LAST one for the vacation...

One final look at Miss Mae before I pack up the scrap crap and put it away until next mini-vacation... It's been fun getting scrappy again, but I SERIOUSLY need to scrap layouts next time around...

This card was created to support the Town Scrapper's Autism drive (check it out, it's for a GREAT cause!), and also used the Eat, Sleep, Stamp sketch... And I used my dusty old stamps to create the "Springish" background inspired by Mae's basket of poisies, as requested by Challenge Up Your Life! :) AND, to top it off, we have something old (the OLD stamps used for the background paper), something new (a brandie new Mae image that's not available until April 20th, but you can download the freebie all this month!!), and something Sweet... Isn't Mae the sweetest?? :) Cooking it up with Katie asked for that unique little combo, and it DEFINITELY helped make Mae look sweeter in this little project!!

And with that, I have GOT t run and take Melanie to a play date, but I wish you all happy scrapping!!

"One cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty." (Pride & Prejudice)

I squeezed in ONE more quick card in honor of my Stepmom's birthday on the 14th... And now I have to run to the post office to mail it out on time!! :)

Let's see... this one was made using the I {heart} 2 Stamp Sketch, the Kraftin' Kimmie Color Challenge (OMG did you SEE the Marie Antoinette stamp?? I am going to HAVE to find a way to get her!!!), a Bow according to the Our Creative Corner Challenge, and of course, it's a birthday card as required by Stamp, Scrap & Doodle... Hubby is painting the living room today to spruce up the house for sale, so if I can MANAGE to squeeze another in while he's busy, then I may be back again... otherwise, my scrappy mojo may be over for a time being, since it's back to work Monday! And, um, yeah, I DID say I'd stop making cards, but I haven't scrapped a layout in so long I think I've forgotten how!!! Any ideas on how to jump back into it? I do believe it has to do with the right PICTURES, but, well.... I'm stumped!! :)

Enjoy a wonderful day!!!

"If things are going untowardly one month, they are sure to mend the next." (Emma)

So I was having a rough day... the realtor came and put up the For Sale sign at our house, and although I am slowly talking myself into the knowledge that a move would be a good thing for us, moving at seven or eight or nine months pregnant and leaving behind the only home we've ever owned... well, that's a heavy emotional step for us right now. BUT I know that God has a plan and He will take us to where He feels we belong.

And my darling friends, Leah and Kristy, totally felt my pain this afternoon... And they TOTALLY cheered me up by enabling my creative juices and sending me MAE!!!!!!!! :) In MUCH appreciation, I put the child to bed early, kicked the husband out to watch the baseball game, and sat at my croweded dining room table to craft this little card for the SOG Sketch Challenge and the Res-Q Challenge (blue, flowers, pattern) this week.... And Mae DOES make me smile! :)

Mae will be available to the public on April 20th, but the more I get to know her, the more I'm sure she is going to be my FAVORITE digi ever... AND you can download a Freebie of Mae courtesy of Some Odd Girl ALL month long!! Now that my heart is peaceful again, I think I'll hit the sack, lol, for as long as my little kicker allows! Have a wonderful evening bloggers!

Merci Beaucoup... And a blog hop...

I love days off... when I'm NOT cleaning! :) Today I took a April in Paris blog hop just for the fun of it, and "toured" the streets of Paris!! :) Which inspired my little thank you card featuring an awfully hard to color Ketto, lol! :)

Some Dollilicious Work...

Although I have mentally sworn off cardmaking due to the huge volume I had to produce for my students, I think I'm over it now... And I have to start making thank you cards for my upcoming Baby Shower! :)

This week's Element's Challenge at Design Dollies is to use the theme of "April Showers bring May Flowers" with an element of rain/water in it... So I played with a shower thank you card and glossy accented some elements to make 'em look wet...

And our color challenge this week is to use Dark Green, Yellow, and Rust...

(which I used in a card for one of my 46 students.... I have to start making 'em for NEXT year now so I don't end up rushing as much as I did this time around!!)

And... that's all folks, lol... For now at least. I'm thinking of getting scrappy on my last day of official vacation, but then again, I DO have lesson plans to write and papers to grade... what do YOU think bloggers? Scrap or work? Hee hee... Do head over to the Dollies and check out Kristy's sketch this week and play along for some awesome prizes... in fact, I think I'm heading over there RIGHT now to post my prize for this month's Elements challenges and to pick a winner from March! Happy scrappin!

Charmed, I'm sure...

This week's Town Scrapper challenge is to incorporate a charm into a project, and in order to finalize this card using the much drooled after Whiff of Joy Dancing Willow stamp, I used a previous sketch from the Whiff of Joy Challenge blog, and used this week's recipe (3 papers, 2 buttons, 1 ribbon) as well... AND there's this CUTE site called "Alota Rubber Stamps" that has a 3,2,1 challenge going on this week... with a name like that, well, I couldn't resist playing along! :)
More importantly, I do hope everyone had a wonderful Easter today... We had an uplifting service that reminded us all how joyful it is to serve a Risen Lord, so celebrating definitely helped lift me out of the doldrums... As did this ADORABLE stamp... :) Ciao, bellas...

