A New Beginning...

I feel like I've been through the wringer today. I dropped Ryan off at his first day of school. It didn't start out too well. I woke him up and he was NOT a happy camper. But, as soon as he went outside and saw the girls (the quadruplets across the street), he was all excited. Everyone was taking pictures and we piled in the cars and drove up to school. (Yes, I'm the paranoid mom who won't let her kid ride the bus. I taught long enough to know that the bus is NOT a good place to be...) Anyway, we walked the kids up to the door. We took another shot. Here they are altogether.

Then, they took him by the hand and led him inside. Now that they are second graders they are pros. ;)

He didn't even look back. I guess that's a good thing. I held it together pretty well until I got back into the car. Then I cried the whole way to work.



Luckily, my first full day there was SUPER busy, so I didn't have much time to wallow in my sadness.

I guess we have officially started the next phase of our lives. But, boy, do I wish we were still in baby/playgroup/preschool mode.

So, if you look at the picture of Ryan, you'll see he's holding a gift bag. Inside of it is this cute little survival kit I sent his teacher. I found the actual kit in a craft store and made a little box and matching card. I sent her a container of 'Smarties', too.

The papers and die cuts are mostly October Afternoon.




Here's the info. that went with the kit:
Teacher Survival Kit:
Band Aid: For when things get a little rough.
Crayon: To color your day bright and cheerful.
Candle: For when you are up late grading papers.
Eraser: To remind you that everyone makes mistakes and they can be erased.
Hugs and Kisses: For when you need a hug.
Jewel: Because you are so precious.
Marbles: To replace the ones you've lost.
Mint: To remind you that you are worth a 'mint'.
Mounds Bar: For the mounds of confidence you give your students.
Paper Clip: To hold it all together.
Sponge: To soak up the overflow when your brain is too full.
Starburst: To give you a "burst" of energy when you need it.
Tissues: To wipe away the tears-yours and theirs.
Puzzle Piece: Without you, the class wouldn't be complete.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day. :)

Last Day...

Well, today was my last 'official' day as a stay at home mom. Come Monday, the little guy will be in school all day and I'll be at work. Sigh. We had a pretty typical day. I packed his new lunch box with his lunch so he could 'practice'. I almost cried knowing that it was the end of our daily lunches together. This whole thing just stinks. Can't he be little forever? Can't I be at home with him forever???
I don't want it to change....

Oh, well.

Yesterday was fun! I met up with an online buddy for lunch. I 'met' Kalyn last year when she was interning at Paper Crafts.and we've chatted back and forth ever since. She's a doll and makes the cutest cards! She lives fairly close by, so we were able to catch up with each other, finally. We had such a nice time and have already planned our next 'scrappy date'!

Here's a photo that Ryan took...



Here are a couple of new cards. I made them for Tattered Angels. The first one uses the new Webster's Porcelain line.




And here's the second. The brads and flowers are Zva.




Information about both of them can be found on the Tattered Angels blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Raspberry Suite and 2S4Y

Ah, the last few days of summer...
We had a really nice day today. I took Ryan to a play place and we had pizza for lunch. Then it was off to shop for school supplies. I'm trying to spend as much time with him as possible before the dreaded first day of school. Fran came home early and we all went mini golfing. Then we hit Mc D's and Rita's. I'd say we pretty much packed in a full day today!
I was able to get my card done for 2S4Y and Dawn's challenge. I loved the sketch this week and the colors Dawn picked are great together. I decided to use my new PTI Heartprints set. I think it's a new favorite!! I used Polka Dot basics for the background, some Zva flowers and some stickles on the hearts.




I used a Cavalini label and the fun border punch is EK Success.
Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek! Have a great day. :)

Back from Vacation!

We spent a wonderful week in the Finger Lakes region in Upstate NY last week. It was so relaxing and fun. We stayed in Watkins Glen, a little town on the tip of Seneca Lake. Our hotel was gorgeous. We were on the top floor and the view was amazing. I sat outside every morning with my coffee and a book and took in the beautiful sights.



I just loved this little building. We took walks on the dock and around the little town. We found a homemade ice cream store and went every night!



There is a State Park in the center of the town. We hike the Glen and it was just magnificent.




We took day trips to Ithaca and Corning. Corning is home of the Corning Museum of Glass. It was great! Ryan took a workshop and blew his own glass ornament! We also took a walk around town and I found THE most amazing shop ever! It's called Corning Stitch Works and it's filled with the most wonderful vintage goodies.



She has beautiful vintage fabrics and trims. I could have spent a fortune in there!





I love how she displayed everything, too. There were all kinds of shabby dressers, jars, baskets, etc. This is the look I'd love to have for my scraproom.




I definitely need to make a trip back up this this place!!! If you're anywhere near Corning, go!! It would be well worth it!

Now, if you've read through all of that, I'm impressed. I'll leave you with a recent creation.

This is a card that I did for Emma's last week. Our color inspiration was a sunflower. Check out the Emma's Blog for great ideas from the team.

I used some October Afternoon, Jenni Bowlin, Jillibean Soup and Fancy Pants papers along with American Crafts chipboard and a Making Memories label.




Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Label Tulip part 2

I'm back with the rest of my projects for this month's Label Tulip kit.

I love the picture on this page. Ryan and the quadruplet girls across the street played on the same t-ball team this year. They had so much fun, and we had a blast watching them. They made up practically the whole team.

