WE'RE BAAAAACK......

Hello~ We are back from our trip to Denver CO.
Although we had a really great time while we were there, and got to meet 3 adorable new family members (more on that later), we had THE WORST traveling experience ever!!!!
You see, my husbands job has benefits that include airline travel.And although this can be a wonderful perk, it can also be hard as it means we have to fly standby.
Both coming and going to Denver, we had to end up spending way too many hours in an airport. Going, we even had to stay there overnite and sleep on the floor. It was horrible!!!
Here was our view of the Charlotte airport for most of the first day. We arrived at 5 in the AM, and didnt leave until 8 AM the following morning. No bed, no shower, no comfortable place to sit , at least we had toothpaste and toothbrushes in our carryon. Michael finally found a rocker to pass out in.

TT did the same, but on the uncomfortable chairs.

The day takes so long to pass by, and since we are not used to getting up so early, it made it that much worse.

Here is a photo of my very unhappy husband, (see man in orange shirt) sitting in the international terminal, as we watched flight after flight take off with no room for us.
At 2 in the morning, we were kicked out of this terminal, and told to go out into the unsecured area of the airport. The carpet there was dirty, but we had no choice but to lay on it.

I also had to pour $40.00 worth of Body Shop Products down the drain, after they kicked us out of the secure area.

We made it thru, and said- OK- it was bad, real bad, but this couldnt happen to us ever again.

BUT BOY WERE WE WRONG!!!!!!!

Here we are now on the backend of our trip, watching the sun rise once again, as we cant seem to get home!!!

We watched the board all day, and 5 flights went by, without a seat for us. I thought this nation was in a resession??? You couldnt tell by the amount of people traveling these days.

There goes another one, taking off without us, At this point , I was tempted to take a flight to anywhere, just so we could get out of the airport. And I am not kidding!!!

Here is Theresa, sitting on the floor. Thruout this whole ordeal, she was an angel. There was not a single complaint out of her. She was patient, and happy to just be with us. I surely should have taken a lesson from her, as I was in constant complain mode.

My husband, who is a very jovial person, had a mad face on like you saw in the above photo.

Michael slept, and kept saying he was getting on a flight going back home rather than continue the trip. That was until he realized, that was going to happen either.

We did~ Thank God~, get there and back safe and sound. And thats what matters most. We also had a wonderful visit, and I will be posting some of those photos thruout the week.

Many thanks for stopping by...

LITTLE MISS ATTITUDE

This weeks card uses the adorable stamp "CHIC QUEEN" AF 102.

We all have a little of her in us, dont we?? She is just to funny, and my mind was spinning with a million ways to use her.

I chose to use her this time to symbolize my daughter. She gave me the inspiration when she came into my art studio wearing some crazy shoes. My daughter has Down Syndrome, (FOR THOSE THAT ARE JUST VISITING FOR THE FIRST TIME) and although she is different than most, she is actually very much like all of us. So this weeks card is for her. And to remind us that different is a good thing, and an interesting thing.


I have stamped this hot chicky in black, but did almost no coloring. She is paper pierced from head to toe.

The only things colored are her beak, shoes and blue eyes.

I gave her some rhinestone sparkles for her crown, and gave her shoes a lacquer finish with Stampin Ups Crystal Effects.

I have also popped up her wing with pop dots.

The card is A-2 sized and made on a black card base. I put a pale pink piece of designer paper in the inside of the card for ease of writing. A bit of gray ribbon with a bow finishes it up.
See what everyone else on the DT has done by visiting http://artfullegacyrubberstamps.blogspot.com/.

Many thanks for stopping by...

TO ALL THE GREAT DADS OUT THERE~

Hello from Denver CO. I hope these are posting when I scheduled them as I havent done this till now.
Today is a day to celebrate all the great Dads out there.
I am lucky enough to have THEE best one of them all.
Here he is~ King Of All The Great DADS!!!!
Although I wont get to spend this Fathers Day with him as he lives in New York, He will be in my thoughts all day. He has given everything to the betterment of his family his whole life. And it had paid off, as we are such a happy family. I have only the fondest memories of my childhood and I will treasure them always.
So, Thanks Dad for going above and beyond the meaning of Dad. I'll love you forever~ Another great Dad in my life is my sweet husband Bob.
He works tirelessly to provide for us, and always does it with a smile.
I am so happy he has come into my life and been such a great husband and Dad.

