Mytime's Saturday Sketch (on Sunday)

Well, I've stayed up entirely too late tonight, since we're heading out early tomorrow for some family fun time...BUT - I did get some stamping done, and I cleaned up my stamp area a bit also, so it was a productive night.

Here's my take on Lauren's Saturday Sketch for this week. Quite a fun sketch I think. I just adore these owls from Pink Cat Studio's QT Hooty set. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Wise Owl set. I've jumped on the owl bandwagon...but how can you not?

I stamped the owls and then punched them out using my 1 3/8" square punch. The 'dew drops' are vase filler from M's colored with my Copics to match the colors on the owls. Those little sweeties are colored with my Copics too...have I mentioned I'm in LOVE with them??? Can't wait to get some more!

Well, I hope you get to play with Lauren's sketch this week too...have a great Sunday everyone, thanks for stopping by!!

Mmmmmmm....Martinis...

See that one on the right?? That's mine...YUM. A Bluberritini. That was my drink for the night. Delish! Of course, my friends all thought it was weird that I was taking pictures of the martinis, but hey - They're beautiful...in my eyes anyway ;)

We had a great night out, I haven't laughed that much in I don't know HOW long...I laughed until I had tears in my eyes, and my side hurt.

I'm lucky to have such a fun group of friends...

I hope to be back later today with some stampin' eye candy - but here's a few fun pics from dinner last night...

This is Kristie and I

And here's Cathy & Sue (for any of you that saw my Bella coaster book SBK~MBA) this is the Sue that it was for - and yes, I still owe her 10 martini's...

Here's John & Irene, he's the Birthday boy, just in case the balloons didn't give it away (oh, and he was THRILLED about that too ;) )

And last but not least, here's one of me and the hubby...it's not often I get to be in the pictures, it was nice that my camera kept getting passed around the table...

Hope you all have a terrific day - and I hope to be back later with Lauren's Saturday Sketch!

Life...

It has a funny habit of getting in the way sometimes...

We've had a busy week - some family stuff...and friend stuff too - eek! BUT -- tomorrow Hubby and I get to go on a DATE...that's right, you heard it...a DATE. I'm pretty excited...we're going out with some friends for dinner and drinks.

Good friends, good food...can't wait.

We're going to celebrate our friend John's birthday - his '21st' *wink* you believe that, and I've got a bridge in Brooklyn for sale too...

At the risk of being redundant (well, with the punch anyway) I made this card for John's birthday. This awesome little monkey is from CC Designs ( you can find them at http://www.allthatscraps.com/ ) The sentiment was done using my Just-Rite Monogram Stamper, with the little add on letters you can buy (also at All That Scraps!)

The inside says "and again, and again." cute, right?

The balloon was dressed up with a little crystal effects, and the border on the right was done with a Martha Stewart Border Punch that I got at M's a while back. Looks like it's sold out here - http://www.marthastewartcrafts.com/detail.php?p=58602, but they may have it in your local store...

So now, the biggest question is, what kind of martini should I have tomorrow night?? C'mon now - I need your help here!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Proud Aunt (and Mommy)!

Look at these cuties...
The one on the left is mine...the one on the right is my niece. Notice they both have short hair???
Back in April, my daughter cut off her long thick hair, and donated it to Locks of Love. It all stemmed from Lauren Meader's daughter Alexa. My daughter & Alexa have never met, but we talked about her illness often. I explained that sometimes people are so sick, that the medicine they have to take is strong, and can make their hair fall out.
One day, my daughter was complaining about me brushing her hair, so I suggested we cut it off...she agreed. I told her we could donate it to help out sick kids whose hair has fallen out...she was pretty excited to help.
So...what does that have to do with this card you ask??? Well, my sister-in law was so excited when she saw her hair and talked alot to her girls about what my daughter did and why. Her older daughter had often toyed with the idea of cutting her hair, but then got nervous, and decided not to...until now.
My niece cut off her hair last week, and sent it off to Locks of Love...my girl inspired her to do it, I'm just so proud of them both!!! I almost cried when I saw my niece, as I IMMEDIATELY knew what she was going to tell me, and I couldn't be happier. I made this card for my niece, and will be sending it along with a few new fun hair clips for her new 'do!
Thanks for letting me have my pround Auntie (and Mommy) moment!!

