Leap Year!

Wow, how exciting! Another day added to the year. I had both my SU Clubs this week, ending with a wonderful one hosted by Melissa at her house tonight. Yummy dinner, great lemon cake and awesome, addictive salsa that I noshed on all night! I am working on getting my photos watermarked so that I can post all my Club creations after they're over every month. Hopefully they will provide some inspiration for somewhere out there...



In the meantime, I am heading off to bed. Just wanted to do a quick entry and thank my Club girls for being such amazing stamping buddies! I am truly so lucky to have found them. I'll leave
you tonight with one more name frame. Mostly Stampin Up supplies, paper and chipboard, with the exception of the Marvy scallop punches. These pictures do not do it justice but it turned out beautifully. I was asked to make this one by one of the teachers at Trey's school...it's a baby shower gift for another teacher there. Enjoy and night-night!!!

Cute Gift Idea

Hello! Sorry it's been awhile since I posted but I was on a sunny cruise with friends in Mexico! What a blast! I'll be posting my montage from the trip soon so stay tuned. We had a great time - the boat was old and kind of crappy but the company was amazing. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a really long time - my abs were actually hurting some nights! And the sun really did a great job of breaking up my winter doldrums, although we came right back to horrible, cold weather in Georgia. Oh well.

Anyway, I have tons to do but wanted to post a quick project that made for my best friend in college's baby shower. She proudly has it hanging in her little one's room, which is monkey-themed. I used SU "Monkey Business" for the stamping and bought a shadow box frame and white letter at Michaels. I inked the sides of the letter and then stapled the ribbon bow to the back of the frame. The project was easy and fun and I will be making more of these for my daughter's room when I make the time to do it!!!

Here it is...

I feel like I should give a little bit more background about the "whys" behind the name frames...

One of the frames I made above was made for Bella’s adorable teacher, Ms Boggio (or “BOGO” as Bella lovingly calls her)…I feel so blessed that my children have such wonderful women in their lives for the four days a week that I kiss them goodbye. It really makes saying goodbye a lot easier when you know that they are not only in wonderful hands but also in warm hearts.

Incidentally, these frames that I used are only $3 at Walmart! What a steal! They are the perfect shape and size. I used chipboard for the letters and covered them with SU Doubled Sided Designer Paper (DSP) and then sanded them down around the edges. I absolutely LOVE the way the flower looks behind the “O” (from the SU Pretties Kit)! Precious, just like her!
Name frames are a really nice way to show someone that you care and they are very, very appreciated. They are not difficult but you should leave yourself about 2 hours just to play and create. They are really a fun, fun project!

On a different, non-stamping note, we went to my MIL’s house tonight for dinner and to meet the newest member of our ever-growing family…William Michael Nelson. Our newest nephew is a just a precious little peanut. It’s amazing how tiny newborns are…he makes my little Bella look like a monster! Here’s a picture of the little sweetheart.

As much as I love my perfect little family and don’t have much desire to have any more children (we all have our weak moments, right?!), there is really something so delicious about holding a newborn baby. The sounds they make, the faces they make, the way they seem to study your face so intently and my favority, the way their tiny little fingers curl around yours…just precious. I miss those days already but I will live vicariously through my two sisters-in-law and many pregnant friends. As Mikey loves to say whenever someone welcomes a new baby into their family…“Better them than us.” Sigh…

My First Blog on Stamping! Originally Written Feb 16, 2008

As you may or may not know about me, I am an avid stamper. It started about two years ago when my friend Michelle Schuler dragged me to a Stampin’ Up party…and I do mean DRAGGED. I had just started scrapbooking at that time and I absolutely did not think I liked stamping. I thought that it was too difficult to get the stamps straight and required way too much creativity. Hell, at that time it was taking me 2 hours to get just one scrapbook page finished!!! (Way before the days of digital scrapping for me but that’s another post for another day…)

In any case, I went to the SU party and was instantly intrigued. It was amazing the beautiful, crafty projects that the demonstrator showed and she made it look SO easy! When we broke out into small groups and did our own projects, my hands met rubber and ink and I was hooked immediately! There is just such a gratification in papercrafting and seeing your images and imagination come to life. After a round of Club with my future Upline and about $800 in stamps and ink, I decided to take the plunge and sign up as a Stampin’ Up demonstrator. I have not looked back since!

It has been more rewarding than I ever could have imagined. I have been able to fulfill my dream of teaching (and to adults, whom I have MUCH more patience with than my children!) and crafting. I have met more wonderful women than I ever dreamed possible and really look forward to our Club meetings every month. They inspire me to continue creating and learning so that I can pass the knowledge to them. That alone is one of the most rewarding parts of this “job” - the smile on someone’s face when they achieve pure bliss after it all comes together on paper. Ahh…sweet serendipity.

I’d like to show some of my most recent projects to you - Name Frames. These have been around forever but they are new to me. I had a class in November where each participant made one and they were all so unique and so gorgeous! That inspired me to make one for each of my kids’ preschool teachers (three total) for Christmas presents. My son’s teacher actually cried when I gave it to her…it was amazing. She said that no parent had ever done something so personal and so thoughtful for her and that she was truly so touched by the effort. That, my friends, is the reason I love stamping. There’s not many presents that will move a person to tears simply by the kind thought associated with it…it cost me much more time than money and it was worth every single second that I spent creating the perfect name frame for them. The director of the preschool even commissioned me to make one for another pregnant teacher at their school whose baby shower was coming up! What a compliment, right? I was thrilled and it has helped me get my name out there as one of the “crafty moms” in the school - I’m hoping I can help out much more around there as time allows!

