My First Blogging Award! Thanks Lisa!!

One of my Sisterhood of the Blogging Sisters bestowed the "Arte Y Pico" award to me and several other bloggers. Thanks Lisa!!

There are 5 rules attached to this and they are:

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone. Lisa's Blog can be found here

3)Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and the link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself

4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prizehave to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award. http://arteypico.blogspot.com/

5) To show these rules.The 5 blogs that I choose are:

Shelley

Roz

Jessica

Julie

Lynn

Thirty Years Later.... Hugs and Tears!

Some of you have already heard this story, but I'm so excited right now I have to share!

I'm sure we all can remember our first very best friend. You know from childhood, the one you really connected with, laughed with, played dolls with, went to the mall with, saw Grease with 13 times? Well, my very first best friend is Cathleen Vegvary. Now known as Cat. We were inseparable from 4th through 7th grades. She was an Air Force Brat.. and moved away at the end of 7th grade. We kept in touch through writing for about a year and then I lost her. I literally tried to find her for the last 30 years.

I tried phone books. No luck. Then the internet made it's debut and I found a phone number online for her dad back in 1994. I called him and he told me that he and Cat's mom had divorced and he was estranged from Cat and didn't know how to get in touch with her. When Classmates.com came out, I would try finding her through that search engine and never could find a match.

Last September my younger brother and only sibling died. I was making a scrapbook for the funeral services of my brothers life and was going through boxes of pictures and photo albums from when we were kids. I came across a photo of Cat and I playing jacks on the front porch at her house. I put the photo aside because I wanted to keep it, and for the life of me I don't know what I did with it. I'm sure it will turn up, but that's another day. She's always been in the back of mind and I've wanted to re-connect with her for so long.

One afternoon, December 6th to be exact, I was surfing the net and googling something. I decided to type her name into google and see what happened. Well, it brought me to a church website that listed her name and a phone number to contact regarding a program this church offered. I thought.. Oh God, this can't be. Her name is very unusual. I prayed I had found her!
I call the number listed on the website, thinking it's a church phone number but it was her cell phone. She answers...

Cat: Hello
Monica: Is this Cathleen Vegvary?
Cat: Yes it is...
Monica: You're going to think I'm crazy.. and I might not have the right Cathleen...
Cat... I'm the only Cathleen Vegvary I know of....
Monica: Did you live in Tampa when you were a child?
Cat: Um.. Yes...
Monica: Did you live in a neighborhood called Cherry Creek?
Cat: Oh My God! Is this Monica?????????????
Monica: YES (Screaming)
Cat and Monica ( Scream and Cry!) Oh My God...Oh My God.
Monica: I can't believe I found you!! I've been trying for 30 years!!!

We talked on the phone for 4 hours that night!
Talk almost every day now...

Fast forward to today:

Cat flew in to town to help her Aunt and Uncle move this weekend. Her Aunt and Uncle live 3 miles from my house. I work until 8pm everynight and after I got off work tonight I went to see her! It was totally awesome seeing her and hugging her and crying with her!! Tears of joy!

She's going to be staying here 3 extra days to spend with me! I am so excited and can't wait to spend time with her and catch up. My parents are so excited to see her again too!

Sorry for the long ramble... but I wanted to tell the world! I'll post some pictures of this weekend. Sorry no cards to share tonight!

Attention: All Sisters of the Blogging Stampers 15

I am the group admin for our SBS-15 group! I'm really excited to get to know you all and think we're are going to have a blast together!

I have created a yahoo group for us. This is where we can share more information with each other, post challenges, RAK's and other ideas.

Please email me so I can send you an invitation to join. This is a private group and only accessible if you are in SBS-15.

I'd love to be able to do card swaps, send Birthday greetings to each other and just lots of fun stuff!

Come join me! Email me at riverviewstamper@gmail.com or click the button below and request to join!



alt="Click here to join SBS-15" />
Click to join SBS-15


Thanks!!

Amanda's Slider Card

Just wanted to post a picture of this beautiful card that Amanda made at my house when she came over to stamp on Saturday night..

I love this card!