I used some October Afternoon, Collage Press and My Mind's Eye papers on this one. I stitched a big, long stitch on some of the sun's rays to give it extra texture. And aren't those Little Yellow bicycle transparencies fun???




This next page was my favorite one from this month. I think it's because I love the picture. It's of Cindy, Jessica and I in Disney World. We had sooooo much fun at CHA. This was our last day there. We hit the park and had a ball. I really wish we lived in the same place so we could hang out all of the time. We laughed most of the time we were together.

Anyway, I used lots of Websters, Cosmo Cricket and a Hambly transparency. And do you see the gold Jenni Bowlin rubon under the transparency. It's so pretty IRL!




I cut the butterflies with my Cricut. I used the Indie Art cartridge.

Well, that's it for today. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Label Tulip part 1

I really loved this month's Label Tulip kit. It was such a beautiful mix of goodies. If you love Cosmo Cricket, Webster's Pages and Prima, this kit is for you!

Here are a few of my projects. This first one is about my mom and a little duck washcloth/puppet that she's played with with Ryan since he was a baby. He loves it! We had a really pretty folder in the kit, so I cut it down, stitched it up and added my photos and journaling tag inside of it.




This next one is a card that I made using some of the same papers. It's a trifold card. Aren't those Prima flowers awesome???





Finally, this card uses stuff from Add on #2. It's a fun mix of some bold and bright products.




One more thing...
Webster's Pages has updated it's website. It's beautiful. Read all about it HERE on Brandin's blog. She's hosting a HUGE giveaway with new products and all you have to do is comment about the new website.
Thanks for stopping by. I'll be posting some more Label Tulip projects later in the week.

Have a great day!

Happy Friday

Another week has passed me by! I seriously don't know where time is going. Fran was away for a couple of days, so Ryan and I had the house to ourselves. I've been telling him all summer that one night we'd have ice cream for dinner. Well, we ended up going to Friendly's on Tuesday with some friends. We all got bit ol' ice cream sundaes. I had the Reeses Peanut Butter Cup one. YUM!!!! And to top it all off, we had hot fries with lots of salt and ketchup!! It was the best dinner I've had in a long while and I know Ryan will remember it, too. Yes, I took pictures and will be scrapping soon. ;)

Here are a couple of things that I've done recently. This first layout was for Emma's. I'm such a dork. I take tons of pictures of Ryan sleeping. He looks so peaceful and QUIET! ;) I could watch him sleep for hours. The paper is SEI and Creative Imaginations. Chipboard is Pink Paislee.




Here's another one using some Anna Griffin goodies and lots of Zva, too.



Oh, and one last thing...
Tattered Angels is holding a design team search. If you love their products you have to go for it! You can check out the details HERE.
Thanks so much for stopping by. I'll have Label Tulip pics to share with you soon. The big reveal is tomorrow! This kit is my favorite so far!

Raspberry Suite and 2S4Y

We just got back last night from a really fun family reunion. Mind you, it wasn't MY family, but friends who are just LIKE family. I drove out to western MD with my mom and Ryan. We spent a wonderful 3 days away. It's always so good to see old friends! Yesterday, on the way home, we stopped at the Bedford Springs Resort for lunch with one of my mom's closest friends. Check this place out!



It is located in the cutest town, too. Lots of antique shops, inns, etc. After we had an amazing lunch, we walked around and checked everything out. Including the spa! Mom and I want to get back for a girls weekend! After the spa we're going to hit this pool...


Since I'm going to be back at work, I think I'll need it!



After being so busy with CHA stuff, I'm finally able to play along with some challenges. ;) I made this card using Dawn's color challenge. Here are this week's colors.



And I based it on this weeks 2 Sketches 4 You sketch. You have to check out the site from some adorable DT cards!

I have to say that I probably wouldn't have put these colors together otherwise, but I'm glad I played along because I love how they look on the card.





I used Papertrey Ink, cardstock, button, ribbon, stamps and paper. The floral stamps are from the In Bloom set and the sentiment is from Damask designs. I aded lots of bling by coating the flowers with glitter and adding some Zva gems.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great day!

A Couple of New Things

This week flew by! Don't ask me what I've done. I'm trying to enjoy the last, few lazy weeks of summer. I'm trying not to get stressed. I'm looking for the positives in having to send my buddy to school all day and myself to work. Really, I am. But, the dread keeps setting back in...

So...here are a couple of projects. This first one was for Emma's last month. I love the color combo challenges Cindy posts on the blog. I used lots of Jenni Bowlin, some AC chipboard and a Melissa Frances resin. (I met Melissa and her husband at CHA. They were the NICEST people!)




This next project was one that I did for a challenge to use punches (at Emma's). I used a Martha Stewart butterfly punch on this gift set.





That's it for today. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Monday, Monday

How is it that it is already August? This summer is going by too quickly!!! There are still so many things that I want to do. I can't complain, because we've had a great summer so far, but I wish we could tack an extra month on to it. This year is especially hard for me, as I'm counting down the days until my little guy leaves me for school all day. I think about it every day and it makes me so sad. Our lives will be so different in a short while. I have to head back to work and we'll be doing that rushing out the door in the morning thing. (UGH) No more leisurely mornings in our PJs, no more lunches together, no more running errands. Sigh....

So, here are a couple of more projects. This first one is a layout I did using the new Pink Paislee Amber Road papers.





This one uses the Twilight line. Don't I look lovely in this photo? Ha!And yes, that's my dear hubby with me. :)





That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by! :)