Anyway, enough rambling…here are some pictures of the completed name frames. Feel free to comment and leave any questions you may have. I’ll be happy to share details with you.

Trey's Fourth Birthday Party - Originally Written Feb 13, 2008

Okay, this one took me a little bit longer b/c there were so many more pictures to edit, download and then play with! But here’s the photo montage for Trey’s 4th birthday party…better late than never, right?!?! I love how it turned out! The music is hilariously perfect for the party!

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/share_skin?work_id=5248717&type=embed

Christmas in Stone Mountain Montage - Originally Written Feb 12, 2008

Let’s see if this works!

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/share_skin?work_id=5240422&type=embed

Wow! I have linked my first video! I am very excited about this little find. What a cool website! http://www.onetruemedia.com/ Such fun. It only took me about 15 minutes to make the above little video…I will definitely be making more of these and having them made into DVD’s for my kids. I’ve been such a slacker with my scrapbooking and this is an easy way to get a little bit more caught up and be able to share our memories in multi-media with friends and family. The next one I’m going to work on will be Trey’s fourth birthday. I know he will love to watch it over and over again.

I must tell you - I have been a SLACKER with this blog. That is going to stop! The past 3 weeks have been ridiculously busy with work and life in general. I told Mikey today that I need to take more time to do the things that really matter to me and documenting my life and family and our photos in something that really matters to me. It really does. And I feel so much more blessed and appreciative when I take the time to stop and smell all the roses that I have in my life. And there are so many.

"Confessions of a Mommy Blogger) - Originally Written January 5, 2008

While at the spa today (sigh…), I had the opportunity to read an excellent article that really sums up my feelings about blogging (or what I think my feelings are). It’s in the February 2008 issue of WonderTime and is written by Catherine Newman (who maintains a very entertaining blog on her experiences as a mother on http://www.wondertime.com/).

“Blogging is the underbelly of scrapbooking, its tantruming, scatalogical doppelganger. In the scrapbook version of summer vacation, I would paste together a sunny collage of sea and sand and smiling kids. In the blog version, I might be more inclined to mention the steaming beach Port-A-John, where the final quarter of Birdy’s sandwich ended up tumbling into the reeking blackness. If scrapbooking is the urge to put it all together, blogging might be the urge to take it all apart. Blogging might not make life tidier, but it keeps life in your memory, and keeps it real.”
“Writing helps me pay attention as the years fly by. I’m forever scrawling notes on Target receipts about things the kids say. I think blogging actually makes me a better parent because I feel like I’m being watched, even if the feeling is self-imposed. It’s like the way I’m a better parent when there are guests in the house. Maybe you could describe it as a feeling like there are guests in my psyche.”
“Writing gives me a way to step back from my life and really see it. To connect the dots so I can tell the story the way I feel it, even though, my God, there are a million true ways to tell any story.”

Thanks, Catherine…I couldn’t have said it any better myself. My sentiments exactly.

Off I go to bed…I have a splitting headache which I’ve been nursing all day, not to mention a husband who is limping around like a cripple. With both kids in bed and some peace, I think I need to take advantage of some Tylenol PM and say goodnight.
Until then…

What is my goal with this blog? Originally January 4, 2008

(Taken from Wordpress Blog as I've decided to switch to Blogger and am transferring my 2008 entries)

I have really given this a lot of thought today b/c I want to make sure this blog has a “purpose” but one that is most useful to me! Here are the things I hope to accomplish with this blog…

To keep a running “journal” of sorts and leave a legacy for myself, my family and friends. I would like this site to be somewhere where my children can go to learn about their mother’s thoughts and life and get another glimpse of who I really am (not just who I play on TV). Let’s face it - I’m too lazy to get the pen and paper out to keep a “real” journal and I type faster than I write so here we are.

To have a place to show my crafty side - to post projects and tutorials for all my SU girls where they can come for some inspiration and some good ideas. This is a great way for me to stay motivated with creating and to keep a great record of my latest and great works of art (humble, I know).

I’d also like to use it for good ideas, websites, links to articles…just a general stomping ground for my thoughts. I’d like to be able to use this site as a constant reference for my own personal use.
I would also like to post pictures of my family and our going-ons for those loved ones that are far away and can’t share in our life everyday…this might be a conflict of interest from those that like to see the stamping and such but…I personally don’t think so. I am always most interested in those stamping sites where I get to see the personality of the designer, not just their creations. To me, it gives more life to their work and helps me really see it come to life. I may be alone in that train of thought but I don’t think so. I have gotten so many interesting ideas and inspiration from some of the background stories on blogs which I frequent. I don’t think my life is necessarily that interesting but it’s my life and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
So I guess that sums up the reasons why I’d like to blog.

I’ll have to give more thought to my Part Two of my Goals b/c I need to do some Parenting Goals and Work Goals. Perhaps some Marriage & Family Goals as well…those are the ones where I will give the most thought b/c they are the ones that I hold closest to my heart. Not to say Fitness is not close to my heart but…hell, who am I kidding! It’s not close to my heart at all! It’s just a necessary evil.

Anyway, off to a morning at the spa tomorrow with Linda & Jen to celebrate Baby Eli’s arrival any day now. Ahhh…life is tough. And Lord knows that I need a massage something awful. Congratulations to Candace on her baby’s arrival today as well! Can’t wait to see the pictures of the newest little ADPi legacy.
Until then…