"'You are in a melancholy humour and fancy that anyone unlike yourself must be happy." (Sense and Sensibility)

It's beautiful outside, but I'm fighting a funk... I SHOULD be happy... First day of Spring break, expecting 70 degree weather, and having a quiet day at home. But still in a funk somehow... SO, I made an Easter card for my mom to snap out of it, lol...
Using Sketch #30 from The Sugar Bowl, I finally had a chance to play along with this week's challenge...AND, my darling Leah is DT coordinator for the Town Scrapper, who had a cool Easter challenge this week to inspire this card's theme...
Playing with Kaylee DID make me smile a bit... especially since it was for Some Odd Girl's first ever Stash/Rainbow challenge... I dug out that paper I've been dying to play with but afraid to cut and found some crushed flowers at the bottom of my box... made me feel a little better to use stuff that's been lying around for the longest! :) And have you SEEN Mae yet? She's ADORABLE, and I can't wait till she's releaseed!! :)

Now I guess it's time to clean up and snap out of it... Hope all is well with YOU bloggers! :)

Candy Winner!!!!!!!!!!

SO.... Here we go. Thank you to everyone who CORRECTLY entered in for my candy by following my blog, commenting about their favorite birthday memory, and posting my candy to their blogs (THEN for any Dollies players who fullfilled the above). I had a great birthday this past month, and I do thank you all for the wonderful birthday wishes!

SO, I randomized my list of entries:

There were 54 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Amy
2. Amy
3. Jude
4. Leah
5. Leah
6. Miislucky
7. Karen
8. Amy
9. TeenaBugg38
10. Karen
11. Leah
12. Beate
13. Karen
14. Crystal
15. Amy
16. Leah
17. Leah
18. Amy
19. DZMania
20. Leah
21. Amy
22. Denise
23. Leah
24. Leah
25. Grazi
26. Amy
27. Crystal
28. Leah
29. Karen
30. Karen
31. Melissa
32. Amy
33. Denise
34. Karen
35. Kimmie
36. Crystal
37. Liezl
38. Amy
39. Karen
40. Crystal
41. Karen
42. Rosa
43. Alin
44. Leah
45. Karen
46. Ramona
47. Noga
48. Karen
49. Alin
50. Amy
51. Karen
52. Leah
53. Winged
54. Karen

And THEN randomized the number order thingy:
Making our winner................. AMY :)

(Girl, you ROCKED those Dollies challenges, btw!!!)

I'll be sending out your goodies this week, and in the meantime, keep playing with Dollies!!! :)

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!! (CLOSED!!!!!!)

March is absolutely my favorite month of the year, even as it always ends up in me being older and older! :) My birthday is coming up on March 14th, and in honor of that event, I'm offering up some yummy CANDY!!!! :)

Included in my box of favorite things:

• Webster's Pages:
  Lullaby Lane and Life's Portrait Petite Papers
  Lullaby Lane Deluxe Journaling Card Set
  Silhouettes Self Adhesive Cameos
• Sassafras Lass:
  Snack Attack Felities
  Cherry Sweet Treats Cardstock Stickers
  Cherry Delicious Wee Bundle
• Basic Grey
  Offbeat Rubons
  Opaline Half Pearls (Mauve and Gray)
• Kaiser
  Self Adhesive Pearls (Blush and Ice Green)
• Close to My Heart
  Colonial White/Sweet Leaf Embellishments
  Chocolate Shades Collection Mini Medley
• Tattered Angels
  Golden Terracotta Glimmer Mist
• The Paper Loft
  Now and Then Old Timer Journaling Card
  Storybook Pages Love and Romance Card
• Prima
  Pebbles Cailloux

So here are the logistics:

• If you already ARE a follower, please comment below and share YOUR fondest birthday memory and post a pic of my candy/link back here on YOUR blog's sidebar (1 entry)


• If you are not yet a follower, please become one and comment below on YOUR fondest birthday memory, then post a pic of my candy/link back here on YOUR blog's sidebar... (1 entry)


• Please take a moment to play along with the Design Dollies anytime this month and of course comment back here that you HAVE played along with the Dolls (with a pic of my candy/link back here on YOUR blog's sidebar)...(1 entry)


• IF you play with the Dollies on March 16th, I'll be directing you back to my blog for more, well, of me (and you'll get another 3 entries for playing with MY Elements challenge that week after you post a comment here and link your blog back to my candy)

Ok, so I'm an English teacher, but I THINK that gives everyone at least...16 chances to win (if you play with ALL the Dollies challenges, that is!!!) :)

I will keep this post up and running until Midnight on March 31st, so until then, happy scrapping, and thanks for playing!!! :)

Last chance....

My candy expires at Midnight on Wednesday, the 31st (Can you believe March is almost OVER already?)... So make sure you comment on the Candy post with your favorite birthday memory and play along with the Dollies for extra chances to win!! Happy scrappin!

It's a Dollilicious Challenge!! WITH extra chances to win candy...

