Don't Forget.....

To Vote today!!!

I'm not into posting my political views here on my blog... but I do encourage EVERYONE TO VOTE!!!

On another note, today I had a outpatient surgical procedure done so I haven't felt up to crafting today. I slept most of the day and am hoping tomorrow I will feel up to creating a few cards since I have the day off for recuperating.

I have been blurfing most of the evening and boy I've seen some beautiful creations tonight. There are lots of new releases coming out and one that I am really excited about is from My Favorite Things. Check out this sneak peek on Michelle's blog!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great Election Day!

Long Weekend, Scrapbooking and I Won Candy! Yippee!

Well, for all of us here in the USA, it's our long 3 day Memorial Day Weekend which officially starts off the summer. Take a moment to honor and remember all the Service men and women who serve, have served and died for our country. My husband and my brother both served our country as well as my two of my uncles and one cousin. My daughter's boyfriend is in the Marines and we have several very close friends who are serving. Hi to Patrick in Iraq, CJ in China, Darrius in Japan and Kevin in California! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for all you do!

I don't have any new projects to share with you tonight, but I have been scrapbooking all evening! I've got to finish my daughter's scrapbook....two weeks to graduation. I'm feeling the pressure of getting it done. I'll post some photos tomorrow :-)

I'm so excited!! I won a new stamp set from My Favorite Things! I love the stamp set I just purchased last weekend and can't wait to play with the cupcake stamps I won!!

My parents are celebrating their 44th Wedding Anniversary on Monday and I plan to make them a card. I will get that posted when I finish the card.

I'll be posting some exciting blog candy next week...so stay tuned!

I'm In Love.......

with my new purchases this weekend! I went with my friends Amanda and Lynn to the craft show on Saturday. I bought some embossing tools and powders, eyelets and two picture frames at the craft show.

Then we headed over to Lakeland to check out a Stamp and Scrapbook Store that we'd never been to. I found some cute stamps there and bought a set of Circle Nesties! The DP is from BoBunny and its beautiful!

Next was a trip to Michaels to buy my box of 120 PrismaColor Pencils! I used the 50% off coupon.. Yippee!! I already sharpened them all, have a callus/blister on my thumb now from doing so, and colored the above images today to make the card shown above.

I cased this card from an example at the store I bought them from. I really like how it turned out!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Thanks for looking!

Proud Mom!!!

Nothing crafty to post tonight.. Sorry!

Tonight my daughter was inducted into the National Technical Honor Society! She has worked so hard to accomplish this goal. At the beginning of the school year she said " Mom, I want to graduate with Honors and I'm going to work my tail of to do it" Today she found out she made the NTHS. She gave me two hours notice today at work to get to her ceremony! I made it in time and was so proud of her!

Way to Go Kristina!!

In other news, I received two swap packages from my SBS-15 sistahs today. Pam and Jessica, your packages arrived!

I also received an awesome package full of Magnolia stamped images from Amy!! She was kind enough to answer a post I made on SCS asking to swap images with someone. I will take a photo of the images tomorrow and share them.. I can't wait to color them and play!!

Tomorrow night, I'm going to make some cards and maybe even scrapbook. I'll have some pictures to post this weekend!

TTFN!!

Stampin' Up... Great News

Effective today, I can accept credit cards as payments for your orders! I know that's good news to quite a few of my customers.

If you'd like to place an order, please let me know. I can have the order shipped directly to you!

PIF and I've been tagged!

One of the bloggers that I follow daily is Charlene McKenzie and she was giving away a PIF and I was one of the winners of her PIF contest. Charlene has some beautiful cards, scrapbook pages and other crafts on her blog. I love her style! Go visit her and see what you think! Leave her a comment if you stop by!


I'm so excited..I love blog candy! :-) So, stay tuned for another round of PIF ( Pay It Forward) to show up here on my blog in the next few days...

Charlene also tagged me... so I have to re-post this and pick 7 new people to tag!

7 Things Game


The Rules for 7 Things:

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

These are my 7 things.....

1. I love ladybugs
2. When I was three years old I stuck black eyed peas up my nose and had to go to the ER to have them removed.
3. My favorite color is blue
4. I was born in Florida and have lived here all my life. (unusual..most people move here!)
5. My pet peeve is people that don't look at you when they are talking to you or you are talking to them.
6. I LOVE Thunderstorms and rain.
7. I am diabetic.

I am going to tag....

Robyn

Kelly

Roz

Allison

Theresa

Claudia

Christy


Here's a couple more of the layouts I made over the weekend...

Some Layouts from This Weekend

I still have the journalling to do on these layouts. I am going to do them on the computer and then add them to the pages. My favorite is the top layout. :)

You Have Got To See This!!!

I am totally in love with Bella Stamps. I am an avid reader of Lauren's blog and today she posted the MOST AMAZING Bella card I've EVER seen! Please take the time to read the post along with viewing the card!

Isn't that the best card?? Tell me what you think!

