Glad the weekend is over...

I debated about whether or not to write this post, but in the end decided to go ahead and do it. If it can help just one person learn something, then I'll be glad. I just went through a hellish weekend, which started off with me falling down the stairs and freaking out my kids - I'm okay. It ended with us having to put down our favorite family cat, Jayden. The most heartbreaking parts were seeing the horrible pain that our kitty was in, and then having to bring my kids into the room to say goodbye to her.

My husband surprised me earlier in the week with a beautiful bouquet of lilies. We had them up on the kitchen island, out of reach, but a couple of petals fell on the floor and apparently Jayden chewed on them. She very quickly developed tons of painful ulcers in her mouth, gums and tongue. She stopped eating and drinking because of the pain and went into kidney failure. I can't believe how fast this all happened.

I had NO idea that lilies, ALL lilies. are extremely poisonous to cats. We've learned alot in the last couple of days, and I thought I'd share some of it with you. Below is a list if items that are extremely hazardous to your pets.

• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (ibuprofen, aspirin)
• Acetaminophen
• Vitamins
• Diet Pills
• Fabric Softener
• Mothballs
• Flea & Tick Products
• Liquid Potpourri
• Fly Bait
• Detergents
• Tobacco Products
• Avocados
• Chocolate
• Coffee
• Onions & Onion Powder
• Garlic
• Grapes
• Raisins
• Macadamia Nuts
• Moldy Food
• Salt
• Gum or Candy sweetened with xylitol
• Tea Leaves
• Raw Yeast Dough
• Wax

PLANTS

• Aloe
• Amaryllis
• Andromeda Japonica
• Asparagus Fern
• Australian Nut
• Autumn Crocus
• Azalea
• Belladonna
• Bird of Paradise
• Bittersweet
• Black Locust
• Branching Ivy
• Buckeye
• Buddhist Pine
• Caladium
• Calla Lily
• Castor Bean
• Ceriman
• Clematis
• Cordatum
• Corn Plant
• Cycads
• Cyclamen
• Daffodil
• Daylily
• Devil's Ivy
• Dieffenbachia
• Dumbcane
• Easter Lily
• Elephant Ears
• Emerald Fern
• English Ivy
• Eucalyptus
• Ferns
• Fiddle-Leaf Philodendron
• Florida Beauty
• Foxglove
• Glacier Ivy
• Gladiolas
• Gold Dust Dracaena
• Golden Pothos
• Heavenly Bamboo
• Honeysuckle
• Hurricane Plant
• Hyacinth
• Hydrangea
• Iris
• Jerusalem Cherry
• Jimson Weed
• Kalanchoe
• Lantana
• Lilies (all Lilium species)
• Lily of the Valley
• Lupine
• Marble Queen
• Morning Glory
• Mother-in-Law
• Mountain Laurel
• Narcissus
• Needlepoint Ivy
• Nephthysis
• Nightshade
• Oleander
• Panda
• Peace Lily
• Philodendron
• Poison Hemlock
• Precatory Bean (rosary pea)
• Privet
• red Emerald
• Rhododendron
• Ribbon Plant
• Sago Palm
• Satin Pothos
• Schefflera
• Striped Dracaena
• Sweetheart Ivy
• Tulip
• Water Hemlock
• Wisteria
• Yew
• Yucca

A proud Mommy moment

I don't normally share personal things on this blog, but my seven year old did something today that made me SO proud. Have you ever had a moment with your children, when they did or said something that made you think to yourself, "Hey, I really AM a good parent! I'm teaching them the right things and shaping them into good people"?

Today I had one of those moments with my firecracker of daughter.
Here's my little beauty... Just look at that GORGEOUS head of hair.
I would do just about anything to have a head of hair like that.....seriously.
Here she is 5 minutes later...

She asked me to cut her hair this afternoon so she could donate it to Locks of Love. Oh my gosh....I love this kid.

And we're off!

