Our Very Sick Little Boy

At 1:15 a.m. on 1/8/10, we made a trip to the ER for our son - well, he and I made the trip while daddy and the girls stayed behind and got some rest!

Our son has been very ill for 6 weeks; I think we reached the peak last night and I reached my wits end! Here are a couple of pictures from the hospital; the first is shortly after they started the IV drip and gave him nausea and pain meds.

The pain med didn't do much; within an hour he was crying and screaming again so they gave him some more nausea med and then a dose of morphine; when they finished pushing the morphine in, he yelled, "I'm going numb!"; it was the side effect of the morphine but scared him to death...(me too). He literally passed out after the morphine went in as you can see from the 2nd picture.

He's a very tough little boy; he has never cried when they've drawn blood, or started an IV or anything - but this stomach problem brings him to his knees. If he's not better next week, we'll be seeing a pediatric GI doc. I pray we don't have too; but we'll do whatever we have to do - we want him healthy again!

Thanks for stopping by; hope you have a great weekend! Hugs, ~M.

Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

This is a recipe given to me by DH's mom; it's ALWAYS a hit with my family. Some eat it plain, some add milk to it in a bowl, others want an egg on top...you just never know! I made 2 full cakes this morning; one is 3/4 gone (much has been eaten since this picture was taken), the other is just waiting...bet by Sunday evening both are totally gone. LOL

Here's the recipe if you'd like to try it:

Cake Ingredients:

1 Egg
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Milk
2 Tablespoons Oil
1 Cup Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
Dash Salt

Mix together and pour into 8"x8" greased dish.

Topping:

1 Tablespoon butter, melted
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Flour
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Mix together until crumbly and sprinkle over cake.

Bake 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Serve warm and enjoy!

A Scrappy Card & Holiday Notepads

Greetings friends - welcome to 2010. So what are you going to call this year? 20-10, 0-10, 10, you won't say two thousand ten will you?? Yes, this topic has been discussed over lunch with friends. LOL

I needed an extremely last minute card for a secret pal so this is what I came up with.

I used a poofy flower which I purchased from Dawn McVey and running with the PTI Pure Poppy color and adding chocolate chip. The Damask Designs stamp set is stamped onto some paper from a paperback novel; the Pure Poppy ribbon has a strip of tacky tape covered with small clear microbeads for a fun accent which Nichole Heady does wonders with!

And last, I'll leave you with several holiday notepads I made and sold in December. Happy New Year friends; thanks for stopping by! Hugs, ~M.




WHAT'S IT TAKE (scrappy card)?
Stamps: PTI Damask Designs
Ink: PTI Pure Poppy
Paper: PTI Pure Poppy & Dark Chocolate, paperback book
Accessories: ribbon, tacky tape, microbeads, punch

Kindred Spirits

I made this card a few weeks ago when I still had my mojo. I went downstairs to create a bit last night and my mojo has TOTALLY disappeared...so if you see it, send it back my way please! :D

A friend asked me to make this card for one of her friends that is having a rough time right now. I used my all-time favorite paper (MME); this line is called "Ooh La La For Him"; great colors.

I used some fabulous ruffled ribbon from No Time To Stamp, I bought several different colors. It's great to work with and makes fabulous bows. And yes, I made a "buttony bow" (started by Joanne I believe), I just love the softness the ribbon adds to the card.

I used a couple stamp sets from Verve Visual (Thankful Blossoms & Kindred Spirits), Julee is having a great sale right now - hop on over and check it out!

The bottom is accented with the Fleur De Lis punch by EK Success on both the yellow and striped paper; I used Gold Pearl Liquid Pearls to finish the bottom of the card as well as accents on the nestability oval. The main oval has the large cluster fleur de lis stamped in VersaMagic's Wheat.

I hope you've enjoyed today's card; I really appreciate you stopping by. Wishing you and your loved ones a safe & happy new year! Hugs, ~M.



WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: Verve Visual Kindred Spirts & Thankful Blossoms
Ink: VersaMagic Wheat & Oasis Green
Paper: SU! Sage Shadow, DP by MME (Ooh La La for Him):
Accessories: ribbon, button, twine, liquid pearls, EK Success punch, paper piercing

Floral Frenzy

When gathering gifts for Christmas, I quicky realized there were a couple gifts that needed a bit more...they were lacking. :(

My mom has always liked my creations but she's never owned any of my creations, therefore I set out to make her a set of note cards with different sentiments that she could use throughout the year. Since I was making these cards December 23, I needed to keep them clean & simple. I was inspired by Kim' card (HERE); very simple, but oh so cute!

I used Papertreyink's Floral Frenzy stamp set and set to work keeping everything one layer and very simple.

I used a couple styles of the Berry Sorbet ribbon and then another ribbon spool I had picked up at Michael's quite some time ago - but the colors matched perfectly. For the center of the flowers, I stamped the circle in 2nd generation ink (stamped off once) and then covered with Crystal Effects for some 3D dimension and shiny, fun detail.

In the last picture, you can see the 6 cards I made with various sentiments. Amazing how pretty clean & simple can be!!

Thanks for stopping by; the new year is just around the corner...anyone making any New Year's Resolutions? If so, leave me a note and tell me about them...or why you have chosen NOT to make any! :D

Hugs, ~M.




WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: PTI Floral Frenzy
Ink: PTI Berry Sorbet, SU! Chocolate Chip, Versamagic Green
Paper: GKD 120 lb. Pure White
Accessories: ribbon, crystal effects

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas friends; I hope your day is blessed!

I had a customer order a large quantity of Christmas cards so I went to town playing with men - Gingerbread Men that is! :D

I used Papertreyink's Holiday Button Bits stamp set; isn't this little guy the cutest? Since I was mass producing cards, I needed to keep them simple - something I always struggle with!

I decided to make these post card style (no fold, just front and back) with plenty of room to write on the back. There are 3 different colored gingerbread men, each is highlighted with a white gel pen and pure poppy buttons. Each is layered onto a pure poppy circle and a chocolate scalloped circle. I added liquid pearls to each chocolate scallop.

I hope your day is great; I have so many things to share. I hope I can find some extra time to share all my creations with you over the holiday break. Hugs, ~M.



WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: PTI Holiday Button Bits
Ink: SU! Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, PTI Dark Chocolate & Pure Poppy,
Paper: PTI Kraft, Pure Poppy & Dark Chocolate, DP ?
Accessories: buttons, liquid pearls, pop dots, Marvy punches

Really Poofy Flower

Hi friends, how are you? So...what's your temperature where you are? Has winter arrived? It's been very nippy here with some ice pelting us this last week. I really would have preferred a nice fall (we seemed to have skipped that season this year) and then a nice gentle white snow (yes, we seemed to skip that too)! AND Christmas is quickly approaching, do you have all your shopping done?

I saw this paper flower on Dawn McVey's blog (so love her site)! She found it on Wendy's website - such great step-by-step instructions! The flower is actually made from an old book. I totally CASE'd Dawn's card for my card - she always has such great inspiration!

I stamped polka dots in Hibiscus Burst on the paper circles to give it some color. I used Damask Designs (also one of Dawn's stamp sets) across the bottom of the kraft cards stock using Fresh Snow from PTI. The leaves for the flower were also stamped in Fresh Snow on Hibiscus Burst paper, I then tore the shape of the leaves, crinkled them up, smoothed them out a bit and attached underneath the flower. Tied on some beautiful ribbon in Hibiscus Burst...and for me? It's a rather simple card.

I'm so in love with these flowers, I'll have another cool project coming up using these same flowers but in Christmas colors!

Thanks for popping in, I love when you visit!! Have a great weekend; hugs, ~M.



WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: PTI Damask Designs, Stamps of Life Back2Basics
Ink: PTI Fresh Snow, VersaMagic Chocolate
Paper: PTI Kraft & Hibiscus Burst, old book
Accessories: ribbon, button, twine, EK Success Punch, pop dots

Henrietta....Awwwwww Shucks

Greetings friends, how are you doing? We have some cold weather here in Toto-land - it was -4 degrees this morning with wind gusts up to 29 mph - let's here a big "bbbbbrrrrrrrr"! I really don't mind cold weather, more reason to snuggle with my love! :D But I'm not real fond of the wind - sheesh, just blows through your coat, clothes, etc.!

I made time this week to play with Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #47. What a fun sketch; I have now made two square cards in a row. Woot for me!!

Isn't this little girl a cutie? She's from Stampingbella called "Henrietta", look at that sparkle on her dress! (You can click the image to see a larger version). I colored her with Copics and used a Black Spica Glitter Pen for the dress and shoes. She comes with two sentiments - one being "Awwwww Shucks"; hence the title.

I hope you enjoy my little friend Henrietta, she was fun to color and I love the DP - such pretty colorful paper - yep...you guessed it, made by My Mind's Eye!!

All buttons are from Papertreyink; the ribbon was in my stash - Bo Bunny I believe.

Thanks for popping in; stay warm! Hugs, ~M.




WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: Stampingbella Henrietta from the Lulu Collection
Ink: Memento Basic Black
Paper: PTI Hibiscus Burst & Sweet Blush, GKD Cream, MME's DP
Accessories: nestabilities, ribbon, buttons, twine, EK Success Punch, pop dots

Martina McBride & Trace Adkins

Martina McBride & Trace Adkins were in Wichita, KS Friday, December 4. I got a call about 3 p.m. for FREE TICKETS - seriously!!!

A dear friend was sick and could not attend. I ***love*** concerts; I've seen Martina before but she's always worth seeing again! My friend's parents were attending so they were our seat mates.

Our oldest daughter didn't want to go (she's a teenager, what can I say?); meanwhile our son started tossing cookies (yes, I had to pick him up early from basketball practice), hubby was hunting, so what's a girl to do? I called hubby home from hunting and took our youngest daughter, age 11. She LOVED the show.

And let me just say, Trace Adkins is a HUGE man; his thighs were huge. LOL He took his jean jacket off and I thought my friend's mother was going to melt! She definitely thought he was "HOT"!

Martina is so small but boy she has lungs like none other - amazing! It was a late night; the concert didn't end until 11 p.m., but it was a GREAT night! Here's a few pix I took; enjoy! Hugs, ~M.

Thank you Christie, we had the BEST time!!!

With Sympathy - Papertake Weekly Challenge #29

A dear friend's mother passed away this last week - this card seems mighty bright for a sympathy card, but my friend LOVES pink and rather than focusing on her loss, I wanted to focus on the celebration of her mother's life! Her mother has been seriously ill for awhile; there were many times they thought they were going to lose her, but God works in marvelous ways and they all spent the night with her before she passed on to be with our Lord. The best part? Her mother was well known for her singing so I'm certain she joined right in with the angels when she got to Heaven!

I had this card made up for several days and had just not stamped the main image; when I realized I wanted to make it into a sympathy card, I stamped the "With Sympathy" from "Forever in Our Hearts" and the decorations from Verve's new stamp set, "Thankful Accents".

I hope you had a great weekend; did you get some Christmas shopping done? I sure didn't! I don't have many days left to get it all together, Christmas will be here before we know it!

Thanks for popping in, I love when you visit. Hugs, ~M.



WHAT'S IT TAKE?
Stamps: Verve Visual Thankful Accents & Forever in Our Hearts
Ink: VersaMagic Green, SU! Close to Cocoa, PTI Hibiscus Burst
Paper: PTI Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, SU! Old Olive, MME DP
Accessories: piercing tool, cuttlebug, pop dots, sponging