!

One Little Word - 2013

As I was preparing my post for 2014, I realized that I didn't post my word for 2013. So for those who really want to know, last year my word was "STRONG." Last year as you all know was the year of the Marathon, so STRONG was an appropriate word for last year. Oh, and I was also in a mixed media phase of crafting... so, here is last year's card:



Stay tuned! 2014 coming soon!

Happy 24th Birthday, Cheryl!

Cheryl says, "Don't post embarrassing pictures of me." Well, she doesn't seem to understand that it's the mom's job to post cute pictures of her kiddos... even though those pictures might be embarrassing.

I went to my pictures of 20 years ago and found this... 4 year old Cheryl:



Awww... Isn't she adorable? hehehe...

This picture of tonight has been given the Cheryl stamp of approval... completely non-embarrassing:



So my girlie turned 24 today. Something about 24 sounds so much older and 23. More serious. More real, as in, "She's graduated college and really not going to live here with us forever." I'm so grateful for the relationship I have with this young woman. Believe me. I do count my lucky stars for it every single day!



I LOVE you Cheryl... I LOVE you bunches!

Happy New Year - Part II

I just had to share... look what Cheryl did to Jena. Jena is not looking very HAPPY, haha!



Happy New Year, Jena-girl!

New Year's Progressive Dinner

One of the neighbors down the street thought it would be fun to do a progressive dinner for New Year's Eve. This was a completely last minute thing. I was amazed that we were able to get a party of 10 people together.

We have 5 couples and 4 houses... Here's the schedule:

9:30-10:15 - our house for horderves and wine
10:15-11:00 - house #2 Mexican and margaritas
11:00-11:45 - house #3 for kabobs and punch
11:45-12:30 - house #4 s'mores and champagne

I stopped at Total Wine and got a couple bottles of Pinot. I'm also having: shrimp cocktail, ham/cream cheese roll-ups, crackers w/artichoke dip, and fresh veggies.

My decorating was very minimal. I embellished a $0.99 banner from the party store with a hanging star garland, made a 2014 banner, and got a few balloons which I attached to my Christmas arrangement.



Here's my table. I tried really had to make a pretty table. If our bunco parties are any indication, our neighborhood is full of professional hostesses, haha! If the veggie tray looks a little out of balance, it's because Cheryl got hungry:





Happy 2014 Everyone!

Merry Belated Christmas

Well, darn! It has been a busy holiday season! As I'm getting ready for my New Year's Post, I realized that I didn't do a Christmas post!



The neon tops were Cheryl's idea... It was fun deciding what color everyone would wear. Even Jena got dressed for the occasion. BTW, Jena LOVES dressing up, lol!

We hope you all had a Merry and Bright Christmas!

December Card Kit Time

Welcome to the Club Mojo December card kit reveal! We had 10 ladies in the club this year... 10!!! These are all wonderful ladies who I've had the good fortune to meet at Scrappin' Mojo.

It's time for our Club reveal, and this month's card kit was put together by Diana! I love the fresh prints and colors. It certainly brightens up winter!



Here is my first card. I used paper Prima flowers to form the skirt:





My second card shows off some of the pretty patterned papaer:





I will be entering these cards in the Crafty Creations Challenge this week.
That's it for me this month! Be sure to checkout the creations from the other ladies:

Beth - bethiejs.blogspot.com
KimP - Mojo Card Kit Reveal
Diane - mumblebeedesigns.blogspot.com
Terri - jazzyscrappertidbits.blogspot.com
Mary - justanotefrommary.blogspot.com
KimO - Mojo Card Kit Reveal
Jan - Mojo Card Kit Reveal
Niki - ellenaspaperhouse.blogspot.com

We already have the kit line-up set for 2014! Let the Card Creating FUN continue!!!
Thanks for dropping by!

Holy Jim - Take Two!

We went back to Holy Jim Canyon today, and this time we took the truck! Jim seemed a little worried to let us have the truck by ourselves, but it's okay... Cheryl is driving! lol!



