Happy Happy Birthday Honey

Today my husband turns 30!!! Does that make him an official adult? I always feel that we are still so young when we are in our 20s and that hitting 30 is really a crossing point into adult life. And within a couple weeks he'll be welcoming his first born! Here's to another decade, may it be filled with wise choices, great experiences and happy memories!

He's from Texas, so I try to give him a taste of home when his birthday hits. I like to pull out these sets....this one telling him that he's "GENUINE" The One & Only. I thought it suiting for his special day.

I roughed up the edges to make it look like the whole 'Genuine' bit was laying around for a while in someone's ledger book. I attached a lasso with a little library clip and added the jumbo eyelets for that aged look.

Sets: Wanted, Bronco Buster
Accessories:Western Sky DP, Ruby Red, River Rock & Blue Bayou cardstocks, Dk Brown EP, Rhinestone Brad, Library Clip, Hemp Twine, Jumbo Eyelet, Cutter Kit, Spiral Punch, Pencil w/OMS, Close to Cocoa Ink with Sponge

And for his birthday he is now the proud owner of his very first cowboy hat. How did he grow up in Texas without a hat?? He picked it out himself, so he knew that he was getting it, but now that he's 30 I'm sure he could handle the fact that he wasn't surprised :)

Our daughter even made a card for his birthday, she's pretty good. She used the pastels which I haven't pulled out in some time. That's what I need is reminding, I'm sure I'll have them out for one of my next cards now that I've seen them in use recently. She wanted to go with the Halloween theme, since his birthday is so close to the spook-tacular day.

She used the SU Home is Where the Haunt is set. She chalked the whole front and made it like cloud/fog haze around the moon. This was her own creation, as I was working on hubby's dinner at the time.

Note: Our daughter is 13 and she loves to craft. Right now her thing is beading necklaces and bracelets. I plan to have her share my Christmas craft fair table next year (not doing one this year with the baby coming). And yes, hubby loved his card. He's proud of what I do and always puts them on display :)

What began 50 years ago today...

Today is the 50th Anniversary of my parents nuptials! Without their coming together there wouldn't be me and my siblings....and our children and even a couple of great-grandchildren in the mix. Because of them, we have so many wonderful memories and have had great lives. They gave us all they could, provided well and taught us to love the Lord.

Dad passed away in '07, but even with his passing our family is just as strong and close. Mom is truly a treasure to us. She's so very active in all our lives....even mine through the great distance of 700 miles. We cherish each and every day that we are given to spend with her. Now, there are even more of those stories of 'remember when'. She is always telling me another tale of Dad, more for the memory bank. It's wonderful.

Anyway, I wanted to make her a special card for today.

This card is so soft and flowy. I don't know if that's me or Mom, lol. But, I am always having thoughts of her. Especially today as she thinks back to that special wedding day so long ago. Dad was in the Navy (as my husband now is) and they were married near Groton naval base in CT. He wore his dress blues and she wore a gown of white. They glowed!! Little did they know that they would have such a wonderful happy life together. If only everyone could have what they were able to share.

Thank you for everything Mom & Dad....and here's to the 50 years of memories!

I actually used the Soft Sky with my brayer for the base background. I have Soft Sky paper, but this seemed more watercolored. And I put my new Baja Breeze ribbon to use! It's really a great match for last seasons Soft Sky. I also don't own the Vanilla HP yet, but my UL Katrina sent me a couple samples as a treat and it was a perfect addition to this card.

Set: SU Sketches
Accessories: Creamy Caramel, Groovy Guava, Very Vanilla and Water Color papers, StazOn Black Ink, WC Pencils, Soft Sky Ink, Brayer, Baja Breeze Ribbon, Groovy Guava Ribbon, Vanilla HP, CB, Pretties & Stickles

October days...

October is a busy month for our family, another birthday today!! I found the "It's About Time" set at a yard sale and I had yet to use it, so with a birthday I decided to put it to use a bit. The two 'dials' are from that set. One is dial for October and the other for 24.

The sentiment says "CHEERS TO YOU It's your special day, Happy Birthday, You're the Greatest".

I put my patterns DP to use and even my Cuttlebug. I love using my Primas and even adding a touch of rhinestone. Just over all a fun card to put together.

Set: SU It's About Time & SU Lot's of Thoughts
Accessories: Always Artichoke & Sahara Sand cardstocks, Patterns Pack DP, Scallop Edge punch and Square Edge punch, Copper EP, Olive Organdy Ribbon, Rhinestone, Prima, Vintage Brad, Pencils w/OMS, CB

On another note, we went to our final concert of 2008 last night. Yup, we've seen so many this summer: Sugarland, Travis Tritt, Gary Allen, Gretchen Wilson, Blake Shelton w/Miranda Lambert...I know I'm missing a couple. Anyway, last night made my daughter's eyes light up, she was so excited and kept saying "Thank you Thank you Thank you" we never get that much appreciation from our teen. Last night was Carrie Underwood! She put on a great show. She's such an "American Girl" for real. But, my ever growing pregnant belly says that's it. I just can't imagine sitting through another concert. I was exhausted! I'm sure that my daughter is dragging at school today! It was a late night and we usually don't do that on school nights. Anyway, one month to go until I have this little boy of mine! I can't believe it and I'm super excited and scared at the same time!!