My First SU Demo Swap

I joined a Demo Swap on SCS and have to get my cards in the mail tomorrow.
This was alot of fun and I can't wait to get back the other cards. I know they will be awesome!

Here's a picture of the card I made.. (ten of them to be exact, 9 for the swap and 1 for me to keep.)



Here's the card details:

Cardstock: Whisper White,Groovy Guava, River Rock and DP Bali Breeze
Ink: Black Stazon and Certainly Celery
Stamps: SU Touch of Nature- I used the flower and the tree stamps
Ribbon- SU White Gosgrain
Accessories: SU Scallop Punch, Snail Adhesive and glue dots.

I used Groovy Guava as my card base. I stamped the tree stamp with Certainly Celery on the River Rock cardstock. I cut the DP into 2 1/2" strips and then punched the scallop punch through it. The flower was stamped on Whisper White and colored with Prisma Colored Pencils.
Placed and adhered the flower image to the DP strips so the flower is nicely showing through the scallop punch. Fold the ends around the card and adhere with glue dots. Tie the Ribbon on and your done. :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also want to share some cards with you that were made at my house last week. I invited a couple of co-workers over after work to make Easter Cards. My friend Carla made her first 3 cards and she did a wonderful job. She's really catching on fast and even though she swears she doesn't have a " artsy crafty" bone in her body.. she did great!
Thanks for stopping by! I love visitors :-)

Productive Day!

I had a busy day today! Between running errands, I made my way to Joann's and made a few purchases there for my stamping addiction. I made 6 cards today and thought I'd share a few of them with you.

• The first two are sympathy cards. My friend Amanda came over to stamp with me tonight and she brought all her embossing supplies.( that's my next purchase!)
  
• The third card is a Bella and I just love her!
  
• Last card is another Easter Card I made.
  

Sorry the photos are so bad. I'm going to try to find something to help with my photos.

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Easter! I hope you all enjoy your time with family!

Sisterhood of the Blogging Stampers 15

This is my little introdruction to the group of my new sistahs! I just joined this new group!

My name is Monica and I'm a stamping, scrapping addict! I've been scrapping for about 8 years and stamping for 3 months! Right now I am totally consumed with everything stamping and cardmaking and I love it. I am married, for almost 21 years and have two wonderful children. My son is 19 and my daughter turns 18 in two weeks. So my babies aren't babies anymore. I love crafting and meeting new friends. I just signed up as a SU demo and am loving my new hobby.

Other things I enjoy, spending time with family, traveling, Football and photography!
I'm really looking forward to getting to know all of my new Sisters!!

Better Late Than Never!

Ok, last night I promised to have some photos of my Easter Cards.. I finished 3 tonight. Hope you like them! Sorry so short.. it's late and I'm heading to bed. Will post more tomorrow :-)

Monday, Monday...

I don't have any pictures to share tonight.. but I was productive in getting some Easter Cards made.

I am busy coloring my images and have all the matting and card embellishments ready to go. A few of the ladies at work wanted me to make some cards for them!

Today was a busy day at work. I came home, ate dinner and then got my SU order placed for the last minute SAB orders! Then I watched The Bachelor! Yes, I'm one of those addicted to this show. We'll see how this season turns out and if it keeps my interest.

I hope to have some cards to show you all tomorrow night!

Have a great day tomorrow :-)

Happy Mail Weekend!!

My new cuttlebug folders arrived on Saturday and my new Bellas got here on Friday! I'm so excited. I can't wait to make cards with Diploma Bella.. since my daughter is graduating this year this will make perfect cards for all the girls she hangs out with.

I'm loving my new cuttlebug folders too! I'm hoping to post lots of cards this week to share with you all.

I got absolutely no stamping done this weekend except for Friday night. I invited Amanda and Becky, my co-workers over and we made easter cards :-) I showed them how to use the Prisma Color pencils with the OMS and we had a great time!

Hope you all had a great weekend!!

My Baby's Senior Prom...

My baby girl.. dressed up for her Senior Prom.

A close up :-)

Kristina and Mallory-BFF!

All the girls... The group shot.

