Just Call Me..................

.....................Grammy!!!!! That's right, I became a Grammy at 8:37 p.m. last night!!! We welcomed Tyler Dean Russell into the world via C Section after his Mommy went through many hours of not so productive labor. Tyler weighed 6 lbs 11.2 oz and was 20 inches long!!!

Here's a couple pics!!!

Will be back with more on my sweetness later!!!!

Welcome to the world our sweet baby!!!

The first time we got to see him - just minutes after his birth!!!

Mom didn't get to meet him (other than the brief time right after his birth) for the first 36 hours.  She had a C-Section and she had to be able to get out of bed and walk before she could go to the nursery as he was in the Special Care Nursery on IV's and monitors for the first 48 hours.

Great Grandpa meeting Tyler!!!  Sure wish his Great Grandma was here to meet him too!!!

Of course I look horrible here - that darn quadruple chin has come out of nowhere!!!  LOL

And grandpa meeting him for the first time!!!

Happy Haunting

New LO using last year's Halloween pic of me from work.  Used the new line of Authentique Halloween papers as soon as they were unpacked!!!  If your local in the DFW area you can pick up everything I used to make this LO at The Crafty Scrapper!!!  Stop by on a Friday or Saturday and say hi to me!!!!

As always, thanks for stoppin' by!!!

Tangled

It's that time of year - for making Christmas cards!!! One of my favorite times of year is Christmas because I love to decorate!!   I've been known to go a little overboard with my Christmas decorations in some peoples opinions but I just love love love to go all out!!!

A funny story from when my daughter Cait was younger. My friend Lori and I lived in apartments in the small town we went to school in and for me, I grew up in. I lived on the second floor and she lived on the bottom floor and naturally our patios were directly above/below each other. Caitlin and Shaw, Lori's son, were about 3 or 4 so Lori and I decided we wanted to decorate and merge her patio with my balcony and have one large display between the two for the kids (really, it was for the kids ****wink wink****). We really got into it and when dark came we plugged everything in and it was just BEAUTIFUL!!!! We were so proud of ourselves. We had a small ice storm a few days later and had been out sliding around in our boots having a blast. Well, clumsy me slipped and fell and conked my head on the concrete. I went upstairs to my apt and checked to make sure I wasn't bleeding etc. Well obviously I conked out because Lori and a couple others had tried calling me to make sure I was ok and I didn't answer. Well she decided because I had passed out she was calling paramedics to make sure I was ok - awesome friend who truly cared.

Stay with me, I promise the ending will relate to the decorations lol.

Anywho, I was so paranoid and didn't want them coming with sirens so I had to make them promise to just come but no lights or sirens. If you grew up in a small town you know paramedics are usually firefighters too etc. Well they came and checked me out and told them to just keep an eye on me. Before they left they made sure to let us know, and I am not exaggerating here, that we were "a fire hazard" with all the lights we had going!!!!  We had to promise to only have them on if one of us were home and when we went to bed to turn them off otherwise we were gonna have to tone it down a few notches LOL!!!

Now you are probably wondering what in the world that story has to do with the post title of "Tangled" right??? Well, this darling Edwin stamp I got recently totally brought back the memories of Lori and I hanging lights and getting tangled up and having to unwrap ourselves, etc which led to us being called a fire hazard!!!  See, I promised it would all tie in together!!!

On to the reason I'm posting :)
This card is being used for the Just Magnolia challenge which is a sketch challenge this week!!

So, enough yapping, here's Edwin :)

And of course he's done in easel style - I am so addicted to these type of cards!!!

And then Copics used:

So I'm attempting my first post via Blogger for the iPhone and the photos were taken with my iPhone as well so if the quality is poor forgive me, I may end up back to the traditional way of posting if this doesn't work out for me!!!

Card Recipe:

Bazzil Carstock
Best Creations Christmas DP
MS Border Punch
Copic Markers (photo of ones used posted here)
AC Ribbon
Paper Studio Gems
Christmas Twinkle Lights from Buttons Galore
Edwin by Magnolia
Rub-on Bo Bunny Christmas Greetings

As always, thank you for stopping by and happy scrapping!!!

PS  Updated as I def have some learning when it comes to Blogger and the iPhone!!! 

