Random thoughts of a Confessed Stamp-A-Holic

It's a BOY!!!!!!!!!

No, I have not fallen off the face of the blogging world....I had my baby this past weekend :)  I went in to the hospital on Saturday morning and finally had my little one at 12:43 am Sunday morning. Our new little man, Alexander Michael, was 7 lbs 5 oz and 20 inches long-SO much better than the 9+ lbs the ultrasound was predicting!!!!!  We got home on Tuesday and have been busy ever since between Elizabeth's first day of school and gymnastics....... We are gradually settling into life with a newborn again but he is such a good baby he makes it easy :)

Big Sister Elizabeth is getting adjusted to the fact that  Alexander is not a girl as she had hoped he would be.  It was a bit of a bumpy start but she is enjoying her little brother.  I think she'll really come to enjoy him in a few years when she realizes she doesn't have to share her toys with him.  Plus now she doesn't have to share her "Princess status" with anyone.  

Be back in a little while with some news and a new card to share with you- I just need to take a picture of the card.  Hope you had a wonderful Labor Day weekend, I know I did :)  

Progress?????

Well, I guess you could call it progress.  My old stamp room (aka the baby's new room) is empty, well except for the closet but we'll just forget about that for now *wink* Most of my stuff is sitting here in my sunroom......but some of it has made the trek down to my new room down in the basement.  This is quite an undertaking and sadly with my big ol' belly it's pretty hard for me to help out too much :(  So my poor husband in addition to doing everything else to get ready for baby has also had to move all this stuff....and of course now he can really see just how much stuff I have collected over the years!!  Yikes!!!  

Anyway I thought I would keep you updated and let you share in my "misery".....and also explain why you haven't seen too much "stamping" from me.  It's kind of hard to work like this!  But I do have a few adorable (if I do say so myself) preview cards to share with you using the brand new ChickenGirl Designs stamps from i {heart} papers.....tune in a little later to catch them :) 

Moving

No, not me......my stamp room.  It's been a long process but this week while Elizabeth and I were at the beach my husband started to speed the process along.  And not a moment too soon since the baby's furniture is in, we are going to go pick it up tomorrow.  While the room is not even close to empty (yikes) he made lots of great progress for me!!  Now to just start sorting through it all and figure out a way to start organizing it downstairs in my new room.......

But I did just want to share with you why I have been a little absent lately......you see it's because it's kind of hard to create when your stuff looks like this......

or this......

or this...... (but at least this table is *kind* of organized *wink*)

*sigh*  and all of my stamps are still upstairs, and embarrassingly enough this is only part of my paper collection!!!  Yikes!  Anyway I just wanted to let you know that I am still around even if I have been quiet, but I'm trying really hard to get ready for baby's arrival and get that room empty!!  But I will be back with an adorable card this Tuesday for an IHP DT challenge and then next week with some pretty cool news and even more cute stuff to share.........now where did I put that stamp set...........

I'm here.......

but not stamping :(  I started the stamp room moving mission and man is this going to be a HUGE undertaking!!!  Oy!  Who knew you could cram so much stuff in a single room???  Oh my!

I just wanted to pop on and let you know that I am still alive and have not forgotten my poor neglected blog (and readers) but I've got nothing to share.  I do have a few cards made up but I need to photograph them.  Today was pretty icky out so no natural light to speak of and I wasn't getting the results I wanted with my lighting......so you will just have to wait, sorry!  And of course yesterday I thought it would be a grand idea to clear out my iphoto library and put all my cards on disc rather than store them on my computer so I don't even have any old cards to share.......oh well.  

Please send some happy stamp moving vibes my way, I am going to really need them!!!  I would LOVE to be moved in soon, I just fear that it's never going to happen.  At any rate, I'll be back with a card tomorrow, I promise.  It might not be a new one but it will be a cute one *wink*  And if you have any great ideas for moving my stuff easier please let me know!  They are going from an upstairs bedroom (that we will need for the baby in September) to a room in the basement.  That's about 32 stairs each way if you're counting..........and with all the stuff I have that's A LOT of ups and downs.  Ugh

Where dreams come true

I am up to my eyeballs in my Christmas cards (which I'm hoping to be finished with and mailed very soon) but I wanted to pop in and share some pictures from the wedding :)

Disney is a magical place on a regular day......make it a wedding day and I can't even begin to tell you how awesome it becomes :)  The wedding was amazing!!!  The bride looked like such a princess and she literally glowed the entire day!!!!  They are such a cute couple and they really were Disney Royalty on Sunday :)  Now I want to get married in Disney.........too bad I'm already married *wink*

Every Princess needs a carriage

The view from the altar.....GORGEOUS!!!!