I feel very blessed to have these 2 men in my life.
Happy Fathers Day to all the great men out there~ enjoy your day!!!
Many thanks for stopping by...

A FUNNY PHOTO TO LEAVE YOU WITH.....

Hi All~ This picture always makes me laugh. Its Theresa Lauren on her birthday this past February.

Anyhow, We are taking a trip this week to Denver CO. to visit with my stepdaughters, and the rest of my husbands side of the family. I havent been there in about 4 years, so it should be alot of fun. There are also a couple of new baby girls to play with, and thats always great~

But that means I have to leave my precious furbabies home...

This guy~

This guy~

And this girl, who just had her 13th birthday this week. She is not doing too well lately, poor girl.

Luckily, my husbands 2 cousins are coming to stay in our house for the week and take care of these guys for us. We are very happy for that, as we dont think Madison would do too good anymore in a kennel situation.

I am going to try and schedule a post or 2 while Im gone, but I havent done this before, so my fingers are crossed.

Have a great week, and Ill be back soon with lots of photos!!!

Many thanks for stopping by...

FOR YOU

Hi all! Its that time of week again, where I show off some great stamps from Artful Legacy.
I am really having a ball being on their design team. I get to play with some great stamps like this one "WILD FLOWERS" ALF 657 N. This is a rather large card, measuring 5 by 6 1/2, so you can see how nice and big this stamp is. I used a Gina K background stamp first to cover my piece of GP white paper. This was stamped in an old Archival Ink Plum color that I have had forever. I then overstamped the flower cluster in Versamark and heat embossed with white Embossing Powder. This technique is called Emboss Resist.
After this, I took some SU Melon Mambo on a cosmetic sponge and darkened up the area around the flowers.

When I thought I had done this enough, I took an old rag and wiped the ink off of the embossed area. Its quite easy to wipe away, as it is not absorbed in these areas.

I mounted the image on some SU gray CS and used a punch to make some photo corners.

This was all then matted to a pink piece with a small argyle pattern.

Here is a close up to see the embossed image.

The FOR YOU sentiment is unknown, as I have had a long time. Do you like my ribbon?

I made it myself from some seam binding and Glimmer Mist. Its crunched up when wet to give it a crinkly look. I tied it in a bow and added a pretty pink bud.

I had a small strip of the text, so I added it to the inside of the card for interest.

The sentiment inside is also from Artful Legacy and is called " MAY THE LORD USE" 1218. Its stamped in Rouge chalk ink.

Be sure to check out what the other girls have made at http://artfullegacyrubberstamps.blogspot.com/.

Many thanks for stopping by....

YEA!!!!!! I'M FREE!!!!!!!

Hi all! Just wanted to share this cute photo of Theresa as she practically ran out the door the last day of school. Her legs could'nt get her to my car fast enough~
Way to go TT! Another year of school under your belt~
Many thanks for stopping by...

MY NEW DOOR SIGN

Today my sweet daughter made me a new sign for my art studio door. She informed me that the old one (which she had also made) didnt look good anymore.
So.... here is the new one....
The little blue things are pelicans, as she knows that these are a favorite bird of mine. And here she is with her friend Cameron at a recent Special Olympics event. Dont they both look so proud?

And this weekend, as my huband installs my new double oven, I have taken to cleaning out some closets for a yard sale that I NEED to have. I have way too much "stuff"..

Anyhow, I came across this poem of sorts that is a favorite of mine.

THE DOWN SYNDROME CREED

My face may be different but my feelings are the same.

I laugh and cry and take pride in my gains.

I was sent here among you to teach you to love, as God in the heavens looks down from above.

To Him, Im no different, His love knows no bounds; its those here amoung you in cities and towns, that judge me by standards that man has imparted, but this family Ive chosen, will help me get started.
For I'm one of the children so special and few, that came here to learn the same lessons as you.

That love is acceptance it must come from the heart; we all have the same purpose, though not the same start.

The Lord gave me my life to live and embrace, and I'll do as you do, but at my own pace.

Author Unknown

Many thanks for stopping by....

Off to hang my sign on my door!

SUNNY DAYS AND SAND CASTLES

Good morning all! We are wrapping things up here to officially begin the summer season. My daughter finishes school tomorrow, my college age son has been home a month already, and the tourists are starting to arrive in my town. So what came to mind?? Sandcastles of course. For this weeks card over at Http://artfullegacyrubberstamps.blogspot.com/ I chose a summer theme. We have had such nice, sunny, warm ~ok, hot~ weather here this week, how could I not be inspired?
The stamp is called Sunny Days ALS 1307 and I can see myself reaching for it again and again.