PSS 9/10/11 Updated with better photos - need to wipe my iPhone camera off I think!!  LOL

Long Post - Be Warned!!!

Been a while since I've posted anything. Been vegging and enjoying my family. Missing my Mom. Wishing a few things were different in life but they aren't so.............we move on! As the title says - long post! Mostly pictures but random ramblings from me before I head to bed tonite. Been enjoying the pregnancy with my daughter - doctor visits, sonograms, kicks, hiccups, movement!!! We are now on the countdown. She is due around 9/21 so sometime this month I am going to be a Grammy!!! Her hubby is scheduled for RnR soon so hoping baby Tyler cooperates with us and waits for his daddy to get here before he comes to see us.....LOL Started a new job - hubby didn't really care one way or another if I went to work since I've been handling our household and my Dad's but sometimes life puts something right in your lap and you just have to go for it, so I did. I love love love my new job - it's at my favorite scrappy store in Waxahachie - The Crafty Scrapper!!! If you are local you should come by and say hi!!! We are having a great sale through Monday too - 50% off all stamps, Bazzill cardstock, ink (this includes paint, stains and COPICS!!!), albums and adhesives - what better time to come stock up on your basic supplies (not to mention Copics for an unbelievable price of $2.15 each for Ciao's!!!). Anywho, I've been doing a bit of scrapping prepping for my grandson's arrival. I figure I won't be spending much time with my papers when he gets here so I best get his album done now so I am not under pressure during his first year **wink**!!! After that the kids will be stationed elsewhere so I'll have more time to scrap every day stuff but I wanted an album documenting basics of his first year since I never completed this for my kids. I also did a layout using these adorable products from October Afternoon - I just love love love this line!!! So enough random ramblings - I read this over and yeah, I'm really random tonite.....LOL. Here are my pics of the baby album (it's only the first 6 months so far ***gasp***) - again, LOTS of pics!!! PS These are in order of how they are in the album right now. I have blank pages between a few for pages on Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines and Easter :) Whew, if you are still with me thank you!!! I hope you enjoyed the album I've been working hard on. It isn't totally my typical style but I chose to keep it more simple as I didn't want an album that I couldn't get his first year into. I like it but it will be much better once pictures fill the blank spots!!! As always, thank you so much for stopping by and I wish you HAPPY SCRAPPIN'!!!!!

Simple

Simple easel card - inside is blank waiting for the occasion to use it in order to finish it.  Completed for the following challenges:

Simply Magnolia - pink/cream/brown


Magnolia Down Under - 3D or Tole

Stamp Something - Embellished

Sorry for the crazy, wonky pic.  Not feeling too great today.  I'll take another later this week and replace this one but wanted to get this posted today.

Thanks for stopping by and happy scrappin'!!!

Miss You - Wish You Were Here

One of my fav types of cards are the easel cards.  I love how they stand up to be used as decor or lay flat for mailing and storage.  I had to ink one of my new Maggie's - now while she is actually holding/picking peaches, I needed red to go with the theme R/W/B for one of the challenges listed below so I colored them red and made peaches into apples!!!

The apples also go along with the Just Magnolia theme of "what's cooking" - My M-I-L makes a fantabulous raw apple cake that I can't get enough of so I envisioned Tilda picking apples to go into the kitchen and bake me one of these cakes!  I know I have the recipe somewhere but I just don't make it as well as my M-I-L so I have given up trying - I'm an awesome cook and baker but something just never turns out right with this one so that tells me I should leave it up to her to bake!!!

I am using this card for the following challenges:

 
Created for:

Mojo Monday - Sketch 200

Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog - Red/White/Blue

Just Magnolia - What's Cooking

Daring Card Maker's - Wish You Were Here

The image of course is a Magnolia, the sentiment is Autumn Leaves Talking In Circles (have had it for about 4 or 5 years so I don't remember which Circles family it comes from), the ribbon is from my stash, paper is Making Memories from a year or two ago (I just love this line so I've been hoarding what I have left), cardstock is AC, lattice punched piece is from a MS punch (loving this new line of punches) and the gems and adhesive used to attach them and the bow is from Rubber Cafe.

Thanks for stopping by and happy scrappin'!!! 