My little Princess :)

Every Disney wedding needs a mouse ear cake *wink*  and it was yummy too!!!!

The guests of honor *wink*

Elizabeth danced ALL night!!! 

until she wore herself out that is *wink*  but not to fear, it was only a half hour or so power nap and then she was good as new :)

The wedding was awesome!!!  We had such a wonderful time. The rest of the weekend was great too.  This is such a fun time of year to head down to Disney World-all the Christmas decorations are up and there is just magic in the air.  We went to the christmas party on Friday night and it was even snowing on Main Street---gotta love Disney Magic *wink*

I'll leave you with a few more images of my favorite part of Disney--my castle *wink*

It was all decorated in shimmering lights for the holidays.  Stunning is really the only word that can be used to describe this......seriously the pictures just do NOT do it justice!!!

AMAZING!!!!

I'll be back tomorrow with some more holiday cards.  Until then have a great day :)  and enjoy some magic 

I'm here

but barely!!  Today was such a LONG day and now I seem to be coming down with the cold that my DH had earlier in the week. It just hit me an hour or so ago and now I am wiped!!!!  I just don't have the energy to putz with my pics on photoshop today, sorry :(  I will try and get some stuff up tomorrow.  I have some great new cards I made with my new stamps from The Rubber Cafe (oh and check out their site-they are adding LOTS of new stuff!!!) AND tomorrow I am going to go and pick up my order from i {heart} papers.  I can't WAIT!!!!!  

We carved our pumpkin this afternoon, luckily before the cold decided to strike.  Elizabeth wanted to make it a spooky face, I think I did ok *wink*

Wishing you a safe and Happy Halloween!!!!  Hope you end your day with LOTS of chocolate :)

We're home :)

No crafty stuff today.  We had a whirlwind trip to FL and back and I am beat!!!!  But I do have a few pics to share :)  We had an awesome time in Disney World!!!!  I don't think I have ever been there and slept so little and ate so little!!!  I didn't even have a single Mickey ice cream!!!!!  Now that is just a sin...I promise to do better next time *wink*  (which in case you're counting is only 37 days away!!!!!!!!!  Yippee!!!!!

Our first stop???  The Mouse's house of course!!!!  We were super excited to see that Minnie was over visiting too!!!!  Score!

We went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party on Friday night.  ELizabeth was dressed as JoJo from JoJo's Circus (on Disney channel for those of you that don't have kids). 

 

She was super excited to see that all her favorite "friends" were dressed in their Halloween best too *wink*

A meal at Pooh's "house" is a staple for our trips!!  This was our first time there for lunch (we usually go for breakfast).  The food was yummy and the company was awesome :)

And the "real" reason for the trip......DH ran in the Tower of Terror 13K.  He ran and Elizabeth and I played at Hollywood Studios until he finished!!  We got to go on Toy Story Mania a few times as well as Muppetvision 3D and still had time to catch him at the finish line.  I LOVE when the parks are super empty like that!!!!

We had a great time but it is good to be home.  I missed my pups (who are now both cuddling with me *love*).  I have a lot of stuff to catch up on.  I have one set of swaps done and realy to mail out, but I have a few more to do!!!!  Plus my DH's grandmother is turning 80 this weekend.  We are attending her surprise birthday party and I need to make her a card worthy of her 80 years!!!  Guess I am going to be busy *wink*  

Who me??

Well, it turns out that one of my fellow DT members, Michelle, tagged all of us gals on The Rubber Cafe design team so that we could get to know each other a little better.  I have been a little slack though, she tagged us last week!!!  and I am just now getting to it (sorry!!!)

It's an easy enough tag, I just need to list 7 facts about me, easy-peesy right?  well, not so much, but here we go anyway *wink*

1. I have a love affair with Diet Coke with LIme.  Seriously, I could drink GALLONS of this stuff a day (and sadly do-yikes).  I am never without it and I have to admit giving it up was my least favorite part of being pregnant with my daughter. I must have whined about not having it a lot because my awesome brother (you remember him-the photoshop pro) and sister in law brought me a few bottles of Diet Coke with Lime when they visited me in the hospital after Elizabeth's birth. Now that folks is love!!!!!