WELL, thank you to everyone who has shared amazing birthday wishes and beautiful stories of their own favorite birthday stories. I LOVE reading about your experiences and can't wait to read more!! :)

As promised, we have a special Design Dollies challenge in honor of my birthday, so definitely head over to the Design Dollies Challenge Blog to see what we have in store for ya.... And then come on back to play!! :)

Here's a sneak peek at what I played with for the challenge above...

And I've got, oh, let's say twenty more cards to go before I'm done with the seniors' batch... And I think I won't make another card again for a LONG time, lol!! :)

"It was a delightful visit - perfect, in being much too short." (Emma)

My darling Leah visited with us yesterday, and we had an impromptu surprise birthday party... Could you picture my dining room table and living room bedecked with our scrap supplies aplenty and one half of my family all together cooking some Puerto Rican specialties (even my hubby made the arroz con pollo!!) while Leah and I tried to get our mulitple projects done WITHOUT being rude to the well wishers? At first I was worried they'd be offended, but everyone in my family seems to understand my addiction at this point... especially when they saw the ABUNDANCE of supplies we pull out for these things!!

AND, I made thirteen more cards toward my goal of 49... I think I'm up to 26 now... SOME of them were rushed and WAY too simple for me to post (you'd fall asleep on them)... BUT, then there are some like the one using the Card Patterns sketch (Tracey, if you read this, WHERE in NY are you?? I'm in Northern NJ right over the GWB... are we neighbors??):

And this What a Wonderful World card from the 365 Days Challenge:

Thank you JILL for the amazing embellishment you made oh so long ago for our CM swap!! Fit PERFECTLy for what I had to crank out this weekend!!

BUT I think my favorite (and most girly) card so far was the one I made using the Pile it On (Pastels) challenge that fit for the Ooh La La Anything Goes incentive, the Secret Crafter's Anything Goes challenge, Rosie D's Spring challenge, By the Cute and Girly's Spring Challenge, and an awesome Paper Sundaes Spring Challenge for Willow (SHE'S ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!)....

I think that's enough for now, but please do remember to check out the Dollies Tuesday the 16th for a special triple entry chance for my candy.... And thanks to everyone for the awesome birthday wishes... Admittedly, thirty three doesn't feel like an age to really go out and party for, lol, but I welcomed my day in doing my favorite thing and I hope the old wive's tale that says how you spend your birthday will set the tone for the rest of your year rings true on that aspect!!!

""My dear, you are too particular," said her husband. "What does all that signify? You will see nothing of it by candlelight." (Emma

And as crafters, aren't we ALL a bit meticulous about our work overall?? WELL... I can critique my projects ad nauseum, but I have GOT to get these cards done for my students this weekend... so far, this is #12 of 49... For Delightful Sketches' Kids Challenge as well as the Color Dare's Tempting Chocolate Celery Challenge...

WELL, I'm hoping to get MANY more cards done this weekend with Ms. Leah, so please check back by Monday... And don't forget that we'll have a special candy-related challenge at the Dollies on Tuesday the 16th!!! Happy Scrapping!

"It was agreed that, provided the weather were fair, the party should take place on the following morning" (Northanger Abbey)

And tomorrow IS a party day!! Two more days until my birthday, and my buddy Leah L'Orange is comin over to scrap and play all day!!

And though we'll be playing, I have got WORK to do!! My seniors are getting ready for their annual retreat at the end of Spring break, and it is our tradition to send them off with a little note from each teacher (even if we couldn't STAND the kid all year), encouraging them as they embark on their new journey... So of COURSE, I decided to make them each an individualized card reflecting THEM and write a personalized note in each. Then I realized I have 49 seniors. And three days to get the cards finished. And ten made. :) SO, wish me luck, and I'm sure my next few hundred posts will be of cards, no layouts, until I have finished this project. BUT I act like it's a chore... It's actually a fun thing (right?) :).

SO, here's number eleven of 49... Made for a Cafe Mom challenge and the current sketch challenge at The Character Cafe... I LOVE their digis, btw, and may have to get some before I'm done with my card run to play with. Kristy's digis are also awesome at Some Odd Girl, so I will have to fire up the printer for those... Hey, question bloggers: if I heat set a digi, will it help prevent bleeding when I color 'em in?? I tried coloring in a Kaylee the other day and smudged it beyond recognition... Hmmm...

"Mary wished to say something sensible, but knew not how. " (Pride and Prejudice)

Don't you just have to LOL sometimes when reading Austen? So witty... AND I know exactly how Mary felt... I have put my foot in my mouth so many times I truly wish I could stop talking sometimes... And it's often easier to WRITE the correct thing than to say it... SO, this card is one of the ones I made for my recent Alice in Wonderland swap, and shows the vintage Mad tea party. I can't wait to see the movie, maybe on Sunday in celebration of my birthday...

I made this one using a sketch that was posted in a group I play with on CafeMom, and now my humble little card is the icon thingy for the group this month, which makes me feel all warm and gushy inside, lol. Now, if only I could KEEP the energy going to make some more cards... WELL, do check out the Dollies when you have a chance and play along for my candy (see post above). Later...