Nick's Birthday...

So, yesterday was my honey's birthday...it wasn't the BEST day, as the girls were totally coming down off an exhausting weekend, so everyone was a little crabby :( I did try to make up for it by making a nice dinner, and letting him take a nice afternoon snooze...

We got him Rockband for the Wii for his birthday...he is REALLY tough to buy for, and always asks for practical stuff, so I thought this might be fun...it will be interesting, that's for sure!

So, inspired by Rockstar-ness...I made his card, to give him a little hint. I used this GREAT paper from Piggy Tales - Wonder Years from the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Collection. I used the smaller pattern for my cardfront, and then I cut a larger guitar out from a scrap piece.

I punched a star from my DCWV Glitter Cardstock Stack using my SU! Star punch, and used dimensionals to pop the star off the card, and the guitar of the star...nice effect.

The sentiment...I used my Big Deal Alpha from SU! for the 'h' and 'b' and PTI's Simple Alphabet for the rest. The stars around the sentiment were hand drawn with my sakura stardust pen.

I think my favorite birthday present had to have been the year I got my 10 speed bicycle...I had this dinky little red and white radio flyer bike that my knees would hit the handle bars when I peddled if I didn't sit just right or stand. Other kids would be like...'nice bike'. I begged for a 10 speed...and Mom and Dad came through, it was a Huffy - black with pink handlebars...I was *hot stuff* ;)

What was YOUR favorite birthday present??

Thanks for stopping by!

A Muster...What's a muster???

This has been a few BUSY days here...you already saw the run up to the weekend, and yesterday we spent the entire day at a muster...what's a muster?? Well, it's a music festival of sorts...for Fife & Drum Corps, that is. Every summer, our calendar is packed with parades and musters to go to...it can be a lot of work, but it's a ton of fun too. I've even met people from Switzerland who have come to the states to perform.

It's a bit different now that we have kids, but it's a great day for them to be outside enjoying the music, and fresh air. There's a great variety in the styles of music and uniforms that you see throughout the day, and it can be a great history lesson...well, if you want it to be.

The musters usually start out on Friday night, when they hold a mini-version of what's to come the next day...they call this a 'tatoo'. Everyone gathers around the muster field, and watches the performances of the host corps and perhaps a few others...then everyone jams. Anyone and everyone heads out to the field, and they play common songs that everyone knows...WHAT a feeling...the drums just pounding in your chest...there's nothing like it.

People bring campers and pitch tents (we haven't camped since before we had kids) and the jam lasts well into the night, until the local law 'quiet hour' and then people head back to their camps, and hang out before going to bed. The next morning starts off with a parade through town...drum coprs only, not your usual fire trucks and girls scouts kind of parade. Then back to the field for more. Each corps comes out and does a performance for the audience. Some corps have great showmanship - The Ancient Mariners being one...they are pirates, and they have a big cannon and a 'prisoner' (usually a newbie that wants in) and they drag him around the field... here's a clip of them marching on stand yesterday...

Here's a few shots of some of my corps mates...

This is a good portion of our drum line...and that guy in the different uniform? He's my Brother-in-law who plays with another group...

This is Eileen, she's in our colorguard, and will drum major for us when my brother-in-law Joe isn't around...

And this is Leslie - she's our newest addition to our drum line, and she's awesome...she fits right in with our crowd of misfits ;)

Well - I think I've bored you enough for one day...today is my hubby's birthday - so we'll be celebrating later...and hopefully I'll get some 'stamping candy' up either later tonight or tomorrow...

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Family Time...Staycation

We took a few days off for a 'Staycation'. We didn't make plans to go away, but we ALL needed a little break from the norm. It was nice to have some time away from work to play with the girls.
Yesterday we started with the county fair...

Here we are waiting for a ride...this look was...'do you actually think I'm going to fit in there???'