2. I love socks!!  I have a huge sock collection.  I have two drawers in my dresser dedicated solely (ha!) to my socks and not only are they bursting at the seams, I still have more socks that don't fit into the drawers. I have socks for every occasion and in every style.  I love toe socks and on our last trip to Disney World I ever got the cool flip flop socks (ok I know they aren't flip flop socks but I'm not sure what they are called-they are the socks that they wear in Japan with their kimono and sandals).  I also just got a few pairs of Little Miss Mismatched socks and man are they FUN!!!!!

3.  My craft room is a disaster.  Ok so everyone says that but mine REALLY is!!!!  I use one of our extra bedrooms and I can honestly say I have totally out grown it.  I have a little pathway that I have to use to get to my stamp table and once I am there I have about a 7x10 space to actually stamp in.  I not only feel like I need to have everything within reach but I am a slob!!! It takes me days (ok sometimes weeks) to finally go through the piles of scraps that are on my table (right next to my workspace of course).  Then I get it all "clean" only to mess it all up again within minutes.  Oh and I will totally blame my mess of a craft room on my piggy-ness not on the fact that I LOVE to shop for cool stamping/scrapbooking stuff and then NEVER use it *wink*

4. I didn't send my first email until about 5 1/2 years ago.  Really!!!  I was a total computer dummy (ok I still am way behind in the game) and I was totally intimidated by it.  I used to ask my DH over and over again "how do I do that again"  Seriously!!!!!  I don't think I really started using email daily until we moved into this house about 4 1/2 years ago.  I just never really had the need (oh and I was rarely ever on the computer-that was before I found SCS though).  Could you imagine just not having the need to be on the computer??????  You know how much time I would have in my life!??!?!?!???!!  :)  Oh and I didn't learn how to use iTunes until about a year ago-shocking I know!!!!

5.  I love Disney World (I know not a huge surprise) but I don't actually need to go on a single ride.  I would be happy and very content to just go and sit on Main Street USA and just enjoy the sounds, smells, sights......  But when I do go on rides, it's only the kid approved ones for me.  You will never catch me on the cray rides like Tower of Terror, Expedition Everest, Splash Mountain, or even the classic Space Mountain (even though I have been on that one once)  Nope, not me!!! I am a big, not the BIGGEST, chicken.  Case in point, I hold on FOR DEAR LIFE for the drop on Pirates of the Caribbean.  Oh and no one told me that there are 2 DROPS on the Pirates ride in CA!!!  I almost had a heart attack *wink*!!!!!!!!!!  No, I am happy to sit on Small World and listen to that song over and over and over and........ while my DH parties the day away on all those scary non-Merry approved rides!!

6.  I can't spell.  Like really, I am such a bad speller.  So who cares right, everyone spells poorly (oh and my grammar is pretty rough too sometimes).  Well I am a teacher, or at least I was before I had Elizabeth.  I taught kindergarten for a few years and then my last year of teaching I taught 3rd grade.  It's a pretty sad day when your student can spell better than you can.  Needless to say, spell check is my best freind, I mean friend *wink*  But I know just about every kid song (and matching dance) known to man.  Seriously, my head is full of all sorts of little rhyming ABC, color, number, movement songs.  One of the "perks" of teaching kindergarten for so long!!!!

 7.  I love books!!!!  I am the type of person who gets lost in a book.  I can read a good book in a day, a great book in a few hours.  My DH and I love to go to Barnes and Noble and walk around and I usually end up purchasing at least a book (or two) to take home and enjoy.  I should just go and get a library card *wink*  My all time favorite author is Jonathan Kellerman.  I own every single book he has ever released.  They are just the best!!!!!  I also own all of his wife's books too (Faye Kellerman).  She writes very similar books and I love them just as much!!!!  I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan (so sad that there are no more HP books *sniff sniff*).  And for a fun, fast paced quick read, there is no one better than Janet Evanovich and her Stephanie Plum books.  Plus as an added bonus, they take place about 10 minutes from where I live so they are SO true to life for me!!!!!

Well there you have it, 7 things about me that you never asked to know :)  I am supposed to tag 7 more people but to be honest I don't think that many of my blog readers have blogs to share the tag on.  So, if you are reading and you want to play along, feel free.  But if you are going to play make sure you let me know so that I can check out your 7 things.  Thanks for stopping by today!!!!!  