Stampin Links To Love

I volunteered to help Allison with her wonderful Blog Links website. If you've never seen her blog, you need to check it out!

Allison has an abundance of Stampers blogs that she monitors daily for new posts such as Blog Candy, Tutorials, Challenges, Sketches and Favorites. She's created a new blog called Stampin Links to Love where all these wonderful posts are condensed into categories for everyone to view in one place.

I use Google Reader to view all the blogs I love reading. Some people also use Bloglines. Either one works great.

One of the options on my sidebar on the right is my shared items. If I see a post on another blog I want to share with others, I place it there. Check it out.. there's lots of neat topics and beautiful card designs there.

You can always click on the icons in my sidebar to visit the Stampin Links To Love site too!

Just Another Manic Monday...

Today was a crazy day at work. I came home and my daughter was finishing up her Senior Scrapbook that she has to make for her English class. I'm really proud of the job she did. She's gotten very creative.. stamping and all kinds of embellishments on her pages.

It's was supposed to be due today, but the teacher told them today that they have until Friday. Kinda ticks me off cause we busted our butts this weekend gathering all the photos, me editing her essays, etc.

I was able to make a card tonight while Kristina was scrapping. I really like how it turned out!

It's a 5 x5 card..

Cardstock: Choc Chip, Pretty In Pink and Basic Grey Sultr,. Papertrey White
Stamps: SU- A Touch of Nature
Ink: Black Stazon and Ranger Distressing Ink
Access: Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, MM Eyelets, dimensionals and SU Hemp Twine

Thanks for looking!

Where does the week go??

I can't believe it's almost the weekend! I have been so busy this week with family and work, I have had NO time to stamp or do anything!

I thought I'd share a picture of my dear hubby and me dancing at last weekend's wedding. The DJ asked all the married couples to get out on the dance floor and then he started asking how long each couple had been married. Bennie and I were the 4th to the last couple left with almost 21 years of marriage. The grooms grandparents were the winners with 54 years of marriage! It was really kind of neat. My daughter took this picture of us :-)

The picture above is my daughter Kristina and her boyfriend Kevin. I LOVE him in his dress blues... He flew back to California today after being home for a week. It's always so sad to say goodbye to him. Luckily he'll be back in June for Kristina's high school graduation. Then he'll be home sometime in August before he deploys to Iraq in September. I pray everyday that some miracle happens and he won't have to go. I know if he does, I'm going to have lots of cards to send over to him and his unit buddies. I've already told him about the cards for the troops campaign and he will gladly pass them out when I send them to him!

Tomorrow night I have two girlfriends coming over to scrap and stamp. I have got to get Kristina's scrapbook finished by graduation. I'll post some pictures tomorrow night!

Until then... happy stamping and scrapping!

I've been MIA!! Sorry!

LCPL Kevin Lowe escorting his mother and mother of the bride down the aisle. Kevin is my daughter's boyfriend. I love this young man!!

I love this moment I caught of Kevin and his sister. Such emotion!

The Bride made her entrance in a horse and carriage! It was beautiful!

Wow.. it's been since Friday since I've last blogged! I had a really busy weekend. My daughter's boyfriend who is in the Active Duty Marines came home for his sister's wedding which was on Saturday. It was a beautiful wedding and I'll post a few pictures here later when I get home.

I did attempt to make a card last night, but got stuck. Does that ever happen to you? I can visualise how I want the card to come out, but it just wasn't happening. That happens sometimes when I scrapbook. I have to walk away from the page and come back. I'm hoping to finish it tonight and post a photo too!

I'll be back in a bit!

TTYL!

Birthday Card For My Baby

My baby... Kristina will turn 18 years old in about 10 minutes. April 4, 1990, she was born and the angels sang! She is the light of my life and I can't believe she now a young woman. I am so proud of her and her accomplishments so far in life. She will graduate from High School in June and will graduate with honors.

I made this Bella card for her and she LOVES Bella! I used my cuttlebug Happy Birthday embossing folder and some cool DP from DCWV. The flowers are brads and I used dimensionals to place Bella on the card and make her pop. The decorative punch at the bottom is by Martha Stewart Crafts.

Thanks for looking!

Me and Cat

We had such a great time this weekend laughing, reminiscing and running around our old neighborhood.

Here's a few pictures to share:
This is the entrance to the old neighborhood we grew up in. I was really disappointed. The neighborhood was really run down and lots of the houses were just not kept up well at all. My old house was this awful Pepto Bismol Pink! YUCK!!! Cat's house still looked good!

Last night, Cat and I decided to see if we could still play jacks as well as we did when we were 10. I bet you can guess the results! We've been out of practice a long time! Oh.. and long, fake nails make it extremely hard to play jacks!


Dad took this picture of us this morning before I took her to the airport. I had a blast and am so HAPPY to have found Cathleen!!

Thanks for looking! I hope to spend some time this week stamping and will have some cards to share tomorrow night!

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!

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 :-)

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!