TAGGED!

How exciting - I'd seen so many others tagged...and now I've been tagged by Karrie Winters (check out her blog here....http://creativehappenings.blogspot.com).

Now I need to tag 5 others; I think all of these have been tagged and there are SO MANY I visit daily, but here goes (wow; hard to pick just 5!!!):

Taylored Expressions (http://tayloredexpressions.blogspot.com/index.html)
Prairie Paper & Ink (http://prairiepaperandink.typepad.com/amyr/)
Stamping and Stuff (http://emilygiovanni.com/)
Ashley's Creative Corner (http://ashleyscreativecorner.blogspot.com/index.html)
Belle Papier (http://bellepapier.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/)

I seem to be having trouble with blogger these past couple of days; so I hope everything shows up correctly!?!

Thanks Karrie; I'm honored!

Bella Addiction!

I've had some time to play this week - mainly filling orders...you can tell I'm addicted to the Bella Chicks eh? (purchased from www.stampingbella.com)

Nothing fancy; just playing with new designer paper and long notes from Stampin' Up. Time to move on past the bellas....for a few days! LOL

Thanks for peeking in; hope you have a great weekend!!! ~M.

More of Frizzybella

WOW...what a week! I committed to a project for my children's school - typically not a big deal; however, I had less than 1 week to complete the project (and I'll admit, I was totally ignorant as to 'what' exactly this project was). The last few pieces for the project came in Wednesday night at 9:30 p.m....the entire project had to be done by Thursday a.m. Since I work outside the home full-time, this was like ANOTHER full-time job. Urgh....I stayed up one night till 11:30; then the next night (Wednesday), I was up till 3 A.M...............

OK folks...I need my beauty rest or I become one cranky momma! AND I never had a chance to create a single thing this week.

I had stamped several Frizzybellas which I purchased from www.stampingbella.com last week or so and I got an order in of some new things. SO....when the kids were in bed and I had some household chores done, I ran downstairs to make a quick card. Nothing fancy, just having fun!

The base card for Frizzybella is Stampin' Up's So Saffron long notes, layered with designer paper that I distressed; the rest was just coloring and having some fun. I love, love, love the saying on the card "Those shoes make you look so skinny!" ROFL

The close up of Ms. Frizzybella is a bit blurry, but hopefully you can see the extra *BLING* she has....doesn't every girl need some extra BLING!?! She has belly button bling and some dazzling diamonds on her pink purse.

Hope you have a great weekend; thanks for peeking in! ~M.

Thinking of you

My best friend is an oncology nurse - she rocks as do ALL the girls in her office. It breaks my heart; I fear they see more death than life; but they do a fantastic job of handling their load.

Needless to say, they need more "Thinking of you" and "Sympathy" cards than any other so I put this one together last week. The base card is tempting turquoise layered with some designer paper from Stampin' Up. The circle is actually punched from the polka dot designer paper; then I stamped the flower in regal rose and highlighted with glitter on white cardstock and put behind the designer paper. I then punched the scalloped circle and cut out the 'inside' of the circle and laid just the scalloped part over my circle.

Is that clear as mud? Added "Thinking of you" in Close to Cocoa and a sympathy saying on the inside. Hopefully one of the girls can use it. The glitter is hard to see in the scan; but looks great IRL.

Hope you each had a fantastic Easter. Thanks for hopping on over; have a great week! ~M.

A big day for our little one!

We have one "oopsie" in the family - I always wondered how people turned up pregnant when they weren't planning it. LOL Well, I don't wonder that anymore, as we have one of those! Our last babe was a red-headed little boy - he's now 7.

He shot his first turkey today; he is sooooo proud! Lots of pictures for you to see - note...the turkey is as big as he is! For those that have hubbies, boyfriends or brothers that love to hunt, here are the details:

Weight: 21 1/2 lbs.
Beard Length: 9 1/2"
Spurs: 7/8"

Fun with Bellas!

This is a fun little card I did using the shopabella girls - aren't they adorable? Purchased from www.stampingbella.com. The girls are colored with Prismacolors & Odorless Mineral Spirits; both the girls and the striped paper are layered on Close to Cocoa paper; then layered on top of some designer paper from Stampin' Up which I ran through my Big Shot using Cuttlebug's D'Vine Swirls. I accented the swirls with Close to Cocoa ink; then added some flowers, rhinestones and a brad. The inside of the card says "Have a nice day...the Retail Therapy way!". Too funny, huh?

This young lady is frizzybella; she's pretty darn cute too huh? She's layered on Basic Grey paper. The purses are cut from the same Basic Grey Paper and a rhinestone was added to the purse on the left. I added some Prima flowers with a blue brad; the background of the card is stamped with purses because the inside says: "Life is cheap. It's the accessories that will kill you."