60 Questions from Jenn!

60 Things You Possibly Didn't Know About Me (not really 60, missing questions are ones Dawn didn't put on her blog)
1. What is in the back seat of your car right now? CD Case, Leather jacket, umbrella and some SU catalogs.
2. When was the last time you threw up? About two weeks ago.
3. What's your favorite curse word? Frickin...learned it from all the Marines I know!
4. Name 3 people who made you smile today? Kristina my daughter who looked so gorgeous in her Prom attire, my husband Bennie and my dog max!
5. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? sleeping
6. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? dowloading the 177 pictures I took of the kids in their prom attire.
7. What will you be doing 3 hours from now? making some cards
8. Have you ever been to a strip club? no
9. What is the last thing you said aloud? Told my hubby about my conversation with Kevin. ( He's my daughter's boyfriend who is in the Marines and couldn't take her to prom tonight :-( )
10. What is the best ice cream flavor? Haagen Daz- Bananas Fostoer
11. What was the last thing you had to drink? Diet Coke
12. What are you wearing right now? shorts and a tank top
13. What was the last thing you ate? french bread pizza.. actually eating it now
14. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? no.. I spend my money on stamping and scrapping supplies!
15. When was the last time you ran? in 8th grade at P.E. LOL
16. What's the last sporting event you watched? Superbowl
18. Who is the last person you emailed? Kelly
19. Ever go camping? yes...
20. Do you have a tan? not at the moment.. I'll start working on it soon!
24. Do you drink your soda from a straw? only if I get a to go cup. At home, no.
25. What did your last IM say? Told Joni I would TTYL
26. Are you someone's best friend? yes, Kelli Pittman and Cathleen Vegvary!
27. What are you doing tomorrow? Grocery Shopping, laundry and going to mom and dad's for dinner.
28. Where is your mom right now? at home watching Fox News.. that's all she watches. ;-)
29. Look to your left, what do you see? The dining room table.
30. What color is your watch? don't wear one
31. What do you think of when you think of Australia ? Keith Urban :-D
32. Would you consider plastic surgery? only if I were morbidly wounded
33. What is your birthstone? Ruby
34. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? mostly drive through but occasionally I eat in.
35.How many kids do you want? I have 2... wanted 3 but Hubby didn't.
36. Do you have a dog? yes, Max a Rotweiler. He's my baby! Have a cat too.
37. Last person you talked to on the phone? Kevin
38. Have you met anyone famous? yes, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood,
39. Any plans today? well it's 10:00 pm.. my plans are now to relax and make a few cards.
40. How many states have you lived in? 1 - Florida
41. Ever go to college? yes but never finished.
42. Where are you right now? at home in the living room which is also my scrap area
43. Biggest annoyance in your life right now? working till 8pm at night! I hate getting off so late. But.. I do like sleeping in each morning..
44. Last song listened to? More Than A Memory- Garth Brooks
46. Are you allergic to anything? Penicillin
47. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time? at home my blue "reef" flip flops and at work my brown boots.
48. Are you jealous of anyone? Yes, Shelley cause she's an awesome cardmaker and has the most awesome stamping studio!
50. Is anyone jealous of you? if they are, I don't know about it.
51. What time is it? 9:59pm
52. Do any of your friends have children? yes
53. Do you eat healthy? i each much healthier than I used to since I found out I'm diabetic.
54. What do you usually do during the day? work..UGH
55. Do you hate anyone right now? No, I don't hate anyone. Dislike maybe..but not hate.
56. Do you use the word 'hello' daily? yes..several times a day!
58. How old will you be turning on your next birthday? 43
59. Have you ever been to Six Flags? no
60. How did you get one of your scars? on the tip of my thumb, I cut the tip off when I was 11 years old cutting an orange. Had to get stitches to sew it back on.

Getting to know me....

Here's a fun little questionnaire I've found on several blogs lately. I thought I'd join in.

I'm going to tag the following people to answer these questions too!

Joni, Maria, Shelley, Jenn, Wendy, Amanda H.,



1. If your doctor told you TODAY that you were pregnant, what would you say?
I'd better leave town.. my hubby had a vasectomy!

2. When was the last time you flew in a plane? November 2007, to go see Garth Brooks in concert in Kansas City! I flew to Tulsa OK and drove to KC with friends!

