Happy Easter

The anticipation is building in our household for the Easter Bunny's arrival tonight and for what he might bring.  Today Harry made this large, colourful card for the Easter Bunny which we will leave out tonight along with some carrots and some milk.  It is so fun watching the innocence of young children at times like these.  I am looking forward to our annual Easter Egg hunt in the garden

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Another Vegas Layout - Luxor Hotel and Casino

I have another layout to share with you today - the Luxor Hotel and Casino.  This is where we stayed for our week in Vegas.  For those not familiar with Las Vegas, the Luxor is a large pyramid (with side towers).  We purposely chose a pyramid room because I wanted to experience the fun shape.  The elevators were interesting... They rise on an angle due to the pyramid shape.  You suddenly realize you are not going just up and down, but slightly sideways too. 

This layout is of the Luxor exterior, including a photo of one of the four pool, and a photo of the view from the hotel front   I like the phrases "Every smile has a story to tell" and "A picture's worth a thousand words."  I thought both of the phrases were perfect for scrapbooking.  I used Bo Bunny paper for this layout - simple cricut cut letters, and a personalized die cut I purchased from Scrap Your Trip.  Julie has great products that can be customized.  My scrap-trip to Las Vegas will continue tomorrow with another layout. 

I have BIG NEWS:  Thanks to "My Friend Kathy's" outstanding shopping skills I am the owner of a new PINK tripod!!  I will be attempting another video soon - this time with less arm in front of the camera!! :-) 

Also, I noted today that I am five followers away from reaching 500 followers.  When I started this blog I never dreamed that I would have 500 followers.  WOW.  I am humbled. 

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Another Vegas Layout - Luxor Hotel and Casino

I have another layout to share with you today - the Luxor Hotel and Casino.  This is where we stayed for our week in Vegas.  For those not familiar with Las Vegas, the Luxor is a large pyramid (with side towers).  We purposely chose a pyramid room because I wanted to experience the fun shape.  The elevators were interesting... They rise on an angle due to the pyramid shape.  You suddenly realize you are not going just up and down, but slightly sideways too. 

This layout is of the Luxor exterior, including a photo of one of the four pool, and a photo of the view from the hotel front   I like the phrases "Every smile has a story to tell" and "A picture's worth a thousand words."  I thought both of the phrases were perfect for scrapbooking.  I used Bo Bunny paper for this layout - simple cricut cut letters, and a personalized die cut I purchased from Scrap Your Trip.  Julie has great products that can be customized.  My scrap-trip to Las Vegas will continue tomorrow with another layout. 

I have BIG NEWS:  Thanks to "My Friend Kathy's" outstanding shopping skills I am the owner of a new PINK tripod!!  I will be attempting another video soon - this time with less arm in front of the camera!! :-) 

Also, I noted today that I am five followers away from reaching 500 followers.  When I started this blog I never dreamed that I would have 500 followers.  WOW.  I am humbled. 

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Totally NOT Papercraft Related: Michigan State University Moves to the Final Four!!

Happy Dance!! Happy dance!!!  My Michigan State Spartans are on their way to the final four!!  I just had to share - Donna Mundinger and I are both celebrating tonight.... We MSU Alumni take our basketball seriously - as does Sparty - just look at the photo above.

Sparty is quite the guy!  Look at him rallying the team during a game!!  I love Sparty... but then he is the ULTIMATE Spartan! 

Too funny - I just checked Donna's blog to copy the link to her site - and she too has a MSU post.  We Spartans take our team seriously!!!!

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Totally NOT Papercraft Related: Michigan State University Moves to the Final Four!!

Happy Dance!! Happy dance!!!  My Michigan State Spartans are on their way to the final four!!  I just had to share - Donna Mundinger and I are both celebrating tonight.... We MSU Alumni take our basketball seriously - as does Sparty - just look at the photo above.

Sparty is quite the guy!  Look at him rallying the team during a game!!  I love Sparty... but then he is the ULTIMATE Spartan! 

Too funny - I just checked Donna's blog to copy the link to her site - and she too has a MSU post.  We Spartans take our team seriously!!!!

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Spring Steeplechase and Birthday Bash ... What a Saturday!

I have to tell you that I am wiped out today.  Yesterday was such a full and wonderful day.  We attended the Aiken's 44th Running of the Steeplechase, T H E spring event in Aiken, as well as hosted a 50th birthday party my husband threw for me. 

Steeplechase is a day of tailgating, horse racing, sun (!), friends, food and beverages.  We had such a nice time attending with a few friends, my mother, and two of our three children. We took our E-Z up canopy, tables & chairs, and tailgated from the backend of my minivan.

We then came home and set up a couple of round tables with chairs in our backyard.  We served a selection of food, beverages and of course, birthday cake and ice cream.  We finished the night off with funny rounds of Catch Phrase and Apples to Apples.  It was seriously so much fun.