The last card is also frizzybella with different colored hair - lol! Pretty much the same card; but more Basic Grey paper included. I doodled the edges of the card and added a rhinestone as her belly ring. The inside of this card says "Those shoes make you look so skinny.".

Update on Lizzie

4:45 p.m. update: Our dear daughter chose to be present as Lizzie was put to rest; she was able to spend time with her prior and brushed her and loved on her. She brought Lizzie's collar home and hasn't put it down yet. The tears come quick, but she's a strong, strong girl. Dad and her buried Lizzie in a very special place. They also found some pictures of Lizzie when she was a puppy, some of our daughter holding her, etc. They are VERY cute!!! Our daughter was in 1st grade when we got Lizzie as a puppy; they've grown up together...almost!

Anyway, the worst of today is over; although the pain will linger for quite some time. Thanks for sharing through our difficult time!

Click here for the original post....Lizzie is now bleeding internally; there is nothing else the vet or we can do to save this young lab's life. Our oldest daughter said last night her heart is breaking in half - I'm certain it feels that way. My DH will pick our daughter up today after school and they will visit Liz before she's put to rest. Our oldest has asked if we can bury her in our yard; she wants her as close as possible. Ah.....the tears come so quickly; we're so attached to our furry friends.

Anyway, thank you for your prayers!

Mom's "Other" Retirement Cards

These are a distant view of the 'other' thank you cards I made for my mom. All the base cards were pre-printed, I added the saying on the outside "Life is not a matter of counting years, it's a matter of making years count"...since she was there almost 36 years, I thought that was appropriate.
The inside of all the cards says "Heartfelt thanks". I added the blue dots on the striped card; they weren't there before. On some I added lines and dots in blue or white - just lots of different things and they are all mounted a bit different. :)
Hope she likes these too - these will be for her co-workers.
Congratulations mom; we're soooo excited for you.
Have a great day; thanks for peeking in!!! ~M.

Retirement Thank You's

It's official!!! My mom is retired; after almost 36 years at the SAME place - voila - she's done. Now she'll be sleeping late, eating bon bon's, watching soap operas, staying up late.....that is until I call her to watch the grandbabes! HA HA
We are all delighted my mom has retired; we're praying for some great years for dad and her to enjoy one another and their grandchildren. They have 6 grandchildren, ages 17, 13, 11, 9, 7 and 1....now let me explain....I did mine all together (11, 9 and 7); it's my crazy brother and his wife that started over with the 1 year old. LOL! Just kidding; he's A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!! It really is fun having a little one around...particularly when you can hand them back to someone else. **snort**
These cards are for the Board of Directors; tried to do something a bit classier than my normal 'whimsical' creations...a bit out of my comfort zone; but I thought they turned out nice and I hope she likes them.
Most are patterned paper layered on a white card, layered on black backing...some have ribbon, some have brads, some have various punches - whatever I thought looked good. ALL the "thank you's" you see on the cards are rub ons!!! :) The envelopes are stamped with "Heartfelt thanks".
I also made some others for her co-workers - they're like family to her; hopefully I'll get those posted tomorrow.
Thanks for peeking in; have a great weekend. ~M.

Liz - our oldest's blessing

This is Liz - isn't she adorable? She's a black lab, 4.5 years old; but very, very sick. My DH and our oldest went to see her at the vet's office this morning - they left at 6:45 a.m.; she's been there for almost 1 week, she hasn't eaten for 11 days and if not for the fluids they were giving her, we would have lost her long ago!!!
If you click on the picture, you can probably see that the white part of her eyes are now yellow. The inside of her ears are yellow....all signs that her liver is shutting down. After all the tests have been run; they believe she has the worst case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever possible - it's destroying her liver.
She has lots of swelling in her back legs and her stomach is horribly distended just past her ribs; but thankfully you can't see most of that in this picture. They thought they had gotten a picture of our oldest with her, but it didn't come out on the camera, so not sure what happened.
There is one antibiotic that works well against this disease; however, it is only made orally and since Liz can't keep anything down, she can't take the antibiotic. :(
Last night when I visited with our daughter about Liz's condition, she talked about the dog-walking business she had started and how she started it all because of Liz. Now mind you, she typed the flyers herself, walked around the neighborhood handing them out, hasn't had a single client; but I'm SO STINKING PROUD OF HER; what a thing for an 11 yr. old to do!
Today is Yappy Days - a big day for dogs, all kinds of stuff going on; but our DD doesn't have the heart to go and that's okay. It only makes her sad.
Will we get to keep Liz? We don't know; the vet is still very guarded and by looking at her the answer looks as if it's no. But that's okay, we believe in miracles, but more than that, we believe in prayer; so we'll leave it with God, because he knows the plans he has for us...and our delightful animal friends!!
I hope to have some new cards posted this weekend; I have lots to get done! Thanks for stopping by!! ~M.