Kidnapped by Summer

Yep, that's me!!!  I'm not normally a summer kind of gal - I don't do the heat, sun or getting sweaty - but this summer has been a bit different.  Whether we are swimming in our pool or road tripping seeing new sites, we've kept plenty busy - which has been good at keeping our spirits up from losing Mom 4 short months ago.

I finally sat down today and took some time to make a card - I've been thinking hard about crafting but finding the time to fit it in has been tough as if I'm not on the go during the day I'm swimming in the evening and crashing to sleep at night - the nights I actually sleep that is.  So, today's card is a big accomplishment for me where crafting is concerned!!!

My card is for the following challenges:

Magnolia Stamp Lovers - Summer Colors

Simply Magnolia - Birthday

Magnolia-licious Highlights - Fishing Fun

Charisma Cardz - Sunshine Colors

Card Patterns - Sketch 125

Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenges - Summer




Front:

Inside:

My image is an oldie but goodie - he's actually one of my very first Magnolia stamps that led to my love and addiction to them (I have half a dozen that I've not even inked/colored that I need to play with before my new order comes in next week!!!!) - who's colored with my Copics (of course) with a little AtYou Spica glitter added to the bobber and white ink to highlight sections of the water, his shoes, knees and cheeks.  The papers are Authentique - a new line I found at my LSS (The Crafty Scrapper), ribbon is old from my stash, the lattice work punched piece is a new MS punch, gems and adhesive to attache them and the bow are from Rubber Cafe, and sentiment computer generated in Word.

Thanks for stopping by and happy scrappin'!!!!


PS  I see you - thanks for visiting me regularly, you know who you are!!!   :) 

Cards, Cards, Cards............

...........just a couple today. 

I took a little break to enjoy life.  To clear out some drama clutter in my brain (although there are some out there that believe it was all about them but sadly, no, you don't clutter my brain with drama) that has been going on for quite a while.  I just needed some down time to relax, see some old friends - boy did that work out, I've enjoyed being almost non stop catching up with people - reconnect with me and focus on enjoying the good things in life instead of all the BS that tends to weigh us all down. 

With all that said, I'm ready to get creative again!!! 

I've been doing some photography, focusing more on quality of original photos than recreating what has already been done.  I've spent some great quality time with my BFF from high school and her family.  I've spent lots of time missing my hubby who is still in NM waiting on his transfer - which should be soon (I know we've been saying that but he took a detail that is very beneficial for his career even though it put a damper on the move right away) - but I have gotten to go out to Amarillo and spend time with him over the weekends which has helped tremendously (it didn't hurt that his government discount gets us a sweet room for next to nothing in an upscale hotel).  I've also spent some good quality time with my Dad and my daughter.  We put up a pool, created a temporary patio area while we wait to build out by the pool (most likely next summer because Dad is saying he thinks he wants to move the pool to a different spot), have water logged ourselves and gotten some much needed sun.

The first weekend of June was spent at the GASC in Arlington (Great American Scrapbooking Convention) and lots of money spent on nifty new things (hubby said we needed a 2nd mortgage....LOL).  Had a great birthday right after - the card my Dad got me was awesome (he got 2, a funny one and a serious one) - and closed the week out with an amazing pool party with friends and BBQ'ng bratwurst and hot dogs and having an amazing homemade triple berry parfait that my daughter whipped up (she even made the parfait filling from scratch using heavy cream, was delish and gone in that one sitting with everyone). 

Now that I've refocused it is nice to feel the creativity flowing again.  Here are three cards made in the last few days and I'm sure there will be more to come in the next week or so, if I can keep away from the pool long enough to post them!!!


Turtally Awesome:







Friends Bring a Camera:








Friends Bring a Camera is for the following challenge(s):

Scrap Creations - Anything Goes


29th Birthday:








close up of her apron using beads for depth








and the inside of the card (used a sketch for this part)





So, 29th Birthday is being used for three challenges:


Card Patterns - Sketch (inside of card based on sketch).

Sweet Stampin' - Food, Glorious Food (see birthday cake :p )

Charisma Cardz - How Old


OK, that's it for now.  Off to see what kind of trouble I can stir up - I'm sure it won't be hard, it seems to happen upon me at the most random of times (especially when I'm trying to be good).  Thanks for stoppin' by and happy scrappin'!!!