Well, the family and I are heading down to San Francisco tonight and then we fly out to Japan tomorrow! Oh my gosh - sooo excited!!

A HUGE thank you to our dear family friend who will be house-sitting for us while we're gone. My kitties will be SO happy that they won't be stuck in an empty house. I really lucked out in the awesome friend department!

As for the ol' blog.....I've got about 25 posts pre-scheduled to magically appear while I'm gone. There will be lots of cute NEW stuff from Pink Cat Studio, some incredible inspiration challenges from Little C's, the rest of my projects for Stamp-by-Step, some fun Friday challenges from Christmas Stampin All Year Long as well as a few projects that I did just for fun!

Thanks for stopping by!
Big hugs to all of you!

Getting organized...

Happy Monday to everyone. Hope you had a relaxing weekend. I spent alot of time in my workshop getting things organized. I love organizing and putting everything in its own special place. It's nice to go through everything once in a while and weed out the items that you don't use to make room for the new goodies.

I have a handful of items that are looking for a good home. I updated my "for sale" page and you can check it out right here.

I'm also working on putting together my very own Etsy shop! It's something I've been wanting to do for a while now, but just haven't had the time. Remember this adorable little guy?
I whipped up two more of these over the weekend and they'll be posted in my Etsy shop soon! I'll be sure to post the link as soon as I'm up and running.

I'll do just about anything for attention!

So....the last 24 hours have been interesting.
At 5am yesterday I fainted and smacked the back of my neck on the wood edge of my bed. Apparently I landed on my face because the left side of it is completely covered in rug burn. I've also got a really nice shiner. I went to the doctor this morning and found out that I have a concussion. I'm supposed to go in for a CAT scan later today and then it's back to bed for me. I'm supposed to get lots of rest this week, so my cabana boy will be very busy.

Luckily I've got all my projects done for the week and they are pre-scheduled for your viewing pleasure! I've got a Hambo card to share with you tomorrow and on Thursday I'll share the new Pink Cat Studio digital release. I'm off to bed now, where I'm going to curl up with my laptop and "blurf" the day away looking for cute stuff to share with you all on my Friday Faves.

Friday Faves

Well...I'm pretty much out of recipes for Fool Your Family Friday. What's a girl to do? Still deciding, but for now, here's a list of my favorite things from the web this week.

Karen Giron - She just made me a watermark for my photos!

Lego Cupcakes - We're throwing our son a surprise birthday party at the Lego store and I've been looking for inspiration.

This Harry Potter card by Wicked Pixie - Amazing!

This recipe for blueberry pie - The kids asked me to make one out of the blue, no pun intended. Instead of 3 cups of blueberries, we used 1 cup and added 2 cups of bing cherries. We also substituted pre-made pie crusts and it was
D E L I C I O U S

This Hot Wheels inspired card by Sankari - adorable!

This Copic tutorial by Mary Giemza - Wowza!!

Have a super Friday.
I"ll be back tomorrow with an Inspiration Challenge from Lauren!

DO try this one at home!

Monica had this posted on her blog and I just HAD to play along. I asked my kids the following questions about me and these were their answers. My 5 year old daughter's answers are in pink and my 7 year old sons answers are in blue. Try this with your kids if you get a chance - it's so worth it!

1. What is something mom always says to you?
a) I love you
b) I love you

2. What makes mom happy?
a) When me and my brother get along with each other
b) When I'm nice and helpful

3. What makes mom sad?
a) When we're mean
b) When I'm mean and unhelpful

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
a) When she tells me funny stories
b) When she tickles me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
a) She had a Strawberry Shortcake room
b) She was just like my sister

6. How old is your mom?
a) My best guess is 23
b) 31?

7. How tall is your mom?
a) 9 feet
b) 5 feet 4 inches

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
a) Read to us
b) Stamp

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
a) Sometimes she teaches stamping classes
b) Stamp

10.If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
a) Flying on a trapeze
b) Stamping