We made it all the way to the trail head without getting stuck or bottoming out, YAY!



It was a 2 mile run out, up 1650'... we deserved a little rest on the way :oD





Our run was so deep in the canyon that this is the only sun that we got on our run:



Finally, we made it!!!



Then it was 2 miles downhill back out. Unfortunately, Cheryl tripped over a root when she checked to see if her shoe was untied. She's okay, other than a couple raspberries on her hip bone. I think we deserve a day off tomorrow... no running and sleeping in on Christmas Eve!

Have a great Christmas Eve, everyone!

Holy Jim!

Today, Cheryl and I decided to go running out Holy Jim Canyon (it was named after a guy named Jim, who used to cuss at people... no lie!) We tried driving my car out to the trail head, but the road soon became impassible for a little FIT.



We backed out to the staging area and started running in to the trail... all uphill!



By the time we got to the trail head I was tired... we walked up a little ways, but headed back to the car... For a total of only 4 miles. Here is a little of what the tail looked like:



Thanks for coming on this little running adventure with us:

Oh Fudge!

I decided that I wanted to make little gifts for my bunco group... my decision, FUDGE! Now I needed boxes to put the fudge into, so began the Fudge Box Project. There are eight boxes in all:











Here is the fudge packed inside... chocolate and peppermint:



Do you remember the snowman cup cards? Here is what the snowman cup cards looked like all packaged up for the hostess. These were drawings of the mugs that she's given us through the years:



That's all I have to share today. Have a great weekend!

Crafty Creations - Gift Card Holder

I found this cute gift card holder tutorial on the Pink Paisley site the other day. Here is how my GC holder came out... I don't have Christmas paper larger than 6x6, so I printed out an 8.5x11" sheet from the digital Echo Park collection for the envelope. Then I used my 6x6" Echo Park paper for the card:





I'm entering this in the Crafty Creations - Gift Card Holder challenge.
Have a great weekend! And thanks for stopping by!

Dilly Beans Again!

I WON last week's Dilly Beans challenge! Jenn let me pick three images from the store for FREE! I just couldn't resist the cute little guys in the Three Penguin Blocks stamp. I made up this card to enter in this week's Non-Traditional Colors challenge over at the Dilly Beans Blog.

Here is my project. It's going to be the top of a fudge box to give to the neighbors:

Here's a close up:

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great week!

Dilly Beans

I discovered a new digital stamp store (well, new for me anyway) called Dilly Beans. I picked up several of her cute digital stamps and created this card:



I'm entering this in the Dilly Beans Anything Goes Challenge.
Thanks for stopping by and have a GREAT week!

Let it Snow!

Since I'm on a Christmas crafting roll, I decided to join the PTI MIM Challenge. For MIM you were to decorate a bag.. Who can't use more gift bags for Christmas giving?

I used a plain lunch bag and created this GIFT BAG:



There is plenty of room for lots of treats or other goodies!

I stamped the red flowers using acrylic paint and the PTI Modern Basics Stamp Set. The leaves are from the PTI Blooming Button Bits Stamp Set. I also used the PTI Get A Handle On It Die Collection and the PTI Limitless Layers 2 1/2" Circle Die Collection. The cute chalkboard image is a free download from The Cottage Market.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

A trio of Santas

I made this simple set of cards using the Happy Santa digital stamp set from Torico. I learned about her store from Chris's girlfriend. She knows what a big card maker I am! If you want this cute image you gotta be quick because Torico is closing her store Birdie Brown. I'm sad because I adore her images.

From Torico's blog, I learned that she also designs for There She Goes Clear Stamps... YAY! I still have someplace to get Torico's cute images! There She Goes blog is having a Christmas Card Set Challenge TSG235. I thought this is the perfect chance to use Torico's trio of cute Santas:



Here's a close up... I use copic markers to color, watercolor in the background, and some glitter on the hat:



Thanks for stopping by! I hope that you drop by There She Goes Blog to see the other great stamp sets!
Have a Wonderful Weekend!