3. What did the last text message you sent say? " Why don't you answer when I call you?" to my daughter!

4. What features do you find most attractive in the opposite sex? I love eyes, chest and mouth!

5. What is a goal you would like to accomplish in the near future? De-clutter my house.

6. Shoe size? 8

7. Been to Mexico? No, but hope to someday when I go on a cruise!

8. When is the last time you had a massage? Don't remember the date but about 2 years ago.

9. What was the last TV show you watched? American Idol

10. What are your plans for the weekend? My daughter has her Senior Prom tonight so we'll be spending the day getting ready, and I'm taking pictures of a group of about 20 kids before prom. Tonight I plan to make some cards and tomorrow I hope to get some crafting in too!

11. If your significant other asked you to marry them TODAY what would you say? Yes.

12. What is in the back seat of your car right now? My CD case, a leather jacket, umbrella and Stampin' Up catalogs!

13. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? Sleeping soundly :-)

14. If you could marry any celebrity today who would it be? I don't think anyone really strikes me right now. Back in my younger days I would have said Tom Cruise, but he's become so weird I have totally changed my mind about him. Can't think of anyone.

15. Have you ever been to a strip club? I have been to a male review at a local Country Bar years ago, but I've never been to a " strip club".

16. What is the best ice cream flavor? They don't make it anymore :-( It was Haagen Daz- Bananas Foster ice cream. God I LOVED that ice cream!

17. What is the last sporting event you watched? Superbowl 42

18. Ever go camping? once or twice, I try to avoid it... Holiday Inn is more my style! LOL

19. Last phone call? To my daughter to discuss Prom events today..

20. Are you allergic to anything? penicillin.

21. What is one thing you have learned about life recently? Life is very short. Cherish every moment you have with your family and friends because you never know when those you love and hold dear will leave this earth.

22. What do you do at work? I work in the escalated correspondence department and respond to letters and resolve customers issues.

23. What is your mom's name? I call her Momma but her name is Annelore. (pronounced Anna-Lora) She is german and I LOVE her name. Most people just call her Ann.

24. Ever cried for no reason? All the time! I cry at the drop of a hat.. especially during movies, or TV shows that are emotional.

25. Can you do the Crank Dat dance? No, but I'm sure my daughter can! LOL

26. What is your favorite color to wear? Coral and turquoise.

27. What is the longest plane ride you have ever been on? Tampa to Dusseldorf, Germany to visit my mom's family.

28. What is the longest road trip you have ever taken? Tampa to New York City.

29. What are your turn-offs? people who don't look at you when they talk to you. Mean People, and people who think the world owes them something.

30. What was your last alcoholic beverage? glass of wine

31. What are you craving right now? A steak from Outback Steakhouse.

One another subject....

Tonight is my daughters Senior Prom. I'll be posting some pictures later tonight of her in her dress! Stay tuned!

Stamping With Shelley!

Tonight after I got off work, I went to my friend Shelley's house to do a little stamping and card making! OMG.. it was so much fun!

Maria and Shelley put together some great cards and had stations set up for creating each one. I absolutely love every card I made there tonight..

Here's what I made!

The first card was from Maria.. a slider card! So cool! Love this technique!

This card is a gate fold card.. really easy to make!

Here's another of Maria's cards.. Love the patterned paper she picked!

I have no idea what this card above is called, but it was very cool to make.
This card above is probably my favorite of the night. I love the colors and the flower stamp! It's part of the All About Nature set from SU! This is definately on my list of purchases now!

Thanks for looking! Leave a comment and tell me which one is your favorite!

My Friend Needs A Pickup...

Happy Monday everyone!

The weekend was way to short as usual. My Hubby and I went to see Jersey Boys at the Tampabay Performing Arts Center last night. My parents treated us to the tickets and we joined them along with my Aunt and Uncle. It was a great show! Loved the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. If you get a chance to go see it.. do! Well worth it.

I made a card tonight for a co-worker who had a really bad day today at work. She's such a sweet girl and she poured her heart out to me tonight about some issues she's having with some of our other co-workers. :-(

I thought this would be a nice little "pick-up" for her.