11. What is your mom really good at?
a) Giving us hugs
b) Stamping

12. What is your mom not good at?
a) Starting the lawn mower
b) Being mean

13. What does your mom do for a job?
a) Takes care of us
b) Stamps

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
a) Salad
b) Tofu

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
a) When she gives us hugs and kisses
b) She takes good care of us

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
a) One of the Disney princesses
b) Bugs Bunny

17. What do you and your mom do together?
a) Read
b) Have fun

18. How are you and your mom the same?
a) We're both girls
b) We both have hair

9. How are you and your mom different?
a) I have brown hair and she has yellow hair
b) I'm a boy

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
a) She's always giving me hugs and kisses
b) Because she always takes care of us and tells us she loves us

.21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
a) He's nice
b) His beard

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
a) Olive Garden
b) Starbucks

Go do this with YOUR kids now!

This post has been a long time coming!

I've had lots of people contact me to ask about Copic markers. My husband got me a big ol' set of them for my birthday a little over a year ago and I've been totally hooked ever since.

I got an e-mail this morning from Emily asking me what specific Copics I would recommend that she buy to get started on her collection. Since I've been asked about this alot lately, I thought I would post my response here so everyone could check it out.

Pictured below are the markers that I seem to reach for most often. I tend to go towards earthy tones.

To get started on your own set, I would recommend getting the lightest and darkest of each color (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, grey). These are my favorites and how I use them most:
R29 & R000 (reds) - I blend these two colors together for images with clothing.

B29 & B000 (blues) - I use these for clothing, water and skylines. I also like to outline my completed images with B000 to make them *pop* off the page a bit

Y26, Y28, E29, E37, YR24 (browns & golds) - these are my "go to" colors for fur and hair

E31 - this is my fave for skin

G07 & YG03 (greens) - I like blending these for floral greenery

Y11 (yellow) - this is a nice pale yellow that I like to use for clothing. It also blends nicely with the lighter browns

C1 & C3 - MUST HAVE colors in my humble opinion. These shades of gray make perfect shadows for your images. Creating a subtle shadow under your stamped image really helps it look grounded instead of an image "floating" on a piece of white cardstock. Make sense?
You can see an example of this technique on this card from my post this morning.

Thanks for your e-mail Emily! I hope this info helped a bit.
Cheers!

I'm a "DIVA DESIGNAH"!!

There! I said it before I exploded! I don't think I could have kept it a secret any longer!
Jen from Little C's in Hawaii had a design team call last month for 4 openings on her team. Somehow I ended up in Jen's dining room when I was in Hawaii last Fall and she is such a super gal! I'm SO excited to be working with her and the rest of her team for the next six months!

The other three openings went to:
Jackie at Bloggin' My Pink Artsie World
Heidi at Create - Reach for Something More
and Jennifer at Jen Caputo's Typepad

Maria Bell and Rina Farrar are Senior Diva Designahs and will be in charge of the weekly color and sketch challenges. I hope you'll play along with us!

You can read more about each of the design team members on the Little C's website or blog.

My other mini announcement is that I was asked to do a guest designer spot for Pink Cat Studio later this year! Melissa is such a talented gal and her stamps have inspired me so much!

Well, I guess that's it for now. Thank you for indulging me and letting me share all my good news with you. My husband has no idea what a design team is...seriously...

Hugs to all of you,

Hello 2009!

I can't believe 2008 is gone! Time sure flies when you're having fun!
Happy New Year!
I wanted to take a moment and thank all of my loyal readers who check in every day to see what I'm up to. I read each and every one of your comments and they all mean so much to me.

I started this blog almost 1 year ago in hopes of getting on a design team, getting published and making a name for myself out there in blog-land.

This year I was fortunate enough to be asked to be on three design teams which was a dream come true. Thank you Monica & Tim from Hambo, Lauren from "MyTime" and the crew from Green Tangerines. Working with all of you in 2008 was great and I'm looking forward to creating lots more together in 2009.