Today is my actual birthday and it has been a slow lazy day... Now that I am 50 apparently I need a recovery day! LOL. 

I just wanted to share some of my birthday weekend fun with you.  I hope that you will stop back on Monday for the BBTB2 new projects (hint - BBTB2 is celebrating with me also).

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Spring Steeplechase and Birthday Bash ... What a Saturday!

I have to tell you that I am wiped out today.  Yesterday was such a full and wonderful day.  We attended the Aiken's 44th Running of the Steeplechase, T H E spring event in Aiken, as well as hosted a 50th birthday party my husband threw for me. 

Steeplechase is a day of tailgating, horse racing, sun (!), friends, food and beverages.  We had such a nice time attending with a few friends, my mother, and two of our three children. We took our E-Z up canopy, tables & chairs, and tailgated from the backend of my minivan.

We then came home and set up a couple of round tables with chairs in our backyard.  We served a selection of food, beverages and of course, birthday cake and ice cream.  We finished the night off with funny rounds of Catch Phrase and Apples to Apples.  It was seriously so much fun.

Today is my actual birthday and it has been a slow lazy day... Now that I am 50 apparently I need a recovery day! LOL. 

I just wanted to share some of my birthday weekend fun with you.  I hope that you will stop back on Monday for the BBTB2 new projects (hint - BBTB2 is celebrating with me also).

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Scrapping Pre-Birthday Bash

I have THE BEST friends!!  Honestly.  It is so wonderful to type that sentence and truly mean every word.  My friends threw me a 50th Birthday Crop last Saturday and it was a blast.  A moment of full disclosure here:  My actual birthday is NEXT Sunday.  However, there are several events all going on next weekend that made it necessary for the birthday crop to be a week early.  And as I ALWAYS say, a good birthday should last a few days; a great birthday should last a couple of weeks.  This is a great birthday!

My friends put together a 12 hour scrap-bash that included fabulous friends, wonderful food, scrappy gifts, and lots and lots of laughter. Photos above show the luncheon table and Peggy (the hostess) with the almost b-day girl.

My girl-friends are the best!  They made me a scrapping scrapbook.  It is a scrapbook of our scrapping adventures.  It includes trips to three out of town cropping locations, trips to the CKC conventions, notes from Kelly at Custom Crops and Regina at BBTB, and my blog.  Each of the friends at the party contributed pages, as well as Suzanne who was out of town.  It is the book of my scrapping adventures and it is AWESOME!  In the photo above are "My Friend Kathy", Toby and Andrea. 

And finally what would a birthday party be without cake?  My Friend Kathy made this fabulous double layer pineapple upside down cake that tastes even better than it looks!!!

Thank you girly-girls for being the MOST awesome friends and for the all the fun I alway have with all of you!!!

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Scrapping Pre-Birthday Bash

I have THE BEST friends!!  Honestly.  It is so wonderful to type that sentence and truly mean every word.  My friends threw me a 50th Birthday Crop last Saturday and it was a blast.  A moment of full disclosure here:  My actual birthday is NEXT Sunday.  However, there are several events all going on next weekend that made it necessary for the birthday crop to be a week early.  And as I ALWAYS say, a good birthday should last a few days; a great birthday should last a couple of weeks.  This is a great birthday!

My friends put together a 12 hour scrap-bash that included fabulous friends, wonderful food, scrappy gifts, and lots and lots of laughter. Photos above show the luncheon table and Peggy (the hostess) with the almost b-day girl.

My girl-friends are the best!  They made me a scrapping scrapbook.  It is a scrapbook of our scrapping adventures.  It includes trips to three out of town cropping locations, trips to the CKC conventions, notes from Kelly at Custom Crops and Regina at BBTB, and my blog.  Each of the friends at the party contributed pages, as well as Suzanne who was out of town.  It is the book of my scrapping adventures and it is AWESOME!  In the photo above are "My Friend Kathy", Toby and Andrea. 

And finally what would a birthday party be without cake?  My Friend Kathy made this fabulous double layer pineapple upside down cake that tastes even better than it looks!!!

Thank you girly-girls for being the MOST awesome friends and for the all the fun I alway have with all of you!!!

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Happy Bird-Day Card for my Mother-in-Law

My mother-in-law's birthday (84) is three weeks away so I thought it was time to get going on a card for her. She is a diminutive, southern woman who enjoys the beauty of various birds - so of course this called for a Bird-Day card!

As luck would have it I stumbled upon a FREE copy of the Serenade cartridge yesterday! (Let’s all say WOO-HOO for free cartridges)! Okay I didn’t really stumble - - it was sent to me along with a warranty replacement cricut expression from Provo Craft. And what is on the Serenade cartridge??? Bird cages and birds – YES!!

I really like how this card came out. More importantly I think my mother-in-law will really like the card. She is very supportive of my paper crafting, even sharing projects I send to her with her friends. Of course now that I know that I do try to make her projects “share worthy”.