Livestrong

So, I know I've told you that my DH likes to run in the Disney runs.  Well he has decided that now not only is he going to run for the medals (which are totally awesome!!!!) but he is going to run to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  In case you don't know The Lance Armstrong Foundation raises money for cancer research.  It is an awesome cause-after all cancer touches all of us sadly.  Anyway if you would like to help out a GREAT cause please visit my DH's webpage HERE.  I even promise to post after race pics for you too :)

Thanks so much for the support!!!!  I'll be back later tonight with the SUPER cute card I made for my sister's birthday today!!!  

Thank you SO much!!!!

So, I think I may have mentioned once, or twice *wink*, how completely computer illiterate I am.  It's true, computer stuff is just usually over my head.  I am the person who needs a dummy guide for THE dummy guide!!!!  It's really bad.  Well ever since I started this little blog of mine, I have wanted to make a watermark for my pictures.  Well as I'm sure you can see, for the computer illiterate like myself, this posed quite a dilemma.  I had all the tools, I actually have the full Photoshop CS3 on my laptop but, and this is a BIG but, I had NO clue how to use it.  Oh sure I have books coming out my ears on how to use the program...but I totally need someone to teach me what the books are saying *wink*.

Now here's where the thanks comes in.....you see my brother Marco is a photoshop genius!!!!  Yup, he has had this stupid program down for years now-I can't even begin to tell you about all the pictures he has doctored up-but my favorite is still the Queer Eye card he made using all of his bosses...well there is one even more favorite but that's a whole other story......Anyway, he is THE photoshop guy around here, problem is he works on PCs and I work on MAC.  Now I know generally speaking there really isn't much of a difference but I have always been hesitant to ask him for help because of it.  Well I was playing around with it last night and finally caved and called for help.  (and yes I *know* I could have just bought a watermark-and believe me I was tempted-but my DH told me to work it out on my own and learn how to do it....I didn't want to but I did want to at least give it a try).  So in a moment of desperation I called Marco for help...and then he told me he couldn't talk b/c he was watching the season finale of Weeds-ugh!!!  :D  But he did call me today and walked me through the whole process SLOWLY and guess what????????  Yup!!!  I did it!!!!  Look......

Isn't it cute!?!!?!?  Ok, it's not anything really spectacular but I made it all by myself and for me that is HUGE!!!!! Not only did I figure out how to make the watermark but I figured out how to get my picture in photoshop (I usually only use iPhoto-SO user friendly) and I was able to actually get the two images together!!!!  You have no idea....for me this is a really big deal.  I know I am such a loser *wink*.  I might tweak it a little bit but I have to say that for a first try I am very pleased with it!!!!!!  *giggles*

Thank you SO much for all your help Marco!!!!!  

Now onto this totally cute card........can I just tell you how much I love this set??  It is SO cute!!!!  I think this is my favorite of the sets we got for free at convention this year. It is totally "Merry style" :)  The striped paper is from the new So Saffron Patterns DP collection and the little scallop frame is from the On Board Essentials.  I covered it with Chocolate Chip craft ink rather than leave it naked or cover it with paper.  Then once it dried I jazzed up the corners with some clear hot fix rhinestones.  Then I added some Pink Pirouette striped ribbon, ugh have you used this yet?!??!?!?!  I am SO in love with the way this ribbon feels!!!!  I do wish it was a tad thinner but I slowly getting used to using the wider ribbons.  Plus this one is just so nice, I just seem to keep reaching for it *wink*

Materials used: (all SU unless noted otherwise): Flight of the Butterflies; chocolate chip, kiwi kiss, pink pirouette; so saffron DP; pink pirouette, chocolate chip, kiwi kiss classic ink; chocolate chip craft ink; on board scallop frame; scallop edge punch; pink pirouette ribbon; hot fix rhinestones (swarovski)

I am happy to say that my swaps are done, my montly RAK is done AND mailed, I sent another card out to my little secret sister...now I just need to finish up my color me happy cards and I am all caught up.  Hopefully tomorrow.......  I got sidetracked today making my sister's birthday card, which isn't quite done to my liking yet.  Knowing me I will end up completely redoing it tomorrow.....well see :)  Until then, I hope you have a great day!!!  Thank YOU for stopping by today.....and once again, thanks Marco!!!!  You totally ROCK :)