Card Recipe:

Cardstock: SU Pink Passion and DCWV Yellow Cardstock that I embossed with the Cuttlebug
Papertrey White for stamped images

Stamps: SU Loads of Love
Brads: Joann's and Ribbon ( not sure by who)
Sentiment reads: " Thought you could use a pickup"

Thanks for looking!

Leave me a comment, I love to know who's reading!

Saturday Happenings

Today is a busy day! I had a bridal shower to attend this morning and it was a great shower! I haven't been to a bridal shower in YEARS! Shows hold old I'm getting.

My daughter Kristina pictured here is a Senior this year and next weekend is her prom! This picture was from last years Military Ball. I have to take her to the mall to get a dress for the prom. Not looking forward to shopping with her. She is soooooooo picky and takes FOREVER to pick something out.

Tomorrow, my hubby and I are going to see Jersey Boys at the Tampabay Performing Arts Center with my parents and my Aunt and Uncle. I'm really looking forward to it.

I Got The Bug!!

Yes.. I finally got it! The Cuttlebug! I'm so excited. This will really add some umph and fun to my cardmaking!
I've been eyeing this bad boy for months. Joann's has them on sale this week and all the embossing folders were on sale too!

I have a bridal shower to go to tomorrow and other than that, I plan on doing nothing but stamping this weekend! Can't wait to show you some of my creations!

Need an excuse to buy fun stampin’ stuff

once a month?

Join my monthly Stamp Club! Collect all the items on your never-ending wish list by placing a $20 net total order each month for 8 months. Reap the hostess benefits once a year. This club will run from

March 2008 through October 2008.

Why would you want to join?

1. This is a great way to build up your supplies gradually. Soon you will have a great collection of stamping products. We can have actual workshops each month or just make it a “virtual workshop”. You decide.

2. Everyone gets their turn to be the “hostess”. This means you collect HOSTESS BENEFITS! You’ll get at least one stamp set plus $20 in free product on your hostess month. (You could get a lot more!) I will draw names to assign the months as soon as I have 8 participants.

3. When you sign up for the club, you receive a copy of both the Spring-Summer Catalog and the Fall-Winter Catalog (That’s a total $20 value!)

Email me at riverviewstamper at gmail dot com if you are interested!

Productive Night!

I have some cards to share with you tonight! I have been so busy the past week I haven't made my birthday cards I've been needing to send out. I sat down tonight and put together three cards.

First note, I am so excited to be receiving my Stampin' Up Starter Kit tomorrow! Can't wait for the Brown Man to get here! Even though my hubby works for UPS, I always tease him that our delivery guy is just too cute! ( but I still think my personal brown man is the cutest!)

The cards I've made so far don't have alot of Stampin Up products on them. I've just started stamping in the last two months and am just acquiring all of my tools and products. After tomorrow you should see LOTS of Stampin' Up colors, stamps and bling on my cards!

So, the first two birthday cards I made, I used the flower from the SAB- Merci stamp set. I also used the Happy Birthday stamp from So Many Scallops and my new scallop punch which arrived today!

The third card was made with a stamp set I bought at StampFest a couple of weeks ago. This bunny is sooooo cute. It's an Easter Stamp Set but also came with some birthday sentiments inside too. This stamp set is from Darcie's. Love their stuff! I'll be showcasing some more of their stamp sets in the future.

I used Black Stazon Ink and my Prismacolor Pencils with OMS to color the cards. The bunny card also has stickles to give it a little punch!

Thanks for looking!

New Occasions Mini Catalog Is Out!

March 1st the Stampin'Up Occassions Mini Catalog debuted! There are some great sets in here!

I'm going to place an order soon and will post some of my new creations here for you all to see.

If you would like to place a Stampin Up order, email me at riverviewstamper at gmail dot com!

Don't forget Sale-A-Bration is still going on until March 17th. Any order over $50 gets a free stamp set or rub-on from the SAB brochure.

The Winner Is....

Kelly!!

I had my DD pull names from everyone who entered and you are the lucky winner of my Pay It Forward!

Kelly, please email me your details...address etc so I can mail you your goodies!

Thanks everyone for playing!