I'm also really excited to share that in May 2009, I will officially be a PUBLISHED STAMPER! I found out back in August, and figured it was okay to let the cat out of the bag now. I'll share more details on that when the publication comes out.

Thanks again to all of you who make this blog my "happy place". I've made so many new friends and am sending out {{{cyber hugs}}} to all of you!

Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2009

A quick shout out to my cyber buds!

Is it really December 4th already?
Don't you just wish there were a few more hours in each day?

Please tell me that I'm not the only one running about two weeks behind on everything!

Here are a couple of blog awards that I received recently.

This one was from my buddy Tiffany over My Crafty World.And this one was from my buddy Sankari over Sankari's Sunshine Corner.
Thanks gals! You totally made my day!

Both of these gals are super talented, so go check em' out when have a chance.
I'll be back tomorrow with another recipe to fool your family.
Until then..

My new buddy :-)

Check out this post by my new friend Jen in Hawaii. Cracked me up!

I'm baaaack!

Eight....count em' eight SCREAMING babies on the 5 hour flight home from Hawaii last night! And the best part? All eight of them (yes eight!) were in the five rows next to and in front of me.

No worries! I was able to tune them right out!

Sooo nice to be home.
Thank you all for your sweet e-mails and comments while I was away! I'll be back tomorrow with stampin' stuff.

Some blog love

Look what my buddy Tiffany sent to me today! Thanks girlfriend - you made my day! I love your blog too!

Here are some other great ones to check out -

Carrie
Ana
Sankari
Libby
Judy

I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow and there's soooo much to do. Check back tomorrow for the first of MANY scheduled posts while I'm gone!

The countdown begins...

In six days I'll be lounging on the beach in Hawaii! Every September my family and I sneak away for two weeks in Oahu. This will be our 5th year in a row and I am SO looking forward to it!

I've been busy for the last couple of days writing up blog posts for each day that we'll be gone. I've had bad luck with technology lately, so hopefully everything will go according to plan, and a scheduled post will magically appear every day at midnight.

Since I have my shiny new laptop now, I'll be able to check in every once in awhile between my scheduled posts (and tropical drinks). My sister-in-law and I have a list of favorite stamp and scrapbook stores on the island that we map out and hit each year, so I'll definitely share all the goodies that we pick up.

As I mentioned yesterday, we went to San Francisco over the weekend to see the Chihuly exhibit at the DeYoung Museum. Here are some picks for you to check out. Who knows....maybe they'll inspire you to create something fabulous! Enjoy the eye candy and I'll be back tomorrow with some cards.

Beautiful stuff isn't it?
See ya tomorrow...

A very special sale...

It seems like everyone's life has been touched by cancer in some way. My husband has lost an Aunt and an Uncle to it recently. A close friend of mine has skin cancer and I just lost a dear friend in January to Lymphoma.

In honor of everyone who has lost their battle or is still courageously fighting, I wanted to tell you about a fellow SU demonstrator named Tish. I did not have the pleasure of knowing her personally, but Kim over at My Favorite Things was very good friends with her husband and has posted the following on her blog:


"A few months ago, I posted about a friend, Tish, who’d been diagnosed with a very rare form of ovarian cancer. Tish battled through 6 rounds of chemo only to discover two additional tumors, one on her spine and one in her stomach. Since her diagnosis last August, the family has held the motto of DRIVE ON! in dealing with this aggressive cancer and fought a valiant fight. Tish lost her battle early Tuesday morning, and I found out about it late last night. Tish leaves behind two beautiful, young sons and a hubby, Todd, who I worked with for several years in my past life. I know Todd much better than I knew Tish, and know just how difficult this has been and will continue to be for the immediate future. Prior to Tish passing, a benefit was planned to help the family recover from the mounting medical bills and ensure a bright future for the boys, Tucker and Tanner. The benefit is still underway, but with a more solemn feel. My husband and I are donating some items to a silent auction. The content of the gift card is about $200 in MFT merchandise, and I know every little bit helps. But I want to do more. Todd was the most compassionate, tender-hearted *boss* I’ve ever had, and I want more than anything to really help this family. So what I’ve decided to do is two-fold: 1) Starting tomorrow, I am offering a 10% discount on ALL stamps on the site. Use the coupon code Tish at checkout to receive 10% off all all the stamps in your shopping cart. (It won’t discount your other merchandise, just stamps.) The coupon code will run from Tuesday, April 15th-Friday, April 18th. 2) I will donate 10% of ALL proceeds (including money spent on other items on the site) to the family at their April 26th benefit. FYI - The discount applies only to retail orders… I am making it my goal to personally pay for the FL College Pre-Paid plan for the boys during an entire year which will be about $1200. Please help me reach this goal. And should you feel moved to do so, I am quite sure they would love some happy mail."

(And given that Tish was an SU demo, those hand-made cards WILL be appreciated!) Please send them to:

Todd, Tucker and Tanner Rayburn
1558 Muir Cir
Clermont, FL 34711-6545

For those of you who have the time to make a card and send it to the Rayburn family, please put a link to your card in the comment section of this post so I can share it with all of my readers.

El primio arte y pico!

Look what I received this morning from Tiffany over at My Crafty World! Thanks Tiffany - you made my day. After blogging for only three months, I'm already hooked! I know there are MANY blogs out there in "blog-land", and I really appreciate those of you who stop by to check out my little creations.

After doing a little research, here are some things that I learned about this award:

• It means (something like) Award for art, artistry & a kiss on the cheek
• According to the Arte y pico blog, where the award originated, it is given to blogs which "nourish and enrich my spirit and creativity. In these blogs I see dedication, creativity, care, companionship, joyfulness and overall art, so much art. With this award, I want to give attention to those bloggers who day after day share this space and enrich everyday a little bit more."

Here are the rules I was given for this award:

1. Choose five blogs that I consider deserving of this award and post their names / links
2. Include a link to the arte y pico blog and the person who sent it to me.

Therefore, without further ado, I offer the Primio Arte Y Pico to:

• Kristina Werner
• Lauren Meader
• Ana Wohlfahrt
• Beate Johns
• Michelle Zindorf

Thanks again Tiffany - you made my day!

We had an intruder last night....

a leprechaun that is! This is the second year in a row that a sneaky little leprechaun has broken into our house and played tricks on my kids for St. Patricks Day! My son even set up a trap this year, but that tricky little leprechaun still got away! Once again, he painted the kids noses and belly buttons green while they were sleeping. Can you imagine??? Our big fat Siamese cat is green, the toilet water and even the soymilk in the fridge.

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!

Beautiful weather, a picnic and a dead fish...

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful Spring weather yesterday and go to our favorite picnic spot in Napa. The weather was perfect, the food was yummy and it was just a perfect way to spend the day.

When we got home I heard a blood curdling scream come from my sons room. Before I could get up, he came running into my workshop holding his beloved fish. Apparently his fish had jumped out of his tank while we were out picnicing and had totally dried out by the time we got home. My poor little guy was devastated! I asked him if he wanted to make a nice box to bury his fish in and he said yes. Ironically, the only box I had (or was willing to part with) was a sushi band aid container. My son looked at it and said, "Mom...I don't think that's funny". We covered the box with some pretty fish paper and popped the little guy inside. Only problem? My husband said that we wouldn't be able to bury it until he gets home tonight and my son keeps holding his dead fish. Every time I turn around, he's got this little dried up rubbery blue thing in his hand. Poor guy. Our fish funeral will be this evening before dinner. Check back later tonight and I'll have a new card to share with you.

Something for the family...

So here's my little guy at his first Taekwondo belt test yesterday. He's been working SO hard for the last month and really looking forward to this. I see many Taekwondo scrapbook pages in my future. Check back later today for some items I've been working on for my March class!