I used an A-2 sized base in light blue CS. I then took 2 bright , cheerful, summer themed paper and cut it into strips. The floral is a piece I was hoarding called "Tahiti Graffiti" by Flair. The colors are just so pretty to me, and after saving it for a long time (why do I always do that? There will always be more pretty paper) it was time to cut it up. I used my Heidi Swapp edge distresser on each strip and then inked those edges with hot pink and blue chalk inks.

The sentiment is stamped with Melon Mambo ink from SU. The sandcastle was made with my Quickutz and then glittered, which is hard to see in the photo of the whole card. I havent used my QK in a long time, and I actually like making all those little shapes, so I have a spot for it on my desk now. Im kinda the "outa sight outa mind" mentality when it come to supplies.
To finish it off, I added 2 knotted ribbons, and some baby pom pom trim on the bottom. The pom poms are actually the nicest color of watermelon pink and I am kinda bummed they look red here.

Many thanks for stopping by.....

p.s. I have another untouched sheet of that paper by Flair~ haha

FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS~

Today I have made a card with a stamp that had been sitting, uninked in my art studio for awhile. Its such a pretty stamp, I dont know how I let it sit for so long. Its called "Watching Waves" and is an unmounted from " I Brake For Stamps".
I made a 6 by 6 inch easel card and used a soft powdery blue for the card base. Its an older Bazzill sheet, so Im not really sure of the correct color name. I colored her in with Copics and made the image a double frame out of blue and cream CS. No Nesties here~ I just trimmed her out with my Exacto Blade.
The tag was also hand made with 2 punches from SU. I ran a wired ivory ribbon thru it and attached to the back. For the bottom of the card, I tried a new- to -me technique of pleating paper. After cutting it to an 12 by 1 1/2 inch strip,I punched one edge with a MS Doily border punch. Then I ran my bone folder back and forth, kinda curling as I went. This was done to soften the fibres of the paper, and make it easier to pleat. Then I ran it across some blue ink to color the edges. Adding a piece of Sticky Strip to the back of some blue CS, I started pleating, just making tiny folds back and forth as I adhered the paper to the CS.
It wasnt too hard, but this was my second try for this card. I was unhappy with the way the pleats came out the first time around.

I added some small blue flowers, and leaves that I made from a SU die. Then I took some more of that wired ribbon and just twisted it till I found it pleasing to me. I adhered this to the back of the small blue strip and then it all was adhered to the card base.

Give the pleating technique a try, and leave me a comment to let me know how it came out.

Many thanks for stopping by...

I WON! I WON!

Hello all~ hope you are enjoying this wonderful summer like weekend!
Awhile ago, I had entered a giveaway on the Red Lead Blog for one of their Story Stamps. Then the other day, I came home and saw my son had gotten the mail and put it on the kitchen table.
After tossing the eye doctor reminder aside, I tore open my envelope to find.... these awesome presents!!!
Not only did I get my Story Stamp, but they sent me another stamp which is a brand new one for them, and some wonderful vintage photos to play with!!

I am beyond excited and will be back soon to show you what I have made with them!!

In the meantime you can check out their great store at http://redleadpaperworks.com. They also have a real store in the St. Louis area, which is no where near my house, but I hope to shop there one day.

Many thanks for stopping by...

DESIGN TEAM SUBMISSION DAY

Today I have another card in the "masculine theme". It uses a beautiful, detailed stamp "DUCK" ALM 512L. The sentiment is also an Artful Legacy stamp 'FOR MY HUSBAND' ALS 1209 D.
Using a favorite color combination of mine- blue and green- I made a 6 by 6 inch card of Night of Navy cardstock from SU. Then a piece of green designer paper. What makes this card a bit different is the piece of corrogated cardboard, that I peeled a layer off of, and them dry brushed some blue paint onto that. This was one of my first reflection type of cards, so how I did that was to color in the ducks mirror image in lighter shades of the ducks actual colors. I then went over all of that with a neutral gray Copic marker to subdue it even more.

Sentmient was stamped with Olive Chalk Ink and both the image and sentiment were mounted on more navy cardstock. I love adding ribbon, but being this is a card for a man, I chose to just run the ribbon behind the duck, and add a knotted piece on the left side.

Please check out all the other great cards this week at http://artfullegacyrubberstamps.blogspot.com/.

Many thanks for stopping by...