Maine Moose

Today is my little brother's birthday!!! Ok, he's not so little, he's...get this...3 years, 3 months and 3 days younger then me!! Yup, strange huh? But it's what makes our family normal, lol.

Anyway, he loves anything moose/bear....cabin, you know, outdoors. So, I dug out The Pines and put it to use. I got the idea from Allee's card and then made it my own. The moon behind the moose and the colors she used were great!

I love the Maine moose! Coming from Maine, I have seen them, and even near our house. One year a moose even kicked our poor dog. Good thing the dog had a hard head! They are such magnificently large quiet animals.

As far as those Canadian Geese...there are more here in Virginia then I've ever seen in Maine, but they are so pretty!!

Sets: Pines, Warmest Regards
Accessories: Marigold Morning, Chocolate Chip, True Thyme and Confetti Cream cardstocks, Marigold Morning, Chocolate Chip and True Thyme inks, Dark Brown EP, 1 3/8" Circle Punch for the moon masking, Large Oval Punch, Antique Brass HP, Chocolate Chip Twill Ribbon, Linen Thread

Play Ball!!

Last year I found myself at a great stamping yard sale and this set was sitting just waiting for me, I know it :) Well, last year I used it for both of my brother's birthday cards (they both have October birthdays) and I posted it on SCS and received so many positive remarks, that this year...with playoffs happening and the World Series right around the corner, I just had to recreate the card.

I made two different ones....the red will satisfy all those Red Sox and Phillies fans and the blue should make Tampa Bay and the Dodgers fans happy!!!

We are a Boston family!! So, that's who we are routing for....but either way, it's a fun American tradition.

Set: Take Me Out To the Ball Game (SU 2003)
Accessories: Rose Red/Night of Navy and Sahara Sand cardstocks. Dimensionals and the Cutter Kit for the rough edges.

World Card Making Day

Today, October 4th, is World Card Making Day...so I couldn't let the day go by without trying to get some of my inspiration back. I've been over at Splitcoaststampers following along with some of their challenges for today, which I did three of.....

This first one was a sketch, so I was able to do just about anything with it as long as it followed the layout. This is a stamp set I haven't used in quite a while. I'm a cat lover, so I can't let go of it, and it makes an appearance from time to time. I think he really has quite the independent attitude.

The set is called Catitude and I used So Saffron, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White and Pacific Point for my card stocks.

This next card was one where they gave us another stampers gallery and we had to take one of her cards and make a couple changes to it. She had used a camper, so I pulled out mine. I changed the colors, the stamp set...the saying, I thought this was just too cute!

I used the Happy Camper set. The papers were Apple Cider DP, Rally Rust and River Rock.

This next one was something I've never done before....finding inspiration from the cover of a catalog. This one was from the current cover of Coldwater Creek.

I used Lovely As A Tree, Season By Season & Pines for my stamps. My card stocks are True Thyme, Basic Black, Marigold Morning and Brushed Copper.

I hope you all got out your supplies today, or this weekend, and had some fun celebrating!

Happy Stampin'

Nursery bits.....

It didn't take too long to decide on a theme that we wanted for the nursery. With me, being from Maine and loving the coast...and my hubby being in the US Navy...nautical seemed like such a perfect choice.

As I work on the room, I'll share bits with you.


We decided on the Nautica William bedding (from Babies R Us). We've already purchased it, but it's not on the crib yet, so this is the stock photo:

There are sailboats in each of the navy blue squares on the quilt, so when we saw the dresser knobs at Lowes we knew they'd be perfect!!!

This dresser has been handed down for years. My mom had it for her first born, who is almost 50!! And I used it for my first born, I had it painted rose with lambs on it at that point. Well, that just won't do for a little bundle of blue, so my daughter painted it for us and the knobs were an excellent touch!!!

And years ago, Mom had taken a stenciling class and made me a beautiful mirror that I handed down to my daughter. Well, it was time for a change. It broke my heart, but I repainted it and embossed it for our new bundle:

Painted in the same shade of navy as the dresser and I used Stampin' UP! By Sea for the sailboats and my Whimsical Uppercase alphabet for his name. I was thinking it needed something else, but I just can't think of what else...without making it look over done??? I covered the mirror so you wouldn't have to see me taking the picture, lol. But, I was pleasantly surprised to see how easy it is to emboss on painted wood! It really did a beautiful job.