I used not just the Cricut and Serenade on this card, but also the tall nesties – scalloped and plain, the rectangular nesties – scalloped and plain, and part of a stamp set by Darcie’s. I used Stampin’ Up ink, Core'dination carstock, assorted other paper, and pink ribbon from my stash.

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Happy Bird-Day Card for my Mother-in-Law

My mother-in-law's birthday (84) is three weeks away so I thought it was time to get going on a card for her. She is a diminutive, southern woman who enjoys the beauty of various birds - so of course this called for a Bird-Day card!

As luck would have it I stumbled upon a FREE copy of the Serenade cartridge yesterday! (Let’s all say WOO-HOO for free cartridges)! Okay I didn’t really stumble - - it was sent to me along with a warranty replacement cricut expression from Provo Craft. And what is on the Serenade cartridge??? Bird cages and birds – YES!!

I really like how this card came out. More importantly I think my mother-in-law will really like the card. She is very supportive of my paper crafting, even sharing projects I send to her with her friends. Of course now that I know that I do try to make her projects “share worthy”.

I used not just the Cricut and Serenade on this card, but also the tall nesties – scalloped and plain, the rectangular nesties – scalloped and plain, and part of a stamp set by Darcie’s. I used Stampin’ Up ink, Core'dination carstock, assorted other paper, and pink ribbon from my stash.

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Last of the Weekend Layouts

This is the last of layouts that I will be sharing from last weekend's crop at Lake Murray (thank you Sally & Beth)!! Let me see... We featured Aaron, then Bethany... So it must be time for Ian. I must tell you that my photo stash of Ian has declined significantly since he went away to college. I am going to have to speak to him about being IN the photos he takes and posts.

The photos in this layout were from January 2009 when the Carolina Panthers were in the playoffs. I was excited that I had a reason to use the Carolina-Like Panther cut that I designed a couple of years ago.  Sadly they were destroyed by the Cardinals.... and it rained… And the quarterback threw a zillion interceptions…. OUCH. My poor guys - there they were in the rain watching their team loose. My husband assured me that except for the game the guys enjoyed their trip to Charlotte. That is one of those "huh" statements. They only went to Charlotte for the game!!! Yes they did spend the night and have dinner, etc. But they went to see the game!!!

I think the look on Aaron’s and Ian’s faces in this photo says it all - they look so annoyed with the game. I will add that Ian was better trained as a scrapper child - I not only got photos, he also brought me his game ticket to go on his page. Alas, now I would be happy to just have photos!!

And finally I will share this layout of Doug and me on New Year’s Eve. Not my best layout design, but I loved the paper. Note that the dancing couples in the back ground match my dress and Doug’s sweater. … I really did not insist that he wear that color…. Honest. This was a great set of paper that I found at Scrap Your Trip. Thanks Julie.

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Last of the Weekend Layouts

This is the last of layouts that I will be sharing from last weekend's crop at Lake Murray (thank you Sally & Beth)!! Let me see... We featured Aaron, then Bethany... So it must be time for Ian. I must tell you that my photo stash of Ian has declined significantly since he went away to college. I am going to have to speak to him about being IN the photos he takes and posts.

The photos in this layout were from January 2009 when the Carolina Panthers were in the playoffs. I was excited that I had a reason to use the Carolina-Like Panther cut that I designed a couple of years ago.  Sadly they were destroyed by the Cardinals.... and it rained… And the quarterback threw a zillion interceptions…. OUCH. My poor guys - there they were in the rain watching their team loose. My husband assured me that except for the game the guys enjoyed their trip to Charlotte. That is one of those "huh" statements. They only went to Charlotte for the game!!! Yes they did spend the night and have dinner, etc. But they went to see the game!!!

I think the look on Aaron’s and Ian’s faces in this photo says it all - they look so annoyed with the game. I will add that Ian was better trained as a scrapper child - I not only got photos, he also brought me his game ticket to go on his page. Alas, now I would be happy to just have photos!!

And finally I will share this layout of Doug and me on New Year’s Eve. Not my best layout design, but I loved the paper. Note that the dancing couples in the back ground match my dress and Doug’s sweater. … I really did not insist that he wear that color…. Honest. This was a great set of paper that I found at Scrap Your Trip. Thanks Julie.

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ElfYourself a Merry Christmas Featuring the Convention Girlfriends

I had so much fun making the ElfYourself family dance yesterday that I decided to immortalize a few of my scrapping friends with another ElfYourself.  This dance features "my friend Kathy", Suzanne, Pat and me.... dancing like crazy little elves. 

I hope your Chirstmas is full of joy and peace....

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

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ElfYourself a Merry Christmas Featuring the Convention Girlfriends

I had so much fun making the ElfYourself family dance yesterday that I decided to immortalize a few of my scrapping friends with another ElfYourself.  This dance features "my friend Kathy", Suzanne, Pat and me.... dancing like crazy little elves. 

I hope your Chirstmas is full of joy and peace....

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Read more »